The people in charge of CFRG and CFNS soon realized that the range of their stations was inadequate. In 1952, CFRG began broadcasting on the 1230 kHz frequency with a power of 250 watts. Only the population living within a radius of 65 km could pick up its broadcasts without difficulty. After sunset, reception is poor for half of the Francophone households. A quarter of them can't pick up anything at all. In the north, CFNS broadcasts on the 1170 kHz frequency with a power of 1000 watts. Daily programming is accessible to only 70% of the Francophone population, and only 50% in the evening. A partial solution is implemented in 1955 at CFRG. A new transmitter is installed and - with the necessary agreement of the Board of Governors - the station starts broadcasting at 5000 watts on 710 kHz… during the day. In the evening, the old transmitter and old frequency go back into service to avoid interference with a distant station in southern Iowa. CFNS tries unsuccessfully to get permission to increase its power to 5000 watts.
The interests of Canadian and American stations located as far away as 1,500 km. from Gravelbourg are being well protected. The problem is not dealt with by August 1970, when the French Radio Committee in Saskatchewan prepares a memorandum proposing solutions that require the approval of CBC/Radio-Canada. Relay stations connected to CFRG would resolve the problems of range in the evening. A more powerful transmitter and a new frequency would provide a satisfactory result for CFNS except in the region of North Battleford, where setting up a relay station would have to be considered. The only alternative to these proposals, according to the writers of the memorandum, would be “to hand over [their] stations to the CBC.”
Archives: the range of the French stationsInterview with Dumont Lepage. He talks of the power of the station in 1956.
Speech by Bishop Baudoux at the opening of the new CFRG transmitter (5000 watts) on October 14, 1956.
The chair and the secretary of the Saskatchewan French Radio Committee, Dumont Lepage and Raymond Marcotte, write a memorandum to CBC requesting improvements to the ranges of Radio Gravelbourg and Radio St. Boniface.
Memorandum of the Saskatchewan French Radio Committee, August 12, 1970. Map of Saskatchewan showing broadcast waves of CFNS. |
 Photo of CFNS transmitter. |
