CFSI 107.9 testing 1,2,3,4

[glaherty]

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 . . .

Can't you hear most, or all of those stations on-line in about 5 seconds? I don't get this, which I'm sure I will get carved for.
That's okay, I don't get "Twitter" either.

[Howaboutthat]

I think its an excuse for staying up late!

[Dan Sys]

There's something almost mystical about picking up a station off the air.

[Neumann Sennheiser]

There's something almost mystical about picking up a station off the air.

Every word I ever spoke on air, and every song I ever played, is still traveling forever outwards towards the ever expanding edge of the unknown universe and will undoubtedly continue to do so long after I'm dead and gone.

I hope that some life form, uncountable galaxies from earth, might one day D-X me and just maybe hear that one time I really nailed the intro to Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song".

[skyvalleyradio]

...all fine & dandy Neumann, but the aliens will be far too busy trying to decipher morse code signals from the early part of the 20th century!!!

[VE7ROX]

"Can't you hear most, or all of those stations on-line in about 5 seconds? I don't get this, which I'm sure I will get carved for." - glaherty

":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. Now with satellite radio, the internet ,the shrunken globe, hearing a station from outside your market is pretty much a "so what"." - glaherty

"characters lurking in the parking lot" "getting busted" - kat

"There's something almost mystical about picking up a station off the air." - Dan Sys

Why do mountain climbers climb mountains? Because they are there (so they say). Why do people go skydiving or bungee-jumping? Don't have an answer for that one. Why do Radio Amateurs talk to people all over the world, using the Earth's ionosphere as a propagation medium, or use other ways such as moonbounce, when they could just make a simple phone call to whoever it is they are talking to? Why do DXers (people receiving distant radio or TV stations) try to pick up these stations? Why do they do this when they could simply get a feed from the internet, satellite, or some other medium? Maybe there is some kind of magic there, using the ionosphere, which can fluctuate minute by minute, hour to hour, and day to day, depending on the activity on the sun and other factors. There are other ways that radio or TV signals can be propagated greater distances, especially above 50 MHz and in the FM band 88 - 108 MHz, such as Tropospheric Bending, Ducting, and Meteor Scatter. All these factors can be affected by the sun, the weather, temperature and humidity, and other things going on in outer space. I thought that's what makes it interesting, but I could be wrong. However, there is always the virtual ionosphere: http://qsonet.com/index.html Like the old Doors song, "People Are Strange" . . .


"When You're A Stranger" - ROX . . . Good ol' Ed Sullivan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ1r2wZA ... re=related

Who are the brain police? Frank Zappa, Freak Out!, 1966

[Anotherwpgguy]

Yah, those ham radio guys are waaayyyy out there.

This short video describes how society views them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_LrOAbtZjI

73 de VE4
Anotherwpgguy

[skyvalleyradio]

...especially if they live in the Goofy Islands

73 de VE7SKA - emphasis on "Ska"

[skyvalleyradio]

CFSI's official launch date is Monday,
Sept 14 and we will still be broadcasting in mono for now until we acquire
and install our stereo encoder. We soon hope to have an up-to-date
program schedule on our website. Program Director Richard Moses has left
that position although will still be hosting his show here. Mike Cherry
has been hired as Operations Manager and will be responsible for the tech side of the
station as well as programming and production. Programming Co-Ordinator is Patricia Lockie, Music Director is Rob
Pingle and 40 year broadcast veteran Bob Simpson (formerly CIVL, Star-FM)is our station manager.
Signal deficiencies on Salt Spring will be offset by our 24/7 web stream

www.cfsi-fm.com

direct audio link: http://87.117.250.5:9148/listen.pls

[skyvalleyradio]

To answer a few emails from Radiowest members: recent problems with our web-stream originated in the UK and it now looks like CFSI is back online