Bill's Nova Scotia Radio Site

NOVA SCOTIA'S  PROVINCIAL RADIO SYSTEMS
Last updated June 24, 2011

Commentary on this page is unofficial, based on public sources and a certain amount of guesswork, and is subject to correction and addition by those who may be better informed.  Such input is invited.

NS Integrated Mobile Radio System (NSIMRS) NS Trunked Mobile Radio System (TMR)
In addition to the above networks there are other frequencies listed in TAFL as being licenced to the NS Government.  Some of these may relate to local communications in and around Province House in Halifax.   There are also a few frequencies and frequency pairs listed in other areas of the province.  For example the pair 154.83/159.54 is listed for for three locations in the province:  Mt Hope Avenue in Dartmouth,  near Rissers Beach in Lunenburg County, and also near Carrolls Corner in eastern Halifax R.M.   It is not known what the purpose of these are; however one report indicates that for the Rissers Beach location this may be a fill-in system to allow park workers to access the TMR, i.e. they would have VHF hand-helds linking via this "repeater" to the TMR. 

Click the links above to go straight to the page for each system.   The following discusses the agency that manages these systems:

The Nova Scotia government operates two separate radio systems.    One is the legacy NS Integrated Mobile Radio System (IMRS or NSIMRS) on VHF.  The other is the current NS Trunked Mobile Radio System (TMR or NSTMRS) on 800 MHz.      In a process lasting a few months in and around 2000-2001, the operations of the NS Government and H Division of the RCMP migrated from NSIMRS to the TMR.   Parts of NSIMRS were dismantled; however two sets of repeaters still remain at approximately two dozen sites throughout Nova Scotia for the use of volunteer fire departments and as a backup to EMO and GSAR organizations.   The NSIMRS sites are thought to all be on government-owned land.

The remnants of NSIMRS are owned and managed by the Public Safety and Field Communications Office which is a semi-independent component of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.     Official website.    This website does summarize the activities of the PSFCO; however the maps of the networks that formerly appeared via this site are no longer available.

The TMR on the other hand is substantially in the hands of Bell Aliant. The actual technical operation and provision of fixed hardware for the TMR is contracted out to Bell Aliant, who also provide most of the repeater towers and real estate.    This contract is now in extension, and it is anticipated that a replacement trunked network thought to be on 700 MHz will be owned and operated by the province directly.  This information is tentative in 2010 but is becoming more definite.     The public will have noted advertisements in the press regarding new towers being built.   For example in October 2010 the public was being advised of a tower to be built in Ardoise (West Hants) on land that was until not long ago occupied by a DNR lookout tower.   Future trunk repeaters at this radio site would likely replace the current Bell trunk site at nearby Ellershouse.

PSFCO does manage the provincial government usage of the TMR,  and also advises the volunteer sector users.     In particular the field staff conduct training of users in these sectors.  This was especially crucial in the early years of the TMR as trunked radio was new to all users.      The office does manage the hardware and buildings at the government-owned sites e.g. the NSIMRS sites, including a small number of joint TMR/NSIMRS sites.    Based on press releases it is obvious  that this office is currently heavily involved in the planning and contracting for the anticipated "New Trunk" system.

In recent years the office has also been integral in the process for the launch of rural broadband internet service.   The actual broadband equipment and provision of service are the responsibility of the three regional internet providers.  On the other hand it is thought that all of the tower sites, and the towers as well, are owned by the province and may have some potential part to play in the "New Trunk" as well as joint broadband/TMR sites.   Keen observers may have noted that while most broadband "towers" are simple poles or sticks, there are some that use tall towers similar to the normal rural area Bell towers.   This type are likely the future joint broadband/TMR2 sites that will potentially have a number of services operating via the tower. 

PSFCO also operates two communications vehicles available for emergencies, exercises and unusual public events.     These vehicles are not equipped identically but in general it has been stated by those who have seen them that they provide mobile patching services between services, for example, between marine band and ground searchers on the trunk or VHF.    A telescoping tower on one of the vehicles can allow contact with distant TMR sites and other agencies that might not otherwise be possible.     These vehicles may also house sets of handheld transceivers to be deployed at an event, with the vehicle and its tower acting as a mobile VHF repeater.    There is at least one dedicated repeater pair assigned to this system.  Note however that these vehicles are NOT mobile trunking repeaters for the TMR.    The two vehicles are equipped as emergency vehicles with red lights and possibly also with a siren.     The vehicles have capability of operating on the TMR, on land mobile VHF, on 400 MHz UHF, on marine VHF and on aero VHF.