On November 30, 2004 I wandered across the border into Canada to visit Rogers Radio Vancouver. They are located on Ash Street just off of Broadway in central Vancouver, British Columbia. I was treated to a great tour of the studio facilities by several staff members including technician Kam Abbott.

The Rogers Radio Vancouver facility is home to several stations including CKWX 1130 AM which is equipped with a full staff providing live news, weather, and traffic coverage. One of the reasons that I wanted to visit CKWX is because I am able to hear them on a regular basis during the evening hours in Denver at a distance of about 1100 miles.

This is a very small portion of the huge news production area. The station's slogan is News1130 - All News Radio. There are several live announce booths attached to this room and any of the numerous desktop positions can generate recorded clips or go live to air.

This is the main studio for CKWX. These folks were live on the air with the mid-afternoon programming as I snapped this photo.

This is one of the equipment racks in engineering supporting the several stations broadcasting from this facility.

This is the base of a 75 foot Valcom center loaded fiberglass antenna mounted on the roof of this structure. It is designed for use as a backup transmitter in case the main site becomes inoperative. The framework of the skylights acts as part of the groundplane for this antenna. There are also some counterpoise wires spread out across the roof.

A south facing view from the CKWX rooftop with a Vancouver landmark (the Courthouse) in the background.

This view of the Valcom antenna was taken from the roof of a building across the street. Those who have seen the Valcom web site might recognize this view. This is the antenna that is shown in the web site as an example of their 75 foot medium wave antenna.

This is the 400 watt Nautel Ampfet transmitter used to power the Valcom backup antenna. It is located in an equipment room adjacent to the roof.

Part of the spectacular view of North Vancouver across the bay as seen from the roof of CKWX.

Another view looking north with the mountains in the backdrop.

Again looking across the bay into North Vancouver reveals another 75 foot Valcom antenna perched 425 feet above street level atop the TD building. This one belongs to CKNW / 980. Like the CKWX setup, it is also fed with a 400 watt Nautel transmitter powered down to about 200 watts as a last resort backup. And CKNW has yet another Valcom backup antenna co-located with their main antenna array at the primary transmitter site. Thanks to Corus Radio Vancouver Chief Engineer Mark Friesen for providing the information on CKNW.

©2004 Patrick Griffith