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Classical on 950?

cyberdad

cyberdad

3:30am this morning, far northwest suburban Chicago, I certainly wasn't expecting this. Classical music....fair signal....fading in and out, but good enough to be on top of the channel most of the time. SRF 37 Walkman oriented north-south (nulling WWJ). This went on for about fifteen minutes, then some electrical noise started up on the channel. Almost sounded like jamming....which I seriously doubt was the case. But whatever it was, it wiped out what I was hearing and I never caught an ID.

Radio Locator didn't give me any help, so I have two wild guesses....and VERY wild guesses at that! KFSA? Radio Locator shows them as religious. This one used to pop in here on a rather frequent basis....but it's been several years since I've heard them. Classical music on a religious station certainly is not unheard of. Second guess....even more far-fetched....is Cuba. Would the Castro brothers shut down R. Reloj during the pre-dawn hours of a Sunday and fill with classical music? In addition to this second theory being rather implausible, R Reloj on 950 is fairly rare here.

Any ideas?
 
CFAM Altona, MB. Classical/full service/talk format, 10kw.

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
CFAM Altona, MB. Classical/full service/talk format, 10kw.

-crainbebo
Click to expand...

That may solve the mystery. Thanks.

I'm familiar with CFAM from numerous business trips to Winnipeg and adjacent areas of North Dakota and Minnesota. They have an impressive daytime signal, although I don't recall ever having snagged them here at night. They definitely have an old-school "variety" format. Talk, religion, community news, farm, and various music types. (Although I don't specifically recall classical, that would certainly fit in with the rest of the eclectic mix.)

Also the nighttime skywave path between here and Winnipeg has been quite good lately....both for CBW and also for the SRC (French) station on 1050, which has been comfortably on top of the channel more often than not in recent weeks. Altona is south-southwest of Winnipeg....actually not far from the U.S. border.
 
Update: Tried 950 at about 4am today. Classical music (presumably CFAM) was in there but not as strong as a few nights previously. Also present again was the odd noisemaker. I'm assuming the noise was some local electrical issue, but it's unlike anything else I've ever encountered.
 
They have a nice web site (found it through Radio Locator) with the full program schedule. Mainly classical during the overnight hours. Wish I could hear them but the Catholic station is too strong where I live north of Chicago.
 
audioguy said:
They have a nice web site (found it through Radio Locator) with the full program schedule. Mainly classical during the overnight hours. Wish I could hear them but the Catholic station is too strong where I live north of Chicago.
Click to expand...

I also checked the website after Crainbebo unraveled the mystery. I can tell you from having listened to CFAM numerous times on trips to Winnipeg and adjacent areas of northern Minnesota and North Dakota, that this is something of a "thowback" to what small town radio used to be in decades past. "Block Programming" Difference being that this is now the 21st century and the station has a 10kw stick, good dial position, and is parked in an area with fantastic ground conductivity.

Result: Community programming on a monster signal (with a rather heavy dose of paid religion). IMHO running classical music overnights is a nice...if unusual...touch.

BTW, tried 950 again this morning at 4:30am. CFAM was missing, but Winnipeg was still blasting in on both 990 and 1050.
 
The Polar Express from Manitoba to Northern Illinois is back up and running.... This morning at 6am before dawn it was CFRY roaring in on 920 doing a credible impersonation of a local!
 
Try for GX94 on 940. If you hear country, it's them!
 
Will do. Now that Montreal is off, 940 around here is usually WFAW, but they're overpowered frequently and they usually have stuff in the background.
 
Bingo! Picking up CFAM right now, playing Christmas music...underneath more Christmas music, sports and a Glen Beck re-run...

This would be the 2nd Manitoba station for me, the other being Winnipeg's CBC outlet on 990 kHz.


CFAM stream here ~> http://goldenweststreaming.com/cfam_player/index.html

EDIT: CKNB Campbellton, NB is very much in the mix, along with WROC Rochestor NY.

~BG
 
Manitoba is relatively well represented in Northern Illinois. Down through the years in addition to recent catches of CFRY and CFAM, I've snagged CBW on 990 and the 10KW SRC station on 1050 (both regulars), along with CKY (580) and CKRC (630) before they went silent, as well as CJOB (680) and the 730 out of Dauphin. I'm drawing a blank on the call letters of the last one. By no means is it a regular, but its still not all that difficult to pull out of the WGN splatter from time to time.

Also from that neighborhood in adjacent western Ontario....and before they went dark....I've heard CJRL (1220), CFOB (640) and CKPR (580).

Saskatchewan.....other than CBK....is another story!
 
Actually CJGX (known as GX94) http://www.gx94radio.com/ is not that hard to get in Northern Illinois. I often hear them when CFRY is in. Give them a try!

Another interesting one is CKLQ, Brandon (880). Seems to be a little stronger in SW MI than in the Chicago metro.
 
cyberdad said:
Manitoba is relatively well represented in Northern Illinois. Down through the years in addition to recent catches of CFRY and CFAM, I've snagged CBW on 990 and the 10KW SRC station on 1050 (both regulars), along with CKY (580) and CKRC (630) before they went silent, as well as CJOB (680) and the 730 out of Dauphin. I'm drawing a blank on the call letters of the last one. By no means is it a regular, but its still not all that difficult to pull out of the WGN splatter from time to time.

Also from that neighborhood in adjacent western Ontario....and before they went dark....I've heard CJRL (1220), CFOB (640) and CKPR (580).

Saskatchewan.....other than CBK....is another story!
Click to expand...

Does 880 (Brandon) get past WLS? They were plenty loud in Madison, Wis..

For Saskatchewan, I used to hear 1190 and 980 quite a bit. There's a French station on 690 that should be receivable with Montreal off.

730 Dauphin is CKDM.
 
w9wi said:
Does 880 (Brandon) get past WLS? They were plenty loud in Madison, Wis..

For Saskatchewan, I used to hear 1190 and 980 quite a bit. There's a French station on 690 that should be receivable with Montreal off.

730 Dauphin is CKDM.
Click to expand...

I forgot about 880. I've heard it a couple of times. I'm about 65 miles from WLS' stick, so they're not exactly overpowering. For 730, I was thinking CKDM, but I wasn't sure. I do remember from my business trips to Winnipeg that they have a fabulous signal. And yes, as stated earlier, I'll try for 940....but maybe not until after I finish trying to help out Santa Claus these next few days.

As for Saskatchewan, maybe 1190 will be my best bet. Around here, WONE usually blasts in on 980.
 
radioman148 said:
WCBS dominates on 880 for me just north of Chicago.
Click to expand...

Best time to try for Brandon on 880 is in the early morning hours just before local sunrise when WCBS has faded out.
 
audioguy said:
radioman148 said:
WCBS dominates on 880 for me just north of Chicago.
Click to expand...

Best time to try for Brandon on 880 is in the early morning hours just before local sunrise when WCBS has faded out.
Click to expand...

Exactly when I've heard it. And....

(slaps self on forehead), I indicated earlier that CBK is the extent of what I've heard from Saskatchewan. Wrong! Brain cramp! I hear 620 from Regina just about every night under WTMJ. I'm only about 35 miles from WTMJ's stick, but I can null it and have Regina (CKRM?) all alone with a pretty respectable signal. I liked it better when it was oldies CKCK.

BTW, I took a stab at 940 last night. All I came up with was WFAW mixing it up with KPSZ (the former KIOA).
 
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