Amherstburg's NEW Radio Station ~ Coming Spring 2023

[markmiester01]

So, since the big storm Thursday night it appears the Mexican translator at 107.9 is off the air. I noticed driving home from work yesterday that I was able to pick up a pretty good signal on CKBG through parts of South Windsor and LaSalle where before the Mexican station totally dominated the frequency. Driving north on Malden Rd. in LaSalle approaching the Windsor border there was a 50/50 mix of CKBG and Cars108 from Flint. Used to pick up CARS regularly here before the translator came on. Marty Adler was actually on the air this morning commenting that they were getting calls from people saying how much further their signal was getting out today due the non-inference from across the border. The 50 watt signal does carry well probably due to the flat relatively tree-less terrain around much of Essex County. Wonder how long this will last.

[Ben Zonia]

I'm sure that Cars 108 is happy about it too. If anyone complains about CKBG interference, it's likely to get more attention.

If any complaints get to the international bureau, the translator will be ordered by the FCC to reduce power or go off the air until the interference can be resolved by some means.

[edj]

I was in Canton yesterday and picking it up to a degree. That would never happen if the translator was on.

[Steve79]

The W300DI translator is back on as of Monday. I had my home antenna in the right spot and was enjoying CKBG, and now Its impossible to get in. I Spoke with Marty over the phone and he told me that he's doing his best to have them reduced or shut down. Not sure if thats possible but it would be nice! A question for any engineers here...... Couldn't CKBG move to 107.1? I know Ann Arbor is right there but at 50 watts... that would never interfere with WQKL. Theres a translator for klove but thats not protected. 107.1 seems pretty open here in Windsor.

[schmave]

If they could/can move to 107.1, I am surprised such a thought never came up while they were originally trying to get on the air. They'd probably have much less interference to contend with, rather than the Cleveland and Detroit stations that potentially can do them harm now.

[ZenithCKLW]

I remember a few years ago there was a translator who decided to sign onto 107.1, and it interfered with WQKL pretty bad, so much that WQKL protested and got the translator kicked off 107.1 by the FCC. They're probably gunshy from that, as it was a pretty big deal to them, so I wouldn't assume an attempt to move by W300DI to 107.1 would be welcomed.

[Ben Zonia]

There have been other complaints recently to the International Bureau where they were ordered to go off the air or reduce power.

It's apparent that there are just too many stations squeezing in for the number of channels. Ultimately, only way to fix this would be to expand the band.

[markmiester01]

I thought I saw on here somebody posted the translator's licensed contours and it didn't even cross the border, yet their signal comes in strong in most of Windsor and a pretty large part of Essex county. I could hear traces of it as far away as Leamington on my car radio. If they were broadcasting within their legal limits inference from this station to CKBG would be minimal I would think. On another note what is going on in Windsor on 87.9 right now? Somebody is broadcasting here, illegally I assume as all it seems to be is like an old IPOD on shuffle. No talking or station ID whatsoever. The signal seems to be coming from around the Devonshire Mall area or somewhere in south Windsor I would guess. Driving on the EC Row expressway across town starting in the far west end it starts to get pretty strong soon as you start heading east into the city and the signal even locks in on seek around Howard Ave. Once you start heading further east past Walker Rd. it starts to fade and the by the time you get to Lauzon it is gone for good. Coming back west it is pretty strong until Huron Church Rd then starts to fade, though it can still be heard off and on all the way into LaSalle. Haven't tried a north / south route through the middle of the city yet to see how far it goes in those directions. Not sure how long it has been there but it was there all day today.

[Steve79]

I thought I saw on here somebody posted the translator's licensed contours and it didn't even cross the border, yet their signal comes in strong in most of Windsor and a pretty large part of Essex county. I could hear traces of it as far away as Leamington on my car radio. If they were broadcasting within their legal limits inference from this station to CKBG would be minimal I would think. On another note what is going on in Windsor on 87.9 right now? Somebody is broadcasting here, illegally I assume as all it seems to be is like an old IPOD on shuffle. No talking or station ID whatsoever. The signal seems to be coming from around the Devonshire Mall area or somewhere in south Windsor I would guess. Driving on the EC Row expressway across town starting in the far west end it starts to get pretty strong soon as you start heading east into the city and the signal even locks in on seek around Howard Ave. Once you start heading further east past Walker Rd. it starts to fade and the by the time you get to Lauzon it is gone for good. Coming back west it is pretty strong until Huron Church Rd then starts to fade, though it can still be heard off and on all the way into LaSalle. Haven't tried a north / south route through the middle of the city yet to see how far it goes in those directions. Not sure how long it has been there but it was there all day today.

I noticed 87.9 last week. I really like the music to be honest. Better than most radio stations in terms of music library. It clearer on the west end ( Huron Church ) than the east end. There used to be a pirate on 87.9 playing Christian Music ( I AM RADIO ). It was on the air for years, but went silent. I don't think its the same set up as the 87.9 on the air today.

[edj]

Was in Windsor today. Translator is quite clear in and around Downtown. It fades a few miles east on Wyandotte, past Walkerville. Clearly a different 107.9 in Tecumseh. Didn’t catch ID, but I’m assuming it’s CKBG.

I didn’t drive south of Tecumseh Road.

[Marcus]

It looks like they could go 200 watts directional if they move 95.1 MHz. Protecting CKUE-FM Chatham-Kent is all you would need to do because there are no Detroit based translators on that freq. (yet). Just let the CRTC know that the higher power has to do with overcoming interference and has nothing to do with serving anyone else besides Amherstburg.

[ChrisWL1980]

A friend and I (we're both friends of Steve79 who posts here) visited Grosse Ile today and got to listen to 107.9. Solid signal with RDS on the east side of the island, but on the west side W300DI created quite a bit of interference, worse in some places than others but not quite enough to make CKBG unlistenable. What I assume was WCRZ (playing "Red Red Wine") also popped in at one point. It didn't truly become unlistenable until we got back on the "mainland" and got to about downtown Wyandotte.
The music mix - interesting to say the least. I'd categorize it more as an Adult Hits format incorporating pre-Beatles oldies and a good dose of '70s AC as opposed to straight-up Soft AC. Most of the Cancon played was from the '90s to the mid-10s, sort of an odd mix given that the most recent of the non-Cancon songs played dated to 1984. There's other Cancon they could be playing that fits better, and I'm not talking about Anne Murray every 40 minutes - listening to stations like Brantford's Lite 92.1 or Belleville's 800 CJBQ could yield a good list of potential songs to play. Regardless, it's a charming little station and the odd mix gave it an aura of unpredictability that was somewhat exciting. Also neat was that one of the Cancon songs they played was French (and it wasn't Celine Dion).

For those not able to hear the station (the stream is geoblocked), here's a sample of some of the songs heard:
The Drifters - Save the Last Dance for Me
Barbra Streisand - Evergreen
Leo Sayer - When I Need You
Bryan Adams & Mel C (Sporty Spice) - When You're Gone (Cancon)
Joe Cocker - With a Little Help from My Friends (my friend, an avid "Wonder Years" viewer, pointed out that this was the show's theme tune)
Don Henley - The Boys of Summer
Coeur de Pirate - Dans l'obscurite (Cancon/French)
Ricky Nelson - Never Be Anyone Else But You
Dixie Cups - Chapel of Love
Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love
Diana Ross & Lionel Richie - Endless Love
Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently (Cancon, but one that fits with the non-Cancon music)
Alessia Cara - Wild Things (Cancon)

[schmave]

Just pulled up the stream from suburban Columbus and it's not blocked. Wonder if that has been fixed. I always enjoy local radio, so I'll keep it playing and see what I think.
I haven't seen streams geoblocked much outside sports programming. I remember some stations back in the early 2000s, including a few here in central Ohio, made you enter a zip code to listen. If it was local, even if you physically weren't, you were good to go.