May Long Weekend, Alberta style

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Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
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Hey all,

It's that time of year again. Even as I write this, people are flooding into the campgrounds west of Calgary (and all over, too, I'm sure). It's always an intense weekend for emergency services. STARS posted on their Twitter feed earlier today that they did twice their normal call volume last May long weekend.

RCMP have already beefed up their staffing in the areas, as far as the radio traffic would imply. Conservation officers, Forest Protection Division, and other SRD elements are also covering Kananaskis and Ghost Recreation Area thoroughly. And I'm sure other agencies - law-enforcement, fire/rescue/medical, and otherwise - will be doing their own bit to help.

Besides the regular comms which you'll find in Kananaskis "county", Rockyview County, and the Municipal District of Bighorn in the database, don't forget the province-wide Fire, EMS, RCMP, and FireNet channels (including the ones published in the forum and not the DB). Also, listening to FRS will also probably be quite entertaining, as virtually every person who goes camping takes one or two sets of the bubble-pack radios with them.

If you're going out, please stay safe and don't get involved in any of the mayhem. All in all, have a great weekend!
 

awkwardmoose

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May 24, 2008
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I would generally go into a rant about how the activities of 10% of the backcountry users spoil it for the remaining 90% of us but I’ll leave that up to the press to sensationalize. It will be interesting to see what area the media will focus on this year. Kevin Fleming (CFCN Calgary) doesn’t usually travel too far from the city.

Leaving shortly for the backcountry west of Maycroft. With the rain/snow forecasted (and the rivers still closed to fishing), there’ll be ample time to listen to the ‘activities’. That being said, hopefuly the weather puts a dampener on the fire comms but the RCMP/SRD will have their share hits… always entertaining.

Jay must have looked at my scanner upload files…covered most of what I’ll be monitoring. Depending on your location, other frequencies that have been interesting are related to the Elbow Valley/ Bow Valley/Kananaskis campground operators. From the west side of the city I’ve also been able to get the odd Banff National Park comms too. With this year’s long weekend restrictions in the National Parks, things could be interesting there as well…
 

robertmac

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muffled

I thought their transmissions had improved with the recent update. Link Centre can be a little overdriven depending on the dispatchers voice. I find STARS signals very clear [more bass then treble] but otherwise very pleasant to listen to. I see STARS in northern Alberta has been busier than STAR 1. So much for the authorities wanting to have a safer long week-end. But with the way people are driving lately, I can only see STARS and EMS getting busier.
 

harryshute

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Yes STAR3 has been very busy so far on Friday and Saturday with numerous calls. They considered sending up STAR4 as it was serviceable and they had most of the crew to staff it. It was for a multiple injury head on collision near St. Paul.

I find their audio much clearer now that they are using the new system with the repeater on a downtown building.
Harry
 

HDMechanic

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Oct 9, 2006
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Location
Calgary Alberta
Was listening to STAR 1 last night and heard link centre say that their portable radio was working great in the Crowsnest area. I thought it was coming in very well my self. Only thing i find is that link centre sounds like they have their headsets up their you know whats. I think they need to turn the mic gain down on their headsets or mic they are using. Thats what the problem sounds like to me. :)
 

smason

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Dec 20, 2006
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Alberta Canada, Eh!
Yeah I was surprised about the portable in Crowsnest. Their audio cleared up after a while, may have just been a bad location when I first heard them.
 
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