There are four of these stations in Canada. In my scanning of the shortwave frequencies, I have found CFRX on 6070 KHz to put a strong signal into my location pretty much 24/7. At night it is drowned out by interference but daytime is listenable from local sunrise until about an hour before local sunset with a 100 uv signal. A look at the map reveals the CFRX transmitter site is roughly 300 miles away. CFRX is a relay of CFRB, 1010 KHz in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. CFRB does not come in here at all due to protecting 1010 WINS in NYC.
What I find very interesting is the station uses 1 KW TPO into a single 50-foot (117-degree) vertical tower. That is a pretty low-tech transmission facility, nothing like the minimum 50 KW with a 10 dB antenna requirement the FCC stipulates for shortwave broadcasters in this country. Even so, it generates a big useable signal, in the case of CFRX, covering nearly 300,000 square miles very inexpensively.
CFRX has been relaying CFRB’s signal since 1937. According to the ODXA site, the station uses a Bauer 701B modified to transmit on HF. The Bauer transmitters were always solid units. It went off the air in 2008 for several months while the transmitter was repaired, but eventually, it did return. Obviously, the station ownership finds value in the service and it continues today.
I often wonder why the FCC won’t allow a similar HF relay service here in the US. Daytime propagation on the tropical bands (75 and 60 Meters (3.9-4 MHz and 4.7 – 5.06 MHz respectively)) would allow low-power relays to cover large areas like CFRX. Tropical band propagation is such that nighttime coverage may be degraded by interference from other, more powerful stations offshore. Even so, it seems like a good way to cover a lot of ground in an economical way.
Other Canadian shortwave relay stations:
| HF Call sign | Power/frequency | Parent station | Location | Power/frequency |
| CFRX | 1000/6060 | CFRB | Toronto, ON | 50 KW/1010 |
| CFVP | 1000/6030 | CKMX | Calgary, AB | 50 KW/1060 |
| CKZN | 300/6160 | CFGB (CBC R-1) | St. Johns, NF | 4.5 KW/89.5 MHz |
| CKZU | 500/6160 | CBU (CBC R-1) | Vancouver, BC | 50 KW/690 |
Power in watts, frequency is KHz unless otherwise noted.
I know the CRTC would like to do away with these stations, but I think that is foolish.