#46
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CBC has many small transmitters to fill up isolated areas operating on 540 kHz, for
some reason. The only CBC AM powerhouse that still exists AFAIK is the French Toronto transmitter on 860 kHz, an easy to identify catch in Eastern Canada and NE USA. Regards. |
#47
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Leaving that suburb (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) three years later cured the problem; it did not repeat itself, either when I moved back to the suburb where I grew up or when I moved to where I live now. I don't have that kind of trouble here since I am perhaps 40 miles from Cleveland's AM and FM radio stations, and at least as far from the city's TV stations. The only thing that could possibly cause me trouble here as far as interference is concerned (but doesn't, thank goodness) is a 1kW/0.5kW (day/night) AM station five miles away. The only problem that station ever caused me (if you can call it a problem) is that it comes in at two points, 900 kHz (0.9 MHz) apart on the digital AM/FM tuner in my stereo system. Most of the time, however, I don't even know the station is there. I've never forgotten the problems that 27.5-kW ERP station's signal caused me, and I'm sure I never will. I had an aunt who lived only about five miles from Cleveland's TV transmitters; she could get excellent reception on all three (at the time) local network stations, using just a length of wire on the set's antenna terminals. I swear she was getting almost city-grade reception at times without an antenna--that's how strong the signals were in her area.
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Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. |
#48
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AM's far from dead. A good example is being set by an independent operator in St. Cloud (about 75 miles E of me). They have a long-established hard rock FM, an all-sports outlet on 660, a classic country on 800...and recently signed on a nostalgia format ("Uptown Radio") on 1010. They also have a CP (construction permit) for ANOTHER AM...a 250 watter on 540! The 660, 800 & 1010 signals are all directional with sharply-reduced nightttime power, and IIRC the 540 will be directional as well to protect Regina, Sask. Here's the cool part: ALL the AMs run through ONE antenna system through a complicated system of filters, combiners, etc. The system was designed by my friend Mark Persons of M.W. Persons & Associates and works exactly as designed. Mark is a real stickler for quality audio...and the stations' sound shows it. Visit his website @ www.mwpersons.com for pix of this & other installations he's done. Mark's an engineer's engineer for sure.
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#49
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I don't know about how many radio stations there are in Canada but if we went all or even 90% FM in this country, the band would be so overcrowded. I remember even in 1987 when I drove through the San Jauquin Valley on I-5 in California, there were several FM stations battling it out over the same frequency on my car radio. I think it is a mistake to go over to FM all the way, if you're out in the country, at least you still know what is going on by pulling in stations at night.
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Mom (1938 - 2013) - RIP, I miss you Spunky, (1999 - 2016) - RIP, pretty girl! Rascal, (2007 - 2021) RIP, miss you very much |
#50
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Mom (1938 - 2013) - RIP, I miss you Spunky, (1999 - 2016) - RIP, pretty girl! Rascal, (2007 - 2021) RIP, miss you very much |
Audiokarma |
#51
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I've experienced amazing skip before,
One day driving home from work, I had an extremely hard time receiving any local stations due to interference from distant stations, but had no problem receiving WQOL 103.7 FM from Vero Beach, FL. No static whatsoever despite moving at 55mph down US167. On the day of the DTV changeover, as alot of stations here in AR and over in TN switched over, I was able to receive WUND-2 from Edenton NC, and later on, KDKA and WTAE from Pittsburgh, PA. KDKA came in clear enough for a good amount of time that day, for me to watch part of a soap opera along with some message on the bottom about the DTV transition.
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Death: Man how old is this TV?, You probably get the DuMont network on this thing! |
#52
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In the US, yes, you are correct (I hope we have AM here for quite a while, as it is still an excellent medium for news, local emergency information and those in FM fringe areas, not to mention AM DXers), but in Canada they are silencing AMs left and right, as Rodzilla mentioned in his post. I cannot begin to imagine a city such as Halifax, NS with absolutely no AM radio except one small station on 540 kHz. I don't know how big Halifax is, but unless the one remaining local station has a 50kW signal, a network of repeaters, or Halifax is a very small city, I can't see how one station can cover the entire area. I live in an area of northeastern Ohio that several Cleveland-area stations do not reach at night and can just barely be heard during the daytime; this describes a 500-watt daytime/42-watt nighttime station near my hometown to a T, and can probably describe a lot of other small, local-service stations--many located in small towns or suburban areas--as well.
Fifty-kilowatt stations such as CKLW in Windsor, Ontario will likely be around for many years to come, even if and when many of the smaller AMs in Canada eventually go silent or to FM. CKLW was a top-40 rock and roll station on 800 kHz in the '60s-'70s, flipping to a news-talk format some time later (I'm not sure exactly when the switch actually occurred). Their FM arm for many years was CKLW-FM on 93.7; I don't know what their format was at that time (probably elevator music), but I do know that some time either in the late '90s or very early in the 21st century the station changed its call sign to CIDR and adopted a modern rock format. CKLW-TV is now CBET-TV channel 9, serving Windsor and Detroit; it is a CBC television network affiliate. I was able to see the TV station here in northeastern Ohio from early spring until late fall before I got cable; I still hear the FM station on occasion when the conditions are right. The FM radio dial in Canada must not be nearly as crowded with stations as it is here in the US if many Canadian AMs are going silent and, in many cases, transferring their entire program schedules to FM. This may well be why many US AM stations go silent rather than switching to streaming audio over the Internet or to FM when they find themselves on the verge of failure--again, the FM dial in most areas of this country is far too crowded as it is, with most existing FMs already running established formats (some having been on these stations for decades) and unwilling to abandon them any time soon. I think of a small station about 20 miles south of here that went silent about five years ago, after going through no fewer than four formats--including a satellite feed from Sporting News Radio--in just under 40 years. I wonder if that station might still be active today had it switched to FM, if only to a low-power signal at the low end of the dial, below 92 MHz. This would have worked out perfectly (in fact the results would have probably been phenomenal); since the station was located in Geauga County, Ohio, the elevation ASL (above sea level) of which is much higher than most other parts of this area, any station replacing it would have probably had incredible coverage of the county, several surrounding counties, and much of the greater Cleveland area as well.
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Jeff, WB8NHV Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002 Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten. Last edited by Jeffhs; 05-30-2010 at 07:56 PM. |
#53
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Growing up leads to growing old and then to dying, And dying to me dont sound like all that much fun... -John Mellencamp |
#54
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I had my very first ever digital FM DX last week with my Sangean HDT-1 HDRadio that I've had for about 6 months now. KDWB 101.3 from Minneapolis was coming in good enough for their HD to pop on for a few minutes here in southwest WI. A distance of 170 miles.
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#55
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Cool ! My almost dx (about 110 miles away) classical station increased the power of their digital sidebands by 6db a few months ago and are almost 100% digital copy now on my Sony F1HD/APS9 set up. Some stations have been able to increase by 10db... can't wait 'till the tropo gets a little better, could land a few digital Dx logs this summer.
jr |
Audiokarma |
#56
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IIRC, Canada used to have AM broadcast radio stations up around 6MHz in very sparsely populated areas. As a signal on 6MHz could cover very large areas. Like in the northern end of their various provinces, or in the area just south of the north pole.
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#57
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Starting mid-week I'm going to be laid up for several days and plan to do a lot of DXing. I have my Superadio, Realistic DX-440 and '42 Zenith 14-tube monster at bedside, along with some coax run to that side of the room to make use of my outdoor antenna for FM. Just wish I had a rotator on that thing. I was going to patch in a portable cassette recorder but the belt went bad, c'est la vie.
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#58
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CFRB in Toronto (1010 kc) still does broadcast on 6070 kc, I pick them up here in Pittsburgh.
__________________
Mom (1938 - 2013) - RIP, I miss you Spunky, (1999 - 2016) - RIP, pretty girl! Rascal, (2007 - 2021) RIP, miss you very much |
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