Mystery Tower Quiz #4

[jon]

We are back to current shots for our Mystery Tower Quiz this week.

To start, I'll only give two obtuse clues.

(1) Both Radiofan and I were confused about what station this was when we first drove by it. I had convinced myself (and Radiofan) that this was a long (15 years) dead AM transmitter site. And we were scratching our heads wondering why the owner kept them standing.

(2) When I showed these to my father-in-law late last summer, he commented that the farmland was the best he has seen anywhere in the province where these towers reside. One farmer appears to own several square miles of farmland surrounding and including this site, growing all sorts of different, mostly grain, crops, every one of which was producing extremely high yields (bushels per acre) this past summer. Even Wheat, and this is not in a Wheat area.

[Howaboutthat]

The snow doesn't help. What other kinds of grains?

[mightymouth]

The snow doesn't help. What other kinds of grains?

Howaboutthatfarmer out workin' the fields. Will you wave at me just like a friend?

[Howaboutthat]

The snow doesn't help. What other kinds of grains?

Howaboutthatfarmer out workin' the fields. Will you wave at me just like a friend?

I don't know, would we be going down the Carefree Highway?

[Steve Sanderson]

The snow doesn't help. What other kinds of grains?

Howaboutthatfarmer out workin' the fields. Will you wave at me just like a friend?

I don't know, would we be going down the Carefree Highway?

Would that highway be somewhere in Alberta where this mystery tower is located??
CFXE-FM in Edson Alta.

[Howaboutthat]

Hey... there was a good thread diversion attempt underway here!

[mightymouth]

Hey... there was a good thread diversion attempt underway here!

With all this CanCon flying through the air, it better be a Canadian Tower Is it CHED Edmonton?

[jon]

No, not CHED, as they had to put together a 6 tower array to win approval for 50,000 watts on 630, a Regional Channel limited to 5000 watts in the continental U.S. And, no, I don't play games with a graphics editor to hide 3 of the 6 towers, etc.

CFXE-FM: No, I'm not aware of any multi-tower FM sites. I frankly don't know what technology FMs use to be directional.

Other grains: rye, oats and Canola are all that I remember my father-in-law pointing out. As well as a standard variety of Hay.

Thanks, everyone, for getting involved in the quiz. Fortunately, for this one, there was a nice farmer's dirt road I could drive off of from the allegedly two-way country road, without getting stuck. Picture was taken not too much before sunset, but a little too early to "watch" the pattern change from day to night. Oops, just checked and they run the same pattern day and night. There's another clue....

[45 RPM]

I don't know, would we be going down the Carefree Highway?

Is that a highway made of tampons?

There's another clue....

And here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul

Is it CFCW 790 in Camrose?

[Steve Sanderson]

Is that a highway made of tampons?

Is it CFCW 790 in Camrose?

45RPM...You're just stringing us along aren't you|??

CKSQ 1400 AM in Stettler, Alberta.

[Dan Sys]

My wild guess is CHMG 1200 in Saint Albert just based on the fact that it's been about 15 years since they flipped to FM.

[Howaboutthat]

I thought maybe medicine hat, but they've all flipped to fm...then I looked back at jon's original post, so I'll say CHAT or CKUA

[jon]

Sorry for the suspense. I posted but it got lost (don't ask).

No correct answer yet, I'm afraid. Here are some reasons why, for each guess:

CFCW - has a 6 tower (in two rows) array. Like CHED, they are on a regional channel with lots of 5000 watts U.S. stations, which requires a complex pattern.

CKSQ - a Local Channel ("graveyarder") which means 1000 watts maximum and non-directional, i.e. - one tower.

CHMG - that is the (former) station that Radiofan and I thought this was when we first saw it. Instead, I've since discovered that CHMG-1200's towers are long gone, and a new housing development is under construction on the old tower site.

CHAT - is Medicine Hat with a three tower row array like this. Not too many trees in this picture, but probably larger than you'd see in The Hat.

CKUA - 3 towers, yes, but not in a row like this picture.

[Mike Cleaver]

FM directionality is established by the antenna elements which can be aimed in a certain direction.
You only need one tower to hang as many antenna panels as you need for power and pattern.

[albertaboy4life]

Is it 930 CJCA? Before they move their transmitters south . . .