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Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
I'm not sure how long it went on, but CKTB in St. Catharines was off the air for more than five hours straight on Saturday - and it might have even been longer than that. I tuned it in around 1 PM only to find no signal at all, and checked back frequently during the afternoon. By 6 PM, they were still gone. I have no idea when it started so it could have been a much lengthier outage than that.
I didn't think to check on the two Bell FMs that broadcast from the city to see if they were affected, too, although I wish I had.
By 7 o'clock at night, they were back, but that's one of the longest blackouts of any radio station in this area that I can ever remember. Anyone know what happened?
- mace
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
After 6pm were you able to receive any distant signals? Perhaps WIP in Philly or WTVN in Columbus?
- RadioActive
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
Didn't hear very much. But even when they're on, I usually hear WTVN from Columbus, Ohio underneath them at night.
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Thread Starter- Saul
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
mace wrote:
After 6pm were you able to receive any distant signals? Perhaps WIP in Philly or WTVN in Columbus?
Or KDAL Duluth Minnesota, which I've heard a few times this past week just north of Toronto even with CKTB on the air. Too bad (for me) I wasn't DXing during this outage (outrage?).
Afternoon into early evening is not an optimal time to be off the air. Something unexpected must have happened, as opposed to planned transmitter work which sometimes does take stations down in the wee hours.
- Been there
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
Might have something to do with the lack of an on site engineer. Don't think there has been one in St Catharines for a number of years. Any problems you call Bell Central in Hamilton or Toronto and twiddle your thumbs till he can make to Niagara. God help you if there's a winter storm(or it's a Saturday)
Remember the good old days when the engineer had to physically live at the transmitter ( or at least a woebegone assistant).
Last edited by Been there (October 21, 2019 4:12 pm)
- TheConsultant
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
Every station I've worked at had an off-air alarm with automatic alerts sent to the tech. No need for an on-site engineer.
- Been there
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
Read "site" to mean the immediate vicinity. Obviously an off air alert was sent but it took 5 hours to respond to it and fix it.
- TheConsultant
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
Cktb has a recent history of doing maintenance during daylight hours. We can assume and blame, but why?
- Radiowiz
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Re: Why Was CKTB Off The Air For Hours On Saturday?
Cktb has a recent history of doing maintenance during daylight hours. We can assume and blame, but why?
The issue might be how much advertising dollars are lost during that down time vs late night?
RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person.
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.