the status of shortwave in sackville

Let's talk about Sackville. Sackville, New Brunswick, is the location of a shortwave broadcasting and relay site owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Two shortwave transmitters were initially installed at the site in 1943, during the second World War. At its peak, Sackville had nine shortwave transmitters.

The Sackville transmitter station and a portion of the antenna system (source: Wikipedia)

Radio Canada International, the primary user of the Sackville station, stopped broadcasting shortwave in June 2012 due to budget cuts. RCI will continue broadcasting online, despite the known risks of Internet content filtering. CBC is further reporting that the transmission site and equipment is for sale, potentially to other shortwave broadcasters, or for use as a wind farm. As a last resort, the site would be dismantled.

Past and current international broadcasters also using the Sackville site for relay broadcasting include BBC World Service, China Radio International, Deutsche Welle, KBS World Radio (South Korea), Radio Japan, Radio Sweden, Vatican Radio, and Voice of Vietnam.

As a shortwave listener in North America, I have frequently received broadcasts coming from Sackville. If this transmitting site goes dark, I'll lose yet another reliable source of shortwave broadcasts. 

Here are a few YouTube videos involving RCI and the Sackville site:

• Last English Newscast - RCI
• Radio Canada International received in Germany
• Radio Canada Nord-Quebec 9625 kHz received in Uruguay
• Vatican Radio (via Sackville) - announcement of broadcasts ending on July 1

Edit: Here's a nice collection of photos of the Sackville site.