CJLS "The Wave" in AM Stereo

"The Wave" CJLS is a full service "Hot AC" radio station in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Here are some recordings I made of their C-Quam AM Stereo signal on 1340 kHz back in August 2001 when I was visiting the area. I used a Sony SRF-A100 receiver and connected it directly to the aux input of my Toshiba laptop to record these clips using Cool Edit.

Unfortunately, like many other Canadian stations, CJLS has permanently shut down their AM transmitter and they now broadcast exclusively on FM. But they certainly had excellent audio quality on their AM Stereo signal, with CRL analog audio processing set to its widest bandwidth, which was not NRSC compliant but gave them up to 13 kHz audio response for a very crisp hi-fi sound.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• cjls
• the
• wave
• yarmouth
• ns
• nova
• scotia
• canada
• 2001
• recording
• aircheck
• airchecks
• radio
• motorola
• c-quam
• cquam
• am
• stereo
• reception
• receiver
• sony
• srf-a100
• srf
• a100
• srfa100
• hi-fi
• amax
• wideband
• sound

[Naushop1]

CJLS is on

93.5-Digby

94.7-Yarmouth(Why? They have a pretty strong signal on 95.5)

95.5-Yarmouth

96.3-Shelburne

I was able to receive 96.3 under our local WRZE on Nantucket back in 2002.

[vwestlife]

@Naushop1 I don't know why CJLS has so many transmitters. When I visited Nova Scotia and made these recordings of their AM signal, they didn't have any FM transmitter(s) in Yarmouth yet, but I was able to clearly receive at least one of their two FM signals from the neighboring counties.

[century3horizons]

Shame AM Stereo didn't stay with us for long. It wasn't given justice by so many radio manufacturers and it seems only a handful of broadcasters really put the effort into representing AM Stereo technology the way it should, such as CJLS, WBZ and WOWO. How did CJLS get away with not brickwalling the response to NRSC standards?

[vwestlife]

@century3horizons CJLS was probably on their backup audio processing at the time I recorded this. I asked about it and was told their main processor was an Optimod 9100, but this is definitely CRL processing judging by the sound of it, and CRL gives you a switch on the back to select either NRSC 9.5 kHz or wider 11 kHz bandwidth; CJLS had it in the 11 kHz mode (which really gives audio response up to 13 kHz).

[maynardcat]

This is the first time listening to AM stereo for me, and it does sound good. I wonder about it's ability to be received long distances compared to standard AM In receiving digital TV over the air you either get a perfect reception or not at all. If digital Am reception is the same this would eliminate being able to listen to weak distant AM stations. Some better FM tuners automatically switch to FM mono to help bring in distant FM Sations, as it requires less sensitivity on FM mono

[vwestlife]

This is not digital AM. AM Stereo is analog, and the reception is equally as good as regular mono AM. In fact, AM Stereo has much less of a background noise penalty on weak signals over mono than FM Stereo has over FM mono. Look up my videos of 1190 WOWO in AM Stereo -- it was received over a nighttime skywave signal from about 450 miles away!

[masukyutub]

very good sound, am stereo sounding much better than fm stereo

[masukyutub]

very good sounded AM

[maynardcat]

@andycflbulb I have a McIntosh MR 67 tuner, and a Pioneer XS 1270, and the stereo light goes out on both when the signal is weak and switches to mono for better reception. One of my favorite FM stations is 60 miles away, and on some days it switches back and forth from stereo to mono depending on the strength. I like the McIntosh MR-67 as it has a switch to turn off the FM stereo multiplex for stronger reception on weak distant stations.

[andycflbulb]

@maynardcat the fm mono is when the "st" light goes out or flickers, say in a car, or some good household stereos?

[InfiniteAnathesis]

Mark my words, Am Stereo is going to make a Huge big Comeback. I Already Know of people that Are using it in multiple Projects.

[plusone19]

@harleykman In order..... 0:25 - "I'll Be There For You (Theme from "Friends") - The Rembrants 1:00 - "Pinch Me" - Barenaked Ladies 1:52 - "Let It Rain" - Amanda Marshall 2:30 - "Steppin' Out" - Joe Jackson 3:50 - '"Lets Shout"??? by Colin James 4:12 - "Every Heartbeat" - Amy Grant 5:03 - Black Cloud Rain - Corey Hart 6:08 - "Jump Jive and Wail" - Brian Seltzer 6:41 - "Nightshift" - The Commodores 7:30 - "Walking Behind" - The Moffatts

[pookerville]

It's a shame that AM Stereo never took off in the ISA or Canada. In Japan, it's had a tremendous success!

[harleykman]

Can you provide a song list? I like the music but unfortunately don't know the song names to find them on youtubee

:-)

[MichaelJGrant]

@century3horizons There is no regulation that limits an AM station's high end response. Stations employ the NRSC standard brickwall LP filter as an alternative means of demonstating bandwidth compliance rather monitoring the station's actual occupied spectrum. Even if a station's audio response was flat out to daylight, there is not sufficient spectral content in ordinary program material to exceed the FCC limit for emissions removed more than 10khz from the carrier.