After 76 years, area residents will enjoy a clearer sound when tuning into local news, weather and music.
CFAR-590 officially joined the FM dial on Monday and, in addition to its familiar AM slot, can now be heard at 102.9 FM.
CFAR, which launched in 1937, had been testing its FM signal for three weeks as required by regulations to ensure it would not interfere with other signals.
“We had to make sure that we weren’t interrupting the airport and airplanes,” said CFAR owner Tom O’Brien.
For three weeks, listeners were encouraged to report any issues with the 102.9 signal. O’Brien was pleased to say no issues were reported.
Joining the FM dial marks a major shift for Flin Flon’s radio station.
“I’m really excited,” said O’Brien, as CFAR officially became a FM station at 1:02 p.m. on Monday.
“It’s been 76 years and we hope that this sends the message that we would like to be around for another 76 years.”
The change didn’t come as a surprise, as CFAR began talks and testing in the early fall.
Listeners first turned to the FM dial in September as testing began.
Since the initial trial periods, O’Brien says feedback from the community has been positive.
“I don’t think there is anyone who dislikes the improvement,” he said.
O’Brien said some radio listeners have grown up knowing only FM.
“So it’s something that we needed to do,” he said.
Compared to AM, FM offers superior sound quality and is less prone to interference.
AM, however, can be transmitted across longer distances.
CFAR will continue to broadcast at 590 on the AM dial, allowing listeners out of FM range around Flin Flon to tune in.
“...if we turned off the AMs there would be parts of northern Manitoba without anything,” said O’Brien.
Special permission was requested through the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to keep the AM signal.
The CRTC considered the request to be very rare, but decided it was appropriate for the area.
Radio stations typically switch to FM and abandon their AM signal entirely, making that space on the AM dial available to other broadcasters.
“We’re not going to have 38 different radio stations here in northern Manitoba anytime soon,” said O’Brien “So it’s not stopping anyone from taking (the spots on the AM dial that are available).”
As listeners adjust to the new home of CFAR, other changes may be in store for the long-running station.
O’Brien said the Arctic Radio Network – consisting of CFAR in Flin Flon, 610-CHTM in Thompson and CJ-1240 in The Pas – will look at broadening its coverage area.
He said the network hopes to look at the possibility of having repeaters in other communities.
A repeater would allow new communities to listen to CFAR, for example, on their own dial.
O’Brien hopes to see Snow Lake have a repeater.
“There’s a lot of empty space in the North, so it makes more sense to put in repeaters than put in one full-service coverage,” he said.
There is no firm timeline in place for the potential repeaters.
Talk of CFAR going to FM first began in the early 2000s, but things took longer than initially hoped.
“We wish we had have done this 10 years earlier, but we’re excited that we were able to do it,” O’Brien said.
“It’s done now and we’re happy that we can improve that level of service.”
Hear newsman Joe McCormick – and the rest of the CFAR team – on the FM dial.
FILE PHOTO
