Christmas transmission from SAQ on 17.2kHz, 24 December 2021 8:00 UTC
Received at SQ5BPF QTH Warsaw/Poland KO02md.
E-field active antenna, vlfrx-tools and Spectrum Lab receiver.
QTH Jacek / SQ5BPF Warsaw KO02md
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Christmas transmission from SAQ on 17.2kHz, 24 December 2021 8:00 UTC
Received at SQ5BPF QTH Warsaw/Poland KO02md.
E-field active antenna, vlfrx-tools and Spectrum Lab receiver.
QTH Jacek / SQ5BPF Warsaw KO02md
On 1 December 1924 the SAQ station SAQ has started handling commercial telegraph traffic. On 1 December 2024 a message was sent commemorating the 100 years anniversary.
Reception at Marcin SQ2BXI (Gdańsk/Poland):
Reception at Jacek SQ5BPF (Warsaw/Poland):
Continue reading “SAQ centennial transmission on 1 December 2024”
The VLF radiostation on Grimeton/Sweden with the callsign SAQ was put into commecrial service on 1 December 1924. SAQ was a transatlantic station. The main correspondent were stations in Long Island, New York, USA.
SAQ was one of the Alexanderson system stations built under the supervision of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) . These stations were similar to each other, the antenna and transmitter (an Alexanderson alternator) were the invention of Ernst Alexanderson. Poland had a similar station in Babice near Warsaw with the callsigns AXO/AXL/SPL.
On 1 December 2024 there will be a transmission to commemorate the 100 years of SAQ being put into commercial service. The message will be transmitted on 17.2kHz CW (morse code).
SCHEDULE:
10:20 CET (09:20 UTC) Live YouTube broadcast begins.
10:30 CET (09:30 UTC) Start-up of the Alternator.
11:00 CET (10:00 UTC) Transmission of a message*
The event will be streamed live on youtube under the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwINhKcSF5o
Usually about 10 minutes before the transmission of the message “VVV DE SAQ” is transmitted continiously.
A video of the SAQ transmission on 20221116 16:00 UTC, commemorating the 50-th Anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
Received at SQ5BPF QTH Warsaw/Poland KO02md.
E-field active antenna, vlfrx-tools and Spectrum Lab receiver
The transmitted message is:
Christmas transmission from SAQ on 17.2kHz, 24 December 2021 8:00 UTC
Received at SQ5BPF QTH Warsaw/Poland KO02md.
E-field active antenna, vlfrx-tools and Spectrum Lab receiver.
On the recording one can see a weak carrier between the symbols. This is because the keying circuit leaks a weak carrier. The leakage is about 2kW.
QTH Jacek / SQ5BPF Warsaw KO02md
The message was:
THIS IS GRIMETON RADIO STATION/SAQ IN A TRANSMISSION USING THE ALEXANDERSON 200KW ALTERNATOR ON 17.2KHZ. = WE WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. = SIGNED WORLD HERITAGE GRIMETON RADIO STATION AND THE ALEXANDER GRIMETON FRIENDSHIP ASSOCIATION.= FOR QSL INFO PLEASE READ OUR WEBSITE ALEXANDER.N.SE. DE SAQ SAQ SK
Unfortunately the annual SAQ Christmas transmission has been cancelled in 2020.
We would like to wish the a Merry Christmas to the SAQ team and all of our readers. Stay in good health.

A video of the SAQ Alexanderson Day transmission on 9:00 UTC 20190630.
Received at SQ5BPF QTH Warsaw/Poland KO02md.
E-field active antenna, vlfrx-tools and Spectrum Lab receiver
Transmission at 9:00 UTC:
Transmission at 12:00 UTC:
Christmas transmission from SAQ on 17.2kHz, 24 december 2018 8:00 UTC
Received at SQ5BPF QTH Warsaw/Poland KO02md.
E-field active antenna, vlfrx-tools and Spectrum Lab receiver
The message was:
CQ CQ CQ DE SAQ SAQ SAQ = THIS IS GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ IN A TRANSMISSION USING THE ALEXANDERSON 200KW ALTERNATOR ON VLF 17.2KHZ. = WE WISH YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR = SIGNED THE WORLD HERRITAGE AT GRIMETON AND THE ALEXANDER VETERANRADIOS VAENNER ASSOCIATION = FOR QSL INFO PLEASE READ OUR WEBSITE WWW.ALEXANDER.N.SE WWW.ALEXANDER.N.SE = DE SAQ SAQ SAQ SK