cbc windsor

[daft]

[[from a longtime lurker, finally moved to post)

I happened to discover that CBC's lomgtime AM station [[at 1550) is in the process of moving to 97.5 on FM and has begun simulcasting to test its FM signal. The band/frequency change would be a minor hassle -- except that the FM signal is substantially weaker [[or perhaps aimed away from Detroit), and was breaking up the other night in my car even in parts of downtown.

I can only guess that this is all part of CBC's moves toward cutting expenses. But as a regular listener, I suddenly was struck that having easy access to Canadian radio and TV has been an unappreciated perk of Detroit life. No longer being able to easily hear a foreign view of U.S. and world news, or broadcasters such as Stuart McLean [[Canada's version of Garrison Keillor) and Randy Bachman [[whose rock music show is always enlightening) will leave me worse off.

[yupislyr]

You know about CBC Radio 2 right?

89.9 for Windsor.

It's geared more towards music but it does have some of the same programming as Radio 1, only at different times. Also, it still has a strong signal that should reach into Detroit.

http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/

[daft]

Thanks for the reminder. Radio 2 is substantially different, though -- mainly music, as you note. The schedule shows it does carry the two shows mentioned, but at inconvenient times, and "As It Happens" isn't on Radio 2 at all.

[kenp]

welcome Daft. I have always been a big Randy Bachman fan, remember seeing BTO a few times, the last being at Harpo's. We used to call them Bachman Turner Overweight. Put on a great show though. He also deserves a lot of credit for The Guess Who

[texorama]

From Wikipedia we learn: < <The new main signal will broadcast with a directional antenna to the southeast, to avoid interference with London's CIQM-FM and Lansing's WJIM-FM.[2][3] Monroe's WYDM, also at 97.5 FM, does not factor here, as it is on a low-powered Class D license, which is unprotected from interference from stations broadcasting on identical or adjacent frequencies.> >

It is too bad to lose the CBC-1 station. On the plus side, however, I've found that the University of Windsor station, CJAM, comes in better in many parts of the metro area since it moved to 99.1 FM from 91.5. Lots of fun stuff on that station on the weekend. < <Unlike previously when the station was required to use a directional antenna to broadcast at 91.5 FM, the new frequency of 99.1 FM allows for a full omnidirectional antenna providing better coverage for the Michigan area.[3]> >

[yupislyr]

It is too bad to lose the CBC-1 station. On the plus side, however, I've found that the University of Windsor station, CJAM, comes in better in many parts of the metro area since it moved to 99.1 FM from 91.5. Lots of fun stuff on that station on the weekend. < <Unlike previously when the station was required to use a directional antenna to broadcast at 91.5 FM, the new frequency of 99.1 FM allows for a full omnidirectional antenna providing better coverage for the Michigan area.[3]> >

You'll probably be happy to hear then that their next goal is to increase their signal strength. Their signal is actually worse for me now in east Windsor after the frequency change so I haven't been listening as much as I used to.

[Brock7]

The local news show reported that Friday, Sept. 30 is the last day CBC Radio One will be broadcasting on CBE 1550 AM which will end at midnight. BTW the callsign for 91.75 is CEBW-FM.

http://www.cbc.ca/windsor/community/...-us-to-fm.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBEW-FM

[Jowlska]

Online you can listen to many Canadian, and worldwide radio stations at www.tunein.com. They also have an app for smart phones so you can listen to radio on your phone like you would mp3s. I was listening to the live Arcade Fire show in Montreal that was on CBC radio 3 a couple days ago. Tunein is awesome!

[alleyc]

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto on everything daft said. Add 'Ideas' week nights at 9PM, 'As It Happens' hour and a half of full news stories, and many more shows. The production quality of their programs makes NPR un-listenable.

I was trying to ignore the mild on air reminders, knowing FM wouldn't go as far, until I saw this post. And the date. So I tuned in Brock7's numbers [[91.75) on a pretty good pocket radio, plugged in an 'antenna' [[earphone wire without the earphones) into the earphone port and got NPR Ypsi! Thought it was going to be a major overlap problem.

Thank heavens for typos.

From Brock7's link to CBC Windsor:
"Listeners in Windsor can tune in to 97.5FM, those in Leamington can tune in to 91.9 FM."

It is coming in with volume, but much more fussy about directional placement. Switching back and forth the FM more hissy and treble.

[alleyc]

TuneIn Radio is a great app. The best radio app. But good for short listens unless you pay a phone bill for unlimited access, or are constantly bathed in Wifi.

Listening to radio on a radio = free.

[Brock7]

Well, not free, but cheap and easy. I can listen 1550 AM on my little boom-box at home for the price of only 14 watts per hour. Unless I can rig it up with some sort of antenna the only other easy option after Friday is to use the FM tuner on my TV card at the cost of something like 150 watts to power the PC. My cell phone radio also can pick up 97.5, but then I have to bother with the connecting and disconnecting the earbuds antenna, and as noted, both options are fussy and hissy. [[who does that remind me of?)

Sorry that my typo caused confusion.

[alleyc]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about watts. Not fully free. I was thinking about phone bills. TuneIn Radio. I listened to an hour of radio and checked the MB usage. You would quickly use up your MB on a limited plan. An unlimited internet plan on the phone would probably be $30 or 40 more per month - just to listen to the radio.

I checked CBC Radio One [1550] 97.5 on a boom box sized radio - bigger speaker than mentioned above. It's coming in clearly. Thanks for this thread and info.

[mikefmich]

[[from a longtime lurker, finally moved to post)
I suddenly was struck that having easy access to Canadian radio and TV has been an unappreciated perk of Detroit life. No longer being able to easily hear a foreign view of U.S. and world news, or broadcasters such as Stuart McLean [[Canada's version of Garrison Keillor) and Randy Bachman [[whose rock music show is always enlightening) will leave me worse off.

I moved to this forsaken place 4 yrs ago......I've really been missing HNIC, a lot. If I could get the latest and greatest satellite dish, I'd only want one answer......can I get CBC with this gizmo?

[Carey]

Another Canadian gem is the French-language station at 540 on the AM dial, CBEF. Radio Canada is an outstanding network, and CBEF carries a number of outstanding news and culture shows. I don't speak French very well but I understand it decently, thanks to years of listening to CBEF. Very few American cities have access to a 24/7 French station on free radio.

[Bigb23]

I've scooted over to 97.5 from our 97.1 quite a few times over the past month and a half. It's like a Canadian Public Radio, and quite good on their content. It's nice to have one more option for talk radio. Sorry BBC, you're still only batting .150 overnight.