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I have seen other stations do something like this before but not as prominent. CFOS AM in Owen Sound has the information explaining why they want to move to FM front and centre on their website.
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the crtc website has 90 positive interventions for this application, so clearly people do care.....
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90 positive interventions of support. Shows the value of a station being local and still serving the community. Listened to CFOS earlier today and their 5pm news, weather, sports, business package was 14 minutes in length.
Last edited by paterson1 (February 20, 2024 10:48 pm)
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Their proposal would have CFOS at 89.3 on the FM band with 1.5 kilowatts of power. Not sure what frequencies are available in the area but given the terrain of the Grey Bruce area (rocky and hilly) that 1.5 kilowatts won't cover that much territory with a solid signal even if radiating from a tower at 600 feet.
Bayshore knows what they are doing and I wish them luck.
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They will need more power to cover the area.People on the support list are outside the new FM station range.
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I bet they end up asking to keep the AM going indefinitely
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I think they should have applied for more power. CFOS covers so much area during the day - all of Georgian bay. It comes ok here in Peterborough during the day.
1.5 kW will only cover the town, or as they say, the area they are licensed to serve.
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I can just get a staticky signal on 560 during the day in North York, but it's there and it's mostly listenable, depending on your noise tolerance.
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I'd imagine there'd be savings on the costs of running the AM stick, and the potential for any real estate gains if the FM requires less land...
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I believe CFOS only plans to simulcast on 560 for 3-6 months when they get the FM up and running. The AM station's transmitter needs to be replaced and major work done at the transmitter site south of town so I doubt they will build both a new studio with new equipment for FM and all of the expense for whatever needs to be done on 560 to keep it on the air. The AM tower land will be worth good money.
Bayshore has their own FM tower which has their two existing stations, Country 93 and Mix 106. Bounce FM rents off of Bayshore's FM tower, and other clients may be renting space as well. CFOS FM would be at the top of the structure and apparently the frequency and power will give them their current daytime service area of CFOS AM which is below.
Currently they actually do reach a larger area in the daytime (areas like Perry Sound, south of Sudbury, north of Toronto etc.) with their distant and fringe signals but they derive no revenue from these areas and don't cater and rarely acknowledge them.
In the evening pattern, the CFOS AM signal is not reliable not far outside of town, even unlistenable. At least the new FM signal will give them exactly the same pattern day and night and this is what they want. Hockey broadcasts are a big deal and the Owen Sound Attack evening broadcasts are not listenable often with the night time pattern in rural areas not far outsie the city.
The CFOS service area is the red configuration on the map and the new FM signal apparently will give them this day and night. This is also the area where the station brings in ad revenue.
Last edited by paterson1 (February 26, 2024 8:35 pm)
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The new service area on the CRTC application is about have the size of the current red area..
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The FM signal will be mostly for Owen sound and area maybe as far as Collingwood to the east due to the escarpment (blue mountain) it wont reach as good as the AM one.
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In some final housekeeping, the CRTC has finalized the requirements for the conversion and did not receive a single comment on the change. So the only questions now are: when does the big switch take place? And how long will they have to continue simulcasting on 560 before turning off the AM signal for good?
They've been on 560 since 1958. Somehow, "CFOS 89.3" just doesn't sound right!
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RadioActive wrote:
In some final housekeeping, the CRTC has finalized the requirements for the conversion and did not receive a single comment on the change. So the only questions now are: when does the big switch take place? And how long will they have to continue simulcasting on 560 before turning off the AM signal for good?
They've been on 560 since 1958. Somehow, "CFOS 89.3" just doesn't sound right!
I remember the day they went to 560. Prior to that they were on 1470.
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I will miss 560 I can hear it in the car in Toronto and once North of the city it is quite clear......Having previously lived Chatham, CFCO leaving 630 after 99 years will be sad..........last summer I heard CFCO quite well in Dayton Ohio......CFCO's new FM signal will not go very far and will interfere with a Michigan educational station on the same frequency.....CFCO already has a 92.9 FM repeater which sounds good for Chatham-Kent but also is, I think only 250 watts...
I also wonder if they will keep some of their features at CFOS such as Dial a Deal, the twice daily obits, and Radio Bingo, and the nostalgia evening show Remember When
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Strange to see this post as im listening to them clearly in Barrie while working, on a Sony radio. This will be lost (signal-wise) for me when gone to FM.
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AM radio is slowly becoming part of the history books. CKNX will wait till it turns 100, them will move to over to FM.
So, who and where will be the last AM station standing, and who will be the owner of this station.
My guess would be a small local station out in the middle of no where owned by a non profit.