Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:34 am

VE7LGD de VE7SKA - is there no audio at all on 99.5?? If so, describe "inaudible" to satisfy my curiosity

Your statement about small communities' familiarity - where everybody knows everybody is so important when relying on ad revenue for sustainability. Once the word gets around, particularly in the business community that there is a "bad apple" things 'go south' pretty quick. There are only 1 or 2 ads per hour on "Green FM" CFSI which can't be covering the bills. A few, disgruntled former advertisers have told me some in the business community & Chamber of Commerce now call CFSI "Greed FM". I made comments in another thread about further deterioration of the economies on the Goofy Islands. However, to my eyes at least, the economy in the Long Beach communities is much healthier than here. Therefore, advertising minutes should be much higher on LBR 90.1/99.5 Former operator Geoff Johnson certainly proved that there is sustenance in advertising revenue for the stations. Also, the communities seem to be able to support a local newspaper, monthly tourist magazine and perhaps other media I'm not aware of. To quote Chuck Berry: "C'est la vie say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell"
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby Dave L » Wed Dec 18, 2013 12:51 pm

skyvalleyradio wrote:VE7LGD de VE7SKA - is there no audio at all on 99.5?? If so, describe "inaudible" to satisfy my curiosity

Your statement about small communities' familiarity - where everybody knows everybody is so important when relying on ad revenue for sustainability. Once the word gets around, particularly in the business community that there is a "bad apple" things 'go south' pretty quick. There are only 1 or 2 ads per hour on "Green FM" CFSI which can't be covering the bills. A few, disgruntled former advertisers have told me some in the business community & Chamber of Commerce now call CFSI "Greed FM". I made comments in another thread about further deterioration of the economies on the Goofy Islands. However, to my eyes at least, the economy in the Long Beach communities is much healthier than here. Therefore, advertising minutes should be much higher on LBR 90.1/99.5 Former operator Geoff Johnson certainly proved that there is sustenance in advertising revenue for the stations. Also, the communities seem to be able to support a local newspaper, monthly tourist magazine and perhaps other media I'm not aware of. To quote Chuck Berry: "C'est la vie say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell"


VE7SKA de VE7LGD

By inaudible, I meant low modulation with reverberation at about 1 second, large spaces of completely garbled noise with a few seconds of lag or spaces. It sounds much like someone on Skype leaving a message on your digital voicemail. In reality its digital (computer) to analog (board) to digital (rack) then digital (stream up) then digital (stream down) to analog (board) to analog to the STL. It's definitely a symptom of bandwidth and conversion. I suspect the stream uplink is no better than 32k otherwise it would skip on Ukee cable (which has abysmal bandwidth lately and totally not appropriate for streams)
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby Dave L » Wed Dec 18, 2013 12:59 pm

By the way, not sure you knew, but we have a micro station operated by the local Christian fellowship. 5 watts at 92.5 MHz. Rebroadcasting a "V" station from back east.
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Wed Dec 18, 2013 1:31 pm

good on ya for strengthening the all-important tsunami warning system on the coast - I recall I've heard the siren in Tofino at least once during a notified test. As a camper at Bella Pacifica, I got to experience a real tsunami evacuation some time in the 1990's before any local radio stations existed to spread the word. I was very impressed with the organization and orderliness as it unfolded. I had a 2 meter handheld with me that trip, and soon volunteered my help to officials after checking in at Wick Elem School. I suspect cable leakage occurs more often than thought. Deep Bay near Qualicum at one time was so bad, the FM dial is a total mess as 10.7 mHz IF interference takes over. Osoyoos is another town with bad cable leakage wreaking havoc with my vehicle's IF. It's nice to identify these points, but getting the cable company to fix can be a challenge. When it was operational, the CFSI-FM-1 TX was fed with 128K Ogg Vorbis audio with very pleasing results...the IC inspector was impressed!

The "audio" on 99.5 sounds delicious...NOT! I'm sure some remixer could scoop some cool samples from this! :-) Good description on the narrow audio bandwidth which can be a problem on the Long Beach peninsula. This was really evident when Geoff & the LBR crew did the "remote" from the Cold Water Classic a few years back. The newer IP-based STL systems all use open-source Ogg Vorbis audio codec to achieve the best audio quality efficiency using narrow bitrates, sometimes as low as 56K - something a similar mp3 or AAC+ stream could never achieve.

Yes, I've heard the VOAR translator/smooth-jazz & preaching on 92.5 which has amazing coverage for 5 watts. I recall asking you if you are the "custodian" of the facility. I don't remember whether you mentioned the TX location for 92.5...the Telus tower in Tofino??
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Wed Dec 18, 2013 1:34 pm

sorry...due to sloppy editing my statement about CFSI STL should have appeared at the end of the 2nd paragraph. Damn medications!! :oops:
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby Dave L » Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:01 pm

skyvalleyradio wrote:I recall asking you if you are the "custodian" of the facility. I don't remember whether you mentioned the TX location for 92.5...the Telus tower in Tofino??


That's right, now I remember. Long term loss of short term memory, ya know :)

It's broadcasted from a 30 ft. sectional tower with a J-pole antenna, located on residential property at the north end of town, Arnet Rd. near the old access to Tonquin Park.
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby Dave L » Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:23 pm

skyvalleyradio wrote:However, to my eyes at least, the economy in the Long Beach communities is much healthier than here. Therefore, advertising minutes should be much higher on LBR 90.1/99.5 Former operator Geoff Johnson certainly proved that there is sustenance in advertising revenue for the stations. Also, the communities seem to be able to support a local newspaper, monthly tourist magazine and perhaps other media I'm not aware of.


A very good point.

Yes, the economy of Tofino is quite good. Competition between hotels, restaurants and tour operators is fierce. That said, it's highly seasonal. The high season is from May to September, but things like storm watching and no snow are attracting visitors in the off season.

It very often takes months of operation before operators become flush enough to consider aggressive advertising. Usually July or early August. Many places shut down for the winter or operate at minimal profit (even losses). That gives rise to seasonal rates, which must always be considered. There's a huge difference between thousands of potential listeners to mere handfuls and the rates ought to fluctuate accordingly.

Back in the CHOO days, management struck a deal with CBS for national spots, even though we didn't fit their demography. They determined the summer population was big enough to warrant inclusion. Ownership poo-poo'd the deal though, being unwilling to pay the up-front fees, even though it meant a couple hundred K in ad revenues.

Penny wise, pound foolish. You know the drill.
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:55 pm

The location for 92.5 sounds ideal as there is a hill with sharp elevation at that point on Arnet Rd...will examine on a topographic map for education purposes and look for the tower next trip out. I've heard 92.5 in the clear in parts of Ukie & at the fish hatchery just off the Port Albion Rd

Signing on with one of the ad agencies does make sense for "micro-FM's" and I would definitely encourage future small-scale stations to examine the advantages of this. Original CFSI stn manager Bob Simpson got us signed up with one of the ad agencies in Vancouver that brought BC Gov't ads, a few unions & sometimes some ad revenue from the federal gov't. This helped through winter when - as you've noted - many seasonal/tourist based businesses close shop. These can sometimes bring in as much as $1K - 2K per month
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby mwdxer » Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:22 pm

I live on the Northern Oregon Coast and when I point my FM Yagi NNW, I get three of the Long Beach BC area FM's, 90.1 CHMZ (Strongest), 91.5 CBXZ and 99.5 CIMM. The three seem to be pretty regular at 230 miles, but a straight water path. I could always get the AMer CBXQ 540 40w most of the time. There must be some kind of "ducting" between the Long Beach area and here. Someone told me years ago that our AM locals are received well over there.
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Jul 31, 2015 3:01 pm

yes there is regular tropo ducting between Long Beach & much of the entire Wash, Oreg & norther Calif Pacific coast. Even on a mediocre/poor day, KCYS which used to be on 98.1, KMUN 91.9 & KAST-FM 92.9 when it existed, KPPT "Boss Radio" 100.7 will "scatter" in/out of the noise when right on the waterfront. I have been travelling to the BC west coast & DXing FM & to a lesser extent MW since 1970. Using various radios & antennae, I have received just over 400 FM stations & translators in BC, Wash, Oreg & Calif over the years. Best reception was several Eureka, CA stations @ 600 miles. I have also received the KH6HME/b CW beacon on 144.170 mHz (2 meters) ham band from Mauna Loa, Hawaii several times as well, but have never made a 2-way contact in spite of trying. When there's NO FM DX I try to capture some of those TP goodies that you are so expert at snagging!

Before there were any local signals out there other than the CBC LPRT 40 watt signals, KSWB 840 was the ONLY local daytime signal in Tofino & Ucluelet as much of it's signal gets sent this way. It was even stronger when still a daytimer on 930!! It is still common to sometimes hear KSWB as background on a store radio/boombox in these towns, or a car radio. BTW, the 40 watt CBC Radio 1 translator on 540 will soon to go silent as the CBC has just applied to the CRTC to flip this to 92.7 FM. This will be the end of MW signals from the Long Beach area, considering that parks Canada long ago retired the Weatheradio loop on 1260 kHz
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby Dave L » Fri Jul 31, 2015 5:42 pm

skyvalleyradio wrote:yes there is regular tropo ducting between Long Beach & much of the entire Wash, Oreg & norther Calif Pacific coast.


The tropo is terrific at the moment. 92.9 KDCQ "The Dock", Coos Bay, OR. Most impressive is 99.7 KLMY "Clammy FM", Long Beach Washington with an excellent signal pattern and upbeat format. 102.3 KCRX, Seaside, WA., 104.7 KDUX, Hoquiam, WA. 107.3, KOOS, Coos Bay, OR.

It's times like these when I enjoy living outside of the cluster. Everything is DX! :yahoo: :tonguewaving: :rockon: :cheers:
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:53 pm

VE7LGD de VE7SKA

Dave - I'll bet the tropo out on the coast is fabulous right now. It even looks good on Bill Hepburn's tropo maps. Too many stations inland here, but from home on the high-elevation ridgetop with the stacked 10-element FM array I can still get a few Eugene, Portland FMs semi-regularly.

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_wam.html

Bill has a degree in meteorology & has been employed by Environment Canada. His maps are usually very accurate & a good indicator of weather to come, as well. Virtually every possible VHF path opening between Hawaii & the west coast of US/Canada has been predicted & illustrated on these tropo maps
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby Dave L » Sun Aug 02, 2015 2:42 am

skyvalleyradio wrote:Virtually every possible VHF path opening between Hawaii & the west coast of US/Canada has been predicted & illustrated on these tropo maps


I've been listening to scheduled broadcasts by the US Coast Guard stations on CH 16 Marine VHF (156.800 MHz). I hear CGS Astoria and a few coms in N. Cal., but Hawaii is a challenge, being an equal distance to Cabo San Lucas from here.
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Re: Dead Air - CHMZ Tofino and CIMM Ucluelet

Postby skyvalleyradio » Sun Aug 02, 2015 3:28 pm

Dave - further to that challenge of hearing Hawaii via tropo is the antennas your using; also FM as a transmission mode. To qualify the 144 mHz beacon reception, I should point out that this was done from the top of Radar Hill: the first parking lot you come to requires a right-turn. Facing the ocean in that parking lot, you'll remember there was a time when those trees were topped preventing signal loss out over the Pacific. They've since grown to where that view isn't possible. I used a 17 element 144 mHz yagi mounted on a tripod beside my vehicle & the CW signals from Mauna Loa were headphone material to S5 signal strength. I have NEVER heard the Hawaiian 2 meters beacon while at sea level.

A tropo duct COULD develop making reception of the highest powered Hawaiian FM probable using a proper FM broadcast yagi pointed at the islands, but as a non-resident it's not possible for me to be there on short notice when conditions develop when this could likely occur. I've taken my portable Sony LW/MW/SW/FM & walked up to the top of Radar Hill where the pay telescope viewer used to be mounted & the difference between there (which has an open Pacific view) & the parking lot is remarkable. Certainly mwdxer on the north Oregon coast has a good chance of this, as Hawaiian FM signals have been heard many times by hams located along that coastline.

Receiving the northern Calif USCG comms is certainly worth bragging about: that's in the 550-600 mile range from the Long Beach peninsulas :rockon:
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