This is a special Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter blog post for today, which you could say is a bonus post. If this was a podcast I could say it is a bonus episode. Right? Anyway, the main focus is on something good which had happened 4 years ago today and tomorrow in Toronto, with Weatheradio Canada. Yes, I am talking about the upgrade to i-Notify, or iNotify, or how ever it is spelled. Toronto officially migrated from AVIPADs to the new software (with the voices) on September 8th 2021, but it all started November 19th 2019. I had documented it in a previous post, but I will include some things I hadn’t talked about when it comes to how I knew that this day was coming. I will even start things off with an edited version of something I had written in the February 2020 post of the newsletter on Monday November 18, 2019.
Hi folks. As those of us who live in Toronto and listen to Weatheradio know, the WXR is still broadcasting but we haven’t had SAME alerts get through to it, since late July. Tomorrow, that is about to change, as people from Weatheradio Canada are here in town, to do some work on the transmitter, tomorrow and Wednesday. Here is how things are going to most likely happen. First of all, Toronto will be offline for a few hours and then, it will come back online again. Shortly after that, there will be a series of tests, with both voices and SAME and 1050 Hz tone alerts at different volumes. Something like this had happened back in 2006, when SAME was first introduced to Weatheradio Canada and was ready for use. Any downtime required for The installation in Ontario had occurred sometime in November 2004, during the weekend. The only time it would be interrupted was when a watch or warning was issued, for any severe weather that was forecasted to be in the area. As for Toronto, I think we lucked out and there was no need for an interruption of the installation. Also, the WXR’s in Ontario had remained alive throughout the weekend, in case of any severe weather bulletins being issued.
As for the installation and test, it may continue into Wednesday and this may affect the RWT but, any SAME tests will be alert tests so, anyone with a WX radio which flashes after 10 days of nothing being sent out can sleep in the knowledge that your radio won’t be flashing (or beeping) after these alerts go out. What this will mean is that Toronto will be ready for the launch of the new software, when everything is ready on both the RF end and through the telephone. There are still things to do after all of the transmitters are updated but I can certainly tell you that what will take place is another step towards an improved Weatheradio Canada. So, here is how things lead up to and went on November 19th and 20th 2019. I made sure I had nothing on my plate, so I could monitor this for all of us. Ready?
Because of this problem with the Toronto WXR I had mentioned above, I had been pestering Weatheradio Canada to do something to fix it so that SAME alerts get through again, to our radios so we don’t have to babysit them and have to unplug and plug them in every 10 days due to them flashing and beeping constantly until an alert gets through. On October 19th2019 Canada had a federal election and Weatheradio Canada is kept going by the federal government, I was worried that depending on what happened and the outcome things would not progress. Back in 2017, the first signs that we would hear the new voices were in the form of test on select transmitters and as you long time readers know, I had made mention of the tests in the May 2017 newsletter. I also mentioned the voices and of course, I have access to them on my iPhone, because I know how to get them. Well, actually with iOS 16 and 17 it is newer versions of the voices, but they are different in cadence from the older versions we hear on Weatheradio Canada.
Anyway, the election came and went and around that time, I had been in contact with a friend of mine from Weatheradio Canada, on when Toronto would be fixed and taken off of dial-up and put back on FTP. The Toronto WXR being on dial-up had resulted in us missing the voice survey. However, because I have access to the voices I knew what I wanted to hear and because of my membership of FB groups related to Weatheradio Canada and NWR, I was able to take the survey on time and speak my mind. I still have the same wish. In fact, I hope that there will be another survey to listeners, who frequently email Weatheradio Canada, about the current i-Notify voices and what we would like to hear in the future, when it comes to everything, including station ID messages and weather alerts. I have expressed my opinions on that in past posts so there is no need to repeat it here.
I was told that Toronto would be put back on FTP and at the same time, upgraded to also work with the new software, when it went live, on November 4th. The date came and went and so, it would be pushed back to November 19 and 20th.
I was looking forward to the two days and I was fortunate enough to meet up with my friend at a Starbucks, a bus right away from where I live. We had arranged to hook up through Facebook messenger, so he would know where I would be. I went in during the late afternoon of the 18th after my friend and his work partner got into Toronto. I got a hot chocolate, sat down to drink it and waited for my friend to show up. He did, we talked and I showed him what I have on my iPhone and he now knew for sure, that I have the voices. He knew that I knew what the voices would be, from discussions in one of the Facebook groups and we even got to talking about music, which is another favourite subject of mine. After all, I am a musician and I play guitar and sing. We had a great time, even if it was brief and we went our separate ways, me going home and him to a hotel.
The next day started normally for me, but around 9:07 AM something exciting was about to occur. I knew what was going to happen, but the exact timing of everything wasn’t nailed down, but at least I knew roughly when things were about to change. I had radios on all morning anyway, listening for static, as opposed to a voice burbling away to itself.
Toronto had been shut off at 9:07 AM and was not turned on again, until 12:15 PM EST. It had remained silent with dead air, until 1:07 PM. At that exact time, two of the new voices (Tom and Nicolas) had generated a message, stating that this is a test of the new technology. The time announced was correct, as I had checked it with my iPhone’s clock. During the time the new voices were being tested and before the broadcast had resumed to normal operations, the following pangram was sometimes repeated over the air, by Tom on both days of the installation. “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. Sadly, I never learned what a pangram was in school and now I know what they are, after doing a Google search. However, if you want me to construct a pangram, I am not quite that skilled at that. Anyway, I digress.
At some point during the afternoon, there were some accidental SAME and 1050 Hz tone tests which had gone out. If you have bought the Sangean PR-D9W AM/FM weather alert radio from Radioworld, you may have noticed that the 1050 Hz tone alert didn’t get through, for some reason which I can’t explain. After the installation, it now works, as it is strong enough to break through the squelch. I say that because even though there wasn’t any static on the broadcast at home, it didn’t get through, unlike Buffalo and obviously, this has been rectified. When the broadcast was restored with FTP back on the transmitter, a key part of the configuration (i-e) the Lake Simcoe forecast had gone awol and thanks to an email from myself, it had been restored. Some time during the night, the WXR had died and needed to be brought back to life and it was, during the morning of November 20th 2019.
Speaking of November 20th, it was similar, but less eventful. There were interruptions and the Lake Simcoe forecast had once again vanished from the configuration. Obviously, I had to send out another email and it was soon brought back. Everything was done before 12:00 PM and thus, there was no conflict with the RWT, which had gone out for the first time in months. I had documented that in previous posts (outside the newsletter timeline) containing the reports for both Toronto and St Catharines and occasionally, another WXR and people were obviously happy to hear the test again, including myself. As for the SAME an 1050 Hz tone and voice tests, they weren’t done at different volumes and in a way, it doesn’t bother me all that much. Why would they adjust the volume of the broadcast? Just for kicks? I don’t think so!
Reception of the Toronto WXR after the installation, was generally received well and one person had remarked that they could actually hear it better and wondered, if the power was increased. Apparently, it wasn’t. I was very happy, with how things had gone and despite the slight sound quality degradation, I didn’t mind it, as the broadcast is still understandable from a distance. As some people had noted, when earlier tests had occurred, back in April 2017, the voices were quieter and with the installation, that concern can be put to rest. This made me more optimistic about how everything would sound, no matter what voices are being used for various boxes in the configuration, when the new software was launched all across Canada. Altho, some time after i-Notify had come to Toronto, a Youtuber who does storm tracking had mentioned that he couldn’t hear the Toronto WXR as well as he could before. I wonder if that is still a problem for him.
Now it is 2023 and the last time my friend was at the site he was installing a new router about a month or so ago, so the transmitter can stay on air and broadcast for a few years longer. Toronto was in jeopardy in 2020, when somebody had the bright idea to consider decommissioning it, along with 47 other transmitters. Obviously, I was against this because of the work that had gone into upgrading it and because, I rely on that station and if Toronto goes, this blog also goes and no more reports of any kind from me either. I could listen to Niagara, but I do not live there and I can not hear it in all areas of my apartment block. Thankfully, after a bunch of us yelled and screamed, cooler heads prevailed, Toronto was saved and we were able to hear the transition from AVIPADs to i-Notify. I will not repeat my feelings on how things have been, as you can find that in other posts, under one of the categories which also includes this post.
I wonder when the next voice and software change may occur and if it does, will we get a version of Paul Junior, currently on NWR? I am just curious because if VHF radio survives another 27 years from 2021, it will be interesting to see what new software for both services will be available to them, along with any new voices to listeners. Those of us who are blind, know some of the voices and more, along with anyone in the GTHA who rides Go Transit and hears Ava on the Go Train and on the IVR telephone line. I also can’t forget about the iPhone and the iPad, with all four voices on it and many more where that came from, in all sorts of languages.
There will be an upgrade to the software which is to make it more robust and will include some changes. The most notable ones I’ve heard will be the return of short term forecasts and a voice for areas where Inuktitut is spoken, which would be the same one used for AVIPADs and that’s it. There will be no new versions of Tom, Nicholas, Chantelle and Ava despite newer versions being available on iPhones and the last two generations of iOS and iPadOS software. I hope that someday we will get the newer versions of the voices, along with another change to the voice assignments which I will not repeat here. Anyway, that was then and it is now and thankfully, Toronto is still working and broadcasting as it should be, along with Niagara and Collingwood as well as other WXRs within southern Ontario.