1 of 1- RadioActive
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There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Has anyone else noticed something seems to have happened to CHAM's signal on 820 AM? It used to come in here like a local (which, being in Hamilton, it almost is.)
But over the past few days, there is extensive noise on the signal whenever I tune it in, and it seems weaker than before. It's for sale - could Bell have turned down the juice? It almost sounds at times like waves crashing against a shore line and it's very noisy.
Not sure if it's just interference in my location (North York) or if there's something going on with the transmission. Either way, it's very annoying!
- mace
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Do you have the same problem listening to CHAM in your car? The station is supposed to operate 50kw day, 10kw night. Perhaps Bell now operates the station at 10kw 24 hours. No point in wasting a 50kw signal on a station few people listen to.
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Haven't tried it yet in the car, but I'll be out today and will check.
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Thread Starter- alangee
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
I'm in Mississauga and the signal is very noisy here as well. Some kind of crackly scraping sound.
- fyshtalk
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
The signal is very noisy here as well. Some kind of crackly scraping sound.
(and that is the best the station has sounded since they ditched Country !
- turkeytop
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Very noisy here in London. I don't know how far from normal that is. It's a station I never listen to.
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Just tried it coming home in the car. Very noisy in an area where there's not generally a lot of RF interference. Something has definitely happened to the signal.
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Thread Starter- DOPEfm
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
We had heavy winds over the past week, perhaps antenna damage?
- turkeytop
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
They might appreciate someone contacting them and letting them know. I've done that before and sometimes the station hadn't even realized there was a problem.
Sometimes a station will make changes or reduce power at their transmitter and wait to see if anyone notices. CBC often does that.
Last edited by turkeytop (October 2, 2023 7:27 pm)
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
- Paul Jeffries
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Perhaps an automation glitch, where it's not switching back to daytime pattern at dawn?
PJ
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
turkeytop wrote:
They might appreciate someone contacting them and letting them know.
Good luck trying to reach anyone there! I remember I needed to call Bell Media in Hamilton a long time ago about something. I was barely able to get voicemail, let alone a response. Both the Hamilton stations are essentially on auto-pilot and there's no one there but a pre-programmed computer as far as I can tell. And unfortunately, it's not trained to answer the phone!
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Thread Starter- RadioAaron
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Both the Hamilton stations...
It's a well-kept secret, but there's also a rumoured third Bell station that's often #1 in the market and has 100x more listeners than "both" of Bell's Hamilton stations.
- turkeytop
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Perhaps an automation glitch, where it's not switching back to daytime pattern at dawn?
PJ
That happened once at CFTR 680. They weren't aware of it until I contacted them.
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Both the Hamilton stations...
It's a well-kept secret, but there's also a rumoured third Bell station that's often #1 in the market and has 100x more listeners than "both" of Bell's Hamilton stations.
Ah yes, CKLH. I always forget about them, mainly because FM is never really on any of my radios. You might say I've bounced Bounce from my radio.
By the way, when I said "Both Hamilton stations," I was specifically referring to the two AMs that are for sale. I wonder what's holding up that sale? I would have thought when Bell made the announcement about shutting down CJBK London but keeping CHAM & CKOC they might have had a buyer in mind or at least someone who was interested. All these months later and... nothing.
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Thread Starter- mace
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
I was out in West Oakville [Bronte] today. CHAM had a listenable signal but the background static was still quite noticeable. In fact, the signal from little 1230 WECK was almost as good as 820. Oakville has always been kind to most of the Buffalo FM signals, but today, 94.5 and 96.1 were MIA. Not a sniff of a signal on either frequency. Even 92.9 was moderately listenable.
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Re: There's Something Funny About Funny 820's Signal
Whatever was going on with CHAM's signal seems to have been fixed. I was out walking the dog Thursday night when I tuned it in - and it was back to normal. No more noise and pretty good reception, with the exception of a few lightning related crackles. Otherwise, it sounds fine.
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