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March 27, 2023 10:29 am  #31


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

In November of 1996 and '97 I visited Toronto and brought my SONY SRF42 with me.

I got to hear 1010 CFRB and 1050 CHUM in AM Stereo.  The SRF42, unlike earlier SONY AM Stereo walkmens, only had Motorola C-QUAM compatibility.  Both stations sounded decent.  1050 CHUM striving, I guess, for authenticity played Steppenwolf's 45 rpm version of "Magic Carpet Ride" which was a mono recording.  I was used to hearing the stereo version locally in Calgary on Rawlco's 66-CFR and admit I was annoyed hearing a mono version on Russ McCloud's afternoon drive show.

My introduction to AM Stereo came from my parents' 1985 Chrysler New Yorker with a Motorola C-QUAM compatible car stereo.  It wasn't the best for distant stations but the sound was decent so long as the Motorola "platform effect" wasn't too pronounced.

The local Calgary cable TV and FM providers had most of the city's AM stations on the FM band and in stereo if the feed was available.

My maternal grandfather had a 1989 Chrysler Dynasty that also had a C-QUAM compatible car stereo. Its advantage included a rear headphone jack and volume knob near the rear window.

Jody Thornton's description, of the Chrysler radio sound, is very good.  The best AM Stereo radio I ever heard was through a Carver home stereo receiver.

My recollection of the Kahn system was the lack of stereo separation above 5 kHz.  I remember talking to a DJ at CKXL and him saying his experience was that you needed to have a song with good stereo separation, like a '60s Beatles song, to even really notice.  If you had two radios close by with one tuned slightly above the station's frequency, and the other slightly tuned below the station's frequency, you could "hear" Kahn AM Stereo.

CHED Edmonton along with CFR and CKXL Calgary all used the Kahn system until switching to the Motorola system.  CHED was experimenting with AM Stereo at the same time as CKLW Windsor.  Both had permission to undertake testing.  I think it was early as 1982.

Most of the stations in Alberta and BC started with the Motorola system.  CHED was first in western Canada. CHQR was the first in Calgary.  CHEC was first in Lethbridge.  CKOV Kelowna, BC may have even launched in AM Stereo before CKNW Vancouver.  CHED Edmonton wanted a better pattern and paid for 630 CKOV's AM Stereo upgrades and new transmitter facilities which helped CHED meet its objectives.

The last Calgary music station to use AM Stereo was 1060 CKMX during its "Classic Country" days.  That ended after a transmitter upgrade and the owners not wanting to update the AM Stereo gear.  1060 was the last of the Calgary private AM stations to go AM Stereo and it didn't happen until Standard bought the station in the early '90s from Maclean-Hunter.  880 CHQT Edmonton was that city's last when it dropped its music format for news in 2008.

If you search SoundCloud using #AM Stereo as the hash tag, you'll find some of the RadioWest airchecks that came from various AM Stereo radio recordings.

Here's more information about the SRF42, which I still have although the headphone jack is rather loose -

https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Short-Wave/Monitoring-Times-IDX/90s/Monitoring-Times-1996-01-OCR-Page-0106.pdf


 


Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .
 

March 27, 2023 12:20 pm  #32


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Thanks for the tip about the soundcloud AM stereo samples albertaboy4life .

I found the page here I think.  Have not listened to the clips yet but there is one entry for  1040 CKST - The Spirit of Radio. The air check is by JB Shane. Would anyone know if this is the same Shane that had a show featuring punk/new wave called Neon on CBC AM. Well before Brave New Waves and Nightlines appeared on CBC FM

Last edited by Fitz (March 27, 2023 12:22 pm)


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March 27, 2023 12:54 pm  #33


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Thank you, Fitz.  I also enjoy listening to your airchecks and clips on your web pages.

Yes, that is the same JB Shayne.

RadioWest's sister site profiled him a while back -

https://bcradiohistory.com/Biographies/JBShayne.htm


Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .
 

March 27, 2023 1:31 pm  #34


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Thank you for the kind comments about my radio prize pig days paterson1. Started as hobby in the 70's on CHUM FM and CFNY and then turned into an obsession that lasted a long period and possiblly 30 plus stations over the years. Reached ridiculous heights such as stopping the car and getting to a phone booth to win. Finally  got detoxed of the problem around 2008. However had no idea back in those days that the recordings of the contests could come in handy at some point and so there's that and some of the prizes were great.

Last edited by Fitz (March 27, 2023 1:37 pm)


Cool Airchecks and More:
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March 27, 2023 8:55 pm  #35


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

WION AM Stereo 1430 from Ionia Michigan transmits in AM stereo. You can listen to the received signal here: https://www.i1430.com/listen/

This is one of those successful AM stations that understand the importance of concentrating on their local area. These folks are also creative; the engineer figured a reduction of 600 watts (from 5000 to 4400 watts) allowed them to switch from a highly directional day pattern to omnidirectional and cover a lot more area. They are still lower power /  directional at night. 

Here's an interesting video about the station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4qgdRQjaoQ
 

 

March 27, 2023 8:59 pm  #36


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

On the original subject, were there any local FM stations that tried quadrophonic stereo? I think Q107 experimented with it for a time, but it quickly crashed and burned. Again, another innovation I never got the chance to hear. 

     Thread Starter
 

March 27, 2023 9:10 pm  #37


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

RadioActive wrote:

On the original subject, were there any local FM stations that tried quadrophonic stereo? I think Q107 experimented with it for a time, but it quickly crashed and burned. Again, another innovation I never got the chance to hear. 

I think that by the time Q 107 lunched Quad was pretty much dead for radio and even other-wise. The last time this topic came up on the board someone said that WBEN FM tried it but I have not been able to find anything about that on the net.
 


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March 28, 2023 7:55 am  #38


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Here’s a link to a series of reports that aired on CKLW when it moved to AM stereo in 1982.  They include legendary engineer Ed Buterbaugh who gave The Big 8 its remarkable sound.
https://m.soundcloud.com/terry-scott-980453183/cklw-goes-am-stereo-sept-1982

 

March 28, 2023 8:22 am  #39


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Big8Newsie wrote:

Here’s a link to a series of reports that aired on CKLW when it moved to AM stereo in 1982. They include legendary engineer Ed Buterbaugh who gave The Big 8 its remarkable sound.
https://m.soundcloud.com/terry-scott-980453183/cklw-goes-am-stereo-sept-1982

Just a note of weird coincidence - when I came across this latest post, it just happened to show that the number of page views for this thread was exactly 800. Somehow seems only appropriate! 

     Thread Starter
 

March 28, 2023 9:32 am  #40


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Big8Newsie wrote:

Here’s a link to a series of reports that aired on CKLW when it moved to AM stereo in 1982. They include legendary engineer Ed Buterbaugh who gave The Big 8 its remarkable sound.
https://m.soundcloud.com/terry-scott-980453183/cklw-goes-am-stereo-sept-1982

Very interesting clip with a lot of good information.  In retrospect it is easy to see why AM stereo was pretty much dead on arrival.  The four different systems were a big problem since each type required it's own radio or adapter designed to that technology.  Too complicated out of the gate.

The FCC should have mandated one system.  Then manufacturers would have been able to mass produce the radios much quicker. This also would have enabled car companies to offer AM stereo sooner.  Although other than GM, didn't sound like car manufacturers were terribly interested in pushing the new radios. 

The biggest issue was the fact that FM, especially in the US already had exactly the same formats that were available on AM. You could find many FM  stations that sounded the same as CKLW, WLS, WABC etc.  And these FM stations had been on for years with the same sound and format.  So AM stations now broadcasting with the better sound were already years behind and had lost the audience.

Why would anyone move back to AM when they were just now approaching the sound quality of the other frequency and offering nothing new or different?  Therefore there was no motivation for consumers to spend money and buy new radios that offered AM stereo.  What people say in surveys and what they actually end up doing are often two different things.     

 

March 28, 2023 10:36 am  #41


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Here's a snip from a 1997 AM stereo air check I have from CHNS Halifax. The Motorola C-Quam system was the standard by this time. Have picked a section that included 3 songs I enjoy by Badfinger, The Box Tops and Zombies' Time of the Season where the stereo is really apparent..

CHNS 1997 AM Stereo Snip


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March 30, 2023 3:40 pm  #42


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Jody Thornton wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

I'm not laughing Jody - the car I just got rid of last month not only had a CD in it, but a cassette player, too! 

I officially hate you ....lol - nah I'm kidding.  I actually could have obtained a compatible cassette deck form the junkers at Bloomington Road, but then there would be the question of belts and damaged heads.  Tape decks especially older ones require maintenance here and there.

Too bad too.  I have plenty of good sounding mixed cassettes, and I find they are more sturdy than burned CD-Rs in the car.  Plus, since I process my music for the car (akin to FM radio), S/N issues are not an issue. 

     Thread Starter
 

April 25, 2023 7:40 pm  #43


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Not to resurrect this again, but I just found this article from Sept. 1983, that insists CHUM was the first Toronto station to go AM stereo, before others in the market followed. There was some question about who went first and if this story is to be believed, it was the folks at 1050. 

     Thread Starter
 

April 25, 2023 9:48 pm  #44


Re: How Many Toronto Stations Tried AM Stereo?

Well CKOC did go stereo in 1983.  Ray Girrard voiced the first identification liners for it, and they aired prior to the Ronald Morey top hour ID

Now Styx’ “Mr Roboto” was in the midst of its chart run.  I thought that was a rotated hit by late spring, no?  So stereo by summer maybe?


Cheers,
Jody Thornton