Radio Canada International - Sackville Relay Station

Sackville Relay Station

RCI's parent, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, was the owner and operator of the Sackville transmission site, call sign CKCX-SW. RCI's only transmitter site was located on the Tantramar Marshes several kilometres east of the town of Sackville, New Brunswick. RCI leased or bartered its spare transmission capacity with other international broadcasters. Sackville was the only high power shortwave relay station in Canada and also transmitted CBC North broadcasts to northern Quebec.

The CBC-SRC network runs 3 × 1 kW relays of domestic radio, only one of these relays originated from RCI Sackville. These CBC-SRC domestic radio transmitters were not high power by modern definition.

Sackville's northern hemisphere transmission targeting capabilities were very similar to the transmission capabilities of Wertachtal Relay Station, in Bavaria.

Sackville was also used by Radio Japan, China Radio International, Voice of Vietnam, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and Radio Korea as part of a transmitter time exchange agreement.

Sackville had a site layout similar to the Wertachtal Shortwave Relay Station, with a few substantial differences.

• Wertachtal has 3 arms of HRS type antennas that are spaced at ~120 degrees. Sackville Relay Station only approximates this configuration.
• The Wertachtal configuration allows for near 360 degree coverage of the world.
• Wertachtal exclusively contains HRS type transmission antennas, whereas Sackville does not.
• Sackville site configuration information supportted this comparison, with respect to HRS type antenna azimuths.

The site at Sackville was originally built in 1938 for CBC local broadcasting over radio station CBA. In 1943, two RCA shortwave transmitters were installed. In 1970, all CBC operations moved to Moncton, NB — this move was necessary so as to allow new Collins transmitters to be installed. In the mid 1980s, the RCA transmitters were replaced by the three, more modern, Harris transmitters.

With the end of Radio Canada International's shortwave service in June 2012 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation sought to sell the Sackville transmission complex to either another international broadcaster or a wind farm company. According to Martin Marcotte, director of CBC Transmission: " will be fairly costly to dismantle and as a last resort we would dismantle the facility, return it to bare land as it was when we first acquired that site."

On October 30, 2012, the CRTC granted a request by the CBC to revoke CKSX-SW's broadcast license effective November 1, 2012.