Forest officials study antenna test results

Data from a radio-signal test from an antenna on Mount Aeneas has been given to Flathead National Forest officials for review.

In mid-May, Flathead County emergency services employees used a helicopter to take a 4-foot antenna to Mount Aeneas and place it inside a building owned by Optimum.

County officials want to permanently locate a few antennas in Optimum’s building to boost radio signals around Bigfork, Creston, Lakeside, Somers, Jewel Basin and on Flathead Lake — areas they say have too many dead spots.

The county also gathered test data from a repeater on Swan Hill, county Fire Service Area Manager Lincoln Chute said, and gave that information to the forest.

“The Mount Aeneas test was even beyond what we expected,” Chute said.

Not only did signals carry to the areas the county was concerned about, but the antenna also provided coverage on Foothill Road from Echo Lake to Lake Blaine, to sheriff’s deputies in boats on Flathead Lake, along U.S. 93 south to the county line, in low areas of Evergreen, up canyons to the west and into parts of the South Fork, he said.

“We have had problems especially getting fire pages in some of those areas using Swan Hill,” Chute said. “But it was all taken care of from Mount Aeneas.”

Last month the forest gave the county a one-year permit to leave the antenna in Optimum’s building. Optimum is charging the county $1 for the year while the antenna is temporarily in its building.

Optimum has communications equipment inside a two-story building on land the telecommunications company leases from the Forest Service.

Next in the process is for Forest Service employees to evaluate the data, according to Wade Muehlhof, public affairs specialist for Flathead Forest.

“The county’s results show probably equal coverage from Swan Hill as Aeneas,” Muehlhof said.

Forest personnel have been conducting their own tests of signals from the two sites, he said, and that data will be compared to the county’s data.

The county must apply for a permanent permit, he said. Part of the decision process before that permit would be issued includes a public comment period.

Muehlhof acknowledged that the antenna on Mount Aeneas “has been talked about for a while. We’re excited to be moving forward on this.”

Forest employees consider the county “a great partner,” he said. “We want to work with them.

Placing antennas on Mount Aeneas permanently will result in better, quicker emergency response for the public, Chute said. “It’s an asset for law enforcement, EMS and fire.”

Flathead County has had to place antennas and towers all around the county to provide emergency services communications since the state mandated a switch to a digital radio communications system from an analog system nearly three years ago.

The digital system allows for the use of fewer base station radios, Sheriff Chuck Curry previously explained.  

The trunked digital system works like a cellphone, Curry said, finding the best signal to communicate on a particular tower or antenna.

Before the switch, the entire Flathead Valley got its radio communication coverage from one tower on Big Mountain.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.