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VHF Frequencies, BC. AB.

Discussion in 'Canadian Truckers Forum' started by Knoxville, Apr 22, 2009.

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Trinity Xpress ltd Bobtail Member

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If you end up not sure what channel is in use, I usually just flip it on scan for a few minutes and you'll see what channels are live in the area. Its pretty normal for the road owner to have a 4X8 sign at the head of the road notifiying road users that the road is "radio controlled", which freq to be on and that all users must call Kilometers or KM on orange signs.. Generally, there are two colours of KM signs, yellow and orange, the orange usually indicating a hazard and often accompanied by a sign saying MUST CALL KM, one lane bridge ahead, or blind corner ahead, etc. I haven't been on radio roads as much in recent years, but 2004-2006 I spent all winter three years in a row on them. Lately, I hauled all of last Febraury off the Larcina Rd in Wabesca.

Also, If you are on a road like the Weyehauser North Logging Rd. the channel changes every time you turn down another leg of that road network, so you might be changing channels several times in 50KM. Basically, the local radio shops and a big channel bank are your best friend.

Trinity Xpress ltd, Jan 31, 2015

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Dragon88 Light Load Member

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Freddie those are walkie-talkies which are horrible in the mountains

Dragon88, Feb 1, 2015

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Dragon88 Light Load Member

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The new RR channels are great for off-highway. So simple and user friendly, no more confusing names, or wondering what the proper frequency is.

Dragon88, Feb 1, 2015

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Freddie Bobtail Member

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True that UHF GMRS will not always have the reach that VHF MURS has, although assuming you are running skidoos on flat trails and frozen lakes, GMRS may be good enough. Just make sure they are at least water-resistant if not waterproof.

See MURS options here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...-alias=electronics&field-keywords=MURS+radios

Happy trails!

Last edited: Feb 2, 2015

Freddie, Feb 2, 2015

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Oldpete2112 Bobtail Member

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not4hire said: ↑

Your post contains some good information, but also lacks the perspective of someone who actually works in the environment up here.

The reasons that someone might have 397 channels programmed into their radio (which is likely one of the radios I bought ) is because... simply... it is necessary. As a contractor/power-for-hire, on any given day we can be running anywhere in BC, AB, SK, MB, YT or NT, doing oilfield/heavy haul/mining/lumber work directly for a prime customer or sub-contracting to another carrier. In a one-week period I can work for several different customers/carriers. Many of those customers have their own frequencies as do a lot of the carriers. Mammoet might have a dozen frequencies of their own. The same for Premay, Mullen, TransCanada, Cenovus, Shell, various mines, lumber mills, gas plants, oil sands sites, etc. A single trip of 50 km off-pavement can easily encompass another half-dozen frequencies. A scanner is useless unless you're out here simply for a pleasure drive in a passenger vehicle. Many roads have very narrow sections with limited pullouts and we're frequently heavy (often 2-trailer combinations) and/or wide/long.

Your idea of "one or two VHF International Trucking Call Channels which are accessible to ALL industrial vehicles working in logging, mining, petroleum, etc." is simply unworkable. I have been on jobs where in a 100 square mile area (that's only 10 miles X 10 miles) you can literally have hundreds of trucks on dozens of single-lane roads going to well sites, camps, gas plants, doing road maintenance, etc. Other jobs like preparing a site for a gas plant might have 20 trucks hauling gravel, 30 pieces of heavy equipment, 10 trucks shuttling access mats, road-building crews, and a dozen pick ups all traversing a 10 km stretch of road and a site that's a couple-hundred acres. There needs to be at least one channel for the road, one for the gravel/borrow pit one or two used on-site, a supervisor's channel, etc.

While BC is doing a good job in simplifying and rationalizing the number of channels needed, even their own literature notes the following (from your link):
"Note: as not all resource roads will be adopting the new Resource Road Radio Channels, it is recommended that road users retain current radio frequencies until such time that they are no longer required."

For a driver that is only on pavement then 4-6 channels is likely all they'll ever need, but for a huge section of the trucking industry up here there are 20-50 channels that get used very regularly and then there are hundreds that might only be needed once or twice per year, but when they're needed... And when a driver finds out at 4:30 PM on Saturday that they need to be at a mine 700 km away for noon Sunday to move a crane and there are at least three different channels needed; if they don't have them, there is virtually no time to get them programmed. That's the reality of the industry up here and why experienced, long-term operators will have hundreds of channels programmed.

All of this is why, although illegal, self-programmable radios are becoming increasingly popular up here.
Click to expand...

Excellent post, and exactly the reason I am searching for a new radio.

The company I work for is slow at responding to getting new frequencies added to our radios as we move into new areas, or if I need to take a different truck to do a certain job I often find out that the frequency I need is not in that truck radio.

Therefore I am looking to buy my own mobile rig, and want to able to program it myself on the fly. I am also interested in getting my HAM license this year, so considering getting one rig that will do double duty.

Anyone have aves any suggestions? Was considering an Icom rig, but open to others. I know I will be investing a bit of money here, so want to make a very informed choice.

Thanks in advance.
Op

Oldpete2112, Feb 2, 2015

#115
Prairie Boy Road Train Member

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Last edited: Feb 3, 2015

Prairie Boy, Feb 3, 2015

#116
Dragon88 Light Load Member

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Freddie said: ↑

True that UHF GMRS will not always have the reach that VHF MURS has, although assuming you are running skidoos on flat trails and frozen lakes, GMRS may be good enough. Just make sure they are at least water-resistant if not waterproof.

See MURS options here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...-alias=electronics&field-keywords=MURS+radios

Happy trails!
Click to expand...

I snowmobile in the alpine mountains of BC on a POLARIS not a skidoo.

Dragon88, Feb 4, 2015

#117
Xtine Bobtail Member

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Dragon88 said: ↑

I was looking at buying a few of these for when I'm out in the backcountry snowmobiling. Walkie-Talkies just dont cut it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Baofeng-UV-...s-/131367957653?ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123
Click to expand...

I purchased several radios from this store too, shipping was quite fast, got them within 4 days.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Baofeng-G...BF-888s-/141563234941?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Xtine, Feb 13, 2015

#118
Dragon88 Light Load Member

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Those are walkie-talkies.

Dragon88, Feb 13, 2015

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Prairie Boy Road Train Member

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Dragon88 said: ↑

The new RR channels are great for off-highway. So simple and user friendly, no more confusing names, or wondering what the proper frequency is.
Click to expand...

The RR channels use the same frequencies that are out there. RR11 is 153.450 and can't remember what it is for RR13.

Prairie Boy, Feb 13, 2015

#120

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