That explains a lot. It sounds horrifically bad, even when you’re near the broadcasting site. 710 and 1000 come in loud and clear (despite being far away), while 1550 sounds like it’s barely even there. I doubt anyone can even hear it in Surrey. I can’t hear anything from my place.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Problems At KVRI 1600 (Vancouver, BC)
- Thread starter SomeRadioGuy
- Start date
they dont overload radios here.. but some days its close... .1350 or so miles away
Audio:
(the audio under them is KGYM Cedar Rapids, IA)
Very very true. I don’t think there’s any tangible listeners anywhere south of their transmitter, ironically. With the population of Punjabi speakers growing, business may be better than ever for all I know.
It amazes me the owner of KWLE retains it. Not that I'd say buying them was a wise business decision, but someone must not mind losing money on something that rarely functions and has likely no monetizable audience.
I think the main selling point was 1110am, and I believe 1340 and 1110 were a package deal at the time of the sale. 1110 was upgraded (as much as it possibly could), giving it SOME use on the Canadian side of the border. I’m not sure why 1340 is still around, unless they are using it to target Victoria, which could be a remote possibility.
From my reception via the Orcas Island KiwiSDR and others:
Here's the Bellingham South Asian AM flamethrower update (1550, 1600). AM 1600 seems to have temporarily fixed their low audio problems but things are still inconsistent with 1550. KWLE Anacortes, the sister station of KRPA , finally has returned with audio on 1340. KWLE's audio tends to drop for several months at a time. KWLE remains a "graveyarder" at 1 kw.
Here's the Bellingham South Asian AM flamethrower update (1550, 1600). AM 1600 seems to have temporarily fixed their low audio problems but things are still inconsistent with 1550. KWLE Anacortes, the sister station of KRPA , finally has returned with audio on 1340. KWLE's audio tends to drop for several months at a time. KWLE remains a "graveyarder" at 1 kw.
1550 still sounds pretty bad every time that I've landed upon it. It's extremely weak, which leads me to believe that there are quite a few issues at the transmission site in Ferndale. On the contrary, 1600 sounds normal.
I noticed KWLE having audio a few days ago. I thought somebody finally got on their case for that. That dead air is totally inexcusable. Can't pay the PROs? Run Old Time Radio. Get the signal doing something if they're going to waste money anyway.
KWLE is really not that strong on Vancouver Island. And prone to the post-sunset graveyard mush (and KLOO is the fiercest one by far on 1340 kHz, often overriding KWLE even in Mount Vernon.)
KWLE is really not that strong on Vancouver Island. And prone to the post-sunset graveyard mush (and KLOO is the fiercest one by far on 1340 kHz, often overriding KWLE even in Mount Vernon.)
I think it’s a huge waste of money to continue operating KWLE at this point. The target audience they would like to reach can’t hear anything on 1340. It might (keyword might) work as something hyper local (and targeted toward Whidby Island), but it can’t adequately reach the listeners it needs to reach.
On the other hand, 1110 is a bit of a darkhorse surprise. I regularly can hear at my place in the lower mainland. It doesn’t sound great, but if someone wanted to listen to it, they could. I would imagine it sounds decent if you tried to listen to it in Victoria.
Agreed, KRPA does have good daytime coverage in much of the Lower Mainland, albeit not great. KWLE would make a good testbed for HD radio. You can hear KRPA on the Saltspring Island SDR located east of Duncan BC so I imagine it hits Victoria okay. Clearly the target remains Surrey and surroundings.
I'm not sure how realistic it is for Surrey listeners to tune in, but they probably could if they really wanted to. With that being said, I think there's a growing population of Punjabi speakers in Victoria over the past few years. Perhaps they're the ones who are listening to 1110, since I doubt the other border blasters (1550 and 1600) are reaching them. Those signals are too directional, and leave Victoria out of the blast radius.
1110 is a dark horse. Period. You won't believe how close they came to being deleted in the late 1990s
You can't help but give a lot of credit to the ownership group on this one. When the sale was originally announced, I saw absolutely zero potential in 1110. However, they've made it into something useable by upgrading it. I'm not sure how long it will truly be viable (or if it receives the number of listeners they were hoping to reach), but it's an audible signal in a few key areas with a Punjabi speaking population.
KWLE might have some worth due to the fact it has a translator in Bellingham. There's a few things that could be done with that. It wouldn't be a gold mine but it's not entirely worthless. Thing is, would this owner ever sell? It seems odd to me you'd just own something with some value that declines every year, and just let it sit there while you pay fees and expenses on it. Fix it or let it go.
1110 is totally and absolutely a Victoria station. Heard 4 ads in a row last time I listened, all places with Victoria addresses/phone numbers. For now, at least, it serves it's purpose. Meanwhile, 1340's FM translator hasn't been on for years, as far as I can tell.
I completely forgot about the translator in Bellingham. If they could get that up and running (as I believe it’s currently off), they might have something worth running or selling. Perhaps that is their intention, but it just hasn’t worked out so far.
I suspect that 1110 might be the only solution for targeting Victoria. I can’t really think of any frequencies (on AM or FM) that would be available for them to establish a new radio station. Victoria is sandwiched between Vancouver and Seattle so it would be challenging. One option would be to look into purchasing 980 from Corus after they shut it down, but if their goal is to target Victoria listeners, that might not be worth it. On the other hand, if they want to target lower mainland listeners instead, it would absolutely be worth it.
I think Victoria is serviced (somewhat) by the Vancouver AMs that broadcast Indian programming. But 1110 may actually sound better since the power is directed towards Victoria. I’m sure nobody is listening to Indian programming on Red FM (93.1). KISM is right next door with a flamethrower HD signal.
When KRPI attempted to re-locate to Point Roberts , one of the changes was to be a nighttime increase to 50 kw. So, why did not KRPI attempt that nighttime upgrade at their current Ferndale site? (Yes, I am aware they have ongoing issues with their antenna phasing box.) Apparently tower height and blanketing interference over Canada were some of the "local opposition" claims up at Point Roberts.
(Yes, both American-side AMs 1550 and 1600 still have low audio. Only KBAI 930 has lower audio - Ha!
(Yes, both American-side AMs 1550 and 1600 still have low audio. Only KBAI 930 has lower audio - Ha!