MARITIMES SCANNING SITE

FM RADIO BROADCAST LISTENING IN THE MARITIMES

Last updated March 24, 2008

Coming events in the Halifax area:   1. CJCH 920 kHz is heading to 101.3 FM with 100 kW, and CFDR 780 kHz is on its way to 88.9 with 21 kW. are heading for the FM band in 2008.   This means the end of AM radio in Halifax.  2. CIRH 97.9 Halifax Information Radio has been given permission to raise power and move to 107.7 MHz in order to provide HRM-mandated emergency broadcast service to the municipality.  3. Seaside FM, CFEP, at 94.7 MHz has been given permission to raise power but will have to find a new frequency due to complaints from the owners of 94.5 in Kentville who claim that interference will result.

This section is intended to be simply a place for me to share my list of FM stations in the Maritimes.   I try to keep my lists up to date, but stations do come and go.  I would appreciate any updates you can pass along to me.  marscan1@canada.com

I do realize that some of you are interested in FM dx'ing and likely have picked up stations from throughout Quebec and New England, if not farther.  I would certainly enjoy hearing about your catches, and would post lists here on the site if you like.  This is an activity that I myself would like to take up but cannot at the moment.  At the present I just enjoy tuning through the dial on my car radio and on my Grundig S350.  I find on the whole that reception on the car radio is much the superior.

In Canada there are several classes of FM broadcasters, and in most respects there are similar classifications in the US, however it is only in respect of frequency use that there is complete coordination.    Technical considerations such as frequency and power come under the jurisdiction of Industry Canada whereas the content and the need for service, or lack of it, is the area of concern of the CRTC.   In the USA the FCC does both.

Canadian classes:

Low Power FM (LPFM):  ERP in any direction limited to 50 Watts.  If the maximum 50 Watts is used, then the antenna height is limited to 60 metres.   Antenna height is measured from the centre of radiation of the antenna and (height above average terrain) HAAT is used.  HAAT is calculated by averaging terrain heights taken every metre for 5 km along 4 standard radials from the antenna (north, east, south, west).  The primary service area, as defined by a field strength test, shall not extend more than 8 km in any direction.   These stations are secondary on any frequency and may not interfere with regular stations. 

Very Low Power FM (VLPFM):   ERP of up to 10 Watts and maximum antenna height of 30 metres.  Only allowable in remote areas of Canada, and lacking other access to the Canadian broadcasting services. 

For the following classes of FM stations, the effective HAAT is calculated using 4 additional radials (NE, SE, SW, NW) at distances between 3 and 16 km.

Class A1:   50 to 250 Watts.  EHAAT maximum 100 metres.
Class A:    251 Watts to 6 kW.  EHAAT maximum 100 metres.
Class B1:  3 kW to 25 kW.   EHAAT maximum 100 metres.
Class B:    3 kW to 50 kW.   EHAAT maximum 150 metres.
Class C1:  20 Kw to 100 kW.  EHAAT maximum 300 metres.
Class C:    20 kW to 100 kW.  EHAAT maximum 600 metres.

In the case of antennas having directional characteristics, the ERP allowable is the maximum in any direction, not the average of all directions.

When stations are assigned to frequencies, there is a complicated protection policy meant to ensure that stations on the same or adjacent frequencies do not infringe on each others'  service areas.   Service areas are based on signal strengths calculated by engineers and may not actually be as perceived by listeners.   For example a listener on high ground in one area may hear well and listen to a station that is for legal purposes not serving that area.  

Service areas are divided into primary and secondary areas.   Secondary areas may be described informally as the areas where the station is heard reasonably well but may not be in the actual community of service, for advertising and news purposes. For legal purposes, the classes of stations are considered to have the following secondary service areas, expressed as radius from antenna.

Class A1: 18 km
Class A: 38 km
Class B1: 51 km
Class B: 65 km
Class C1: 86 km
Class C: 97 km

Beyond these distances Industry Canada does not protect stations, and may assign other stations to serve those areas beyond.   This does not mean that another transmitter can be placed at for example 66 km from an existing Class B station.  See  below.

There is a table of minimum separation distances between stations.   Two Class A1 stations on the same frequency must be at least 78 km apart.  At the other end of the scale, two Class C stations on the same frequency must be at least 317 km apart.   There are all the variations in between, for example between a Class B1 and a Class C1, etc.  There are also values for separation between stations on the next one and two adjacent frequencies.   As the FM band fills it becomes more and more complicated to find appropriate frequencies.  The result now is that in order to meet these requirements, more distant unprotected stations that you and I might listen to on occasion, perhaps with better than normal equipment, are slowly being covered by new local stations.

Industry Canada has produced a Table of Allotments that ahead of time proposed FM broadcast frequencies for a multitude of communities across Canada.   For example a list of frequencies was produced for Moncton, along with the class of station proposed for each frequency.   This would all be based on population and the separation rules.  In theory, as entities apply for broadcasting licences they would know what would be available to them.  In practice there have been departures from the Table of Allotments, so that it can no longer be considered to be entirely carved in stone. 

Click here for a list of FM stations in the Maritimes and Eastern Maine

Click here for the list of FM stations I generally hear in my car from around the Sackville area of Halifax.