The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » New CHCH tower...

Glen Warren · July 23, 2023 10:48 am

Looks like the contractor is making good progress at the new site Four (4) temporary guy wires in place for new tower which is currently at approx. 180 feet.

Last edited by Glen Warren (August 29, 2023 10:37 pm)

andysradio · July 23, 2023 10:50 am

Thanks for posting that!

markow202 · July 24, 2023 10:33 am

Keep us updated!

turkeytop · July 24, 2023 1:30 pm

Is it in a new location?

RadioActive · July 25, 2023 8:29 pm

This has nothing to do with the CHCH tower, but it's a real coincidence that this story should appear roughly in the same week as that post. It concerns a famous TV tower in Sydney, N.S., that is now on its last legs and is coming down for good. Turns out, it's something of a local landmark and the neighbours say they'll be sad to see it go.

Landmark CJCB-TV television tower in Sydney being taken down after nearly 70 years

Glen Warren · July 25, 2023 10:48 pm

The CJCB-TV tower is a wavestack design.

The original CHCH-TV tower was also a wavestack design and was 540'. The original tower stills stands at the current Stoney Creek site, although the top portion was removed sometime after the new 1077 foot tower was constructed in 1960/61. The CHCH wavestack was used as a standby system with height of approx. 400'.

When CKDS FM launched, the main antenna was on the CHCH tower, and the FM standby was mounted to the CHCH wavestack. Corus still has standby elements on the wavestack...

This entry is from the Canadian Broadcasting History site and details the features and first uses of the Wavestack designed by Canadian Engineer Bruce Mackimmee while he was employed at RCA Montreal.
The entry article was written by Robert Norton who was a Sales Engineer at RCA Canada, and later at Applied Electronics Ltd.

https://broadcasting-history.com/industry-government/wavestack-antenna

Last edited by Glen Warren (July 25, 2023 10:50 pm)

Glen Warren · July 27, 2023 8:46 pm

Tower construction continues at the new CHCH TX site... The large lift cranes have completed the initial work, and now the steel tower sections are being raised and swung into position with a gin pole.

Lower level guy wires are installed and tensioned to the ground anchors.

Onward and upward !

Last edited by Glen Warren (August 2, 2023 7:35 pm)

Glen Warren · August 2, 2023 7:41 pm

Work continues on the new CHCH TV tower.

In the photo below, the gin pole (yellow structure attached on the upper side) is getting ready to be raised further up on the existing structure. The second set of guy wires have been strung. The lower level strobes have been installed. Current height is nearing 400 feet.

Last edited by Glen Warren (August 2, 2023 7:43 pm)

markow202 · August 8, 2023 1:34 pm

Glen Warren wrote:
Work continues on the new CHCH TV tower.

In the photo below, the gin pole (yellow structure attached on the upper side) is getting ready to be raised further up on the existing structure. The second set of guy wires have been strung. The lower level strobes have been installed. Current height is nearing 400 feet.

Awesome keep us posted! Whats the address to view on google maps? The last time I checked with whatever the address was on their application it didnt look like your pictures.

Glen Warren · August 10, 2023 3:08 am

More progress... Tower sections continue to be lifted into position with the gin pole. Typically, 2 to 3 tower riggers are on the tower for positioning and securing the sections as they are lifted up.

Ice guards are now in place above the previously installed lower strobes. Also, the outside ground anchors have been set, these anchors will be for the guy lines from the higher tower elevations.

Transmitter building structure is complete and equipment installation has started. Tower construction should be complete in 3 weeks. The antenna lift will start in September. CHCH DT, CITS HD, and CING FM will be on the tower

RadioActive · August 10, 2023 6:45 am

How, if at all, will this affect the reception of the stations listed in Toronto? Especially CING-FM, which has several Corus stations on its HD channels. I have to assume they wouldn't allow the relocaton to change the parameters too much.

Bristol · August 10, 2023 10:54 am

Should be negligible. The contour patterns are almost the same.

markow202 · August 11, 2023 11:07 am

Will the tower be seen anywhere off the QEW?

Glen Warren · August 11, 2023 10:16 pm

Their new site is about 4km west of Clappison's Corners, or about 4 min. from Hwy. 5 / 6
The area is on the north side, between Millgrove Side Rd. and Mazza Rd.

I'm not sure if you will see the new tower from the QEW... maybe at night you might be able to see the strobes flashing... You will definitely see the structure as you travel along Hwy 6 north towards Freelton or Puslinch... or travel east/west along Hwy. 5 W from Waterdown out to Peter's Corners...

The distance between the original transmitter site in Stoney Creek and the new site on Hwy 5 is about 11.5 miles or 18.4 km. Depending on where you are viewing the off air signal from, you'll most likely have to aim or point your antenna to the direction of the new tower site. Rotors rule !

CITS / YES TV will move to the new CHCH site/tower. They presently are combined / masked and share the same side mounted UHF antenna at Stoney Creek. I believe a similar arrangement will continue at the new Dundas / Flamborough site. RF frequency assignments will remain the same... Yes TV on RF 14, and CHCH on RF 15.
.

mace · August 12, 2023 8:04 am

The transmitter site seems to be in the same area as the long ago closed Plainsman Buffet Restaurant.

Marc1178 · August 12, 2023 2:44 pm

The map of the new Energy 95.3 contours are here.

https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=10096

The Tri-Cities, Guelph, and Brantford will all get a strong signal from them. They will also be a little higher above Sea Level than they are now. This is the only place I was able to find those contours. I searched the CRTC and couldn't find that application. The exact location of the new tower is West of Grace Christian School and North of Paterno Nurseries. The intersection known as Rock Chapel is nearby.

As far as seeing the tower you might see it from the Skyway Bridge, but it will be easier to see it on the 403.

Glen Warren · August 13, 2023 9:25 pm

mace wrote:
The transmitter site seems to be in the same area as the long ago closed Plainsman Buffet Restaurant.

Yes, the new tower site is just west of the long forgotten "Plainsman Buffet" (that site is now occupied by a Pioneer Gas bar, and is at Hwy. 5 and Millgrove Sideroad).

The former Mizener Antiques market is the actual site of the new CHCH tower, it is adjacent to Mazza Rd.

This pic is from Friday... height is approaching 500 feet (estimate).

tvguy · August 14, 2023 10:43 am

still many metres to go. Tower height to be 323 metres.

Last edited by tvguy (August 14, 2023 10:44 am)

Glen Warren · August 14, 2023 10:41 pm

These shots are from Monday evening...

First is from the Grace Christian School lot on Millgrove Sideroad (looking west)

Second is from Hwy. 5 and Millgrove Sideroad (looking west) (The Pioneer Gas Bar is the former site of the "Plainsman Buffet" mentioned earlier by Mace)

markow202 · August 15, 2023 10:32 am

its getting higher!

paterson1 · August 15, 2023 11:03 am

Facility wise CHCH is sitting pretty good. Brand new studios, equipment and soon a new tower. Hopefully as a company they are doing alright. They would have made some good money off of their property in downtown Hamilton and the old tower land.

Their new building also includes a studio available for movie productions.

markow202 · August 15, 2023 11:07 am

Lets not forget all the re-broadcast transmitters. Funny to have re-broadcast facilities for a Hamilton station up in Muskoka which I know of and its on the Global TV Tower near Honey Harbour on UHF. This all started when CHCH was called ONTv probably standing for "ontario TV".

Glen Warren · August 16, 2023 10:09 pm

markow202 wrote:
Lets not forget all the re-broadcast transmitters. Funny to have re-broadcast facilities for a Hamilton station up in Muskoka which I know of and its on the Global TV Tower near Honey Harbour on UHF. This all started when CHCH was called ONTv probably standing for "ontario TV".

This was launched under the WIC ownership era in the mid 90s. CHUM/City launched rebroadcast transmitters in
London/Woodstock, and south of Ottawa. Chum had also launched The "New Net" stations. Global had completed a major Ontario upgrade/expansion in the mid 80s. So it was an attempt by WIC to compete with the other players in Ontario. The model was based on Regional/National news - Canada Tonight produced out west at the BCTV / CHAN studio, and local news programming from Hamilton.

The ONTV moniker was short for Ontario Network Television. Long time CHCH reporter/producer Dwight Ryan used to joke that "we settled on ONTV... We would really have preferred TV Ontario but that was already taken".

Canwest gained control of the WIC Television assets in the fall of 2001, and re-branded ONTV to CH, or "Coming Home". launching in mid February 2002.

Glen Warren · August 16, 2023 10:15 pm

markow202 wrote:
its getting higher!

Yup, it sure is... at end of the day, it was pushing approx. 660' or 35 sections of tower. The completed tower will be composed of 48 sections. More guy lines are being attached.

haydenmatthews14 · August 17, 2023 12:33 am

Glen Warren wrote:
markow202 wrote:
Lets not forget all the re-broadcast transmitters. Funny to have re-broadcast facilities for a Hamilton station up in Muskoka which I know of and its on the Global TV Tower near Honey Harbour on UHF. This all started when CHCH was called ONTv probably standing for "ontario TV".
This was launched under the WIC ownership era in the mid 90s. CHUM/City launched rebroadcast transmitters in
London/Woodstock, and south of Ottawa. Chum had also launched The "New Net" stations. Global had completed a major Ontario upgrade/expansion in the mid 80s. So it was an attempt by WIC to compete with the other players in Ontario. The model was based on Regional/National news - Canada Tonight produced out west at the BCTV / CHAN studio, and local news programming from Hamilton.

The ONTV moniker was short for Ontario Network Television. Long time CHCH reporter/producer Dwight Ryan used to joke that "we settled on ONTV... We would really have preferred TV Ontario but that was already taken".

Canwest gained control of the WIC Television assets in the fall of 2001, and re-branded ONTV to CH, or "Coming Home". launching in mid February 2002.

I remember CHCH copied Global’s moon like logo or whatever you want to call it. Those were the days.

RadioActive · August 17, 2023 6:51 am

mace · August 17, 2023 8:41 am

RadioActive wrote:

There is a site called "Logopedia" where you can see how almost every major product's logo has evolved over the years. Yes all our local television stations are there.

markow202 · August 17, 2023 3:43 pm

Glen Warren wrote:
markow202 wrote:
Lets not forget all the re-broadcast transmitters. Funny to have re-broadcast facilities for a Hamilton station up in Muskoka which I know of and its on the Global TV Tower near Honey Harbour on UHF. This all started when CHCH was called ONTv probably standing for "ontario TV".
This was launched under the WIC ownership era in the mid 90s. CHUM/City launched rebroadcast transmitters in
London/Woodstock, and south of Ottawa. Chum had also launched The "New Net" stations. Global had completed a major Ontario upgrade/expansion in the mid 80s. So it was an attempt by WIC to compete with the other players in Ontario. The model was based on Regional/National news - Canada Tonight produced out west at the BCTV / CHAN studio, and local news programming from Hamilton.

The ONTV moniker was short for Ontario Network Television. Long time CHCH reporter/producer Dwight Ryan used to joke that "we settled on ONTV... We would really have preferred TV Ontario but that was already taken".

Canwest gained control of the WIC Television assets in the fall of 2001, and re-branded ONTV to CH, or "Coming Home". launching in mid February 2002.

Thanks for the info! Those were the days and I dont think this would ever happen again as we shut down transmitters after digital for the most part

Glen Warren · August 18, 2023 10:07 pm

More progress on the new tower build for CHCH... at the end of the week, the tower now stands just shy of 700' (estimate). The second level strobes have been installed with the protective ice shields above them. The first and second level strobes have also been wired, but are not yet active.

The guy lines to the inner ground anchors are complete, with four guys to each of the three concrete ground anchors. The remaining guy lines for the higher elevations of the tower will be strung to the outer set of concrete ground anchors. A set of guy standoff arms has been attached to the tower, and the fifth guy line cable has been strung from the tower to the outer ground anchors.

This week also saw the lift and installation of a specialized tower section referred to as the torsion section.

Driving around the outlying area, the new CHCH tower is already quite prominent and can be seen from the up/down bound lanes of Hwy 403 / "Ancaster Hill". Also from Burlington / Aldershot when travelling west by the RBG Centre on Plains Rd. W. Turn the bend, and it will be right in front of you atop the escarpment.

fybush · August 19, 2023 9:34 pm

I took a ride across the border today. The new CHCH tower sure is easy to see now that it's more than 70 percent there. Looking forward to seeing it when it's done.

I also went into Brantford, where the Arise 1380 sign is already gone from the studio building, if it was ever there - it's just Lite, Country and the Evanov corporate logo.

The 1380 towers are still standing for now. I wonder if the neighbours will get the road renamed to something other than "CKPC Road" once they're gone?

Swung home the long way past the two Ohsweken stations. I forgot how well the "Jukasa Radio" 93.5 signal gets out over there.

There was also some unusual tropo ducting going on - while there aren't many open channels for DX, I got WMIT 106.9 from Mount Mitchell in North Carolina while sitting at the little park in "downtown" Ohsweken.