Radio Canada International
Encyclopedia
Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting
service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC). Until 1970, it was known as the CBC International Service and was sometimes referred to as the "Voice of Canada" in its early years.
was first proposed as far back as the 1930s. The CBC Archives website, however, has no archived news stories showing the historical documents where this early shortwave service is discussed. Several studies commissioned by the CBC Board of Governors in the late 1930s had come to the conclusion that Canada needed a radio service to broadcast a Canadian point of view to the world.
By the early 1940s, this need was also recognized by a series of Parliamentary Broadcasting Committees. Finally, in 1942, Prime Minister
Mackenzie King
announced that Canada would begin a shortwave
radio service that would keep members of the Canadian Armed Forces
in touch with news and entertainment from home. The CBC International Service became a reality with the signing of an Order-in-Council on September 18, 1942.
By the end of 1944, both the production facilities and the transmitting plant were ready for test broadcasts. These tests, which began on December 25, 1944, were broadcast to Canadian troops in Europe
in both English
and French
. Psychological warfare
in German
to Europe began in December 1944 as well. The German section was staffed by refugees such as Helmut Blume and Eric Koch
and would go on to broadcast "denazification
" programming as well as broadcasts aimed at East Germany during the Cold War
.
In early 1945, it was announced that the CBC International Service was ready and would go on the air for real on February 25 using the name the "Voice of Canada".
By 1946, the CBC International Service had expanded to include regular transmissions in Czech
and Dutch
. Beginning in July, special once-a-week programs were broadcast to Scandinavia
in Swedish
and Danish
and later in Norwegian
, as well.
In November 1946, daily broadcasts started to the Caribbean
in English. There were also Sunday night programs broadcast to Cuba
, Colombia
, Peru
and Ecuador
in Spanish and to Brazil
in Portuguese.
Daily Spanish
and Portuguese
transmissions began on July 6, 1947. At around the same time as the expansion into the Caribbean and Latin America
, the CBC International Service became involved with the newly formed United Nations
. United Nations broadcasts through the CBC International Service continued until November 29, 1952, when they were transferred to larger shortwave facilities run by the Voice of America
.
in the aftermath of World War II.
By the early 1950s several international shortwave stations began to beam programs into the Soviet bloc countries in an effort to circumvent heavy censorship of world news to their citizens.
New English and French programs directed to Africa
were added giving the International Service direct coverage to every continent except Asia
.
In July 1970, the service was renamed Radio Canada International.
The change took place because it was felt that RCI should have its own identity, separate from the CBC domestic network, even though RCI had just been fully integrated into the CBC system.
On November 7, 1971, RCI inaugurated its new 250 kW transmitters which were five times more powerful than the existing units. This significantly improved RCI's signal quality in Europe and Africa.
Canada recognized the People's Republic of China
in 1971. Before beginning its Mandarin Chinese
service, RCI produced a 40-week series called Everyday English which was broadcast in 1988 and early 1989 over local stations in Beijing
, Shanghai
, and Guangzhou
. With an estimated audience of almost 20 million, the course was a huge success.
Just 10 months after beginning the Chinese broadcasts, RCI started a series of Arabic broadcasts to the Middle East
. This coincided with the United Nations effort in the Persian Gulf
to support the Gulf war
, of which Canada was a participant.
After evaluating its own budget, the CBC decided it could no longer pay for Radio Canada International without extra funding from the federal government.
To save the service, RCI Program Director Allan Familiant announced a major restructuring that took effect on March 25, 1991.
Six of the 13 languages — Czech
, German
, Hungarian
, Japanese
, Polish
, and Portuguese
— were discontinued.
And while the English
and French
services survived, all RCI-produced programming, except for news broadcasts, was eliminated and replaced with CBC Domestic network programs. Since then some RCI-produced programs in English and French have been restored.
RCI then began a two audio stream, later three audio stream programming delivery structure after 2000.
Initial programming delivery structure (2000–2004)
Later programming delivery structure (2004–2006)
These audio streams were available from RCI's website as well as across Europe
, the Middle East
and Northern Africa, utilizing the Hotbird-6 satellite. In late 2006 the online streams were eliminated in favour of a single online multilingual stream.
On December 1, 2005, Radio Canada International began broadcasting its program across North America as RCIplus, utilizing the Sirius
satellite radio system. This was part of a CBC/Radio-Canada bouquet of satellite channels which included national versions of domestic radio stations from CBC Radio
and Première Chaîne.
and French
programming with a new focus on information for new immigrants to Canada as well as continuing to broadcast to the world, moving away from news and current affairs. It also increased its hours to 12 hours a week, which can be heard via satellite and online, although its shortwave
hours are restricted and remain unchanged.
A new Internet service called RCI Viva now acts as an online portal for new Canadian immigrants.ref name="history01"> RCI Viva is an on-demand listening portal as well as an online stream as RCI Viva, whereas listeners in North America can listen via satellite subscription radio from Sirius Canada
entitled RCI plus. Both RCI Viva and RCI plus use a similar multilingual schedule.
Listeners in Europe are still able to listen to RCI's three channels in English, French and multilingual. An interim program, on the English-language service during October called Canada Today in Transition was broadcast as a single program across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, replacing the two regular editions for Europe and Africa. It was hosted by ex-Canada Today for Africa presenter Carmel Kilkenny. The new two-hour English-language flagship program is called The Link and is hosted by Marc Montgomery, replacing RCI's previous weekday programs Canada Today, Media Zone, Sci-Tech File, and Business Sense. Its French-language counterpart is called Tam-Tam Canada and is presented by Raymond Desmarteau, which replaced Le Canada en direct, Le sens des affaires and its previous current-affairs based shows. Programs in Arabic
, Russian
, Spanish
, Portuguese
, Chinese
and Ukrainian
were relatively unchanged. The Link is also repeated on CBC Radio One
, as part of the CBC Radio Overnight
lineup.
Since November 2006 Radio Sweden's medium-wave broadcast from Solsberg ceased regular transmissions as a result of a modification in its shortwave
time-share agreement which allows Radio Sweden to broadcast to North America via RCI's transmitters in Sackville
and RCI to Europe via Radio Sweden.
>
Source
is the first four notes of O Canada
played on a piano
, followed by "Radio Canada International" pronounced in English, and then French.
, later expanding to satellite
delivery to the European region in the 1990s. RCI is also a partner in the WRN Broadcast
, and is available on Sirius Satellite Radio U.S.
and Sirius Satellite Radio Canada
.
As with most international broadcasters in the developed world RCI's programs can also be heard, or downloaded over the Internet
, via its RCI Viva online portal. Podcasts of RCI-produced programming will be added later in 2006.
RCI produces much of its own programming, especially for language
s other than English and French (which are often from the CBC/Radio-Canada domestic services).
Budget
cuts by the Canadian Parliament have forced it to downsize, but it still remains the pre-eminent perceived neutral
international broadcaster of North America
, not facing the perceived U.S.
bias
of the Voice of America
.
s for RCI have been in Montreal
since RCI was created in 1943–44.
RCI as a corporate entity (separate from its broadcasting operations) has also been based in Montreal since its inception in the 1940s.
RCI's Gross Cost per Canadian resident (per year) is: 0.38 CAD (2003, 2004).
RCI's Programming Production (historical)
In the 1990s RCI's programming output peaked
The series presents the changes the city's been through in the last years in preparation for the games from the perspective of new immigrants and migrants.
. RCI's only transmitter
site is located on the Tantramar Marshes
several kilometres east of the town of Sackville
, New Brunswick
. RCI leases or barters its spare transmission capacity with other international broadcasters. Sackville is the only high power shortwave
relay station in Canada
and also transmits CBC North
broadcasts to northern Quebec.
The CBC-SRC network runs 3 × 1 kW relays of domestic radio, only one of these relays originates from RCI Sackville. These CBC-SRC domestic radio transmitters are not high power by modern definition.
Sackville's northern hemisphere transmission targeting capabilities are very similar to the transmission capabilities of Wertachtal Relay Station, in Bavaria
.
Sackville is also used by Radio Japan, China Radio International
, Voice of Vietnam, BBC World Service
, Deutsche Welle
and Radio Korea as part of a transmitter time exchange agreement.
Sackville has a site layout similar to the Wertachtal Shortwave Relay Station, with a few substantial differences.
The site at Sackville was originally built in 1938 for CBC local broadcasting over radio station CBA
. In 1943, two RCA shortwave transmitters were installed.
In 1970, all CBC operations moved to Moncton, NB — this move was necessary so as to allow new Collins transmitters to be installed.
In the mid 1980s, the RCA transmitters were replaced by the three, more modern, Harris transmitters.
Sackville transmitter power level breakdown
The newest ASEA BROWN BOVERI (ABB) transmitters use a "pulse-step" type modulation (PSM). All Sackville ABB transmitters have 250 kW output, although there are some newer Thales transmitters that are 300 kW. Thales transmitters may use APDM (Adaptive PDM) the design successor to PSM (partly based on PSM modulation).
All modern Sackville SW transmitters incorporate Dynamic Carrier Control
(DCC) of some kind.
Transmitters (configuration not fully verified)
It known that at least one SW transmitter has been outfitted to transmit DRM
at this time.
Antennas (Type, Bearing) (configuration not fully verified)
To better understand the ITU HR antenna notation, see the HRS type antennas
guide.
CBC-SRC's archived stories on RCI
Historical
Lobby Groups
International broadcasting
International broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching...
service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
(CBC). Until 1970, it was known as the CBC International Service and was sometimes referred to as the "Voice of Canada" in its early years.
The early years (1942–1953)
The idea for creating an international radio voice for CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was first proposed as far back as the 1930s. The CBC Archives website, however, has no archived news stories showing the historical documents where this early shortwave service is discussed. Several studies commissioned by the CBC Board of Governors in the late 1930s had come to the conclusion that Canada needed a radio service to broadcast a Canadian point of view to the world.
By the early 1940s, this need was also recognized by a series of Parliamentary Broadcasting Committees. Finally, in 1942, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
announced that Canada would begin a shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
radio service that would keep members of the Canadian Armed Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
in touch with news and entertainment from home. The CBC International Service became a reality with the signing of an Order-in-Council on September 18, 1942.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
to Europe began in December 1944 as well. The German section was staffed by refugees such as Helmut Blume and Eric Koch
Eric Koch
Eric Otto Koch is a Canadian author, broadcaster and professor.-Life:Koch was born in 1919 into a prominent assimilated German Jewish family. His grandfather was a court jeweller and his father, was an officer in the German Army during World War I.In 1935, after the Nazis took power, he and his...
and would go on to broadcast "denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
" programming as well as broadcasts aimed at East Germany during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
In early 1945, it was announced that the CBC International Service was ready and would go on the air for real on February 25 using the name the "Voice of Canada".
By 1946, the CBC International Service had expanded to include regular transmissions in Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
and Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. Beginning in July, special once-a-week programs were broadcast to Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
and later in Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, as well.
In November 1946, daily broadcasts started to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
in English. There were also Sunday night programs broadcast to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
in Spanish and to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
in Portuguese.
Daily Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
transmissions began on July 6, 1947. At around the same time as the expansion into the Caribbean and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, the CBC International Service became involved with the newly formed United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. United Nations broadcasts through the CBC International Service continued until November 29, 1952, when they were transferred to larger shortwave facilities run by the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
.
Early Cold War broadcasting (1950–1967)
Throughout its early years, the CBC International Service concentrated on broadcasting to Western EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in the aftermath of World War II.
By the early 1950s several international shortwave stations began to beam programs into the Soviet bloc countries in an effort to circumvent heavy censorship of world news to their citizens.
- The CBC International Service's Russian-languageRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
transmissions were jammed during the 1950s and into the mid 1960s stopping about 1967. - On March 4, 1961, the Danish, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish services were all discontinued.
- In addition, the GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
service was reoriented from its previous emphasis on West Germany to focus on East GermanyGerman Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
.
New English and French programs directed to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
were added giving the International Service direct coverage to every continent except Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
The Cold War era (1967–1991)
The CBC International Service played a major role in covering Canada's Centennial celebrations in 1967. Ceremonies from coast to coast were carried over short-wave to the world on July 1, 1967 as Canada marked its 100th birthday.In July 1970, the service was renamed Radio Canada International.
The change took place because it was felt that RCI should have its own identity, separate from the CBC domestic network, even though RCI had just been fully integrated into the CBC system.
On November 7, 1971, RCI inaugurated its new 250 kW transmitters which were five times more powerful than the existing units. This significantly improved RCI's signal quality in Europe and Africa.
Canada recognized the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in 1971. Before beginning its Mandarin Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
service, RCI produced a 40-week series called Everyday English which was broadcast in 1988 and early 1989 over local stations in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
. With an estimated audience of almost 20 million, the course was a huge success.
Just 10 months after beginning the Chinese broadcasts, RCI started a series of Arabic broadcasts to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. This coincided with the United Nations effort in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
to support the Gulf war
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, of which Canada was a participant.
RCI under threat (1991–2006)
In early 1991, facing further budget deficits, the Government ordered an across-the-board budget cut. Every ministry and Crown corporation, including the CBC, was required to participate.After evaluating its own budget, the CBC decided it could no longer pay for Radio Canada International without extra funding from the federal government.
To save the service, RCI Program Director Allan Familiant announced a major restructuring that took effect on March 25, 1991.
Six of the 13 languages — Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
— were discontinued.
And while the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
services survived, all RCI-produced programming, except for news broadcasts, was eliminated and replaced with CBC Domestic network programs. Since then some RCI-produced programs in English and French have been restored.
RCI then began a two audio stream, later three audio stream programming delivery structure after 2000.
Initial programming delivery structure (2000–2004)
- RCI-1 English / French
- RCI-2 French / Multilingual
Later programming delivery structure (2004–2006)
- RCI-1 English
- RCI-2 French
- RCI-3 Multilingual
These audio streams were available from RCI's website as well as across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Northern Africa, utilizing the Hotbird-6 satellite. In late 2006 the online streams were eliminated in favour of a single online multilingual stream.
On December 1, 2005, Radio Canada International began broadcasting its program across North America as RCIplus, utilizing the Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of −1.46, it is almost twice as bright as Canopus, the next brightest star. The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek: Seirios . The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris...
satellite radio system. This was part of a CBC/Radio-Canada bouquet of satellite channels which included national versions of domestic radio stations from CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
and Première Chaîne.
RCI Viva, the Internet Era (2006 – present)
Following an internal review in the summer of 2006 Radio Canada International announced a restructuring of its programming output. Its homepage press release read: "Radio Canada International is proud to announce that it will launch its new English programming on Monday, October 30th. In the interim, our current shows will be replaced by two programs, from October the 2nd to the 29th." On 30 October 2006 Radio Canada International relaunched its EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
programming with a new focus on information for new immigrants to Canada as well as continuing to broadcast to the world, moving away from news and current affairs. It also increased its hours to 12 hours a week, which can be heard via satellite and online, although its shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
hours are restricted and remain unchanged.
A new Internet service called RCI Viva now acts as an online portal for new Canadian immigrants.ref name="history01"> RCI Viva is an on-demand listening portal as well as an online stream as RCI Viva, whereas listeners in North America can listen via satellite subscription radio from Sirius Canada
Sirius Canada
Sirius Canada is a Canadian company, a partnership between Slaight Communications, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Sirius Satellite Radio, which was one of three services licensed by the CRTC on June 16, 2005 to introduce satellite radio service to Canada.On November 24, 2010, following...
entitled RCI plus. Both RCI Viva and RCI plus use a similar multilingual schedule.
Listeners in Europe are still able to listen to RCI's three channels in English, French and multilingual. An interim program, on the English-language service during October called Canada Today in Transition was broadcast as a single program across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, replacing the two regular editions for Europe and Africa. It was hosted by ex-Canada Today for Africa presenter Carmel Kilkenny. The new two-hour English-language flagship program is called The Link and is hosted by Marc Montgomery, replacing RCI's previous weekday programs Canada Today, Media Zone, Sci-Tech File, and Business Sense. Its French-language counterpart is called Tam-Tam Canada and is presented by Raymond Desmarteau, which replaced Le Canada en direct, Le sens des affaires and its previous current-affairs based shows. Programs in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
were relatively unchanged. The Link is also repeated on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
, as part of the CBC Radio Overnight
CBC Radio Overnight
CBC Radio Overnight is a Canadian radio program, which airs nightly on CBC Radio One from 1 a.m. to 5:30 or 6 a.m. ....
lineup.
Since November 2006 Radio Sweden's medium-wave broadcast from Solsberg ceased regular transmissions as a result of a modification in its shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
time-share agreement which allows Radio Sweden to broadcast to North America via RCI's transmitters in Sackville
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
and RCI to Europe via Radio Sweden.
History of RCI's foreign-language services
History of RCI Language Broadcasting Services| Language | Start Date | Stop Date | Restart Date |
| Arabic Arabic language Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book... |
2000 | - | - |
| Chinese-Mandarin | 1988 | - | - |
| Czech Czech language Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century... |
1946 (see Slovak) | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Danish Danish language Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language... |
1946 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... |
1946 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
25 December 1944 | - | - |
| Finnish Finnish language Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a... |
December 1950 | 29 January 1955 | - |
| French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
25 December 1944 | - | - |
| French-Creole Creole language A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from... |
1989 | 2001 | - |
| German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
December 1944 | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Hungarian Hungarian language Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe.... |
January 1951 | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... |
1988 | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... |
January 1949 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Norwegian Norwegian language Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language... |
1947 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... |
January 1951 | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Portuguese-Brazil Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay.... |
6 July 1947 | 25 March 1991 | 2004 |
| Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... |
January 1951 | - | - |
| Slovak Slovak language Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people... |
January 1951 | 25 March 1991 | - |
| Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
6 July 1947 | - | - |
| Swedish Swedish language Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish... |
1946 | 4 March 1961 | - |
| Ukrainian Ukrainian language Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet.... |
1 July 1952 | -2009 | - |
Source
Interval signal
RCI's interval signalInterval signal
An interval signal, or tuning signal, is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in international broadcasting and by some domestic broadcasters...
is the first four notes of O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
played on a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, followed by "Radio Canada International" pronounced in English, and then French.
- Prior to the late 1980s, there were two interval signals used. One was the aforementioned piano signal and the other was the same four notes of O CanadaO CanadaIt has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...
played on an auto harp. - This second (now decommissioned) tuning signal was also known as a "slewing signal". This slewing signal was used whenever RCI's transmitter beams had to be reversed (say from broadcasting to Europe to the western United States) quickly.
- The slewing signal was dropped when computer control was added to RCI's transmitter plant in the mid-to-late 80's.
- From the late 1970s to the early 2000s a jazz version of the French-Canadian folk song "Vive la Canadienne" (arranged by Lee Gagnon and published on LP in 1976) was used as an additional signature tune.
How RCI's programming reaches listeners
RCI began its broadcasts on shortwaveShortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
, later expanding to satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
delivery to the European region in the 1990s. RCI is also a partner in the WRN Broadcast
WRN Broadcast
WRN Broadcast, formerly known as WRN, is an international broadcast services company that works with television channels and radio broadcasters, media owners and brands enabling them to deliver content to target audiences worldwide....
, and is available on Sirius Satellite Radio U.S.
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
and Sirius Satellite Radio Canada
Sirius Canada
Sirius Canada is a Canadian company, a partnership between Slaight Communications, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Sirius Satellite Radio, which was one of three services licensed by the CRTC on June 16, 2005 to introduce satellite radio service to Canada.On November 24, 2010, following...
.
As with most international broadcasters in the developed world RCI's programs can also be heard, or downloaded over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, via its RCI Viva online portal. Podcasts of RCI-produced programming will be added later in 2006.
RCI produces much of its own programming, especially for language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s other than English and French (which are often from the CBC/Radio-Canada domestic services).
Budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
cuts by the Canadian Parliament have forced it to downsize, but it still remains the pre-eminent perceived neutral
Objectivity (philosophy)
Objectivity is a central philosophical concept which has been variously defined by sources. A proposition is generally considered to be objectively true when its truth conditions are met and are "mind-independent"—that is, not met by the judgment of a conscious entity or subject.- Objectivism...
international broadcaster of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, not facing the perceived U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
of the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
.
Studios
The main studioStudio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
s for RCI have been in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
since RCI was created in 1943–44.
RCI as a corporate entity (separate from its broadcasting operations) has also been based in Montreal since its inception in the 1940s.
Budget
Figures are in units of millions, Canadian Dollars (CAD).- 2003: 14.2 Million {CAD / year}
- 2004: 14.4 Million {CAD / year}
RCI's Gross Cost per Canadian resident (per year) is: 0.38 CAD (2003, 2004).
Hours of programming produced (per week)
Note: there are 168 hours in a week (24 hours × 7 days).RCI's Programming Production (historical)
- 1950s: 85 (WWII recovery phase for broadcaster)
- 1960s: 80 (Language services to Western Europe cut, Russian & Ukrainian launched)
- 1970s: 98 (Cold War détentes)
- 1980s: 134 (late Cold War)
In the 1990s RCI's programming output peaked
- 1990: 195
- 1996: 175
A New Face for Beijing
A New Face for Beijing - The series is a documentary introducing Torontonian Jennifer Hsiung, who decided to explore potential opportunities in the Chinese capital and ended up as the star sports host for CCN, the country's cable broadcaster.The series presents the changes the city's been through in the last years in preparation for the games from the perspective of new immigrants and migrants.
Satellite signal delivery
RCI's current satellite schedule can be found at- http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/en/horaires.shtml (EN)
- http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/fr/horaires.shtml (FR)
Sackville Relay Station
RCI is the owner and operator of the Sackville transmission site, call sign CKCXCKCX
CKCX are the call letters used for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's shortwave transmitter complex near Sackville, New Brunswick at the Tantramar Marshes. The Sackville Relay Station is operated by Radio Canada International and broadcasts its programming around the world as well as relay...
. RCI's only transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
site is located on the Tantramar Marshes
Tantramar Marshes
The Tantramar Marshes is a National Wildlife Area on the southern part of the Isthmus of Chignecto, which joins Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the Canadian mainland. It is the site of the historic Battle of Fort Beauséjour, the final chapter in the long battle for Acadia by the British and French...
several kilometres east of the town of Sackville
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. RCI leases or barters its spare transmission capacity with other international broadcasters. Sackville is the only high power shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
relay station in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and also transmits CBC North
CBC North
CBC North is the name for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio and television service in the Canadian Arctic. Originally known as the CBC Northern Service, its first operations began in 1958 with radio broadcasts including the takeover of CFYK, originally a Royal Canadian Signal...
broadcasts to northern Quebec.
The CBC-SRC network runs 3 × 1 kW relays of domestic radio, only one of these relays originates from RCI Sackville. These CBC-SRC domestic radio transmitters are not high power by modern definition.
Sackville's northern hemisphere transmission targeting capabilities are very similar to the transmission capabilities of Wertachtal Relay Station, in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
Sackville is also used by Radio Japan, China Radio International
China Radio International
China Radio International , the former Radio Beijing and originally Radio Peking, founded on December 3 of 1941, is one of the three state-owned media in China along with China National Radio and China Central Television in the People's Republic of China .As the PRC's external radio station, CRI...
, Voice of Vietnam, BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
, Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
and Radio Korea as part of a transmitter time exchange agreement.
Sackville has a site layout similar to the Wertachtal Shortwave Relay Station, with a few substantial differences.
- Wertachtal has 3 arms of HRS type antennasHRS type antennasHRS type antennas are more or less the standard antenna used for long distance high power shortwave broadcasting .- History of HRS design :...
that are spaced at ~120 degrees. Sackville Relay Station only approximates this configuration. - The Wertachtal configuration allows for near 360 degree coverage of the world.
- Wertachtal exclusively contains HRS type transmission antennas, whereas Sackville does not.
- Sackville site configuration information supports this comparison, with respect to HRS type antenna azimuths.
The site at Sackville was originally built in 1938 for CBC local broadcasting over radio station CBA
CBA (AM)
-External links:** at Canadian Communications Foundation...
. In 1943, two RCA shortwave transmitters were installed.
In 1970, all CBC operations moved to Moncton, NB — this move was necessary so as to allow new Collins transmitters to be installed.
In the mid 1980s, the RCA transmitters were replaced by the three, more modern, Harris transmitters.
Technology
The RCI Sackville facility is an impressive mixture of diverse technologies. The whole facility is controlled by computer automation which is centralized in the main control room. Frequencies, antennas, and input feeds are switched all according to internationally agreed upon schedules which are renegotiated twice per year with other countries.Sackville transmitter power level breakdown
- There are currently 9 transmitters in operation.
- (3 or 4) x 100 kW
- (3 or 4) x 250 kW
- 3 x 300 kW
- The site is capable of utilizing 500 kW transmitters, but the end of the Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and improved shortwaveShortwaveShortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
frequency coordination has made upgrading to 500 kW geopolitically pointless.
The newest ASEA BROWN BOVERI (ABB) transmitters use a "pulse-step" type modulation (PSM). All Sackville ABB transmitters have 250 kW output, although there are some newer Thales transmitters that are 300 kW. Thales transmitters may use APDM (Adaptive PDM) the design successor to PSM (partly based on PSM modulation).
All modern Sackville SW transmitters incorporate Dynamic Carrier Control
Dynamic Carrier Control
All modern high-power shortwave radio transmitters incorporate dynamic carrier control of some kind. In addition, some mediumwave transmitters incorporate DCC.- History :...
(DCC) of some kind.
- DCC causes the carrier level to be automatically reduced when there are lower levels or no audio.
- During periods of silence (no audio), the carrier power is reduced by 50%, so the 250 kW transmitter is putting out a carrier of 125 kW during audio pauses. This saves otherwise wasted empty carrier power.
Site configuration
This site configuration data is known to be accurate for 2004-2005.Transmitters (configuration not fully verified)
- 3 × 250 kW SW (1993–1995, ABB: SK 53 C3-2)
- 3 × 100 kW SW (1983, Harris: SW-100A)
- 3 × (Unknown power) (Unknown models)
- A new SW transmitter has been acquired that is DRM capable.
It known that at least one SW transmitter has been outfitted to transmit DRM
Digital Radio Mondiale
Digital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...
at this time.
Antennas (Type, Bearing) (configuration not fully verified)
- HR 4/4/1.0 (60 degrees)
- HR 4/2/1.0 (105 degrees)
- HR 4/4/1.0 (163 degrees)
- HR 4/4/1.0 (176 degrees)
- HR 4/4/1.0 (189 degrees)
- HR 2/4/1.0 (227 degrees)
- HR 2/4/1.0 (240 degrees)
- HR 4/4/1.0 (240 degrees)
- HR 4/4/1.0 (272 degrees)
- HR 2/1/0.5 (277 degrees)
To better understand the ITU HR antenna notation, see the HRS type antennas
HRS type antennas
HRS type antennas are more or less the standard antenna used for long distance high power shortwave broadcasting .- History of HRS design :...
guide.
External links
CBC-SRC's archived stories on RCI
Historical
- History of CBA Sackville
- Canadian Shortwave Timeline
- RCI Languages: Historical Start / Stop / Restart dates
Lobby Groups
- RCI Action Committee The committee is an inter-union group created to protect RCI's international broadcasting mandate and funding.