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Vancouver's 50,000 Watt AM Stations

G

Gregg.

Two stations, both 50,000 watts, owned by Bell Media, signed off the air this week at 1040 and 1410. But that still leaves Vancouver with five AM stations running 50,000 watts and two just over the U.S. border running 50,000 watts in the daytime.

Vancouver has two Class A stations, CKNW and CKWX. Vancouver was a small city when clear channel assignments were given out in the 1930s. So it originally only had Class I-B CKWX. Sometime in recent years, CKNW was also given Class A status.
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(*CBU 690 Vancouver ... Radio One ... CBC. 25,000 watts directional all times. Had been 50,000 watts until a 2017 when a fire damaged the transmitter and power was reduced. It's on a Canadian clear channel frequency reserved for CBF/CKGM Montreal so it was the strongest of Vancouver's stations, easily heard around the Northwestern U.S. at night.)

CKGO 730 Vancouver ... All Traffic ... Corus. 50,000 watts directional all times. 730 is a clear channel frequency reserved for CKAC Montreal and XEX Mexico City. It previously was licensed to North Vancouver.

CKNW 980 Vancouver ... Talk Radio ... Corus. 50,000 watts directional all times. It uses a four tower array. CKNW is unusual in that its frequency, 980 kHz, is a regional channel. Never the less, it got Class A designation in recent years. Previously licensed to New Westminster.

(*CKST 1040 Vancouver ... Comedy ... Bell Media. 50,000 watts directional all times. It went silent on June 14, 2023. Previously licensed to Burnaby.)

CKWX 1130 Vancouver ... All News ... Bell Media. 50,000 watts directional all times. Class A, shared with WBBR NYC and KWKH Shreveport.

(*CKDA 1200 Victoria ... Top 40 ... Capital Broadcasting. 50,000 watts directional all times. Was on the air from 1950 to 2000, when it moved to 91.1 FM and the AM transmitter signed off. Its absence allowed a South Asian broadcaster, CKRJ, to go on the air in Vancouver at 1200 kHz, at 25,000 watts.)

CHMB 1320 Vancouver ... Chinese and other languages ... Mainstream Broadcasting. 50,000 watts directional all times.

(*CFTE 1410 Vancouver ... Business News ... Bell Media. 50,000 watts directional all times. Signed off the air on June 14, 2023.)

CJVB 1470 Vancouver ... Chinese ... Fairchild Group. 50,000 watts directional all times.

KRPI 1550 Ferndale ... South Asian ... BBC Broadcasting. 50,000 watts days, 10,000 watts nights, directional all times. The transmitter is about 10 miles from the Canada-U.S. border.

KVRI 1600 Blaine ... South Asian ... Multicultural Broadcasting. 50,000 watts days, 10,000 watts nights, directional all times. The transmitter is about 4 miles from the Canada-U.S. border.
 
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Good comprehensive list. I would expect the next station to go away will most likely be CBU. CBC has wanted to shut down their AM operations for years, but some folks were adamant about keeping the AM array operational. To be fair, it does have a monster signal (even with 25kw), so it would be a shame to see it go.

CFTE and CKST both shared a modern transmitter site near Delta. I’m not entirely sure about the location exact history of this site, but all of the towers appear to be pretty new. Perhaps another station in town could repurpose the site? It would be a shame to tear it all down.
 
I know the CBC doesn't care much about sending its Radio One signal into the U.S. But it seems in recent years, only 50,000 watt Radio One stations in the West remain on the air. 740 CBL Toronto sold to a commercial broadcaster, 940 CBM Montreal and 1070 CBA Moncton have shut down, and CBE Windsor (Class A but only 10 kW) has been handed off to Ici Radio-Canada, the French broadcaster. With 860 CJBC Toronto still on the air, it's easier to hear Ici Radio-Canada in the Eastern U.S. than the English CBC.

But in the West, you still can hear 540 CBK Watrous-Regina (50 kW), 690 CBU Vancouver (25 kW), 990 CBW Winnipeg (50 kW D/46 kW N) and 1010 CBR Regina (50 kW) at night.
 
AM 690 in Oregon and southward was pretty much dominated by XETRA/XEWW, even when CBU was running 50kw. Today with CBU at 25kw the Mexican station really owns the nighttime 690 dial position. Perhaps now XEWW does not need to power down so much at night thanks to CBU's powercut.
 
Even if CBU shuts down 690 XEWW would still have to "protect" the international allocation of 690 Vancouver.
Mexico could negotiate relaxation of the protection with Canada but would they bother?
690 Tijuana doesn't protect Vancouver all that much in the first place.
 
Ahh, yes, 1010 CBR is in Calgary. 540 CBK is Watrous-Regina. Both are still 50,000 watt clear channel signals. airing CBC Radio One.
 
My personal opinion-

A key question is what happens domestically and internationally when a radio station licensee stops broadcasting. Most radio spectrum stakeholders have an opinion. This aspect of international relations and diplomacy is low priority in the big picture. It must be frustrating for someone operating an AM station protecting a Canada or Mexico allocation apparently unlikely of being used again.
 
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Gregg. said:
Ahh, yes, 1010 CBR is in Calgary. 540 CBK is Watrous-Regina. Both are still 50,000 watt clear channel signals. airing CBC Radio One.
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Has CBK always been licensed to Watrous? I thought it was in Regina when I dxed over 40 years ago. I don't remember Watrous at all!
 
semoochie said:
Has CBK always been licensed to Watrous? I thought it was in Regina when I dxed over 40 years ago. I don't remember Watrous at all!
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CBK goes back to 1939 and has always been in Watrous. The 50kw signal, low frequency and excellent ground conductivity make it a local in both Regina and Saskatoon.

I recall regularly hearing CBK at night when I lived in Amarillo in the late 70s-early 80s…I think this is when XEWA was on reduced power or off the air.
 
I think it would be hard for CBC to shut down CBU-AM (as of right now), because the AM signal reaches coastal regions that are missed by 88.1. The Sunshine Coast region comes to mind, where mount cypress blocks most of the usable signal. A good coverage map shows the limitations of FM from mount Seymour.
 
fordranger797 said:
I think it would be hard for CBC to shut down CBU-AM (as of right now), because the AM signal reaches coastal regions that are missed by 88.1. The Sunshine Coast region comes to mind, where mount cypress blocks most of the usable signal. A good coverage map shows the limitations of FM from mount Seymour.
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Daytime CBU coverage:
I wonder if XEWW out of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico causes much problem at night.

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In the old days of 50kw CBU the collision zone was much wider. Now that CBU is 25kw the issue is much less widespread.. Check the various SDRs at night/sunrise/sunset in Oregon and Washington.
 
boiseengineer said:
Daytime CBU coverage:
I wonder if XEWW out of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico causes much problem at night.
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690 in Tijuana (Rosarito is just a suburb and Mexico defines stations based on where the transmitter is located, not on a "city of license") is directional to the NNW, and the main lobe is directed more at Anchorage than at Vancouver.
 
David is correct. We have never had much interference from TJ on 690 up here. Now, on 1090 there has been a ton of interference with the Seattle 1090, so much so that at night it was tough to listen to in the northern suburbs of Seattle. Even though 1090 Seattle (KING-AM at the time) was 50kW.
 
CBU pretty much dominates on 690 all around the Pacific Northwest, even if they are weaker than they used to be. CBU is still clear around the coastal parts of Washington state at night.

1090 is a completely different story. I’ve had extreme interference on 1090 from TJ in areas like Covington and Maple Valley in Washington State.

As I recall, 1130 CKWX is also susceptible to interference if you’re located in the eastern portion of the Fraser valley. Something about the night pattern makes it difficult to pick up clearly, despite being a class A signal. I’m not a broadcast engineer, but it seems like it’s challenging for most of the Vancouver AMs to reach the entire region, as a lot of the power seems to be directed west and northwest to prevent interference on other co-channels.
 
fordranger797 said:
As I recall, 1130 CKWX is also susceptible to interference if you’re located in the eastern portion of the Fraser valley. Something about the night pattern makes it difficult to pick up clearly, despite being a class A signal. I’m not a broadcast engineer, but it seems like it’s challenging for most of the Vancouver AMs to reach the entire region, as a lot of the power seems to be directed west and northwest to prevent interference on other co-channels.
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It’s likely due to the topography of the region. Most of the Vancouver stations send strong signals west and south to the outskirts of Seattle but quickly fade out as you travel east approaching Abbotsford.
 


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