On vacation next week...

Guys,

Going to be on vacation next week in the southeast, and I see in the DB that the AST operations in Detachment 'A' are 'in the clear'. I would like some clarification as to whether that's true (if not I'm not bringing my scanner on the trip).

We're going to be in Skagway, Juneau, & Ketchikan. I see that those three areas are still VHF analog. I might be better server by just bringing one of my amateur HT's that has wide-band RX coverage...

well watching Alaskan State Troopers on TV, the radios display trunking like identifiers. Think a scanner and your radios might be in order. Hay they are small, leave something at home, make room for radios.

Which cruise line?

Princess. Staring in Seattle & going up as far as Skagway.

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W2SJW said:

Princess. Staring in Seattle & going up as far as Skagway.

Sent from my Galaxy S6 via Tapatalk 4

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I've done the trip three times. Doing it again this September. Are you doing Glacier Bay or Tracy Arm? Victoria, too, right?

The first time I went, I brought a radio. It honestly never made it out of my bag...

Tracy Arm. Glacier was in 2009 for the 50th anniversary of statehood for my wife & I. Just bought my wife a new Nikon 16MP DSLR for this trip...

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This will be my first trip into Glacier Bay. You will love Tracy Arm... it is a magical place...

Sorry I can't help with the radio part too much... but I gab about Alaska to anyone who will listen. Enjoy your trip!

Tracy Arm...

We just got off of Radiance of the Seas in Seward yesterday with stops in Ketchikan, Hoonah, Juneau, and Skagway). ASTs in the Ketchikan area are completely in the clear. Decent VHF and UHF listening, but the sites are somewhat sporadic. From the ship, i got the best reception in Juneau and Seward, but I could run Unitrunker in Ketchikan, and Skagway (little to no ALMR traffic though).
In the rest of the state, while ENC is not strapped, it is about 98% ENC with a couple troopers with their ENC toggle off. We are in Anchorage now and there is a significant amount of CC traffic for Unitrunker (which will occupy me tomorrow on the flight to Hawaii). I havent started looking at the VHF sites in ANC yet, i'm still on 700. The Alaska Railroad had decent coverage the way up as well.

I felt that the 396xt and HP were a good investment in space in the luggage, but my wife contests that...

I'm in Anchorage now after spending a week on Holland America's Oosterdam. Departed Vancouver, made stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, and visited Glacier Bay. I didn't scan a lot, but when I did I never received a lot of public safety type traffic. Minimal ALMR traffic at any of the stops, but what little I did hear was AST in the clear. Plenty of analog UHF traffic at each port with excursion and tour companies. Having a scanner with SignalStalker/Close Call is a benefit in these cases. I heard practically nothing from the time we left Seward until we reached Anchorage. Enjoy your trip.

triptolemus said:

...The first time I went, I brought a radio. It honestly never made it out of my bag...

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I've made that trip, too. Never touched the radio, and I didn't miss it. I found myself reaching for the camera instead.