U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

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U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Dan Sys » Thu May 31, 2012 8:45 am

The FCC has approved an application by BBC Broadcasting to change the city of license for KRPI 1550 from Ferndale, Washington to Point Roberts, Washington. Night power will increase from 10,000 watts to 50,000 watts (day power will remain 50,000 watts).

BBC Broadcasting had previously applied for these changes several years ago but was turned down by the FCC stating that Industry Canada had objected due to concerns over possible interference issues to the 1570 allocation in Nanaimo, B.C. It is unknown whether changes were made to the application to gain approval this time.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Anotherwpgguy » Thu May 31, 2012 5:02 pm

Well, they should get excellent coverage from that location.

Its been about 5 years since my last trip to Pt Roberts, but there wasn't much spare land there for a TX site. Meeting the RF exposure guidelines may be a little bit of wizardry.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Toomas Losin » Thu May 31, 2012 9:07 pm

As a DXer I can't help but wonder what this'll do to reception of HLAZ 1566 from South Korea in the Lower Mainland. Last night had unusual conditions and I heard CHHA 1610 Toronto, which I'm not sure would be possible if KVRI 1600 were at 50 kW nights.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Dan Sys » Thu May 31, 2012 11:05 pm

Actually the entire northwest corner of the peninsula on the U.S. side where Point Roberts is located is still very rural in nature. From what I gather looking at the coordinates from the FCC site this is exactly where the KRPI towers will be located (a stones throw from the Canadian border).

CHHA 1610.....Great catch Toomas! As far as I know they are still operating with 1,000 watts nights. They do have a cp to increase night power to 6,250 watts though but that change is not reflected on the I/C database yet. I just gave it a shot from my QTH in Aldergrove and was greeted with a bunch of atmospheric noise.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Eldon-Mr.CFAY » Thu May 31, 2012 11:53 pm

Hi Everyone,
Read with great interest about this topic. Thanks for letting us all know about this Dan!!!! Yes still in Ontario and dx conditions on both AM and Fm are just fantastic near Cobourg, Ontario. I was talking to Frank Merrill last night in Illinois on our unlimited long distance phone service here. He was telling me that FM and TV skip are rolling in and he had Monterrey, Mexico on TV this past week in Macomb, Illinois. I told him I will be on the lookout for E Skip on the FM Band here since we are now in that season. He does not consider Tropospheric Bending which is reception out to maybe 1000 miles real skip. Its E Skip he looks forward to each season. Unlike the Am Broadcast Band Fm and Tv over the air long distance E Skip happens each year but it definitely is not a nightly event like AM DX on the 540 to 1700 Khz. broadcast band is. At least most nights with a few exceptions this is the case.

Getting back to this threads topic I have been to Point Roberts a lot of times in the 1990s but not recently, I remember the Reef tavern down there and the nice beach area with the lighthouse. Yes Dan I also remember the rural farmland area. I am kind of surprised the FCC approved the KRPI application to boost to 50 kw. and change transmitter site to Point Roberts considering all the previous info. a few months ago from Jon and others about IndustryCanada'sprotection for silent but possible future Canadian channels like 1570 AM on the island or possibly a future move to the Greater Vancouver area.
Guess Industry Canada and/or the CRTC slacked off a bit and gave the FCC more flexibilty to allow this. However this decision by the FCC has really got me wondering what will happen to 1110 in Oak Harbor which we discussed several months ago on Radio West. As you all might remember this is virtually no South Asian listening market in Oak Harbor or Skagit County but that little daytimer continues to with that format. Just before I left for Ontario I was listening to them with Jim VE7ROX and several other radio friends at my storage location in Langley City. Hardly any commercials on, just South Asian music with a little East Indian announcing between a few songs with much dead air also between songs. Did not sound very professional broadcasting at all!!!! Now with KRPI 1550 moving even closer to Greater Vancouver I see absolutely no need for the Oak Harbor station to serve the Greater Vancouver market. However as Dan pointed out several months ago Abbotsford might be another matter!!!! I noticed recently that the KRPA 1110 website indicates a office and/or studio location in Mt. Vernon but absolutely no indication of South Asian format. They just mention something about foreground talk programs which sounds a lot like their old talk format. However the website for KRPA 1110 is updated to indicate it is current. No program schedule and nothing indicating South Asian programming or advertising info. rates etc. Kind of strange. The wikipedia profile on KRPA does indicate South Asian format and ownership though, website does not!!!! Speaking of 1110 AM I just found coverage maps here in Baltimore, Ontario house near Coboug for KJTT and a KJTT business card as well, thats going back to the late 1980s. Nice to find it among the 4000 different radio station coverage maps here. Oh Dan I found a few more stickers from stations that I did not remember I had here including WFLR 1570 Dundee, New York. They also sent me a really nice T Shirt last time I was here back in 2001! Dundee, New York is in the finger lakes area of New York state south of Lake Ontario and Cobourg by about 70 miles or more. I can get WFLR 1570 here in the daytime, they use much low power at night, used to be a daytimer.

There are more daytimers from New York state that I can receive here than in the Fraser Valley. WUFO 1080 Amhearst-Buffalo, New York is one of my favorites with a Black Gospel and very local format!!!! Yes I can get the Toronto expanded band stations between 1600 and 1700 Khz. in the daytime and at night here too fairly well. 1650 from Mississauga CINA with South Asian format and local is quite strong day and night, CHTO 1690 Toronto with Greek format and English at 8 PM daily comes in quite good here day and night. A little fading at night sometimes. The WEAKEST signal is from 1610 CHHA Toronto with the Spanish Format, they are quite weak in the day here, a little stronger at night but not anywhere nears as good reception as 1650 or CHTO 1690. Out in Langley, B.C. I have heard CHTO 1690 at about 3 AM PST a few times in the apartment on my Grundig radios there. I have never heard CHHA 1610 or CINA 1650 in LANGLEY THOUGH! Try as I did I could not receive CKDO 1580 Oshawa in Langley either. However here in the Cobourg area they are my strongest semi-local. CJBQ 800 Belleville, Ontario is listenable but really not that strong here especially at night. I can null them quite easily to hear other stations from the USA on 800.

So congratulations on hearing CHHA 1610 in Greater Vancouver!!!!! That is a fantastic catch considering they are not very strong day or night in the Cobourg area which is only about 60 miles east of Toronto!!!! With the lower power they are using that is truly amazing. I am curious what type of radio receiver and/or antenna you used to hear them???? I have loop antennas both in Langley and here but when I heard CHTO 1690 in Langley I was not using an external antenna. Signal about 3 AM was listenable but not that strong, maybe an S3 on the Signal strength meter scale or just below average in signal strength.

Anyway thought I would just post something as this thread caught my interest. All is going well in Ontario, will be here for about two months or so. Doing lots of catch-up, I had 3 feet of electronic company catalogs and flyers from the last 10 years to open and sort!!!!! Some nice stuff, one parts company sent me a bag of plastic parts, knobs and a DVD about the company and their parts for radio and electronic assembly and projects!!!!!

On the FM Band here on many frequencies you can swivel the telescopic antenna on the portables one way and get one station maybe from the USA, swivel it the other way and a totally different station is there. Example is 93.7 I can get WBLK FM Buffalo and when I turn the telescopic antenna in a different direction from upstairs in the house I can get Owen Sound CKWC 93.7 with Country Format. Quite a few other frequencies are like that here on the FM Band as well. Almost like dxing on the AM Band, quite amazing as I don't get that out in Langley very often. Maybe with FM Skip you might.

Better post this, take care everyone hope you are having a good spring out in B.C. or where you are!!!! 73s, Eldon
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:34 pm

haha - right on!! I've always thought that Pt Roberts deserves it's own 50 kilowatt "border blaster". I wonder if the FCC still has COL program commitments??? If so, can we expect to hear Pt Roberts Residents Assoc board meetings Sundays at 6am?? :-) Looking at their proposed day and night patterns using a 3-tower array, they should have excellent coverage all through-out the Fraser Valley on their day pattern. At night, the reach won't be as far up the eastern Fraser Valley, but they should be able to cover the bulk of the Indo-Canadian community in Richmond, Delta, Surrey and Vancouver-Burnaby. Now...about the programming: Methinks we need Bill Reiter the Allnighter blasting blooze n soul n funk into the wee hours on the "Nifty 15-50"
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:43 pm

...a further look at KRPI's night pattern shows a definite null towards Nanaimo and the 'phantom' 1570 assignment. It would also appear their is a 'lobe' that will send a strong night signal towards Victoria and the Goofy Islands. "All Bollywood All da time" :walk:
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Dan Sys » Fri Jun 01, 2012 3:08 pm

Up until recently if a station wanted to change their city of license in the U.S. the FCC required that there still be at least one station (AM or FM) remaining that is licensed to the city that the station is vacating. There will be absolutely nothing left in Ferndale after KRPI moves to Point Roberts (not even a low power translator), so I assume that regulation must have gone by the wayside.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Toomas Losin » Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:37 pm

I've been wanting to hear Toronto for a very long time. Right now I'm using a Pennant antenna with my ancient Icom R71a. The antenna is pointing at Japan but still does well to the east. KSTP 1500 has been heard nightly for I don't know how many days, as well as XEPE 1700. I also have a one metre diagonal square loop. I heard CKDO 1580 earlier this year with it and in the past I've heard CHAM 820 often but the last time was about 15 years ago. CHHA is only my third from Ontario.

Wednesday evening I heard unintelligible audio on 1610 instead of just noise so I recorded the entire night. Something was fading up and down all night but CHHA only became intelligible once for about 15 seconds, out of six hours. I heard a musical cue followed by "La Voz de la Comunidad" before it faded out again.

Thursday evening on 1610 was similar but the recording didn't have anything from CHHA. Instead something with weather reports faded up a few times but never long enough to identify it. I clearly heard "national weather service" once, and a tide report with sunrise/sunset times but no locations. I need to review the recording some more.

Spaceweather.com shows a tiny auroral oval so I hope conditions to the east are the same or improve tonight.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Eldon-Mr.CFAY » Sat Jun 02, 2012 2:15 am

Hi again Everyone,
Thanks very much for the update Toomas on your receiver and antenna info.. Much appreciated and again congrats. on hearing CHHA 1610 Toronto. Over the approx. 3 weeks I have been in the Cobourg area I haven't had a lot of time to do serious dxing just quick bandscans on the AM and FM dials. There is so very much to hear at this location on AM and FM both day and night, quite a task!!!! Lot more time consuming than in the Fraser Valley at LANGLEY!!!! Anyway I did hear CKDM 730 Dauphin about a week ago overnight from Manitoba but nothing so far from B.C. or Alberta. I*m going to try for 1060 Calgary because as I previously said the Toronto stations are 60 miles away and very listenable hear but no problem most of the time with slopover on adjacent channels. When I was here 10 years ago and dxed overnight I did hear 730 AM Vancouver at about 3 AM and I think I got bits of CKNW 980 in the Chex 980 Peterborough null. Right now no problem with the Peterborough, Ontario AMs, they simply are not there anymore on both 980 and 1420, gone to FM some years ago. Yes that ICOM R71A receiver is a good one, I never owned one but knew dxers that did quite a few years ago and it was good. I have a Drake SW-8A here as well as several GE Superadios, Radio Shack TRF 655s Am only portables which are very sensitive, the C.Crane Radio and several others. I never heard CHAM 820 Hamilton in the Fraser Valley and with KGNW from Seattle and there strong signal its probably difficult now, I find them hard to null in Langley. However I did hear and verify CKLW 800 Windsor, Ontario back in the 1970s. Got a nice QSL card from them. I also tentatively heard CHUM 1050 back then before 1040 AM came on-air in Vancouver. I think I might have heard one or two other Ontario AMs back in the 70s out in Greater Vancouver too but can't think of them. More recently as I earlier said I heard CHTO 1690 Toronto. Speaking of CKLW 800 Windsor there is a weak signal from the daytime here in the null of CJBQ 800 Belleville. Also I can get WJR 760 Detroit and WTAM 1100 Cleveland on a regular daytime basis here near Cobourg.

Good to see your posting Sky Valley, one thing it would be a miracle if I ever heard CFSI FM on E Skip here!!!! CHUC FM (calling themselves the Breeze since they went from 1450 AM to FM) is on 107.9 and gangbusters on that frequency here! I agree with you about Point Roberts, Washington, often thought a station should have its transmitter there either AM or FM. Quite a few years ago I think in the late 1990s Jim VE7ROX and I did some dxing at the park in Tswassen near Point Roberts in South Delta and heard a pirate on FM there on 89.1 with a very laid back easy listening format. Signal got out at least 5 miles, no station Id though, mainly just easy listening instrumental music and a few vocals plus some info about South Delta events. Don't know if its still on or not. Yes I have a feeling that KRPI 1550 may have a few programming changes once they relocate to Point Roberts! Unfortunately you will probably not hear any local Point Roberts community info. programs!!!! That is unless you have a live Bollywood concert in a Point Roberts park!!!!!

Well again its great to hear all the comments about this and your dxing info. Toomas. Take care everyone, its been a very rainy and windy day most of Friday June 1st in Ontario. The Toronto Subway was flooded out at Union Station by rainwater and sewage, they had a 11 hour shutdown between Union Station and Bloor street subway station on the Yonge line!!! Waves down on the Cobourg waterfront were huge with big whitecaps, never seen that anywhere before in a storm, it was like a tropical storm in Hawaii or Southern California with Surfin UP!!!! Could not believe it. My sister and I drove down there about 11 pm last night and it was still huge near the long Cobourg Pier. Never seen that in White Rock in my lifetime!!!! Guess I would have to go to the west coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino to see that in B.C..

All the best, Eldon
Bye . . Mr. CFAY "Frequently On The Frequency"
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby skyvalleyradio » Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:28 am

Eldon - if I get a verifiable Es reception report for CFSI 107.9, I have a nicely done e-card QSL plus a few other bits o' swag to throw in. 107.9 is a popular frequency to monitor for those of us who get our kicks working the odd, rare Es opening on 144 mHz CW/SSB (2 meters ham band) Once the 20 watt repeater on 102.1 (CFSI-FM-1) is operational from the south end of Salt Spring, that will create an even tougher Es reception catch, but it could happen. I've received multi-hop Es FM signals as low as 25 watts ERP.

The 89.1 ez listening/smooth-jazz pirate has been on since the early 1990's. It was on 90.1 for a long time until CJSF took to the air. I thinks its somewhere in Tsawwassen and it must be a class operation to have remained on air with no complaints or RF interference problems. No announcements or name - just continuous music. Before the days of easily affordable/accessible hard-drive automation, I think this station used a multi-CD player as its source. The operator seems to know how to operate an audio processor as its always had a very professional sound and signal. On an open-deck ferry, it fades out about 2/3 across the Salish Sea towards the Goofy Islands. Its probably running a couple of watts for output.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby abbasmohsin » Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:33 am

I am wondering how come a BBC owned station (AM 1550 FROM PT. ROBERTS) is airing Indo-Canadian content.?

My second question:
How far people were able to listen CKMO AM 900 from Camosun College Victoria?
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Dan Sys » Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:53 am

This BBC is an entirely different company. Nothing to do with the British Broadcasting Corporation.

When Rogers owned 900 in Victoria (as CJVI) it had a huge signal all up & down the West Coast (I recall it booming in like a local while camping in the Monterey, California area many years ago). However in recent years I guess Camosun College didn't have the budget to maintain the CKMO equipment and that once mighty powerhouse really deteriorated towards the end.
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Tape Splicer » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:10 am

abbasmohsin wrote:I

My second question:
How far people were able to listen CKMO AM 900 from Camosun College Victoria?


Here is a link to what apears to be the collage web-radio site..... "Thevillage.net"

http://www.villagenow.net/
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Re: U.S. Punjabi border station to become 50KW blowtorch

Postby Anotherwpgguy » Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:49 pm

According to Hillary Clinton, "it takes a village to raise a child."

I wonder if the business plan for this station includes a day care center? Speaking environmentally, will that day care center pass RF exposure guidelines?

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