Hansa wrote:

A non-profit community station, perhaps volunteer based, would be more viable than a commercial station but without a source of funding it would be an uncertain proposition. Even a repeater of CKRZ-FM with a Toronto studio and transmitter would need either grant/foundation money and a donor base. Perhaps CKRZ, or someone, could team up with TMU (formerly Ryerson) to create a hybrid campus/community/Indigenous station as an FM counterpart to the completely invisible CJTM-AM? TMU has been off FM since losing CKLN a dozen or so years ago and they've shown with CJTM that they can run a station without CKLN's governance problems. Perhaps partnering with an Indigenous broadcaster would be a win-win for both?  

Good points, Hansa. Non-profit, for sure. Given that Ryerson changed its name to TMU (please, let's not get into that here, it has its nuances), that could be a significant part of the underlying equation.

mace wrote:

Common sense tells us that back to back failures of a format means that format isn't meant for this market. The CRTC could use a good dose of common sense. Like that will ever happen.

It's more than a format, and this is more than a market; this is a segment of Canadian society that's had its culture ripped away, and it's slowly being rebuilt. Think of this as part of reconciliation.

It can work, but I think it needs to find a way to at least break even. And I think it needs underlying infrastructure. I think some ideas floated here are good ones. Like linking up with NCI in Manitoba, and others like it.

Indeed, there are success stories across Canada in Indigenous radio. I think the key here will be creating something at a national level, outside of government, and run and controlled by Indigenous peoples. Non-profit and community stations have the NCRA as a centrifugal force. That might be one avenue to pursue to help set something up. In the US there's organizations like Native Voice One / Native American Radio Network. The cooperative aspect of a Canadian Press / Broadcast news model might also guide how this might happen.

Running an Indigenous station in a rural or isolated area is an entirely different proposition than running one in Toronto. Cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg are *almost* like a diaspora - I'm using that word metaphorically because of course Indigenous people were here before settlers - because for many it is kind of a home away from home. And so participation and listening will happen (or unfortunately not happen) differently.

I'd be curious to know Indigenous demograhics for a city like Toronto / GTA. Where in the GTA are the greatest concentraions of Indigenous people? What are their economic data? Where in Canada are they from? Figuring out who the *primary* audience is. (The secondary audience would be non-Indigenous, and I'd love to see Indigenous radio so compelling that there would be a decent-sized no

RadioActive wrote:

How does this evolve into another political discussion? Can we stop this bomb before it before it goes off further? Thanks. 

You (and everyone here) accept(s) that we're all human, which includes imperfections. And carry on. You had a good thing going with a single political thread - a very effective release valve - and yanked it. At the end of the day Big Yellow isn't any weirder than the rest of the world.

I gather the calls WZGR were granted today...

 

newsguy1 wrote:

And by the way, Donald, what language is Mar A Lago?  Could it be, oh I dunno....SPANISH for Sea to Lake?
You're such a bad bunny, Donald.

We should have let the political thread continue, and strictly kept political commentary there. Because, guess what, it's not going away... not in this environment.

Easily Amused wrote:

Thank you for your thoughts on the subject. I can see where the enhanced reception area isn't necessarily a good thing.

It's the same even with an outdoor or indoor antenna. The notion behind DXing is to reduce the signals you hear all the time or at least those you've heard before, and find ways to draw new ones. Some DXers get pretty sophisticated, for instance combining two antennas by means of a phaser system to reduce even nearby powerhouses just enough to allow more distant or weaker stations to make it through. I've never tried that. I'm not terribly technically inclined - I'm just about the last person in any DX club to tackle a DIY electronics project. For example, I've had people recommend chokers to cut out interference from any array of sources. But I'm not completely clear on how these even work, so when I read up on different chokers for different areas of the broadcast spectrum, I have to first get past the part where my eyes glaze over and I can start to think about what I might actually do, and thus what to buy. I mean, I know they can clamp down on coax or a line, but beyond that... Then there's the matter of specialized tools. Even something relatively simple such as replacing a broken adaptor with a new one is a challenge because I don't have the tool to 'crimp' the coaxial cable and fit the adaptor on snugly so it doesn't break or come loose (as one just did). Software defined radios (SDRs) are another tricvk in the DXer's book. Imagine recording the entire AM or FM band at one time, even for relatively short segments - say for the top of the hour station ID. Instead of live listening, these DXers at their convenience hear everything that could be heard at, say, 0700, and can even play around with multiple different radio settings to optimize the sound and clarity etc. My effort with an ELAD cost me the money spent on a new PC that somehow didn't work well with the ELAD I purchased. So we stumble along, get new ideas

mace wrote:

The only Erie stations I have ever received in Toronto were 103.7 and 98.9 which was usually mixed with Rochester.

You probably mean 97.9, and thus WXTA Edinboro. Nothing on 98.9 in Erie, though WQLN does have a 50-watt translator in Warren PA on 98.9.

91.3 WQLN is actually not hard to hear at all - it sometimes even strong enough to give an RDS readout. And CJRT doesn't have IBOC, so 91.3 is actually open here.

Of course, CFCO will not be heard on 91.3, just not in the GTA area because its signal is quite weak. Once summer comes and my mind turns to FM in a more serious way I should be able to hear it at my Kawarthas site, but it will compete with CHRZ Parry Island (a 60-watt First Nations station near Parry Sound that I hear often enough) and 250-watt CFBW Hanover, which also comes in from time to time. I will also try for it going mobile from a site I park my car at north of Snowball (Near Hwy 9 and Dufferin). From there I might have more than a snowball's chance in hell of hearing it in the GTA.

Mostly Columbus WTVN right-wing talk, Fox Sports Radio very weak on west-sw antenna is Kansas City MO (VA FSR station apparently is silent). Might have a third station in there. One of my antenna amps is down so  I have to pick directions and ghat's dome outside so no switching around overnight in this cold. Philly Black Info Network is common to south, anyhow...
Postscript: Black Info Netwk jingle on wsw antenna, so Philly; and Coast to Coast is likely DuluthMN because Columbus has Bill Cunningham show...
None of these are new. No trace of black gospel (AL and NC stations) or other ones I haven't logged previously.

Radiowiz wrote:

Foodland for the most part is being phased out. There's a few around here and there, but not nearly as many as there used to be.  

There's one in nearby Coboconk, but they're hardly able to qualify as the official supplier of the North Kawarthas DX Site BBQ Cook-off. Indie supermarkets indeed top the charts. Yummy Market on Major Mac probably doesn't need to advertise on any of Toronto's multi-ethnic stations, but they have everything a DXer needs to enhance propagation from Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan and beyond. I've never heard ads from Garden Market in Markham, but I don't tune in 105.9 unless I'm in The Region, so dedicated listeners like Big yellow Boardies might need to step outside their DX shacks to find this source of free-range and non-GMO options from many exotic locales they might want to hear over the air. Going to T&T is like going to Beijing to shop at Loblaws. But I'd think some of the plethora of the GTA's indie Chinese markets advertise on the channel Foster Hewitt trailblazed with shouts of He Shoots, He Scores!

Fitz wrote:

Saul, it seems my PM's are not coming through or going out as I sent you one to say I did not receive. Can the admin help me out.

Got yours with subject filled out but no message content

Fitz wrote:

What time at night Saul and also can you tell me the radio and antenna you were using. Kawarthas being east may help you but I am further south and that may help me.

AOR 7030 + radio, and in this case an outdoor amplified loop aimed south (and north, bidirectional). Anytime starting pre-sunset to past sunrise...and in winter comes in all day under right conditions. I'm east enough that the reception shoots across Lake Ontario.

The CBC story map actually showed the location where I DX from. I wasn't there...

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

[So how does that help me if I live in Owen Sound, St. Thomas, Gravenhurst or Bracebridge?

You get all the local weather details from CFOS 89.3 et al in the Owen Sound area, or from any London-area station, there (980 comes to mind) or 99.5 Muskoka plus Orillia, and so on, depending on where you live. I'd think 680 News talking about nothing else round the clock is probably sufficient. If the others give quick periodic mentions and updates, that would seem fine. In the event of a military attack, earthquake or other such catastrophe - yes, I'd expect deviation from normal programming. But this is just winter at its finest.

radiokid wrote:

I find it laughable the amount of people on this board that jump to worse case for 680, that to this day is hugely rated, much more profitable than some of the other am stations on the dial. Transmitter maintenance will happen and overnights is the time to do it. Of any of the am stations, 680 likely has a higher chance to convert to FM if that opportunity presents itself. I'm not sure 1010 or 640 will ever see that.. How about we stop the assumptions that clearly are past the point of ridiculous.

680 News came back fully on within about an hour or so. Nothing else IDed, but I could hear it with an exceedingly faint signal. Give that its transmitter is in Grimsby and its auxiliary is in Toronto, I'm wondering about counting it as a separate station (I keep stats for my logs). Anyhow, to defend the station, it is not meant for 24h listening. A few minutes is really enough to get the weather and traffic if you want it delivered via radio. And basic headlines. It's like being in a bar or restaurant and seeing the CP24 screen on the wall. So it has its place - and it helped me considerably Friday morning - traffic reports highlighting serious black ice and accident and traffic back-up issues on a stretch of 404 prompted me to pass on my usual route down into the city from up north and drive down 48 instead. So it helped me avoid a significant mess, and I'm grateful for that. If I'm in the car and want to know what the score is in a game, I know I can get it at :15 or :45, or the traffic / weather on the 1's, etc... without having to look at my phone.

Catfish ... Mmmmm indeed!

Used to catch and eat 'em. Bit of flour, butter, pinch of salt or a cajun combo of spices, fry in chunks or fillets on an iron skillet. Then go listen to KREB 1600 in Golden Meadow, La. (They have a stream, but I managed to DX this one during the aurora this week).