A signal from Radio Varna, picked up in Sweden

A journey can begin with a glance at the map of Europe, but sometimes it leads to an unexpected encounter – at the door of a radio station. That is how Sweden’s Michael Andersson arrived in Varna not simply as a visitor to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, but as someone who, years earlier, had heard Radio Varna from a distance that might at first seem impossible.

But let us start at the beginning. Michael Andersson and his wife Annika chose Bulgaria for their week-long holiday almost spontaneously. They looked at the map of Europe, spotted a country they had never visited before and decided to give it a try.

“We have been for one week of vacation and we stayed in Balchik for relaxing, swimming, eating, walking, having a general very, very nice time,” Michael Andersson says.

One day, their travels also brought them to Varna. They were impressed by the Sea Garden and the atmosphere of the seaside city. For Michael Andersson, however, there was another, more personal reason for the visit: Radio Varna. Radio has been a passion of his for many years.

“I checked it out before because I wanted to know where the radio station was. I thought that if we were out walking, maybe we would pass by.”

And so, after having something to eat in Varna, Michael and his wife headed towards the sea and decided to look for the radio station. They found it. And the encounter turned out to be more than a matter of tourist curiosity. Michael Andersson listens to radio stations from around the world. He is a DXer – a radio enthusiast who searches for distant signals. And that is how, several years ago, he managed to hear Radio Varna in Sweden on 88.5 MHz – an FM frequency in the VHF band.

“I was able to hear Radio Varna on FM two times. The first time was three years ago and then one time the year after also,” Michael recalls.

At first, that may sound impossible. But during the summer, he explains, layers in the atmosphere can sometimes create conditions in which radio signals travel enormous distances. A signal broadcast from Bulgaria can therefore make it all the way to Scandinavia.

“Sometimes in the summer, the layers in the atmosphere are reflecting the signals. So they bounce from Bulgaria up in space and then down to Sweden.”

Michael Andersson describes the phenomenon as being “like a pipe in the sky between two places”. If you were listening to the radio in Bulgaria at such a moment, he says, you could pick up Swedish FM stations. And in Sweden, you could hear Bulgarian ones.

His encounter with Radio Varna will not remain just a personal memory. Michael Andersson belongs to a club of radio enthusiasts in Sweden which publishes a magazine several times a year.

“When we are able to visit a station, we usually try to write a short article to present the station to the readers,” he says.

Radio Varna will therefore also find a place in the Swedish radio enthusiasts’ magazine.

From Balchik to Varna, from the airwaves of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast to a receiver in Sweden, Michael Andersson’s story shows that radio can still surprise us. For him, Radio Varna is no longer simply a distant signal caught on the summer airwaves. It is a place he has visited, people he has met and a story he will take back with him to Sweden – one that will find its way onto the pages of a magazine for those who still believe in the magic of radio.

Editor: D. Semkovska