"Why are they in such a hurry?"

UPDATE 20121023: Sign the petition to stop the destruction of Sackville!

"In the next few days the transmission lines that allow Canada to broadcast to the world will be taken down one by one. For more than 67 years Radio Canada International’s shortwave transmitters have guaranteed that Canada’s voice would be heard despite the Cold War, despite natural disasters, and Internet blocking. Now this efficient, cost effective communications tool will be dismantled by Canada’s public broadcaster CBC/Radio-Canada." 

Read more at the RCI Action Committee Blog. They are asking concerned individuals to contact Canada’s Heritage Minister James Moore james.moore@parl.gc.ca and lodge their complaints.

Fighting Being Sacked

Alf Walker of the Sackville transmitter site

Here is a link courtesy of Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott regarding the ongoing battle to bring back Sackville and the CBC. The link contains both a news story from the Telegraph-Journal of Saint John and a fine Radio New Zealand National interview of CBC journalist Wojtek Gwiazda. O Canada indeed!

Shortwave station for sale, cheap!

Sackville is now available, so we gotta find a buyer ASAP. I have heard suggestions of TDP, WRN and Babcock. Any other ideas? If so, contact them now. Scuttlebutt indicates that they may be able to keep current clients until the end of October 2012, after that it's curtains and I don't mean an antenna.

This article says that the director of CBC Transmission is
"focusing on selling the site to other shortwave broadcasters or wind farm companies." Oh, and although I mean no offense to wind technology, that truly would be salt in our wounds!

CBC gutted like a trout

Here is an article in the Ottawa Citizen that quotes our esteemed colleague Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott. Apparently, the Conservatives in Canada have trashed CBC entirely. I hope that this will be a lesson for all of us that when a single political persuasion holds a significant majority, short-sightedness (based on partisan politics) becomes the name of the game. For DRM enthusiasts, this means my previous Sackville post is correct. "Say goodnight Gracie" and here is a nice grilled trout recipe.

Sackville SACKED - Bad news indeed!

It looks like the Sackville NB transmitter site in Canada will be closed due to recent RCI/CBC budget cuts. Several other international broadcasters will be affected too. This is a major bummer as this site has DRM capabilities and has (in the past) provided numerous hours daily of DRM for North America. I wonder if they would consider an external (or for that matter internal) buyer? Any DRM fans have spare change to lend? Perhaps we can start a Kickstarter? We'd need LOTS of friends! Here is a site about what you can do to prevent this disastrous loss.

Will we lose both Sackville and Bonaire DRM transmitters?

Latest news from CBC/RCI is that Canada is about to leave the Shortwave business entirely for the web. If Sackville NB closes (and RNW's Bonaire site is closing) this will leave our favorite blowtorch site Montsinery to pick-up all the pieces. It seems inevitable that Shortwave is doomed, analogue or DRM.

Stay tuned [um, er, skip that] check their website for details.