Campus radio station hits the air

Campus radio station on the air
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Feb. 23, 2003

Testing, testing. One, two three.
There's a new radio station broadcasting from the top of Burnaby Mountain this week - and it's got something for every eclectic taste.
Last Thursday afternoon, for the first time its 37-year history, CJSF, the campus radio station for Simon Fraser University, started sending its signal out on the public airwaves.
Located at 90.1 on the FM dial, the radio station is mandated to provide an alternative to commercial radio and reflect the community both at SFU and the surrounding neighbourhood.
"We have quite a diverse range of programming," says station manager Magnus Chyvold. "We have underground music, hip hop, folk, indie rock, jazz and blues, spoken word shows and political activist shows.
"We have almost everything. It would depend on what time you listen in."
Chyvold, who arrived at CJSF three years ago after holding a similar post at the University of Victoria radio station, said there have been many attempts to put the campus radio station on the public airwaves over the years, but those tries were always stymied by the fact that there were so many other commercial radio stations already on the dial.
The station, which started as a campus radio club when SFU first opened in 1965, has previously been heard on a very low wattage AM frequency broadcast only to the Burnaby Mountain campus. People who hook their radio receiver to their cablevision lines have been able to pick up the SFU station at cable frequency 93.9 FM since 1985.
The latest attempt to broadcast over the FM radio waves was actually started five years ago, said Chyvold.
"The problem getting on the air came mainly from the fact that there is frequency congestion with all the other stations in Vancouver, Seattle and on Vancouver Island," he said. "If there's a problem of overlap, you have to find a different spot on the dial."
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to going live on air was trying to prove to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecom-
munications Commission (CRTC) that their proposed frequency would not interfere with other radio signals.
During the course of the application, CJSF tested three different radio frequencies, at an average cost of $6,000 per test, to see if they meet both the station's and the broadcast regulator's requirements.
Last fall Chyvold and the estimated 120 volunteers who keep the radio station on the air received the good news that their latest proposal had been accepted and they would finally be allowed to broadcast over the air waves.
Last week, when the switch was thrown to begin operating the transmitter on top of the W.A.C. Bennett Library, the offices of the campus radio station went wild.
"It was pretty exciting," says Chyvold. "We had cake and champagne and a whole lot of hopping, hollering and cheering for the inauguration of the station."
Like many of the people who dedicate their time to CJSF, Chyvold had his start in the radio business as a volunteer disc jockey, spinning discs and playing CDs for a one-hour 'alternative rock' show on the UVic station.
"Being able to do a show with the music I love the most was great," he says.
And, as is the case with campus radio stations around the world, CJSF has some truly cutting-edge and controversial shows, such as the syndicated U.S. show Counterspin, which provides a critique of the mainstream news every Tuesday morning at 11 a.m.
Some of Chyvold's favourite shows now running on CJSF include Singing with Barbara, a Tuesday night feature described as 'thrift store entertainment,' and Sons Lusitanos, the Lower Mainland's only Portuguese-language radio show.
Another fave is Hi Sci Fi, a Friday dinner hour program that features Irma Arkkus and Andrew Yang. "They bring a lot of information, real good rapport and they have a lot of fun with it," Chyvold said, describing the keys to any good radio show.
The station operates on a budget of about $140,000 per year, which pays for all the operating equipment, regulatory fees, plus Chyvold's position and three other part-time staff people.
While CJSf currently only broadcasts from about 10 a.m. until midnight daily, there are plans to go live 24 hours a day, if they can find enough volunteers.
For a complete program listing, visit the radio station's Web site at www.cjsf.bc.ca.