540 CBEF - Windsor, Ontario dominating frequency in Newfoundland lately

[vo1001swl]

Several nights CBEF 540 in Windsor, Ontario in French has been dominating the dial here in Newfoundland. At times it's signal has been heard completely over CBT Grand Falls - Windsor.

 

[Tincap]

There's also CBGA-1 (SRC Première Chaîne) Grand-Ainse NB on 540. That would at times cause an echo effect, sittin' here between them and CBEF, lol.

Touching on CBT a moment, at least they're running in the Atlantic time zone, although they're pesky enough to hinder my efforts to bag Saskatchewan's CBK.

~BG

 

[w9wi]

It should also be noted CBEF doesn't have long to live.

Apparently the towers are in bad shape & require expensive repairs.

The former English-language facility on 1550 is still in good condition -- and was sitting unused since the English service moved to 97.5 FM last year. CBC has received permission to move the French service to this 1550 facility & shut down 540. DXers are already reporting the station operating in parallel on *both* frequencies; I would imagine 540 will be gone in a few weeks.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Unfortunately, Bell Media or Blackburn can't easily take over the facility. It is still designated for noncommercial use unless auctioned at a much later date. Bell Media is at the 2 AM 2 FM limit, and the 580 facility is probably not equivalent enough for a swap. The best scenario would be to reduce overlap with WRDT by moving them to the frequency to alleviate the 20 kHz overlap considerations and IBOC adjacency problems. But the FCC says there is no IBOC interference problem, it's just occasional out of channel peaks. As a Mexico Class A, it is limited to just 500 watts night in the US. Plus it would be a net loss of a Canadian allotment, which wouldn't fly with the treaty with Canada.

 

[w9wi]

Unfortunately, Bell Media or Blackburn can't easily take over the facility. It is still designated for noncommercial use unless auctioned at a much later date. Bell Media is at the 2 AM 2 FM limit, and the 580 facility is probably not equivalent enough for a swap. The best scenario would be to reduce overlap with WRDT by moving them to the frequency to alleviate the 20 kHz overlap considerations and IBOC adjacency problems. But the FCC says there is no IBOC interference problem, it's just occasional out of channel peaks. As a Mexico Class A, it is limited to just 500 watts night in the US. Plus it would be a net loss of a Canadian allotment, which wouldn't fly with the treaty with Canada.

??

There are no spectrum auctions in Canada. There's also no such thing as a non-commercial reservation in Canada. (heck, on AM there aren't any non-commercial reservations in the U.S. either) I see no reason the CRTC wouldn't allow a 540/580 swap if Bell were to ask.

I also doubt Bell would ask. They'd know going in they'd have to build a new transmission facility; I don't think they'd feel it was worth the effort for an AM station.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Look at the designations in the BASERAD databases. Each has a designation if it is for government use. Look at 98.3 Sarnia for instance. It's always specified that it was for government use. And the Canadian government would have first dibs on 540. No there is no 88-92 reservation if that's what you mean. I may have misspoke about it being an actual auction, but it is a competitive process nonetheless if there is more than one entity that seeks the frequency. Frequencies have often been vacant for years after the government vacated them, and they were very picky and dismissed many applications for often silly reasons.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Let's focus on another problem. Compare the audio on 540 and 1550. The audio on 1550 sounds very distorted compared to 540. Once you get out 20-30 miles, CBEF has a stonger groundwave signal than CBE on many areas, and it's like they are trying to convince people that 1550 is better because it is LOUDER. Now the skywave is better for 1550 in most areas, and it is a Class A, though it is only 10000 watts.

 

[EJ204]

For the record, 540 is both a Mexican and Canadian Clear Channel frequency, so all other stations on 540 must protect both CBK Watrous-Regina and XEWA San Luis Potosi.

Originally, CBK was the only Class I-A occupant of 540, running 50,000 watts non-directional around the clock. But Mexico protested that it had been shortchanged when clear channel assignments were being decided. So 540 was re-designated as a Canadian-Mexican clear channel frequency, giving Class I-A status to XEWA as well as CBK. And that allows XEWA to run 150,000 watts non-directional fulltime, something it couldn't do as a Class I-B. All other Class I-A frequencies had only one station in North America with that designation.

I've often wondered about how that sounds in places like Colorado and Wyoming, having two non-directional powerhouses, one 50 kw, one 150 kw, less than 1000 miles to the north and the south. And on 540 no less, the lowest frequency on the conventional AM dial. In the NYC area, there's a 540 licensed to Islip, Long Island. In the daytime, that booms in as far south as Princeton and Manahawkin NJ and as far north as Hartford CT. And that's with only 2500 watts.

 

[cd637299]

For all I know, I understand the protection mandate----but I never hear XEWA. I just don't think they are running the full monty.

I am in south Florida.

cd

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

I've often wondered about how that sounds in places like Colorado and Wyoming, having two non-directional powerhouses, one 50 kw, one 150 kw, less than 1000 miles to the north and the south. And on 540 no less, the lowest frequency on the conventional AM dial.

Likewise with KWMT Fort Dodge, IA--which is directional to the north to protect Canada--while the Milwaukee area's 540 is to the east--but booms as far out as central Illinois, central MO, etc.

 

[w9wi]

Look at the designations in the BASERAD databases. Each has a designation if it is for government use. Look at 98.3 Sarnia for instance. It's always specified that it was for government use. And the Canadian government would have first dibs on 540. No there is no 88-92 reservation if that's what you mean. I may have misspoke about it being an actual auction, but it is a competitive process nonetheless if there is more than one entity that seeks the frequency. Frequencies have often been vacant for years after the government vacated them, and they were very picky and dismissed many applications for often silly reasons.

Those designations don't always seem to be etched in stone. There is precedent for former-CBC AM frequencies to be reused by private stations after the CBC moves to FM. Consider the 740 frequency in Toronto, formerly CBC's CBL but now home to private CFZM. (with the CBC station now on 99.1 FM) Or the 690/940 frequencies in Montreal, formerly CBC's CBF and CBM but now both assigned to private stations, with the CBC on 88.5 and 95.1. I stand by my suggestion the CRTC would have no objection to CKWW-580 moving to 540. (but I also stand by my suggestion CKWW wouldn't ask, for non-regulatory reasons)

There *is* a CBC Long Range Radio Plan, which expects certain FM frequencies to be available for expansion of the four existing OTA networks. And these designations are carried forward into the BASERAD database. However, there are no AM frequencies in that plan. (and I have heard of private applicants requesting frequencies in the LRRP. I don't recall whether they succeeded.)

There is a competitive process for assignment of channels, but it's a far cry from an auction. In a recent proceeding which authorized a new FM station in Toronto, the first factor considered was the applicant's promise to increase diversity in the market by airing an unusual format not currently present.* They also considered whether the station would negatively impact on the bottom line of other Toronto stations, and they considered the applicant's promise to contribute a bit more than $2,000,000 over seven years towards the development of Canadian talent.

So money isn't entirely irrelevant to the process, but it's not the only determining factor (or even the major determining factor) like it is in the U.S..

I might also note that the other two factors -- promising diverse programming, and considering the financial impact on existing stations -- used to be considered in the U.S. as well. Just not in many years.


* not that they can't change formats after getting on the air..........

 

[w9wi]

And on 540 no less, the lowest frequency on the conventional AM dial.

Just FWIW, being low on the dial is really only helpful for groundwave. Which doesn't mean it isn't important -- the vast majority of your ordinary, non-DXer audience is listening to groundwave -- but it does mean that if you're a listener in Oklahoma trying to separate XEWA and CBK via skywave, the low frequency isn't a big deal.

 

[EJ204]

Interesting. So all AM stations are equal in skywave, low on the dial or high? So that means that 640 KFI Los Angeles, the lowest non-directional 50 kw AM station in the U.S., has no better skywave than 1210 WPHT Philadelphia, the highest non-directional 50 kw watt AM station?

Obviously in daytime coverage, KFI is amazing. KFI, at least before they had tower issues a few years ago, could be heard like a local in San Diego, Palm Springs, Bakersfield and Santa Barbara. At 1070, KNX, also 50,000 watts non-directional, didn't pack the same punch as KFI in those other California locations.

Yet at night, I was able to hear KNX while at the Grand Canyon, as easily as I could hear KFI.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

According to the FCC, the skywaves ar equivalent at night throughout the band. Logic would tell you that for a frequency ratio of over three to one, this might not be entirely accurate. During critical hours, the FCC recognizes a definite difference, with stronger skywaves on the higher end of the dial. Look at the very old critical hours rules and you'll see this to be the case. At least you could interpolate the graphs to come up with regional and local freqeuncies critical hours, even though they are not in the rules, only clear channels. Most of us in the area know that the east coast expanded band stations show up first before sunset, along with everything from WQEW to WWRL, and a few minutes later, CHIN. Usually the lower end doesn't show up until almost dark. Highly directional stations in the middle of the band have significant skywave by at least one hour before sunset.

The FCC may have used another skywave graph to generate these rules, but I've never seen it. The permitted radiation would be inversely proportional to the skywave field intensity during critical hours.

 

[radioman148]

I was always under the impression that the stations higher on the dial tended to have the better skywave. As a Chicago area resident I can tell you from my travels in the 60s & early 70s when the frequencies were very clear at night, WBBM & WLS always had the better skywaves than WMAQ & WGN, with WLS being the best in most of my travels around North and Central America.

 

[cd637299]

I was always under the impression that the stations higher on the dial tended to have the better skywave. As a Chicago area resident I can tell you from my travels in the 60s & early 70s when the frequencies were very clear at night, WBBM & WLS always had the better skywaves than WMAQ & WGN, with WLS being the best in most of my travels around North and Central America.

I would think, that the higher an AM frequency is, being closer to the shortwave frequencies, that indeed skywave would be greater.

Back before the TIS's clogged 1610-1700, I was able to hear KXBT Vallejo CA on both 1640 & 1630 (cannot recall which came first), and the LA area 1650. Good thing I checked 'em out before the band became cluttered. I never was able to hear 1620 in WA, though.

cd

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Both Canada and Mexico have Class I-A/Class A status on 540. But the Treaty with Mexico is the reason for the 500 watts night restriction. There have been special exceptions, notably like for WHN 1050 and WGAR 1220 which were originally in NARBA, but it is the general rule. Canada has no such restriction in the Agreement.