Ever Try to Catch a Game on the Edge of Ottawa?

What the heck?

The worst was when I worked downtown last year. There wasn't much to make the 90 minute bus commute bearable other than listening to TGOR, but some radio station across the river had such a strong signal that, at times, I could not even hear Team 1200. I got off the bus at the Rideau center and then walked right through the Byward Market to get to the office. I'd be within a block or two of the transmission tower for Team 1200 and this stupid Aylmer radio station would block it out.

In the evenings (after sunset, I think) Canadian radio stations turn their transmission power way down. Apparently there is no need to blast it because interference from the sun disappears. Trouble is, the US-based stations do not appear to be operating under the same rules, which is probably why you get the Philly station (does this only happen at night?)

For the life of me, though, I cannot understand why I am getting interference from another Canadian radio station, during the day, when I am a block away from the transmitter.

That rule's been around for eons, it's not anything new. Not sure what the rules are for daytime power, but if there is one, that Aylmer station is probably breaking it. Maybe they claim that 3 million people they are trying to reach are 200 km away, so they need to yell really, really loudly. Thing is, they should never have gotten a license for that particular frequency if that's the case. Or, perhaps, my pocket radio had a really, really bad tuner. It was one of those Radio Shack brands, after all.

This is the one I want to get once I get back to a steady paycheck:



I listen mostly to AM, but this one has AM/FM, 2 GB on-board RAM plus you can add an SD card to extend that. Can record radio off-the-air and you can program it to automatically record particular shows -- kind of like a PVR for radio. So I can "tape-delay" TGOR and listen no matter when I go in to work. Also it has a true digital tuner (my pocket radio has a digital tuner but an analog wheel to turn it -- every little bump can change the station.