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CBEF 540
- Thread starter Icangelp
- Start date
It could be on the Canadian equivalent of an STA, and operating nondirectional with reduced power, or with a directional pattern at variance to the licensed parameters.
Schroedingers Cat said:
I readily admit that I don't know, but based on casual observation during my being in Michigan and Ontario the week before last, you may be on to something. Specifically, CBEF seemed weaker than previously in some areas. I didn't spend much time on 540, so I didn't check it out in any detail.
As for the English sister AM, CBE, being shut down. There are other areas (most notably Toronto), where the English service has gone to FM, but the French continues on AM. Long story short...and we discussed this in another thread....where the French-speakers are significantly in the minority, and there's French AM with a big signal, it makes more sense to leave the AM operating. Both from an economic and spectrum space standpoint. CBEF (on it's normal pattern) covers a wide swath of Southwestern Ontario.
As always, I stand to be corrected. Perhaps Tincap, Mimo, or one of the other Canadian regulars can fill in any blanks and/or correct me if/as needed.
I thought I read somewhere that CBEF will remain on AM and the FM will be changed into a nested repeater. I think what Cyber has said was probably the reasoning behind it. It would make much more sense to actually switch those CBCs back to AM and free up a LOT of frequencies for other use, not to mention the cost in buying, installing and maintaining so many transmitters for one small area.
mimo said:
Yes, that's what I've heard as well -- that 540 will remain on the air.
The reason for moving the CBCs to FM is the same as why we're seeing a flood of U.S. news/talk stations moving to FM: the signals are simply better in the typical noisy home/urban environment, and fewer and fewer people are bothering to try AM. That, and in most cases the CBC already has an available transmission site & antenna, it doesn't cost much to add another frequency.
I would imagine there are a couple of reasons why some of them haven't flipped to FM:
- It would take too many FMs (too much $$) to replicate the AM coverage.
(990/540/1010/740 in the Prairies)
- There aren't enough frequencies available for enough FMs to replicate the AM coverage.
(Windsor 540, Toronto 860)
- Terrain is impossible for FM.
(Vancouver 690, various transmitters in NL,. maybe CBI?)
I'd be VERY surprised if any of those that have gone FM go back to AM.
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jd: "Nested Repeaters" are FM relay stations that operate fully within the coverage area of the AM station they relay. Examples include:
102.3 & 105.5 Windsor (relaying 1550 & 540 respectively. I believe the former was never built, and it's definitely unnecessary today due to 97.5.)
89.3 & 90.5 Winnipeg (relaying 990 & 1050 respectively)
99.1 Calgary (relaying 1010)
Contrast with straight "repeaters" which relay a signal (AM or FM) into an area beyond the coverage of the station being relayed. Examples would include 89.9 Paris (relays 90.3 Toronto), 106.3 Peterborough (relays 860 Toronto), and 99.5 Brandon, Manitoba. (relays Winnipeg 1050)
jd said:
The term in Canada is "transmitter". Here in the States a license for a broadcasting station generally authorizes only one transmitter*. In Canada, a license may cover more than one transmitter. Both "nested" and "regular" repeaters are possible.
* VERY recently, the FCC has begun to authorize TV stations to use multiple transmitters under one license, either "digital replacement translators" or "distributed transmission systems". I think KAID Boise has both. Also, you can get a permit for an emergency backup "auxiliary" transmitter.
...also, there's the case of an "emergency repeater." KSKY 660 has three of them on FM around the Dallas-Fort Worth area due to supposedly well documented interference from two Mexican stations. While these might resemble translators, all within the coverage area of the AM station, the Dallas facility runs well over the 250 watts translator maximum at 800 watts ERP!
In the U.S. the rules are very different & so is the terminology...
KSKY's translators are Special Temporary Authority. Basically, within the limits of the Communications Act, the FCC can waive its own rules if it thinks it has good reason to do so. 800-watt translators fall into that category.
KSKY's translators are Special Temporary Authority. Basically, within the limits of the Communications Act, the FCC can waive its own rules if it thinks it has good reason to do so. 800-watt translators fall into that category.
Does WJNT/1180 Pearl(/Jackson) MS still have its nighttime FM repeater, due to interference from Cuba?
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