I can't comment on Toronto, how about London Ontario?

About three years ago (before covid) I was sitting in the parking lot at a medical building adjacent to the Cherryhill Village Mall on Oxford St. West in London Ontario. I was waiting for my wife who has a medical appointment every two months. I hit the scan button of the FM radio. It locked into 98.7 which is normally unoccupied. A 60's song was playing in stereo, followed by more 60's tunes. I was puzzled as there was no other skip / tropospheric distant signals coming in. When my wife got back in the car we drove to our next stop, the Superstore Mall which is a couple of miles west. The signal was still strong with full quieting and good stereo separation. During the brief interval between songs you could hear a very low 60 or 120hz hum like you might hear from a poorly filtered power supply.

After our grocery shopping we headed north along Hyde Park Road and for the next mile or so the signal remained steady. By the time we got to Gainsboro Rd the signal was dropping in / out. Another mile north it was all but gone.

Two months later I was back and the frequency was still active playing 80's tunes. Two months after that the same thing but at a lower deviation or volume level. By the next appointment (8 months from the first time) signal was gone. I can't say how long it lasted; when it started or ended. There were no ID's, spoken announcer, time checks and the real giveaway every third song was not cancon. There are several 20+ floor high-rise apartment buildings in this area. I thought the signal may have been coming from one of those low power stereo transmitters you can connect to your computer. Possibly from a resident located on one of the upper floors of the apartments. This would provide significant height that could allow a low power signal to travel quite far.

In any case the transmission was very receivable by a FM car radio for a couple of miles. I wonder if the person originating this had any idea how far it was going. It was nice while it lasted.

Did anyone else who visits this board and live in London ever notice this?

Last edited by darcyh (March 27, 2022 9:47 pm)

... and I do remember the Island pirate ... think it was 89.9. There have been a few in TO ...

Pirate TV station in the east end. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Ray_TV

I remember driving around Burlington - where I used to live - and picking up a local pirate. They even gave out a phone number. I called and someone answered and even gave me their location, or so I thought. I never heard the station again and they weren't where they said they were.