Ground Breaking for Major James Bay Telecom Tower

Waskaganish
Ground Breaking for Major James Bay Telecom Tower

Construction Underway for Regional 300-foot Facility to Beam to mid-James Bay Quebec

September 27, 2011: Waskaganish, Quebec – Community Radio Station CJRH 92.5 FM will expand its reach to an estimated 110 Km beyond the community, and provide programming on about 200 Km of the unserved James Bay highway. In addition, it will also provide two-way radio-telephone service for emergency services in the area.

The project is the initiative of Cree Nation of Waskaganish and radio station CJRH 92.5 FM with project management services from RTS Canada, a long-time consultant to the community. Radio General Manager Walter G. Hester Jr noted: “This project is on the soft banks of the Rupert River and will require major excavation and pile technology.”

The tower facility is budgeted at nearly $575,000 and includes a new high-power Omnilynx FM transmitter from Incospec Inc. in Montreal, a complete 2-way radio-telephone system that will cover a far greater area than cellular service (currently available only within immediate Waskaganish area) and Wi-Fi technology for telemetry. The project has support of both the Cree Regional Authority and the Niskamoon Corporation.

Using all-Canadian technology, the project integrates a 15-ton steel guyed tower from Elmira, Ontario-based Trylon TSF, high-power FM panel antennas built in Edmonton by Power Antenna, 2-way and radio-telephone equipment from CLR in Trois-Rivières and Sinclair Technologies in Ontario, and engineering services from Yves R. Hamel Associates in Montreal. The new facility will provide emergency backup for local services.

“The tower was designed for future expansion,” said Hester, “it has the capacity for additional antennas including a large microwave dish and full remote connectivity between the community and the tower.”

CJRH FM will increase its effective radiated power to over 30,000 watts. FM programming services include local community productions and regional network news and features from the Cree Radio Network service of the James Bay Cree Communications Society.

Two years ago, RTS Canada managed a similar project in Wemindji, Quebec to provide service to the northern James Bay region. Prior to that, there was no radio or cellular services on the James Bay highway. The coverage from both towers is expected to reach about 80% of the highway area and will allow the newly formed Cree Regional Police effective communications between communities.

“We are very proud of our long association with the community,” said RTS Canada president Hyman Glustein. “Connectivity is critical for communities and Waskaganish was isolated up until just a few years ago. Today with this new service, it will provide a substantial addition to the new regional digital network by allowing a facility for backup microwave service. This community is a very important part of the James Bay territory, a hub for the Air Creebec traffic in Quebec and for northern Ontario. We take pride in our association with innovators. Our commitment to community radio across Canada goes back to its very first days 36 years ago.”

RTS Canada is the operating division of Groupe Leclaire GLG Inc., a multi-service broadcast and telecom consulting service that provides journalism and management training, engineering, design, maintenance and licensing services for cable TV, Internet providers and radio stations. Other divisions of the firm specialize in film and video production, software development, publishing and telecommunications.

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For more information: Hyman Glustein, RTS Canada hglustein[at]rtscanada.com 514 481-0010