How Far from Toronto Are Its Major AM Transmitters?

[Gregg.]

Checking FCCdata.org, I see 680 CFTR has its transmitter and towers about 40 km from downtown Toronto. They are across Lake Erie, about 10 km east of Hamilton. Are there any AM stations in North America that have their transmitter and towers further away from their city of license? If you drove from Toronto to the transmitter site, it would likely take around an hour to get there.

As for the two Class A stations in Toronto, both 740 CFZM and 860 CJBC share a single tower about 30 km west from Toronto in Milton, Ontario. I guess that stems from when both were co-owned by the CBC. Now only CJBC is a government-owned station. I suppose CFZM pays the CBC for the tower use.

 

[mofocat2]

Checking FCCdata.org, I see 680 CFTR has its transmitter and towers about 40 km from downtown Toronto. They are across Lake Erie, about 10 km east of Hamilton. Are there any AM stations in North America that have their transmitter and towers further away from their city of license? If you drove from Toronto to the transmitter site, it would likely take around an hour to get there.

As for the two Class A stations in Toronto, both 740 CFZM and 860 CJBC share a single tower about 30 km west from Toronto in Milton, Ontario. I guess that stems from when both were co-owned by the CBC. Now only CJBC is a government-owned station. I suppose CFZM pays the CBC for the tower use.

KMJ's 4 tower directional is about 40km/26mi. East of Fresno.

 

[Hendricus (Harry) van Vugt]

Checking FCCdata.org, I see 680 CFTR has its transmitter and towers about 40 km from downtown Toronto. They are across Lake Erie, about 10 km east of Hamilton. Are there any AM stations in North America that have their transmitter and towers further away from their city of license? If you drove from Toronto to the transmitter site, it would likely take around an hour to get there.

As for the two Class A stations in Toronto, both 740 CFZM and 860 CJBC share a single tower about 30 km west from Toronto in Milton, Ontario. I guess that stems from when both were co-owned by the CBC. Now only CJBC is a government-owned station. I suppose CFZM pays the CBC for the tower use.

Make that Lake Ontario, not Lake Erie.

 

[keys2]

…..Are there any AM stations in North America that have their transmitter and towers further away from their city of license?

KFRM 550 licensed to Salina, Kansas. I believe their 3 towers are about 42 miles north of Salina.

 

[davideduardo]

Checking FCCdata.org, I see 680 CFTR has its transmitter and towers about 40 km from downtown Toronto. They are across Lake Erie, about 10 km east of Hamilton. Are there any AM stations in North America that have their transmitter and towers further away from their city of license? If you drove from Toronto to the transmitter site, it would likely take around an hour to get there.

Directional stations are often far from the center of the city of license. An example: KTNQ in LA is 20 miles away from downtown LA with its transmitter at City of Industry.

830 in Orange has its transmitter near Norco, CA... about 25 miles away. Another example of a station that is so directional it has to get far from the city to cover it well

 

[Mediafrog+]

Keep in mind the focused directional patterns of AM stations can throw a lot of ERP over the intended market even if the transmitter is at some distance. This is especially true for stations at the lower end of the AM band. Here in Houston the transmitter for KTRH 740 is about 30 miles northeast of downtown, but the directional signal to the southwest is solid and by far the best AM in the market.

 

[fybush]

The all-time champion in the US was Saul Levine's 540 in "Costa Mesa," which had its transmitter site 80 miles away in the high desert (Adelanto, I think) pushing a highly directional lobe at the coast.

It only lasted a few years, in part because Saul also got involved with the 540 in Tijuana and eventually ended up taking the US license silent to expand the one from Mexico, if memory serves.

 

[schmave]

Keep in mind the focused directional patterns of AM stations can throw a lot of ERP over the intended market even if the transmitter is at some distance. This is especially true for stations at the lower end of the AM band. Here in Houston the transmitter for KTRH 740 is about 30 miles northeast of downtown, but the directional signal to the southwest is solid and by far the best AM in the market.

First example that came to mind for me. I once got to drive close to its tower farm outside Dayton and it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately it was not at night, and I say that purely because I didn't get to drive through the nighttime nulls.
That frequency plus the ground conductivity makes for a massive signal in the main lobe. It was a blaster where I lived in League City right on the Friendswood border.

 

[davideduardo]

The all-time champion in the US was Saul Levine's 540 in "Costa Mesa," which had its transmitter site 80 miles away in the high desert (Adelanto, I think) pushing a highly directional lobe at the coast.

It only lasted a few years, in part because Saul also got involved with the 540 in Tijuana and eventually ended up taking the US license silent to expand the one from Mexico, if memory serves.

I sort of recall that Saul traded 540 for an X-Band station which he turned around and sold for something like $30 million to a group of Asian-American investors. 540 in Tijuana was always a DOG (All caps required). Originally on a very short tower on top of a supermarket or some big commercial building, it moved to another site with greater power but never managed to put a good signal into San Diego.

Oddly, 540 was the original dial position of Kuff-Mub before a new NARBA related agreement gave full use of 540 to Mexico and KFMB was injected into 760 (which neither KABC nor the Avalon station liked at all).

 

[Rusty Muck]

Checking FCCdata.org, I see 680 CFTR has its transmitter and towers about 40 km from downtown Toronto. They are across Lake Erie, about 10 km east of Hamilton. Are there any AM stations in North America that have their transmitter and towers further away from their city of license? If you drove from Toronto to the transmitter site, it would likely take around an hour to get there.

I've passed by the CFTR plant on the QEW several times on my trips up north. (There's also apparently a dog-walking park next to the site!) CFIQ 640's transmitter is also nearby in Lincoln, I'd have to think it's further away from Toronto than their former sister CHML.

 

[Mark Roberts]

First example that came to mind for me. I once got to drive close to its tower farm outside Dayton and it felt like I was in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately it was not at night, and I say that purely because I didn't get to drive through the nighttime nulls.
That frequency plus the ground conductivity makes for a massive signal in the main lobe. It was a blaster where I lived in League City right on the Friendswood border.

It’s really not that far away from central Houston but, you’re right, it does feel like the middle of nowhere. Until 1985, there was an operator staffed at the site. They pulled 12-hour shifts. When remote operation came in, the site engineers were moved to the studios in Montrose and either did other engineering tasks or filled in as board ops. The signal is massive. The pattern was especially effective at night. The newsroom got letters from listeners in central America who tuned into the news hours that came after sports talk (i.e. after 7 or 8 pm on weekdays), telling us ours was the easiest U.S. station for them to receive.

 

[davideduardo]

It’s really not that far away from central Houston but, you’re right, it does feel like the middle of nowhere. Until 1985, there was an operator staffed at the site. They pulled 12-hour shifts. When remote operation came in, the site engineers were moved to the studios in Montrose and either did other engineering tasks or filled in as board ops. The signal is massive. The pattern was especially effective at night. The newsroom got letters from listeners in central America who tuned into the news hours that came after sports talk (i.e. after 7 or 8 pm on weekdays), telling us ours was the easiest U.S. station for them to receive.

Interestingly, when I was in Ecuador KTRH was not that strong a signal. Perhaps I was to far east of the major lobe. Toronto and Orlando were the Northamerican 740 catches once the station in Colombia signed off.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Interestingly, when I was in Ecuador KTRH was not that strong a signal. Perhaps I was to far east of the major lobe. Toronto and Orlando were the Northamerican 740 catches once the station in Colombia signed off.

It would seem that KCBS might have had a better chance of being heard on 740 in Ecuador. Although more distant, the main lobe at night is aimed right at Quito. The KTRH night signal is sent to the southwest with a smaller lobe to the east.

Back in the 1960s KTRH signed off between midnight and 5am. That allowed me to receive KCBS at my then Austin location in the early morning hours.

 

[davideduardo]

It would seem that KCBS might have had a better chance of being heard on 740 in Ecuador. Although more distant, the main lobe at night is aimed right at Quito. The KTRH night signal is sent to the southwest with a smaller lobe to the east.

Even KFMB on 540 was heard in Quito, but the stations that were directional to the West were nearly impossible.

In the mid to later 60's, nearly every station in Colombia to the north was off at midnight, EST. In my location, only 3 AMs were on the air 24/7, 570, 590 and 810 and those were mine. So the rest of the dial was open. Even heard some Dakota and Montana "graveyarders" on 1400, 1450 and 1490 back then when locals went off and I had an hour or two to hear CST and MST stations that did not stay on overnight.