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Environment Canada to end weather radio.

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Turkeytop
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Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by Turkeytop » Mon Sep 14, 2020 5:12 pm

Environment Canada operates a system of weather radio stations, similar to NOAA. They have announced they will end this service within six months. They believe the Internet and cell phone make it obsolete and unnecessary.

https://www.change.org/p/ec-radio-ec-ca ... igned=true


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Ben Zonia
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by Ben Zonia » Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:05 pm

I think this is a serious mistake. Internet and Cellphones are often inoperable during weather emergencies. At the same time, radio has even become unreliable at night and on weekends.


"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

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Turkeytop
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by Turkeytop » Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:33 pm

When we were in Florida last winter, our weather radio alerted to a tornado coming and enabled us to take cover just in time.

I don't have a cell phone and I wasn't connected to the Internet at the time.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

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audiophile
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by audiophile » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:24 am

Canada also got rid a lot of rural TV stations. They are not thinking this through.


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k8jd
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by k8jd » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:39 pm

Much of Cananda is wilderness , forest and Tundra. you may not get any Broadcast or Cellfone service over vast areas. I guess they expect EVERYONE to live in cities.
There are native people in those forests and vacationers who wanted to get away. NO WX service or broadcasts to hear there.



k8jd
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by k8jd » Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:44 pm

Ben Zonia wrote:
Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:05 pm
I think this is a serious mistake. At the same time, radio has even become unreliable at night and on weekends.
Sure , not sure about weekends but Canada has been shutting down the big 50,000 W am giants and moving that programming to lower power FM stations in Urban areas. M U C H less coverage areas now. Folks in the bush must have pretty big expence to get satellite radios. (compared to a cheap AM radio that could hear the 50 kW AM signals just fine.)



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Turkeytop
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by Turkeytop » Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:17 pm

I don't believe they're being forced to convert to FM. That's just a business decision by the owners. If they can cover their primary market with a FM signal, they don't care if it represents a loss to those of us out in more remote areas.

The switch from AM to FM is more rapid in small town radio. Outside of the larger cities there is very little AM in Ontario anymore.


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.

k8jd
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by k8jd » Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:13 pm

The AM station (CJSP) in Leamington was a favorite of mine when I was a teen. It was quite strong in Livonia !
They switched to FM many years ago, now it's on a fairly low power FM signal and I can NOT hear it any more...At all !



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SolarMax
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by SolarMax » Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:44 pm

During a recent VHF tropo opening, I discovered the CMB, Continuous Marine Broadcast, which I copied on 161.775 MHz. It's supposedly operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, so I'm guessing it and the other CMB stations are not among the Environment Canada facilities slated to be cut.
If you are not a sailor and need something to lull you to sleep, the robo-lady voice announcing wave heights will do the job. :)



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Turkeytop
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by Turkeytop » Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:53 am

SolarMax wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 10:44 pm

If you are not a sailor and need something to lull you to sleep, the robo-lady voice announcing wave heights will do the job. :)
Does she speak with a Canadian accent?


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SolarMax
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by SolarMax » Thu Sep 17, 2020 9:57 pm

Turkeytop wrote:
Thu Sep 17, 2020 12:53 am
Does she speak with a Canadian accent?
Can't tell. I didn't hear her say any giveaway words (dollar, about, plaza, been), and not a single "eh."
She does call out wave height in meters.



kager
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by kager » Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:06 pm

audiophile wrote:
Tue Sep 15, 2020 6:24 am
Canada also got rid a lot of rural TV stations. They are not thinking this through.
Pot's legal there now, too. Comes with the territory.


"The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred."

k8jd
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by k8jd » Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:11 pm

The WX service from Canada that I hear is in Sarnia on 162.475, I have to be on the outside antenna to hear that.
Wonder if they are gone, have to check it now.



Nelson
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by Nelson » Tue Sep 22, 2020 9:24 am

Weather radio still seems quite important to me. I don't leave my cell phone on at night but still want weather warnings. I figure during the day, I'm probably going to notice a severe storm coming in, but not necessarily at night. Therefore, I keep a weather alert radio in my bedroom. There's definitely value in having weather radio service for remote areas, too. I always carry my weather radio when I'm hiking or camping in areas of the state that don't have cell service.



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WOHO
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Re: Environment Canada to end weather radio.

Post by WOHO » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:24 am

How can we convince Environment Canada is pennywise/poundfoolish to decommission the VHF WX radio system? That's like dumping all the VOR for aircraft because "they can use GPS" - yeah, until GPS doesn't work, then WTF do you do? Same for cell systems overloading during a weather emergency- I didn't get the text alert until it made it thru a buffer 1 hour after the warning. Sorry, but 162MHz VHF-FM is very reliable, especially with a backup generator and 2nd audio feed that isn't a 1967 POTS phone line (like KEC-63 in Southfield).



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