AM Stereo

[ELL383]

Is there any AM Stereo stations in Canada and is there any U.S. stations broadcasting in AM Stereo?

 

[mjlarochelle]

A slightly dated website lists the following Canadian AM stations as broadcasting in Stereo:

Alberta
CHQT 880 Edmonton
CKMX 1060 Calgary

British Columbia
CKNW 980 New Westminster
CJRJ 1200 Vancouver
CFAX 1070 Victoria

Newfoundland and Labrador
CFCB 570 Corner Brook
VOCM 590 St. John's

Ontario
CJBQ 800 Belleville
CFCO 630 Chatham
CHML 900 Hamilton
CFRA 580 Ottawa
CKPR 580 Thunder Bay (silent since August 2007)

Saskatchewan
CKJH 750 Melfort
CHAB 800 Moose Jaw

A complete list of stations around the world is found at http://meduci.com/stations.html

 

[Yeziknoradio]

When people talk, who cares if it's mono or stereo?
So why is it that 900 CHML is broadcasting in Stereo, while 820 CHAM, a country music station, is not?
I think AM Stereo stations should be music stations of some sort, not talk stations.

 

[ELL383]

When people talk, who cares if it's mono or stereo?
So why is it that 900 CHML is broadcasting in Stereo, while 820 CHAM, a country music station, is not?
I think AM Stereo stations should be music stations of some sort, not talk stations.

I think so too! AM HD radio is mono and sometimes harsh sounding. Over the Christmas holidays I did some AM DXing and could not find any AM stereo stations. 800 CJBQ is weak in Kingston so I'm not sure if they are in stereo. but I did here Christmas music in AM-HD on 700 WLW Cincinnati and 760 WJR DETROIT and 840 WHAS LOUISVILLE.

 

[mjlarochelle]

When people talk, who cares if it's mono or stereo?
So why is it that 900 CHML is broadcasting in Stereo, while 820 CHAM, a country music station, is not?
I think AM Stereo stations should be music stations of some sort, not talk stations.

My guess is that the stations began broadcasting in stereo back when they did have music, and nobody has bothered making any changes since.

 

[KyDXIn]

I remember listening to AM Stereo stations in my grandmother's Alliant K car back in the late 80's, and even distant stations sounded good. WSM and WJR had a good signal here in Louisville back then.

 

[ELL383]

I remember listening to AM Stereo stations in my grandmother's Alliant K car back in the late 80's, and even distant stations sounded good. WSM and WJR had a good signal here in Louisville back then.

ooh the old dodge radios with AM-STEREO they sounded great. 650 WSM what a powerhouse! They where also playing Christmas music but I never seem to get it in HD.

 

[mimo]

I had a couple of AM stereo radios at one time. The sound was much better than FM, and so was the separation. CJVB 1470 had the most unbelievable separation. Someone told me that C-Quam was actually 4 channel stereo. I did notice that not only was there left and right separation, there also seemed to be front and back, even on a 2 speaker system.

I noticed when I bought my first receiver when I lived in Vancouver in 1987 and going through the dial...CJVB seemed to really jump out at you and the separation made the speakers sound even further apart than they were. CKLG was not in C-Quam so I ended up listening to 1040 instead (which to me was a better station). When I moved to Calgary years later I would listen to 630 CHED in stereo from Edmonton instead of local AM 106 in mono. AM 106 didn't go stereo until 1991. CHED went stereo in 1983.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

When people talk, who cares if it's mono or stereo?
So why is it that 900 CHML is broadcasting in Stereo, while 820 CHAM, a country music station, is not?
I think AM Stereo stations should be music stations of some sort, not talk stations.

My guess is that the stations began broadcasting in stereo back when they did have music, and nobody has bothered making any changes since.

I guess that might be possible, but CHML, even with some music content in the 80's, always seemed to be very talk driven, and therefore maintaining no need to go Stereo.

(Unless you can count the sports they covered as needing stereo sound...? ??? )

 

[mjlarochelle]

When people talk, who cares if it's mono or stereo?
So why is it that 900 CHML is broadcasting in Stereo, while 820 CHAM, a country music station, is not?
I think AM Stereo stations should be music stations of some sort, not talk stations.

My guess is that the stations began broadcasting in stereo back when they did have music, and nobody has bothered making any changes since.

I guess that might be possible, but CHML, even with some music content in the 80's, always seemed to be very talk driven, and therefore maintaining no need to go Stereo.

(Unless you can count the sports they covered as needing stereo sound...? ??? )

Perhaps CHML engineers have only kept it operational as a hobby. Look how many Canadian stations still operate shortwave transmitters even though so few people have shortwave receivers - CFRX in Toronto seems to be there for no reason other than for hobbyists these days.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Perhaps CHML engineers have only kept it operational as a hobby. Look how many Canadian stations still operate shortwave transmitters even though so few people have shortwave receivers - CFRX in Toronto seems to be there for no reason other than for hobbyists these days.

Well, I suppose that may be possible. CFRX took two years off, then returned in 2008, according to this site: http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2536

 

[KyDXIn]

When people talk, who cares if it's mono or stereo?

Perhaps CHML engineers have only kept it operational as a hobby. Look how many Canadian stations still operate shortwave transmitters even though so few people have shortwave receivers - CFRX in Toronto seems to be there for no reason other than for hobbyists these days.

Is there any additional operating expense to broadcasting in stereo?

 

[ELL383]

Is there any additional operating expense to broadcasting in stereo? No only the equipment and cost to install and maintain. I was told that the transmitting antenna and grounding have to be in good shape and tuned or it distorts and in mono it's not as inportent

 

[KyDXIn]

Is there any additional operating expense to broadcasting in stereo? No only the equipment and cost to install and maintain. I was told that the transmitting antenna and grounding have to be in good shape and tuned or it distorts and in mono it's not as inportent

I just wondered if it required more electricity to broadcast in stereo.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

Is there any additional operating expense to broadcasting in stereo? No only the equipment and cost to install and maintain. I was told that the transmitting antenna and grounding have to be in good shape and tuned or it distorts and in mono it's not as inportent

I just wondered if it required more electricity to broadcast in stereo.

If it's a hot summer's day and you plug in a fan instead of using an air conditioner, there's money saved, but I doubt that going stereo is eating up so much that we can compare in this fashion.