CBK/540

[cyberdad]

I'm just back from a 4-day three night road trip through the upper Midwest.  Started in Sioux Falls, finished in Minneapolis.  Lots of car time.

I think most of us here are aware that CBK has an impressive signal.  At 50kw on 540 in an area with superb ground conductivity, how could it not?  But experiencing it first hand truly drives home the point.

In Winnipeg, at a distance of over 200 miles, CBK is hardly a daytime local.  But the signal is rock-solid, very listenable, and still strong enough to trip the "scan" button in the rental car radio.  Driving south....mid-day Wednesday...I had an audible signal all the way to Detroit Lakes, MN.  That's about 220 miles directly south of Winnipeg and 160 miles south of the U.S.-Canada border!

About 50-60 miles southeast of Detroit Lakes (on U.S. 10), another 540 faded in.  One that I don't remember hearing before.  At first I thought perhaps KWMT had changed formats.  But no, this turned out to be WXYG, "The Goat".  Sounded like they were testing.  Basically album cuts...sort of a cross between AC oldies and classic rock.  Pretty good music.  Pretty lousy audio.

According to Radio Locator, WXYG is operating on a CP issued in 2007, and broadcasts from the St. Cloud area.  1kw day. 250 watts night directional (day and night both). I presume the juice is beamed northeast to protect CBK and KWMT, as well as perhaps KFYR.  I spent the night in St. Cloud, and the nighttime signal at my hotel sounded reasonably strong.  The next morning, it was pretty well gone by the time I got to Minneapolis....about 60 miles to the southeast. 

Anyone know anything about this one?

 

[jd]

According to the latest FCC information, they're 250 watts day and night. And since Radio-Locator hasn't caught up yet, here's the day pattern for WXYG, showing somewhat of an east-west orientation: http://transition.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/1405700-113092.pdf

At night it's more or less aimed to the south: http://transition.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/1405700-113093.pdf

 

[cyberdad]

Thanks, jd.

The day pattern for WXYG makes sense. 

And since my original post, I had seen where they're actually 250w full time (and not 1kw day/250w night).  But I'm a little puzzled about the nighttime pattern.  Even though the night pattern is aimed right at KWMT, I can understand why the probably aren't obligated to protect them.  Where the "surprise" comes in for me, is that this is also aimed right at Mexico.  I'd think they would need to protect XEWA, but I guess they could be far enough away for 250 watts not to be considered a problem.

As for Radio Locator not being caught up, they're still showing as WXYG being a CP that's not on the air.  They're almost correct about the latter!   ;D  It sounds like an iPod connected to a not particularly well set up transmitter.  In addition to pretty bad audio, I'd have expected them to put more of a signal into Minneapolis less than 50 miles away....even with just 250 watts.

 

[jd]

Where the "surprise" comes in for me, is that this is also aimed right at Mexico. I'd think they would need to protect XEWA, but I guess they could be far enough away for 250 watts not to be considered a problem.

I'll defer to the consulting engineers on this one, but much depends on the angle of radiation. From what I can see, while it may skip over KWMT it still supposedly stops short of colliding with XEWA at more than acceptable levels. Note that KWMT isn't even mentioned in the night interference study; that's because they're a class D (running less than 250 watts at night) and aren't entitled to protection.

It sounds like an iPod connected to a not particularly well set up transmitter.

Since the modified CP was only approved several months ago it sounds like they've still got a lot of testing to do.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Like you said, KWMT is a Class D. What is the NIF of WXYG? I would think that CBK is a primary contributor to that. They only have to protect the border, not the 0.5 mV/m 50% skywave contour, to 25 uV/m 10% skywave, and in some cases, if the ratio is 20/1 at the border with a higher contour and interference level, they could even have more than 25 uV/m in some cases, though I think the Mexican authorities would move slowly on approving that.

 

[stacker]

The night signal pointing south away from Canada..nothing they have to protect to the south except the Mexican border.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

In fact, the application does show that an undesired to desired study was performed using consecutive 20/1 (26 dB) interference zones. They demonstrate that the interference area is in the United States and not in Mexico. But it does slow down processing, as it is out of the ordinary. The NIF is 11.7 mV/m, contributed by CBK and XEWA.

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=101405700&qnum=5160&copynum=1&exhcnum=1

 

[Tincap]

I'm still hoping to snag this puppy, extending my reach beyond Manitoba. Not that my attempts to bag CBK have been total frustration, as last season I did manage to catch Hungary's MR1 on 540, in the process.

~BG

 

[gar hi]

Wow, I never thought of looking to get 540 CBK here in Florida because WFLF near Orlando dominates the frequency but it does fade in and out and would be right in a null if the radio was directed at CBK.

I'll have to try when we get closer to fall.

That would be an awesome catch at more than 1900 miles.

CFZM 740 is so far the only station from Canada I've gotten here in Tampa.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EFKuDkywPk

 

[Goldilocks94941]

I can hear CBK on AM540 with a steady signal at night in and around Seattle - despite most of the massive interference from buzzing electrical wires, traffic signals, etc. Used to have it on a car preset, and I might do it again when we get back into the long cloudy nights of winter again - next month!

I'm not sure of the distance in miles, but we are two time zones away, and the signal also has to make it past the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades to be heard in metro Seattle. Can't listen to it in Vancouver BC, 100 miles north of me, because of an American time-brokered religious station on 550, directionalized toward metro Vancouver just over this side of the border.

I listen to CBK for CBC newscasts, etc, when I think of it, since the local 50kw'er CBU AM690 is splattered on to the point of being unlistenable some of the time by a local Seattle station on AM710, even tho' the transmitter is still some 25 miles south of me. And the interference from the big Tijuana station on 690 has always torn up the CBU signal all the way into central Alaska.

 

[cyberdad]

Wow, I never thought of looking to get 540 CBK here in Florida because WFLF near Orlando dominates the frequency but it does fade in and out and would be right in a null if the radio was directed at CBK.

I'll have to try when we get closer to fall.

That would be an awesome catch at more than 1900 miles.

CFZM 740 is so far the only station from Canada I've gotten here in Tampa.

Gar....

While you're at it, you might want to try 990 for CBW out of Winnipeg. I realize you'd have another Orlando there, but again CBW would also be right in the null. As posted in another thread, I've snagged that one in Pensacola. CBW has a good signal, which I think would be capable of making the hop from there across the Gulf to you.

As for CBK, I've never heard them in Pensacola (XEWA dominates...without much more than an occasional trace of WFLF). But I have also heard CBK several times in Seattle and even in Vancouver under semi-local KARI/550. I could almost call KARI a local for Vancouver, since the stick is right near the border, only about 10-15 miles (via a mostly saltwater patch) from the Vancouver AM sticks.

 

[Goldilocks94941]

Another 50kw CBC station that really seems to carry better than its neighboring counterparts on the AM dial is the one on 1010 from Calgary. I can't pick it up in Seattle due to splatter from 1000 KOMO, but it came it pretty clearly, even during afternoon hours, on a drive across southern Wyoming in December a few years back. Was able to listen to it for a LONG distance even during midday hours. Some sort of different skywave than I'm used to hearing, for it to have come in that far from Alberta more than a couple of hours before sunset. Heard it across Idaho, too.

 

[radioman148]

Another 50kw CBC station that really seems to carry better than its neighboring counterparts on the AM dial is the one on 1010 from Calgary. I can't pick it up in Seattle due to splatter from 1000 KOMO, but it came it pretty clearly, even during afternoon hours, on a drive across southern Wyoming in December a few years back. Was able to listen to it for a LONG distance even during midday hours. Some sort of different skywave than I'm used to hearing, for it to have come in that far from Alberta more than a couple of hours before sunset. Heard it across Idaho, too.

Calgary is pretty far north so it's no surprise to me that you'd get good skywave before dark in December.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

It amazes me that with how incredible the CBK signal is (it's audible on a car radio at Mt Rushmore in the day!) yet I've never heard a peep out of it in Indiana at night. It's like it's a daytime lion but a relative kitten where skywave is concerned.

 

[radioman148]

It amazes me that with how incredible the CBK signal is (it's audible on a car radio at Mt Rushmore in the day!) yet I've never heard a peep out of it in Indiana at night. It's like it's a daytime lion but a relative kitten where skywave is concerned.

I have heard it in Illinois at night, but not in a long time.

 

[cyberdad]

It amazes me that with how incredible the CBK signal is (it's audible on a car radio at Mt Rushmore in the day!) yet I've never heard a peep out of it in Indiana at night. It's like it's a daytime lion but a relative kitten where skywave is concerned.

I have heard it in Illinois at night, but not in a long time.

Really? Wow.

As you know, I'm only about 30 miles west of you, and I hear CBK just about every night. Usually....but not always...it involves nulling WAUK. Even when its under WAUK, it's still a fairly easy catch. Last December, I spent a few nights at an event at a resort in Elkhart Lake, WI. That's maybe 25-30 miles north of the WAUK stick. Admittedly the wrong direction for WAUK, but CBK was totally trashing it.

 

[cd637299]

I heard CBK from south FL in the 70s, and it was quite audible, but never have bothered since then. Would love to go to Yellowstone Park one day and check on how it sounds from there, or if it is there in the day.

In 1976 I sent a QSL letter to CBR 1010 describing what I heard, and got a QSL card! But even today I doubt myself on that one.

DXn AM at night here is just not worth the headaches. The only Canadian that can eke a signal here now is CFZM 740.

cd

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

CBK has a short tower, only about 96 degrees, which gives it less inverse field than a typical Class I Class A installation. I used to hear it in Michigan before CBEF came on about 1969, but rarely since.

WYLO 540 Jackson, now WAUK, used to be listed in the Chicago Tribune/Chicago American Radio Station Guide. I found it interesting that it was only 250 watts at the time, and had a decent signal.

 

[radioman148]

It amazes me that with how incredible the CBK signal is (it's audible on a car radio at Mt Rushmore in the day!) yet I've never heard a peep out of it in Indiana at night. It's like it's a daytime lion but a relative kitten where skywave is concerned.

I have heard it in Illinois at night, but not in a long time.

Really? Wow.

As you know, I'm only about 30 miles west of you, and I hear CBK just about every night. Usually....but not always...it involves nulling WAUK. Even when its under WAUK, it's still a fairly easy catch. Last December, I spent a few nights at an event at a resort in Elkhart Lake, WI. That's maybe 25-30 miles north of the WAUK stick. Admittedly the wrong direction for WAUK, but CBK was totally trashing it.

Must be me not trying hard enough. I'll try to null WAUK harder next time. If you're getting it I should still hear it.

 

[radioman148]

CBK has a short tower, only about 96 degrees, which gives it less inverse field than a typical Class I Class A installation. I used to hear it in Michigan before CBEF came on about 1969, but rarely since.

WYLO 540 Jackson, now WAUK, used to be listed in the Chicago Tribune/Chicago American Radio Station Guide. I found it interesting that it was only 250 watts at the time, and had a decent signal.

Before the days of 540 in Jackson, Wi, KWMT was a regular visitor on my daytime radio dial.