Coast Guard Radio Stations Closed.

[Dave L]

Three radio stations in Vancouver (VAS), Comox (VAC) and Ucluelet (VAE) went dark last week.

The government claims the new system is "world class". Listen for yourself. http://www.daveleblanc.ca/audio/PrinceRupertCoastGuardRadioCMB.mp3

When it's actually available, it's inaudible, full with errors and bloated. I waited 13 minutes for the local lighthouse report, but it was broken up, hence no data available until the next broadcast 8 hours later.

The first half if the Continuous Marine Broadcast (CMB) is audible, but with multiple mistakes, mashed grammar and gibberish. Since when is barometric pressure measured in megabytes?

I recorded the aircheck from the comfort of my radio shack, with a matched antenna on a high tower in ideal conditions. I fail to grasp how anyone on a vessel with engines roaring and marine operations underway could glean meaningful information from this.

Here's a waveform analysis of the audio pattern:

http://www.daveleblanc.ca/images/PrinceRupertCoastGuardRadioCMB.jpg

Since the closure and pretty much daily, this Notice to Shipping has been issued.

"P-0463(2015) PRINCE RUPERT MCTS - WCVI - NORTH COAST- OFFSHORE WATERS
Activated:0356 27 Apr 2015 Prince Rupert MCTS Vessel Traffic Services operating at a reduced capacity. Ais and radar monitoring services are out of service until further notice. Mariners are to make all necessary calls at calling in points."

Increased tanker traffic?

[Tape Splicer]

Dave L; After listening to a portion of the above audio stream, I am going to hazard a guess that is not a human voice but a text to speech synthesized voice.

I've listened to text to speech software several times and don't like using the software! The word "Read" for example comes out as "ree add" ... and unless there is punctuation the software reads one continuous sentence. I could use the software to make the computer easier for me to work with, but I find listening to the voice "read" hard to follow, and I am not distracted by other things going on around me - and I use headphones.

As I said above,I didn't listen to the whole stream so I didn't hear the megabytes referenced in your text...But my guess is that "MB" is used as an abbreviation in the text for "millibar" and the software translates the "MB" as "Megabytes" ....

The audio quality is poor at best - with the hum in the background and the audio level not much above the hum; Important information could be lost in transmission - and lives could be put in danger.

Was there any estimate of the how much would be saved by shutting these three stations down? And how much did it cost to set up the new system? Are GPS systems on ships more accurate than those used by Joe average on the highways?
Was there not also a reduction to the "shipping traffic control" system along the coast not long ago? Not to mention the closure of the False Creek Coast Guard station.

When I think of the local shipping lanes I remember the BC ferry collision with a freighter just off the gulf islands a number of years ago.....and there was ship-to-ship and radar systems on both vesels....not sure about a "ship traffic control" system in place at the time...... But i'm thinking be ready for more of this happening up the coast and at the entrance to our very busy ports.

[Dave L]

As I said above,I didn't listen to the whole stream so I didn't hear the megabytes referenced in your text...But my guess is that "MB" is used as an abbreviation in the text for "millibar" and the software translates the "MB" as "Megabytes" ....

The audio quality is poor at best - with the hum in the background and the audio level not much above the hum; Important information could be lost in transmission - and lives could be put in danger.

Was there any estimate of the how much would be saved by shutting these three stations down? And how much did it cost to set up the new system? Are GPS systems on ships more accurate than those used by Joe average on the highways?
Was there not also a reduction to the "shipping traffic control" system along the coast not long ago? Not to mention the closure of the False Creek Coast Guard station.

When I think of the local shipping lanes I remember the BC ferry collision with a freighter just off the gulf islands a number of years ago.....and there was ship-to-ship and radar systems on both vesels....not sure about a "ship traffic control" system in place at the time...... But i'm thinking be ready for more of this happening up the coast and at the entrance to our very busy ports.

In typical fashion over the years, they're being secretive about the amount spent vs amount saved. Nobody in gov't has suggested a cost saving or cut back. Likewise no information available covering costs over the long term.

21 minutes is too long to suffer this audio, so I don't blame anyone for not listening to it entirely. The latter half is just plain horrible. Even in a quiet setting, most of it is inaudible.

Automated CMB's have been around for thirty plus years and most of them work reasonably well, but in this case the government opted to buy new, untested software and equipment worth millions of dollars. Most of the glitches have been software issues, not just in the audio portion, but how the repeaters communicate with each other as well. It's a mishmash of old analogue equipment on the remote peripherals combined with digital upgrades and ramshackled interfaces. The Allen circuit (which worked near perfectly for decades), a link between lighthouse reports and the radio station is now largely unserviceable. A procedure which took two or three minutes in the past, takes much longer or not at all because either it's down, inaudible or screeching with feedback. The entire coast line is a patchwork quilt of a network at best, where even minor failures cause the entire chain to go down, forcing technicians to use helicopters more than ever just to reboot systems or perform minor fixes etc.

On a daily basis, there are dark spots on the coast for both emergency or traffic operations. We have one technician left, for the entire west coast of the island, over worked and not always available. It's not a maybe, lives ARE endangered when the system goes down. Marine incidents happen, day or night, calm or stormy.

GPS and intership communication have indeed improved over the years, but leaving ships to their own devices in the absence of traffic management is irresponsible, especially considering the feds want to increase tanker traffic so China can stuff their pockets. The erosion of vessel traffic services at the Port of Valdez, was a contributing factor in the wreck of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Since then, they've applied new rules and escort vessels, yet Canada has done neither to reduce the likelihood of accidents. There are two people on a train or a cockpit for a reason. Oversight and objective operations. They expect a foreign captain operating a ship with a flag of convenience to singlehandedly protect our lives or environment without proper tracking and clearance procedures in the absence of accurate weather data and notices to shipping. A brand new ship... fully operational, certified sea worthy, in calm weather, at anchor spilled bunker oil in English Bay last month because of a single act of negligence by a crew member.

If anyone thinks for one second that the principle of "polluter pays" will be taken serious by China after a spill, they've got another thing coming.

[skyvalleyradio]

How disheartening to learn this has finally come to pass. Thank you Dave for an informed look at how this will affect marine traffic on the outer coast of Vancouver Island. With the politricksters determined to shove more tanker traffic up & down the BC coast, I would think we need these radio facilities more than ever. Make sure you offer this aircheck audio file to your MP regardless of her/his political party

[Dave L]

Make sure you offer this aircheck audio file to your MP regardless of her/his political party

That would be James Lunney, recently in the news cycles for his account of the "false construct" of evolution. In all fairness to the man, he was critical of the cuts. What tiny semblance of clout he had, was lost when he left the conservatives to sit as an independent.

In 1988, when the oil barge NESTUCCA was holed by it's tug off of Gray's Harbor WA, 900,000 litres of heavy bunker oil came ashore in Canada. I monitored the movement of oil via the Coast Guard lighthouse operations channel, aka the Allen Circuit (143.535 MHz FM). Incidentally, I was a Coast Guard employee at the time. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence from their own agency, the CCG was in denial about the volume, movement and effects of the spilled oil. Instead, I led a team of of hundreds of volunteers who performed more than 40,000 man hours of dirty work on public beaches.

In keeping with the "polluter pays" principle, Sause Bros. Ocean Towing Inc. of Coos Bay OR "accepted responsibility" for the spill. After nearly ten years of acrimonious and costly legal battles, their responsibility extended as far as every legal (some not so legal) obstacle thrown at us in the US court system. At the end of the day, they failed at having our standing dismissed, but never paid. No one (with any balls) in Canada would make them pay either.

Here is the judgement from the appeal court: http://www.daveleblanc.ca/sause_v_leblanc_appeal.htm

Nothing has changed. Polluters do not pay.