Canadian Stations

I cannot remember hearing any Canadian Great Lakes coastal stations so very little information on them is known to the Archivist, but we will start with some "recollections" received by e-mail and gradually evolve into more organized content as more information is received.

In 1998 the Canadian government published a paper back that presents a history of the Canadian stations: "Come Quick, Danger - A History of Marine Radio in Canada" by Stephan Dubreuil - ISBN is 0-660-17490-1. This is a very nice book which covers stations serving the high-seas, Arctic and Great Lakes. Many pictures of old radio CG installations and gear. The following listing of stations (all in Ontario) is based on information from the book and from a 1959 Marconi publication.

VBA Port Arthur (1910 to 1962)--> Ft. William (Names Changed to)--> Thunder Bay (Still active on VHF and with several remote sites) (Lake   Superior)
VBB    Sault Ste. Marie (???? to 1997) ((Integrated with Thunder Bay) (Lakes Superior and Huron)
VBC    Midland (Wiarton) (Georgian Bay)
VBD    Tobermory (Lake Huron and Georgian Bay)
VBE    Point Edward (1913 to 1954)--> Camlachie (to 1982)--> Sarnia (Lake Huron) (Still active on VHF and with several remote sites)
VBF    Port Burwell (Before 1920 to 1957)
VBG    Toronto (Lake Ontario)
VBH    Kingston (Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River)
VDQ    Cardinal, ON (St. Lawrence River) (Still active on VHF and with several remote sites)
VFG2 Gore Bay (Manitoulin Island) (Lake Huron)
            Port Colborne (Lake Erie) (Inactive by 1950)
            Port Stanley (Lake Erie) (Inactive by 1950)

Here's a 1950 Map of the Canadian Great Lakes Stations, and here is a link to the Canadian MTCS Maps page which shows the current Great Lakes VHF coverage provided by the Canadian Coast Guard from control points at Thunder Bay, Sarnia and Prescott.

Recollections of one ex-laker radio op:

The Canadian coast stations were Port Arthur, Sault St. Marie - VBB, Midland - VBC, Sarnia - VBE, Port Burwell, Toronto, Thunder Bay - VBA, Kingston, and Cornwall (St Lawrence River). Call letters and frequency information requested?

Were all of these operated by the Canadian Coast Guard or were some of them commercially owned?

If you called some of the Canadians stations, you had to wait a couple of minutes before they would answer since they had to turn on their transmitter and let the tubes warm.

The Canadians implemented 500 KHz CW in the 1990s at Thunder Bay and Toronto to communicate with foreign ships since the crews on these foreign ships could not speak English. This late-in-the-era CW service had a short life.

Recollections of another ex-laker radio op:

There was a station at Midland, Ontario, on Lake Huron, run by Marconi. They had a transmitter of about 500 watts on 500 KHz with a rotary "chopper" in the B+. Had a really rough sounding note. I only remember seeing one big tube in this transmitter, but it could have had another driver. I also think there was another Canadian station on Lake Superior that I used for calls to the states because the price was cheaper than U.S. However, it had to be a very good propagation day.

Around 1960? Collins provided us with a converted military SSB transceiver and told us to make all the SSB phone calls we wanted to test out the new "thing". It worked great, however I can't remember which shore stations they had given SSB equipment to to complete the circuit, somewhere on Lake Michigan I think. (WAD?)

Jack Painter of the USCG Remembers:

Looking at Sarnia (now an MCTS) and Port Burwell Radio on the Lake Erie chart, I recall how powerful those formerly independent stations were in the 1960's and 1970's. There was never a time, no matter how awful the Lake Erie weather, that the reassuring and powerful signal from Burwell or Sarnia on 2182 KHz didn't cut through the slop. Their MF service will always be missed by those who they helped on a regular basis for decades.

Canadian Ship Callsigns: 1992

OK you Canucks help fill in the (many) blanks about your Great Lakes stations. Images needed.