WEEI vs. CKVL

[mwaters@wesleyan.edu (Martin J. Waters)]

        The FCC database shows CKVL, Verdun, Quebec, the famous 850 that
bombards WEEI with skywave interference at night, also listed at 940 kHz.
Does anyone know anything about this? The CBC supposedly is abandoning 940
in Montreal, we know.
        The contents of the CKVL listing on 940 are odd. The tech
parameters seem to be a sort of hybrid of CKVL's current operation on 850
and the current operation on 940. It says 50 kW, DA-2, two towers all the
time, which is 940 now. But it's listed as a Class B station(which CKVL is
now), while the current 940, CBM, is Class A (former I-B). The pattern RMS
for CKVL on 940  is 1863 (oddly close to the current daytime 50 kW pattern
RMS for CKVL of 1863.62). The site seems to be slightly different from the
existing one, although close enough that it might be a matter of
recalculating the center of the array. It's definitely not the current 940
site.
        An RMS of 1863 is pitifully low for a 50 kW signal, to start with,
although CKVL has towers (two days, three nights) of 90 degrees and less on
850. The 940 listing shows its towers as being 66.4 degrees. CBM's RMS is
listed as 2945 for both of its patterns, using towers that are 199.5
degrees and 123 degrees tall.
        My real point in bringing this up, though, is that if CKVL is due
to move to 940, and since 850 in Montreal is not such an attractive
assignment compared to  other assignments (i.e., 690, 730) that also are
becoming available for other stations to move to, is it possible that 850
will go silent in Montreal on a long-term basis? If it did, it would be a
great benefit to WEEI, since in many directions its night signal is limited
by the interference way before it gets very weak. And if the next step were
taken and Canada eventually relinguished the rights to the assignment,
could WEEI improve its night pattern from around due west or west-northwest
through northwest, since I can't think of any other stations in their way?

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