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AM Frequency of the Week: 940

Warminster PA(Philly 'burbs):

Daytime: maybe a trace of WADV Lebanon PA, but mostly splatter from local 950 WKDN.
Night: CINW Montreal(formerly CBM)
 
RyanHoward said:
Warminster PA(Philly 'burbs):

Daytime: maybe a trace of WADV Lebanon PA, but mostly splatter from local 950 WKDN.
Night: CINW Montreal(formerly CBM)
Click to expand...
2nd time I've had to say this...Montreal is silent on 940, has been since 2010, and is unlikely to have that station that is licensed to begin broadcasting next month actually get on the air.
 
I don't know about now, but when I worked at WINZ, they told me that the two dominant clears on 940 were in Canada and Mexico, but I don't remember what the stations were, just that our deepest nulls were a little west of north and a little south of west. We also had/have a minor reduction toward WIPR.
 
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ai4i said:
I don't know about now, but when I worked at WINZ, they told me that the two dominant clears on 940 were in Canada and Mexico, but I don't remember what the stations were, just that our deepest nulls were a little west of north and a little south of west. We also had/have a minor reduction toward WIPR.
Click to expand...

The two dominants are(were) CBM in Montreal and XEQ in Mexico City. CBM was a CBC owned outlet that migrated to FM. The privately owned stations that replaced it were not successful, and as mimo points out, the channel is vacant and will in all probability will remain so. My understanding, however, is that the Montreal 940 allocation must still be protected, per international agreement.
 
Growing up, I often listened to CBM at night. The CBC had a radio drama series back in the late 60s/early 70s I'd catch now and then.
As long as Canada continues to "notify" the U.S. that there's a station there (whether it is or isn't) U.S. stations will have to protect it on Canadian soil.



cyberdad said:
The two dominants are(were) CBM in Montreal and XEQ in Mexico City. CBM was a CBC owned outlet that migrated to FM. The privately owned stations that replaced it were not successful, and as mimo points out, the channel is vacant and will in all probability will remain so. My understanding, however, is that the Montreal 940 allocation must still be protected, per international agreement.
Click to expand...
 
It's too bad that they don't have a provision in the treaty to allow STA PSA/PSSA operation on channels like 940 to allow increased power based on not having to protect the Class A. There are quite a few PSSAs in the 1 to 10 watt range that could benefit greatly. Upon notification to the FCC that a station was beginning Class A operation again on frequencies like 940, they would have to return to the previous level. Note that the FCC has allowed stations in Florida to operate with increased power to counter Cuban interference for many years. STAs can be reversed.
 
Good eye and good muse there, Cat, regarding the proposal of stations being allowed to raise power until some absent 'dominant protected' stations finally made up their minds.
I'd asked some time back if US stations on 690, specifiaclly, could get some nighttime elbow room when the French 690 in Montreal left the air. I was told 'no'; a treaty is a treaty.
And certainly, US daytime stations on 690 and 940 knew what they were getting into back in the Sixties when they signed on within the extant rules .... WINE 940 Connecticut .... WXUR 690 Media PA ..... WADS 690 in CT ....
(Even new stations on the USA-cleared 1520, such as WCHE in PA, WVOB in MD, WSLT in South NJ and WTHE/WFYI on Long Island knew the daytime-only drill and accepted it; WKBW would take over the frequency at night. Period.)

I doubt that any US station currently licensed to 940 or 690 with, as you say, '1 to 10 watts' is going to see any certifiable financial upswing by increasing nighttime wattage. Heck -- if 'CBM 940' is having problems with the electric bill, where is the hope for any other station?
 
Many or most stations would not go through the expense of engineering a new directional pattern as they are already on the air and are covering their markets.
Most of WINZ's nulls are toward the Everglades, although they do protect Macon at night.
When I was at WINZ, they/we protected Cuba in the day.
 
I was thinking of nondirectional or an existing pattern and antenna for the PSA. That would only require an interference showing for the modified power level, and very little "construction", just a way to operate at the authorized STA level.
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
Good eye and good muse there, Cat, regarding the proposal of stations being allowed to raise power until some absent 'dominant protected' stations finally made up their minds.
I'd asked some time back if US stations on 690, specifiaclly, could get some nighttime elbow room when the French 690 in Montreal left the air. I was told 'no'; a treaty is a treaty.
And certainly, US daytime stations on 690 and 940 knew what they were getting into back in the Sixties when they signed on within the extant rules .... WINE 940 Connecticut .... WXUR 690 Media PA ..... WADS 690 in CT ....
(Even new stations on the USA-cleared 1520, such as WCHE in PA, WVOB in MD, WSLT in South NJ and WTHE/WFYI on Long Island knew the daytime-only drill and accepted it; WKBW would take over the frequency at night. Period.)

I doubt that any US station currently licensed to 940 or 690 with, as you say, '1 to 10 watts' is going to see any certifiable financial upswing by increasing nighttime wattage. Heck -- if 'CBM 940' is having problems with the electric bill, where is the hope for any other station?
Click to expand...

CBM isn't having problems. It's been on FM since 1998. And 690 is occupied by an English language sports station.
 
@ Mimo -- hya there.

I specified 'CBM 940' as the one with problems, within the context of the thread title. I just didn't know their most recent calls; they seem to've had more format changes than Radio Belgrade.

My point was, vis-a-vis the muse of Schroedinger's Cat, that if no one within range of the prestigious Montreal book seems interested in a 50,000 watt omni AM station in 2016, then there can't possibly be any huge clamour by US stations on 940 to broaden what's left of their horizons.
 
Usually splatter from local news/talker 930 WFMD in Frederick around 3 air miles away. If conditions are just right, and I use a very selective radio, I can sometimes barely null in gospel WADV from Lebanon, PA. WADV pretty much runs a continuous loop of southern gospel tunes that hasn't been changed in at least 10 years .... I'm only slightly kidding.
 
CBM never had problems when it was on 940. In fact it's had nothing but complaints about it's new FM signal, especially in the city. Even on 2 frequencies, there are plenty of people having issues hearing it that never had problems with it on AM.
Some news about the 940 frequency in Montreal, and it's good news. TTP media finally acquired the cogeco transmission site that the previous occupant (CINW) used. It appears the sale went through around the 7th or so. We should expect some test transmissions very very soon, on both 940 and 600. When that happens, they will be a 24 hour station here in Ottawa. Good day signal, decent night signal with varying strength.
 
mimo said:
CBM never had problems when it was on 940. In fact it's had nothing but complaints about it's new FM signal, especially in the city. Even on 2 frequencies, there are plenty of people having issues hearing it that never had problems with it on AM.
Some news about the 940 frequency in Montreal, and it's good news. TTP media finally acquired the cogeco transmission site that the previous occupant (CINW) used. It appears the sale went through around the 7th or so. We should expect some test transmissions very very soon, on both 940 and 600. When that happens, they will be a 24 hour station here in Ottawa. Good day signal, decent night signal with varying strength.
Click to expand...

Just in time for DX season. Thanks for the info, Mimo. But here's my question....

Will there be a good signal in Ottawa on BOTH 600 and 940? From my business trips involving both cities, I remember 940 as being solid for the entire 200km/125mi drive. While 600 (as CFCF) with their directional signal would get pretty "ragged" once I crossed the border from Quebec into Ontario. And having blowtorch CFRA on 580 didn't exactly help matters.
 
ai4i, Nope I have not heard WINZ up this way. To much WMAC and WCPC Here during CH.
Down the band, WAQI is (or was) fairly easy here, along with WIOD, and WQAM.
 
cyberdad said:
Just in time for DX season. Thanks for the info, Mimo. But here's my question....

Will there be a good signal in Ottawa on BOTH 600 and 940? From my business trips involving both cities, I remember 940 as being solid for the entire 200km/125mi drive. While 600 (as CFCF) with their directional signal would get pretty "ragged" once I crossed the border from Quebec into Ontario. And having blowtorch CFRA on 580 didn't exactly help matters.
Click to expand...

According to the signal patterns I saw posted a long time ago, 600 is supposed to have the exact same patter as CFCF. And of course, 940 will be as it was. CINW did have the signal slightly pulled towards Montreal to give better downtown coverage, but it was so slight I don't think it made much difference compared to how CBM would have sounded here. Then again, I don't know how CBM sounded as I was never in Ottawa when it was on AM. I do know how it sounded in southeast Iowa at night...
So far, neither station has had it's transmitter turned on. I heard CFCF could be heard in Ottawa during the day, just not very well.
 
Thanks, mimo.

I can remember a couple of times trying to listen to Cubs baseball games on CFCF between my Ottawa appointments. Seemed like there'd always be a fade or noise every time there was a critical moment in the action...LOL! I was even known to resort to flipping over to CKAC (730) and attempting to follow along in French. Not as difficult as it might sound, and CKAC's signal in Ottawa was/is pretty solid.
 
CKAC has a much better signal in the winter than the summer and is slightly directional away from Ottawa. Once you get to the east side of Ottawa the signal improves significantly.
For the 2 new stations, they'll be using the same transmitter site that were previously used for the old CFCF and CBM.
 
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