CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby jon » Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:21 pm

'60s DX'er Larry Killack lived between 41st and Marine Drive. From his parent's console stereo, which was attached to the rooftop TV antenna, you could get KINK-FM Portland 24/7 all year. Pretty sure that the signal was strong enough to switch the FM receiver to stereo mode and still be listenable.

Magical place that.
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby Howaboutthat » Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:48 pm

I know a guy who lived in Windsor and he could pick up Detroit stations on his transistor radio. AM and FM!
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby radiofan » Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:17 pm

jon wrote:'60s DX'er Larry Killack lived between 41st and Marine Drive. From his parent's console stereo, which was attached to the rooftop TV antenna, you could get KINK-FM Portland 24/7 all year. Pretty sure that the signal was strong enough to switch the FM receiver to stereo mode and still be listenable.

Magical place that.


And sadly, UBC's CITR is now on 101.9. Chances of hearing KINK nowadays is slim to none. :x
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby Eldon-Mr.CFAY » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:08 am

Hi everyone. Just thought I would comment about reception of CFSI in the south Fraser Valley near the US border. We were travelling along Zero Avenue right next to the border from Langley at 216th Street to the Sumas-Huntington border. I have been using the Grundig G5 Multi-Band Portable which is very sensitive on the AM and FM broadcast band.

At various locations along Zero Avenue, CFSI was coming in with a fairly good signal and virtually no sign of CFML. When we got to South Abbotsford, just west of Laxton Lake on Zero Avenue, the reception of CFSI was good. In addition to receiving CFSI, I was also receiving KMRE low-power FM 102.3 from Bellingham with a reasonable signal. The Nanaimo station "The Wave" CKWV FM 102.3 was also being heard by moving the telescopic antenna in a different direction. It was not as strong though - the other station that was coming in very strong was the Hillbilly music station on 98.7. It seems to be like a local station from 216th Street at Zero Avenue to near the Lynden Border Crossing. It becomes weaker east of there, along Zero Avenue right to the Sumas Border crossing. That is due south of Abbotsford. It is listenable here but not nearly as strong as South Langley Township.

In addition, also, I was surprised that CFSI was not receivable at the Huntington-Sumas border crossing. Instead, little 12-watt CFML from Burnaby was doing considerably better. There doesn't seem to be a sign of CFSI here. The other station I was trying for was KAVZ low-power FM 102.5 from Deming, WA. Most of the way, right to the Sumas border crossing, KZOK FM 102.5 Seattle seemed to dominate the frequency. There were a couple of places that bits and pieces of another signal seemed to come through briefly. Don't know if it was KAVZ, however. Anyway, have very much enjoyed tonight's FM DX-pedition along the border. We are posting this message using a WiFi signal at Huntington-Sumas. However, I think it's time to take the portable laptop and leave the Sumas border crossing before the gusty night wind blows us away.

Just one more thing, there is a nice small park beside the Huntington-Sumas border crossing that makes it good for AM and FM DXing. We even saw some Fifth Of July fireworks from Sumas, just yards away, across the railway tracks. Anyway, take care and I enjoyed listening to CFSI again tonight. Thanks Dan for your interesting reception report of CFSI near Pitt Lake.
Last edited by Eldon-Mr.CFAY on Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:44 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby skyvalleyradio » Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:09 am

Eldon - thanks for your DX report from along Zero Ave.! I'm surprised CFSI comes in so well that far east. The directional antenna is pointed just east of magnetic north so signal expectations in that area weren't expected. Tweaking of the 107.9 signal continues while waiting for IC to issue a frequency for the STL link. The audio loop is still being fed via a laptop directly into the transmitter with no processing and the signal is still mono.
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby kat » Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:32 am

Eldon-Mr.CFAY wrote: Anyway, have enjoyed tonight's FM DX-pedition along the border a lot. However, I think it's time to take the portable laptop and leave the Sumas border crossing before the gusty night wind blows us away.
Just one more thing, there is a nice small park beside the Huntington-Sumas border crossing that makes it good for AM and FM DXing. We even saw some Fifth Of July fireworks from Sumas, just yards away, across the railway tracks.


That probably wasn't fireworks you saw, it was more likley flashing lights from US Border Patrol vehicles and Homeland Security planes. I'm sure a couple of guys strolling along the international border or driving at a slow pace set off sensors and attracted the attention of the US authorities. They were likely monitoring their cameras watching these two guys carrying objects with antennas protruding from them and wondering what the hell are these clowns up to?

Next time you do a border run, you'll be front page news in the Bellingham Herald. Suspected terrorists Bin Eldon and Rox Laden nabbed at US border with remote control devices.

I'd say you're lucky to be able to report to us about your adventure this time around.

I think you should stick to more saner areas to do my signal checks where you might only have to deal with an RCMP officer on occasion if I were you guys

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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby mightymouth » Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:56 am

Ok, this question could open the floodgates, but I'll ask anyway. What kind of format would we find on KINK FM?? I'll go back into my mousehole now...... :wink:
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby Dan Sys » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:49 pm

Actually Mr. Mouth, KINK FM is home to one of the few successful Triple A formats in North America (#6 in the latest 12+ Portland book). A very well established station down there with "near heritage status" that has been running the Triple A format for decades. There is an excellent historical profile of the station on their website:
http://www.kink.fm/History-of-KINK---The-1960s/3291898
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KINK-FM

Postby jon » Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:16 pm

Wow! Interesting read.

KINK-FM first signed on Christmas morning 1968. And was originally planned as a totally automated elevator music station with the call letters KGW-FM.

As for the call letters, they were a play on KING-FM, also owned by the same company that owned KGW/KINK.
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby Eldon-Mr.CFAY » Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:04 pm

Hi everyone, Just thought I'd post a couple comments about CFSI reception in the Fraser Valley lately. Yes I understand testing is still continuing on CFSI. Have heard some acoustic type music and instrumentals as well. Anyway with all this very hot weather lately we have spent some time in one of the parks we go to each summer when its too hot at the apt. in Langley. That has certainly been the case in the last week. Even my storage unit which is at ground level was up to 3l degrees and normally thats like a basement at the storage park! Anyway finally got a chance to get to Al Anderson Park this summer. We usually have been there at least ten times by the end of July. Reception there in SE. Langley City is fairly good on Am and Fm because of the large park area away from the city core. There is a large residential area of homes surrounding the park but its still fairly quiet on the radio bands. On l07.9 I got CFSI on the Grundig G5 in one direction and at almost ground level, it was amazing, it actually came in better close to the ground. When you placed the radio on the concrete picnic table (about 3 feet above ground) it did not come in as well! I had not noticed that before anywhere. When I swung the telescopic whip antenna in the opposite direction I got CFML l07.9 Burnaby with a slightly stronger signal. In the opposite direction CFML totally dissappeared and CFSI was there. Signal Strength was about average but listenable.

At Al Anderson Park it was not as strong reception as other locations like Thorne Hill or Centennial Park in Mission but nonentheless consistent. I have found that CFSI can be received at many locations in Langley but the signal strength varies quite a bit. Strongest reception of CFSI seemed to be in Murrayville (uphill in Langley Township East) near Denny Ross Park and at the McDonald's Parking Lot facing west/southwest at Hwy. l0 and Fraser Hwy.. However strongest reception so far has to be on Thorne Hill (elevation about l000 feet ) in Maple Ridge East. It was like a local signal there but with CFML coming in the opposite direction on the Grundig's whip antenna, they had a pretty strong signal as well. The second strongest signal that we received was on a dxpedition to Mission this past Sunday Night August 2, 2009. On the radios we got CFSI with a local signal strength at Centennial Park at Talbot and l4th Street. Thats up the hill at maybe 500 feet above sea level. The hillside faces south/southwest and the park is fairly large with lots of nice trees for shade in the hot summer sun. We lived in Mission in l993 to the l995 summer season (about two Years) and I found out that Mission's uphill is very good for both AM and FM band reception day and night. I used to get KPQ 560 Wenatchee, WASH. practically every day during daytime hours, as well as KMAS l030 Shelton-WASH.. Signal was about average using a GE Superadio and the Realistic Long Range AM only Portable 655. Using the ferrite and air-core loop antennas boosted the signal. On FM KSVR(90.l at the time before CJSF Burnaby came on) from Mt. Vernon (l00 Watts) was there daily. So was KMNT l02.9 Centralia, WASH..

I also received Portland, Oregon stations on a semi-regular basis, 97.l which used to be KPAM and l0l..9 KINK . I think CITR l0l.9 Vancouver may have been lower powered in l993 to 95.. Anyway they didn't come in very well then in Mission. On the low end of the band 88.l to 92.l mhz. there were a lot of USA stations that came in at the time. Of course there were a lot less Canadian stations on-air on this portion of the band then.

Getting back to our latest Sunday night reception in Mission at Centennial Park I was really pleased to hear CFSI coming in so well there because of the distance east. I wanted to aircheck CFSI on cassette tape there and also at Thorne Hill in Maple Ridge but did not have the portable recorder and patch cords with me. If I do I*ll send a copy to CFSI and/or Sky Valley. I can receive CFSI at the apartment on the Grundig G-5 and another Grundig Radio I have but signal strength is nowhere as strong as at Thorne Hill-Maple Ridge or Centennial Park-Mission. If I do an aircheck of CFSI reception in Langley it will probably be from Denny Ross Park in Murrayville or Al Anderson Park in Langley City.

Good luck on your technical work at CFSI Sky Valley. Any idea of when regular programming may begin on CFSI? I've heard the music and announcements but is it still part of the test programming? Anyway, hope some of the info here is helpful to you. For serious FM DX in the Fraser Valley, I would suggest Thorne Hill or Uphill Mission, they are far enough away from most Vancouver FM transmitters. If we find any more great locations in the valley, I'll keep you posted. VE7ROX might have some further comments about this. Burke Mountain in NE. Coquitlam is not bad but it is closer to Vancouver FM transmitters. In the meantime take care and hope you beat that summer heat!!! At least its cooler now!
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby skyvalleyradio » Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:49 am

Hi Eldon - the signals reports on CFSI indeed help. What they tell us is that the antenna panel isn't as directional as we think. Official launch is likely still a month away although no firm date has been set. The 2 biggest projects left are installation of a different STL receiver antenna at the transmitter site as required by Industry Canada and installation and implementation of remote telemetry control also required by IC. This has presented a problem due to the stand-alone location of the CFSI tower - no phone lines are available and Telus & Shaw want a king's ransom to install lines to the site. The alternative is use remote control via the SCA subcarrier which is not as desirable or reliable but a method successfully used by many broadcasters. The FM signal is still in mono which may well account for the extra coverage - this may change once everything is running stereo....still need to find & buy the patch cables to do this Also, because air conditioning hasn't yet been installed at the TX shack, the output is set much lower - currently 260 watts out and we can run up to 400 watts which will eventually happen. A local music playlist continues to run via a laptop with shitty sound-card and slowly we'll work on signal processing once I get a grip on using the dbx266XL processor. I've got the main and production studios wired and tested - the few times I've run these on air, the audio on CFSI sounds fucking awesome!

If you send a signal report, sorry I have no means to print out a nice QSL card but WILL send you a QSL eCard which are now much more common. I promise a nice card for 'very' reports!
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby Eldon-Mr.CFAY » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:53 am

Hi everyone, I've got some interesting news for you Sky Valley Radio. We are currently doing some AM and FM DXing at the Wal Mart Supercentre parking lot near White Rock. I really love this place and VE7ROX finally got to see what a Wal Mart Supercentre looks like. He couldn't believe how large it is. We managed to get some great bargains on a lot of different items. What really shocked us was how good the radio reception is right in the parking lot. Very low noise level on the AM band. We managed to hear stations on every channel including the AM 1630 Highway Station south of Blaine, WA, with excellent reception here. Also, good reception of CBW AM 990 Winnipeg, Manitoba, and no interference from CKNW AM 980 whose transmitter is located in Port Kells, North East Surrey.

As well, there were two stations coming in on AM 1700 with a fairly strong signal. One of them was the news station from San Diego, CA. Managed to get stations on 1310, 1320 (nulling out CHMB 1320 Vancouver), which were strong signals. You can easily null out CHMB AM 1320 Vancouver to get other stations on that frequency (1320). CBK AM 540 Regina, SK is coming in like a local here tonight.

Now on to FM reception. We heard CFSI 107.9 with good reception. At 11:50 PM PDST we heard a commercial for Island Star Video in Ganges. Also heard a station ID for CFSI that said "CFSI, Where Saltspringers Air It Out". There was virtually no interference here from CFML in Burnaby. At the moment (12:35 AM, now Monday morning), we are hearing CFSI with acoustical instrumental music. We are surprised with all the new commercial development in the south Surrey/White Rock area, and how good the reception is. This place is located at 24th Avenue just east of Highway 99. There are many new shopping plazas here and an an overhead high tension power line that skirts the north east side of the Wal Mart parking lot. It is amazing how good the AM and FM reception is here under these circumstances. We have not tried reception at Semiahmoo Park Beach in White Rock. Also, have not tried at my uncle's place in Ocean Park yet, which is west of White Rock. Other FM stations received here include "The Hawk" 89.5 in Chilliwack and a surprisingly strong signal on 89.1 from the 8 watt FM translator in Mt. Vernon, WA.

We have been using the Grundig G5 AM/FM/Shortwave portable radio which I have mentioned before. It is a real hot performer. As well, we have been using the C Crane CC Radio with no external antennas. Thought you would find this interesting. Take care . . .
Bye . . Mr. CFAY "Frequently On The Frequency"
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby glaherty » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:26 pm

Howaboutthat wrote:I know a guy who lived in Windsor and he could pick up Detroit stations on his transistor radio. AM and FM!

:lol: That is funny, but the magic of getting a faraway signal has disappeared, hasn't it? I remember
listening to the SF Giants games on KFBK in the mid- 70's and to a kid, that was like voices from outer space. No I didn't live in SF at the time. :wink: Now with satellite radio, the internet ,the shrunken globe, hearing a station from outside your market is pretty much a "so what".
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby skyvalleyradio » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:25 pm

Eldon - you're quite lucky to find ANY location that has a quiet noise floor on the AM band - these places are few & far between! Nulling out CHMB 1320 isn't an issue over here - KXRO Aberdeen is the dominant 1320 signal at night. When Bill Reiter and Sweet Daddy Fonk were doing "Groove n Blue" Sunday evenings on CHMB, my attempts to listen were mostly futile.

CFSI is getting ever closer to launch although I can't yet reveal the offical launch date, but promise that decision is soon coming! Also, I hope to have the mp3 web stream launched in the next few weeks as i have the computer almost ready for testing this function. Although still in mono until I get the patch-cables I need, the audio has improved considerably since ditching the laptop for the streaming computer which has a much better sound-card on it. The website has a program schedule on it although it takes a bit of navigating to find it.
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Re: CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

Postby kat » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:51 pm

Eldon-Mr.CFAY wrote:Hi everyone, I've got some interesting news for you Sky Valley Radio. We are currently doing some AM and FM DXing at the Wal Mart Supercentre parking lot near White Rock. I really love this place and VE7ROX finally got to see what a Wal Mart Supercentre looks like. He couldn't believe how large it is. We managed to get some great bargains on a lot of different items. What really shocked us was how good the radio reception is right in the parking lot. Very low noise level on the AM band. We managed to hear stations on every channel including the AM 1630 Highway Station south of Blaine, WA, with excellent reception here. Also, good reception of CBW AM 990 Winnipeg, Manitoba, and no interference from CKNW AM 980 whose transmitter is located in Port Kells, North East Surrey.

As well, there were two stations coming in on AM 1700 with a fairly strong signal. One of them was the news station from San Diego, CA. Managed to get stations on 1310, 1320 (nulling out CHMB 1320 Vancouver), which were strong signals. You can easily null out CHMB AM 1320 Vancouver to get other stations on that frequency (1320). CBK AM 540 Regina, SK is coming in like a local here tonight.

Now on to FM reception. We heard CFSI 107.9 with good reception. At 11:50 PM PDST we heard a commercial for Island Star Video in Ganges. Also heard a station ID for CFSI that said "CFSI, Where Saltspringers Air It Out". There was virtually no interference here from CFML in Burnaby. At the moment (12:35 AM, now Monday morning), we are hearing CFSI with acoustical instrumental music. We are surprised with all the new commercial development in the south Surrey/White Rock area, and how good the reception is. This place is located at 24th Avenue just east of Highway 99. There are many new shopping plazas here and an an overhead high tension power line that skirts the north east side of the Wal Mart parking lot. It is amazing how good the AM and FM reception is here under these circumstances. We have not tried reception at Semiahmoo Park Beach in White Rock. Also, have not tried at my uncle's place in Ocean Park yet, which is west of White Rock. Other FM stations received here include "The Hawk" 89.5 in Chilliwack and a surprisingly strong signal on 89.1 from the 8 watt FM translator in Mt. Vernon, WA.

We have been using the Grundig G5 AM/FM/Shortwave portable radio which I have mentioned before. It is a real hot performer. As well, we have been using the C Crane CC Radio with no external antennas. Thought you would find this interesting. Take care . . .


Whew! After reading all the info about Wal-Mart, I was sure you were going to say they were playing CFSI on the store PA system.

I could have almost witnessed you and Roxy in person wandering around the parking lot with radios resting on your shoulders. Just for fun, I think I would have told security there was a couple of odd looking characters lurking in the parking lot and then sat back in the SUV laughing at you getting busted.

We live not too far from that new shopping area at 24th and 160th and had just come home around 9:30 after a few days down at Lake Samish.

Maybe next time.

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