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KISM 92.9 Bellingham

R

RF101

One big FM signal in Northwest Washington is KISM 92.9 from Mt Constitution, Orcas Island. The station normally runs HD with KGMI News/Talk on HD2 and "The Bay" classic hits on HD3 (the former KBAI). Right now the HD is down and perhaps it's on lower power as well.

Without the KISM HD splatter, most radios in the area can now Vancouver's CKYE "Red FM", a mainly South-Asian station. Mostly formatted in Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, on the weekends things get "wider." There's even Fijian and Hungarian block programming.

Schedule

vancouver.redfm.ca vancouver.redfm.ca
 
KISM does indeed seem to be on a lower power or secondary transmitter currently. One week ago the carrier kept kicking off, so I am thinking they are in repair mode and therefore this is a good time to listen to Red. The authorized KISM aux is only 680 watts, though of course they could be on reduced power on their main.

As far as RED-FM goes, like all Canadian croadcasters who specialize in languages other than English or French programming, they are licensed as Multi-Cultural. As such, they have limitation on how much of their programming can be of any one language. They tend to fulfill the secondary language requirements in less commercially important times like late nights and weekends.
 
The dxing community can rejoice, since this might be their golden opportunity to hear 93.1 anywhere south of the border (where CKYE is normally completely overpowered by KISM).

I noticed that there were some issues with KISM the other week. I normally listen to KISM on my way to (and from) work in the lower mainland, but at certain points I was getting spillover from CKYE instead of KISM. That must have been when they were having issues with the main transmitter, since (as The New Chico stated) the carrier seemed to just completely drop out. If they are running low power from their auxiliary transmitter, I would be none the wiser. This past week, the dropouts have disappeared and they sound crystal clear around where I live. Not bad at all for an auxiliary transmitter.

When KISM is at full power, CKYE is pretty choppy. In recent years, Red FM has had to add a repeater in Surrey on 89.1, which they now advertise as being their "main" frequency. I guess they figured that there was no hope in overcoming the interference.
 
Let's face it, the large majority of their cusotmer base is in the Surrey/Richmond/Burnaby area, so having the 250 watt translator right in the neighborhood makes a whole lot of sense. Even with 8000 watts, the Mt. Seymour "main" is a long ways from home on a comprimised fequency. And I call it compromised without the HD interference. It is a directional signal in five diffeerent directions to protect co-channels in Princeton, Lytton and Cmpbell River BC. It is also limited becuase of 1st adjacent protections in Pt. Alberni BC and the aforementioend KISM on the US side. It was really short-spaced.
 
The New Chico said:
Let's face it, the large majority of their cusotmer base is in the Surrey/Richmond/Burnaby area, so having the 250 watt translator right in the neighborhood makes a whole lot of sense. Even with 8000 watts, the Mt. Seymour "main" is a long ways from home on a comprimised fequency. And I call it compromised without the HD interference. It is a directional signal in five diffeerent directions to protect co-channels in Princeton, Lytton and Cmpbell River BC. It is also limited becuase of 1st adjacent protections in Pt. Alberni BC and the aforementioend KISM on the US side. It was really short-spaced.
Click to expand...
Without a doubt, you're listening to Red FM on 89.1 if you're in Surrey. The engineers must have known what they were doing when they built CKYE, because I wouldn't say it sounds "bad" around the area. There is interference, but I would still call it listenable. I've definitely heard worse. Neither 93.1 or 104.3 are listenable after you get across the border though. From an engineering standpoint, that sounds like a success (with the only unfortunate part being the fact that the core population they want to service is most concentrated in Surrey, thus the repeater).

104.3 sounds a bit better. The KAFE null to the north helps, but it's still short spaced. It's not as easy to hear KAFE on the north side of the border as it used to be. It doesn't really make a difference for their bottom line (luckily), but it's noticeable for a listener. Even with the null, KAFE is still crystal clear where I live on Lulu Island.

All in all, it's a very unique situation. Mount Constitution is a great site the broadcasters who use it. Combine the height with enough power, and you can easily reach most of Seattle and Vancouver at the same time.
 
bobdavcav said:
I don't understand how 93.1 and 104.3 in the lower mainland were even granted. Domestically, the FCC would never grant such an arrangement.
Click to expand...
That's what makes this situation so unique. I can't think of any other examples of where you have stations short spaced like this (outside of some areas of the northeast, like New York and Philadelphia perhaps). But even that is not as extreme. You could be looking at one tower site from the other tower site in this scenario.
 
bobdavcav said:
I don't understand how 93.1 and 104.3 in the lower mainland were even granted. Domestically, the FCC would never grant such an arrangement.
Click to expand...
104.3 was originally granted as 104.1. They swapped with KAFE 104.3 to facilitate the 104.5 allotment in Covington WA.

Cannot speak to the 93.1, however. Other than the feds up north really do try to facilitate alterantive langauge programming when they can. I suppose it might help CKYE a little if 92.9 adopted the "experimental" uneven sidebands that others have used. I do know they don;t use the whole -10dB availabe- I beleive they run the HD at -14.
 
That is accurate. I remember the day of the frequency swap, hard to believe that was 15 years ago already. The question is still valid though, how was this approved? Speaking of things up there that I don't understand, how was 100.3 Victoria to 100.5 Vancouver approved? When CKPM was granted, that station was limited to 1 KW to protect 98.5 Victoria, which is a smaller signal than 100.3. That 100.3 is a blowtorch, putting a good signal into the lower mainland. I've never been to Vancouver proper, but I've taken the ferry from the mainland over to Vancouver Island a couple of times, and 100.3 has a good signal even at the ferry dock on the mainland side. In fact, that signal was solid everywhere we went on that trip, all the way up to Mill Bay, BC and in Victoria itself.
 
In Canada if you own both frequencies that could interfere with each other, you can apply for a waiver. Which Pattison did for 100.3 Victoria and 100.5 Vancouver. Some time later Pattison swapped 100.5 with the community station at 102.7 (CFRO.) The waiver is still in force. Pattison did some experimantation with HD on 100.3 a couple years ago but found they could not protect 100.5 effectively so gave up on the effort.

100.3 Victoria IS a Class C blowtorch, but they are far enough away from CFRO physically that it doesn't seem to be a huge issue for either station.
 
No longer in much of Snohomish County...thanks to KBLE (K262CX). The Q is a great station and gets out far too well.
 
I’d probably much put 100.3 and 92.9 on equal footing when it comes to reception in the Vancouver area. The Q is a blowtorch, but it’s located at a lower height than KISM. With that being said, you can easily listen to both stations around the area if you want to.

The height seems to be more of an advantage for KISM when it comes to reaching Seattle. Mount Constitution is positioned well to hit all of the key areas they would ever need to service. Before the KBLE translator signed on, you could certainly hear 100.3 as well, but with a bit more signal loss.
 
bobdavcav said:
That is accurate. I remember the day of the frequency swap, hard to believe that was 15 years ago already. The question is still valid though, how was this approved? Speaking of things up there that I don't understand, how was 100.3 Victoria to 100.5 Vancouver approved? When CKPM was granted, that station was limited to 1 KW to protect 98.5 Victoria, which is a smaller signal than 100.3. That 100.3 is a blowtorch, putting a good signal into the lower mainland. I've never been to Vancouver proper, but I've taken the ferry from the mainland over to Vancouver Island a couple of times, and 100.3 has a good signal even at the ferry dock on the mainland side. In fact, that signal was solid everywhere we went on that trip, all the way up to Mill Bay, BC and in Victoria itself.
Click to expand...
100.3 is rock solid anywhere near the the water. The tower is located just across the Georgia Strait. It does degrade a bit as you move into the more populated areas to the east though.
 
I know this is a radio board but I notice that Vancouver's CTV CIVT-32 seems to have real inconsistent reception where I live. Is there a long-standing transmitter issue or is it just the famed cross-border Puget Sound propagation at work?
 
bobdavcav said:
I don't understand how 93.1 and 104.3 in the lower mainland were even granted. Domestically, the FCC would never grant such an arrangement.
Click to expand...
According to the US-Canada agreement, a station in Canada has to protect the reception of US stations on the territory of the United States (but not on the territory of Canada, even if the protected contour includes Canadian territory) and vice versa. Stations can accept interference from existing cross-border stations, but they can't cause any new interference.
 
RF101 said:
One big FM signal in Northwest Washington is KISM 92.9 from Mt Constitution, Orcas Island. The station normally runs HD with KGMI News/Talk on HD2 and "The Bay" classic hits on HD3 (the former KBAI). Right now the HD is down and perhaps it's on lower power as well.

Without the KISM HD splatter, most radios in the area can now Vancouver's CKYE "Red FM", a mainly South-Asian station. Mostly formatted in Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu, on the weekends things get "wider." There's even Fijian and Hungarian block programming.

Schedule

vancouver.redfm.ca vancouver.redfm.ca
Click to expand...
My mid 1970s Kenwood 6000 in the garage gets CKYE in Mount Vernon regularly, as well as 100.5 and 104.3 like rimshots.
 
fordranger797 said:
100.3 is rock solid anywhere near the the water. The tower is located just across the Georgia Strait. It does degrade a bit as you move into the more populated areas to the east though.
Click to expand...
Oh, so it's not on Vancouver Island at all? I thought it was located off of 1 at the top of the hill between Victoria and Mill Bay. If that's not where it is, that would be a great location for an FM transmitter, but perhaps getting power up there would be a challenge. Is CBCV also located on the same tower? That signal is also pretty solid around Seattle, though only running 6 KW, not nearly as good as 100.3. It's also not as loud as 100.3 even in Victoria. They must have the modulation turned down a bit on 90.5.
 
bobdavcav said:
Oh, so it's not on Vancouver Island at all? I thought it was located off of 1 at the top of the hill between Victoria and Mill Bay. If that's not where it is, that would be a great location for an FM transmitter, but perhaps getting power up there would be a challenge. Is CBCV also located on the same tower? That signal is also pretty solid around Seattle, though only running 6 KW, not nearly as good as 100.3. It's also not as loud as 100.3 even in Victoria. They must have the modulation turned down a bit on 90.5.
Click to expand...
Actually you’re correct, that is where the transmitter is located. It’s a great location, but I’m not sure how the engineering folks would feel about that site. The other Victoria FM’s use a tower site that’s located in a neighborhood on the west side of town. It’s probably a lot easier to access, though the footprint for 100.3 is much (much) larger.

With the prime location on Malahat ridge, you can easily listen to 100.3 in a lot of the surrounding areas.
 
Bongwater said:
My mid 1970s Kenwood 6000 in the garage gets CKYE in Mount Vernon regularly, as well as 100.5 and 104.3 like rimshots.
Click to expand...
Hah! I get them all better than the Bellingham class Cs, and I am IN Bellingham according to the postal service. I do, however, live in a pretty deep valley with aboout 3000 (Lookout Mtn.) feet of basalt between me and Mt. Costitution/ Malahat. SO there's that.
 


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