Antennas and Radios

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Hi everyone, Thought I would post some comments about our radio dxing lately and my wi-fi listening. One of the parks we have been going to is Al Anderson Park in Langley city. I tried some dxing there and received much stronger Am signals than at the apartment which is a mile closer to downtown Langley City. On the AM band I got KWDB 1110 Oak Harbor, WASH. and KLAY ll80 with good signals. KLAY was weaker but listenable, this was in the hot late afternoon sun! At the apt. I can't get KLAY at all!. Also got Olympia, Washington on 920 with a decent signal strength to listen to. This was all using the Grundig G5 Portable with no external antenna. FM signals there were quite good with CKAY 9l.7, KSQM 9l.5 coming in well. CKAY is from the sunshine coast, sechelt and KSQM is from Sequim, Wash. Al Anderson Park is in SE. Langley and at a low elevation. The area is surrounded by residential houses but has much less interference than closer to downtown Langley. I also got a l630 AM tourist station (known as TIS) from Washington state with a fair but listenable signal. It probably uses about 10 watts or so. Not a bad location for AM or FM listening and definitely a great place to go in hot weather! We have tried to go there every late spring and summer for the past 4 or 5 Years.

Also did a DXPEDITION on Sunday night, August 2nd to Mission at Centennial Park. This is uphill at about 500 feet elevation perhaps. We lived in Mission between l993 and l995 on Rose Avenue just up the hill further and it was a great location day and night for dx or long distance reception on AM and FM. I see it still is good although the FM Band is bit more congested with stations than in l994. On AM l6l0 was clear of KVRI l600 splash and I heard quite a few weak signals, none were IDed but I imagine they were low power highway and tourist stations from Washington State etc... There is a Part l5 station using state-of-the art Rangemaster transmitter with l00 milliwatts. They are on l6l0 from Langley, WASH. on Whidbey Island. They have regular programming every day and night, get out up to 2 miles away on groundwave coverage. They are called Langley Community Radio. Don't think you could hear them on skywave at night here or in Mission though. There are a lot of Part l5 Legal but unlicensed stations across the USA using transmitters like the Rangemaster. One such station is a commercial success with Fox Sports 24/7 in Flagstaff, Arizona, they were Number 3 in overall ratings against all local radio stations even though they are not licensed. Some Part l5 stations use more than one transmitter to cover most of the town or city. Liberty Radio l640 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota uses 7 Rangemaster 100 Milliwatt Transmitters at different locations in Sioux Falls to cover most of the city. Their format is Patriot Talk and Information with a lot of controversial and conspiracy programming topics. The website they have is huge on the net.. Check it out for more technical info. and programming details!

On the internet wi-fi radios I got two new stations added to the Reciva website list. CHUC l07.9 FM (the Breeze) Cobourg and CIWS FM l02.7 (Whistle Radio). They were not on prior to a few days ago. CIWS is quite a unique station with programming that I haven't heard anywhere in Canada before. They program about 70% Canadian Music with the balance being very old rock and country oldies by well-known artists like Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly. However some of the songs are not the big hits but ones that you don't hear on radio very much at all. CIWS also plays a lot of folk ballads and train music (get it Whistle Radio). They are a 50 watt commercial community station from Stouffvile, Ontario which is north of Toronto towards Lake Simcoe. CIWS has a lot of local info. features too like the Stouffville Public Libary Book Show and Storytime with Miss Ann. The Librarians put a lot of humor into the shows. Some of the commercials they run sound very local almost like a pirate radio station would do. Anyhow in all my listening to stations in Canada over the years these guys are unique. Some of the Folk Ballads are quite good. Yes they play a fair amount of Gordon Lightfoot too but some of his less-known songs. They do have a website as well. You might want to check them out.

Well its getting late and guess I*ll see what Jimmy Fallon is up to before calling it a night! Take care all and glad its a bit cooler now!

[skyvalleyradio]

Eldon - the 1630 TIS station is located in Blaine & comes in over here. Hearing CKAY 91.7 from your Langley DXpedition location is the catch I'm most amazed at!

[Dan Sys]

CKAY 91.7 usually blasts in with a strong consistent signal in Maple Ridge. This was a reaI surprise as I never once heard them in Aldergrove (just a few miles south) where CBYF Chilliwack and KZAZ Bellingham would dominate the frequency. There must be some kind of a clear shot in the mountain valleys between Maple Ridge & the Sunshine Coast.

[skyvalleyradio]

good guess Dan! If I'm not mistaken however, the CKAY stick is up on Mt Benson just west of Nanaimo and uses a semi-directional array which possibly sends some of its radiated energy directly towards you and likely to Eldon's favourite DX haunts in the Langley area. South Aldergrove may well have been out of its radiated area and certainly both CBYF and KZAZ would require some protection as they were both on first before CKAY's existence.

[Dan Sys]

Right, I had forgotten that CKAY's tower is on Vancouver Island. That might also explain why the other 3 Nanaimo FM's come in pretty strong here too.

[skyvalleyradio]

Dan - the other 3 Nanaimo FMs are all on Cottle Hill located in north Nanaimo just off of Hammond Bay Rd - sam general direction but a little lower in elevation. From the base of the CKWV/CHWF/CHLYtower on a clear day, one can see right up the Fraser Valley!

[Dan Sys]

Hey I know Cottle Hill all too well. I almost blew the transmission on my now retired Chevy Cavalier trying to climb Rutherford Street on that hill last Fall. The car was never the same after that incident.

[Anotherwpgguy]

Eldon:

Thanks for mentioning CHUC "The Breeze" as I have a special affinity for that imaging position.

I'll give it a listen on-line and see how it compares to "The Breeze 100.7 FM" in Winnipeg as programmed by Russ Tyson.

All the best for now....heading out the door to go fly fishing for Salmon north of Anchorage, Alaska.

Anotherwpgguy