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Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
You may remember a few months ago when a post here linked to a Metroland York Region newspaper article about a new Aurora radio station. The story seemed to suggest the new outlet had a licence and even call letters and would be on the air soon.
Many here questioned the story and they were right to. Turns out the place has just applied for an actual licence and one of those named in the app is Ferguson Mobbs, who was extensively quoted in the story. The low power community station wouild be at 101.5 FM. That's getting to be a fairly crowded area of the dial around these parts.
The applicants promise 119 hours of local programming a week, a fairly ambitious guarantee for a community outlet. In its more detailed proposal to the CRTC, they guarantee a back-up generator will be installed to keep the station on the air during bad weather or emergencies. But the document also notes that "the program feed to the transmitter will be via the internet." Not sure if that's a good way to do it, given the fragility of the web at times.
Hearings will be held November 18th.
Voice of Aurora Community Radio CRTC Application
- Mike Cleaver
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Re: Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
Many stations now use the internet to send and receive programming, including to the transmitter(s) but the smart ones always have one or two backup methods when the net fails.
You'd be surprised how many of the major stations no longer have back up generators or alternate transmitter sites that they can use if the main facilities go down for any reason.
Also, those stations which still have reporters who actually go outside and chase stories, broadcasting from the actual event which rely on the internet and cell phones will be SOL during a real disaster when those services go down. Most have abandoned their private VHF and UHF vehicle based and hand held systems because they are too expensive to maintain (batteries, etc.) I do know that Newcap is busy making their facilities triple redundant with different transmitter locations, all with their own power and several means of getting the signal to them.
Everyone thinks landlines and cellphones and the internet will be working after a major disaster such as an earthquake.
Every media outlet should have at least two satellite phones, one at the studio and the other(s) for reporter use when everything else is down.
- geo
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Re: Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
Mike Cleaver wrote:
Everyone thinks landlines and cellphones and the internet will be working after a major disaster such as an earthquake. Every media outlet should have at least two satellite phones, one at the studio and the other(s) for reporter use when everything else is down
Not everyone, Mike. When a tsunami floods BC's lower mainland or when terrorists bring down the CN Tower or an earthquake levels Montreal's Mount Royal, many will reach for their $20 windup radio and get information from the over abundance of small-town broadcasters just itching to take over where CKNW, CFRB and CJAD left off . . .
- Old Codger
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Re: Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
Yes...with actual usable LOCAL info that real people can benefit from.. Too TRUE geo.
- Mark Elliot
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Re: Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
The internet went down along with cell phones, tv, radio, and the power in 2003. I was filling in on News Talk 1010 for a host who wanted to fly with the Snowbirds. He didn't fly that day. I did, because we were the only ones left on the air. Gary Slaight was smart enough to keep his generators in place when CHUM and a lot of others cut them to save money on maintenance. One day and a surprise edition of "People Helping People" made my name a household word in Toronto.
- Peter the K
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Re: Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
But has 1010's current owner made sure that there is a standby generator at the new digs?
I remember the 2003 blackout. The business where I was IT manager was out of business for the better part of 24 hours until the power came back. Thanks to a sufficiently large UPS, we could gracefully shutdown our servers and wait things out.
After it was over, management demanded that something be done, and I was charged to research options for standy power generation that would keep the entire operation going for an extended period of time.
Long story short, once I presented management with the costs, suddenly, the potential of lost profit didn't really seem quite so bad and it became a gamble management was willing to take.
So, I wonder. The next time a major power failure hits will I be able to tune into anything when I turn on my incredibly beat-up but trusty old battery-powered Grundig? It sure came in handy during the ice store a couple of years ago.
Last edited by Peter the K (September 24, 2015 1:30 pm)
- Mark Elliot
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Re: Mystery Of Aurora's "New Radio Station" Finally Solved
Gary Slaight was two owners ago at 1010 and was a very "hands on" operator. Bell would appear to have the resources with all the radio stations in one building and if I remember right CHUM had built generators into 299 Queen W. Whether or not they are maintained is another guess for me. "Assumption" is the root of all screwups.