CHHA Toronto tonight

[Toomas Losin]

Heard a familiar musical sting on 1610 followed by Spanish and the national anthem at 2100 PDT. Words weren't intelligible but the music tells me it was CHHA Toronto. Had to listen on upper sideband due to some local noise that only hit the lower sideband. I hope it fades up for a good ID.

Somewhat closer, CKMW Morden is nice and strong tonight.

[radiofan]

No sign of CHHA, but CKMW was strong and clear dominating 1570 on the CC Radio around 10:30 PDT.

[Toomas Losin]

1610 is an interesting frequency as it's almost free of other commercial stations in North America — is CJWI still on 1610? The only other signals I've heard in recent months on 1610 are the Washington Coast Guard and a TIS near Yakima.

My logs show that I heard the national anthem back in June on an overnight recording but there was nothing else to identify the station. This suggests it was CHHA.

A few minutes ago I heard some opera-type vocal sounds on 1610 for a minute but that faded out. There's only static right now.

[Dan Sys]

According to the Radio In Montreal Yahoo Group CJWI is still operating on 1610 Toomas, however they are expected to move to 1410 sometime this Fall.

Also, I don't know if you're aware of this but CHHA 1610 was granted a power modification from 10,000 watts (days)/1,000 watts (nights) to 6,250 watts (fulltime) earlier this year. Not sure if that has taken effect yet.

[skyvalleyradio]

Toomas you're right about 1610 being a primo frequncy for DXing due to lack of stations in North America! As recent as two years back, I re-logged the Caribbean beacon on 1610 from Anguilla in the West Indies at Tofino on my GE Superadio III with no external antenna attached. It supposedly runs 200 kW, but I would say there are likely times it's running less power at night due to lack of available hydro power for full output - a common problem for many broadcasters on Caribbean islands.

[Toomas Losin]

I forgot about the Caribbean Beacon. My logs show that I tried to hear it a couple of times in April and May this year but I heard nothing or only "suggestions of something" (to quote my log). That was before I put up the Pennant, then I heard murmurs and eventually "La Voz de la Comunidad". Those "suggestions of something" were probably CHHA; it's more common than the Coast Guard or the TIS near Yakima.

Dan, I was reading about CHHA's changes but I don't know what its current configuration is. If the antenna is directional then the published patterns show maximum gain towards the West at 270° azimuth. If it is 1 kW ND then I'm amazed; 1610 must be an example of how quiet the band used to be in the good ol' days. Next time I'll record 1610 all night to see what happens when it's time to switch to day power in Toronto.