aosc merger with scanner digest monitoring times ceases

Transcription

ISSUE 64
APR-MAY-JUN 2013
♦ AOSC MERGER WITH SCANNER DIGEST
♦ MONITORING TIMES CEASES
PUBLICATION
♦ 2012 AIR SHOW REVIEW
♦ BATTERY TECH TIPS
♦ PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT –
DX EXTREME STATION LOG
♦ PRODUCT REVIEW – Scanmaster
Skyscan Desktop Discone
♦ AOSC SCANNERGRAM #206
GENERAL EDITOR
Alan Cohen
[email protected]
AOSC Joins Forces with Scanner Digest
We like to welcome the AOSC and their flagship
publication the American Scannergram to our newsletter.
Dave Marshall has been involved with AOSC for many
years and he has attained a fine staff of column writers
throughout the years. AOSC produced a niche publication
that provided not only local Ohio coverage but their writers
who wrote about federal agencies were invaluable. The
information contain within the American Scannergram
could be applied over the USA.
survive in an electronic jungle. Information is abounding.
Some of it re-hashed, much of it antiquated and
surprisingly the areas that support “forums” are doing very
well. The discussion boards on RadioReference are a very
invaluable source of current information and the database
that has been compiled is second to none!
In the interim, Dave will include two more issues of his
publication to be placed within the Scanner Digest
Newsletter. This issue will include their #206 and #207 will
follow here on the next issue. We will continue to honor
the remainder of AOSC subscriptions to former
subscribers by providing them a PDF or printed version of
the combined publication. Current and former column
writers of AOSC are also welcome to submit material as
well.
It was decided that both Dave Marshall and Lou
Campagna collaborate their talents in an effort to maintain
regional coverage to the scanner monitor community.
Regional scanner coverage is one of the reasons
publications like AOSC and NESN came about in the 80s.
There was a need to fill the void, and regional publications
were born. It is hoped than the wisdom and energy that
AOSC had will continue to live within the pages of the
Scanner Digest Newsletter.
Alan Cohen, KB3QLE
PUBLISHER
Lou Campagna
[email protected]
After 33 years of service to the radio community,
Monitoring Times will cease publication with the
December, 2013 issue.
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/index.html
Today we live and play in an electronic playground where
we see the “print” media vanishing. Not only is this
happening to hobby publications but it also is affecting
magazines and newspapers too!
Some of us were shocked when heard that Bob and Judy
Grove have decided to close their publication. Many
hobbyist looked forward to each issue of their magazine
which had the most comprehensive radio coverage that
any publication of its type.
Hobby publications have been hit hard since many of
them don’t receive the financial support from product
manufacturers and dealers. The subscriber base is solely
responsible to support such publications. Although we’re
happy to have reached Issue 64, remember that our
Issues 1 through 20 (June 1998 – July 2002) were
produced in a print-format.
Dan Myers (K3NXX) writes: “Sorry to see this. I first
subscribed to M/T back in the '70s while still in high
school. Back then it was a black and white newspaper. My
scanner was a six channel crystal control, along with a bag of
crystals! I will miss M/T.”
As previously explained, increasing printing costs,
maintain a subscriber database and the associated
mailing expense made it cost-prohibited for this newsletter
to continue in such a manner. The electronic publication
was inevitable. So here we are! We are attempting to
SCANNER DIGEST NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 64
Sal Marandola (NC3U) writes: “Probably one of the best allaround radio hobby publications ever! As a ham operating on
HF and avid scanner buff, MT covered many topics of interest
for me.”
PAGE 1 Digital Scanning: A New Revolution in
P-25, and why your scanner won't hear
that new 700 MHz system.
By: Michael P. Mollet, N2SRO
As many readers are aware, numerous public safety
systems in the area will be migrating to the 700 MHz
system within the next few years. As they do, many
scanners will no longer be able to decode the signal.
Some systems such as the city of Philadelphia, and
Burlington County are using P-25 phase 1 systems, which
for the fortunate can be decoded by use of a “Digital
Scanner” such as the Radio Shack Pro-96 or GRE PSR500 to name but a few. These scanners however will not
be able to decode the new 700 MHz systems when they
go online as a new codec will be used.
A codec simply put is the combination of hardware and
software which is responsible for taking audio
and translating it to a digital signal, and then being able to
take a received digital signal and reconstruct it back into
intelligible audio. The codec employed in the Phase I
systems which are currently in use and are nearing end of
life expectancy are using an algorithm known as Improved
Multi Band Excitation, or IMBE for short (which has a subcomponent known as C4FM.)
Some of the readers from the Trenton area may even be
familiar with the precursor to IMBE which was known as
VSELP (pronounced Vee Selp.) This was not too popular
of a format and therefore was quickly abandoned by all
but a few agencies in favor of the much clearer and more
intelligible IMBE.
In the Phase I system, FDMA or Frequency Division
Multiple Access is employed, which means that there are
“slots” which are frequency dependent, usually reserving
one voice path or “slot” per frequency. The audio is
digitized using a method known as IMBE or C4FM which
stands for Continuous 4 level FM. (A lengthy explanation
on the C4FM architecture can be found online, but due to
space constraints here, will not be discussed further.)
An aside: A large portion of “P-25” trunked systems in our
Philadelphia area are not actually fully P-25 compliant.
The APCO Project-25 standards specify parameters as to
how a trunked radio system is to operate, to include
signaling, and even baud rates for the control channel.
What most systems in the area (to include the Burlington
County p-25 public safety system) are doing is taking an
existing Motorola Type-2 Smartnet system and simply
digitally encoding the audio using C4FM or IMBE. In this
scenario, they are NOT fully P-25 compliant as they are
disregarding some standards set fourth for the execution
of the trunking.
The new APCO P-25 Phase II system will be utilizing the
AMBE 2 (Advanced Multi Band Excitation) for the digital
audio encoding, and then layering it upon TDMA or Time
Division Multiple Access (for multiplexing.) AMBE 2 is
similar to AMBE which is used in DSTAR, however a few
tweaks and improvements were made to the codec which
yielded AMBE 2. As a side note, the changes in code from
AMBE and AMBE 2 are significantly different which
precludes the monitoring of a Phase II signal from a
DSTAR portable. Besides not being able to decode the
audio, the slots which were frequency dependent
in the Phase I system (single slot per frequency) will now
be multiplexed allowing for two talk channels per
frequency. This is due to the fact that in the TDMA
method, Time, rather than Frequency is the slot
determining factor. Thus, in TDMA we can have multiple
talk paths or slots per frequency.
As we can now start to see, the Phase II migration then, is
accomplishing two major upgrades:
1: (taking a new digital codec (AMBE-2,) and
2: marrying it with a new multiplexing system to allow for
more talk paths per channel.
To add to the confusion, the new P-25 Phase II standard
applies only to trunked radio systems. There is no
provision currently for simplex based P-25 Phase II. There
is controversy within the ranks of radio techs as to if
tactical communications (simplex or talk-around) will use
narrow-banded analog FM mode, or if they will revert to P25 Phase I digital audio. Literature on the Motorola APX
portables seems to indicate that they are programmed
with both Phase I and Phase II codecs which would allow
for digital simplex communications, or even digital nontrunked communications such as a conventional P-25
repeater. Though the above many be confusing, the
general take-away from this article should be this:
1. Public Safety didn't necessarily start encrypting their
traffic, rather, it is an entirely new language being spoken.
2. If you have a digital scanner, keep it for now, see what
happens. If you do NOT have a digital
scanner, save your money and hold off on purchasing a
new scanner. As the systems are rolled out, and Phase II
becomes more pervasive, the new Phase II codecs may
be installed in the new scanners sold.
3. At this point in time, sit and wait appears to be the
name of the game. At over $525 a pop for the
new scanners, this author will wait until the bugs are
worked out of the scanners before he purchases one.
PAGE 2
Where many hams are also scanner enthusiasts, we
thought to include some information that may be
helpful to the hobby. DXtreme Software is proud to
announce the release of:
DXtreme Station Log
Multimedia Edition, Version
10.0.
Rig Control — Tunes/retrieves frequencies and modes from supported rigs through integration with Afreet Omni‐Rig, available from Afreet Software. QSL Processing — Creates QSL and address labels for physical QSLs, ADIF files for LoTW® signing in TQSL, and ADIF files for eQSL.cc verifications. Also retrieves LoTW QSL records, and includes a QSL Imaging™ facility for scanning, capturing, and displaying physical and electronic QSLs, including LoTW QSLs. Audio Facility — Records and plays QSOs. Reports — Provides a wide range of performance and station reports to let users see how well they’re doing. All reports can be filtered and sorted. Includes a window‐based DXCC® Analytics™ tool for analyzing and enhancing DXCC standing. Product Announcement DXtreme Station Log Multimedia Edition, Version 10.0 DXtreme Software™ has released a new version of its popular logging program for Amateur Radio operators: DXtreme Station Log — Multimedia Edition™, Version 10.0. Overview of Functions DXtreme Station Log lets hams log their contacts and import ADIF files from other programs. It offers the following multimedia and advanced functions: DX Spot Checker™ — Receives DX spots from Telnet‐based servers, and determines whether QSOs are needed for new or verified DXCC® entities, band‐
entities, mode‐entities, or VUCC grids. DX Atlas Integration — Performs optional DX Atlas azimuth plots from the user’s location to that of a spotted or logged station. Also creates maps for a variety of reports. (A software license for Afreet DX Atlas is required to use it.) Band Master Integration — Afreet Band Master can be invoked with needed lists based on the user’s Station Log database. (A software license for Afreet Band Master is required to use it.) SCANNER DIGEST NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 64
New Features in Version 10.0 DXtreme Station Log V10.0 provides the following new features: DX Spot Checker Enhanced — The DX Spot Checker can now display bearings to spotted stations and DXCC entities. It also provides DX and user‐defined command buttons for sending commands to the server quickly. Last Log Entries Grid Updated — The grid, which provides the look and feel of a paper logbook, can now be positioned at the top and the bottom of the Station Log window. A Properties dialog box lets users change the order of columns, and records can now be sorted in additional ways. Double‐clicking records displays their detailed data on the Station Log window. HamQTH.com Support — HamQTH.com is now supported for callsign lookups, joining Buckmaster™
HamCall™ and QRZ XML Logbook Data as supported services. Support for TQSL Version 1.14 — Supports TQSL V1.14 for optionally uploading .TQ8 files to the LoTW server automatically, saving users the step of performing this task manually on the LoTW web site. Also invokes the Ask command of TQSL to warn users when they're about to upload duplicate records to the server. Users can either cancel the operation or continue with the upload. Enhanced Multiple‐Database Management — Offers an improved workflow for managing multiple PAGE 3
databases, including several system‐specific and database‐specific preferences and functions. Operating System and Requirements DXtreme Station Log runs in 32‐ and 64‐bit versions of Microsoft® Windows® 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista®, and Windows XP. Trademarks DXCC® is a registered trademark of the American Radio Relay League, Inc. HamCall™ and HamCall.net™ are trademarks of Buckmaster Publishing™. HamQTH.com is owned by Petr Hlozek, OK2CQR. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Vista® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Omni‐Rig is owned by Afreet Software, Inc., and a software license for DX Atlas and Band Master are required to use them. QRZ.COM is owned and operated by Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ. Pricing and Support DXtreme Station Log retails for $89.95 USD in North America and $93.95 USD elsewhere for electronic delivery. Special pricing is available for upgrading users, and CD shipment is available for a nominal surcharge. All prices include lifetime product support by Internet e‐mail. About DXtreme Software Based in Nashua, NH, DXtreme Software produces powerful and easy‐to‐use logging applications for all kinds of radio enthusiasts — from short‐wave and medium‐wave listeners and DXers to Amateur Radio operators. For more information about DXtreme Station Log
— Multimedia Edition V10.0, visit
www.dxtreme.com or contact Bob Raymond,
NE1I, at [email protected]
SOUTHERN NJ
Column Editor Wanted
News tidbits throughout the Southern New Jersey area.
LINDENWOLD — At 7 a.m. Monday morning, the
Camden County Emergency Communications Center
dispatchers began broadcasting on a new 700 MHz radio
system, following a $35 million investment that will
eliminate the problem of interference from digital television
stations, as well as “military-grade encryption” that would
“prevent criminals from being alerted to police activity.”
This week’s announcement by the county comes after a
similar transition made by the Voorhees Police
Department in early April, a move nine years in the
making.
According to county officials, the first call on the new
system was a medical emergency in Camden City, which
was “handled flawlessly,” a statement read.
The move to 700 MHz for emergencies — far from limited
to the county — came after the Federal Communication
Commission (FCC) auctioned off part of the 500 MHz
spectrum to new digital television stations, causing radio
channels on the same frequency to experience
interference.
GLOUCESTER COUNTY officials have also been making
moves toward a transition to 700 MHz for dispatch
services.
PAGE 4
“The new Public Radio Communications System provides
true interoperability for police, fire and EMS
communications within Camden County and our
surrounding region,” read a statement from Camden
County officials this week. “We will also have the ability to
communicate with surrounding counties and the state
using a regional repeater.”
Among the advantages the new system has over the old
are the use of microwave technology, which is recognized
as the most reliable form of radio communication,
according to county officials. It also allows for up to eight
incident-specific channels for first responders on the
scene to communicate without interruption from other
calls.
In addition, Global Information System software to pinpoint
more accurate dispatch locations also offers military grade
encryption capabilities to prevent criminals from being
alerted to police activity. Most importantly, it eliminates the
problem of interference from digital television stations from
as far away as North Carolina and New England.
New towers have been built in Camden City, Cherry Hill,
Gloucester Township, Lindenwold, Pennsauken,
Runnemede, Voorhees, Waterford Township and Winslow
Township to support the change.
Over the course of the next year, 33 additional municipal
police departments in Camden County will also migrate to
the new system.
YW WIM276
SALEM, COUNTY OF
[COUNTYWIDE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER FOR POLICE, FIRE,
EMS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.]
501.2375
501.2625
501.3625
501.4125
501.5625
501.7375
501.7625
504.0375
504.1625
504.2125
504.2375
504.2625
504.3625
504.4125
504.5625
504.7375
504.7625
501.2875
504.2875
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
MO
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50p
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
50e
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
800
4 - PENNSGROVE, 40 S BROAD ST, PENNSGROVE (SALEM) NJ
501.0375
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.1625
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.2125
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.2375
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.2625
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.3625
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.4125
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.5625
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.7375
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.7625
FB2
70p
100e Units: 1
501.2875
FB2
100p 150e Units: 1
5 - GATEWAY WT, STRAUGHENS MILL RD.,
295, PEDRICKTOWN (SALEM) NJ
501.0375
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.1625
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.2125
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.2625
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.3625
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.4125
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.5625
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.7375
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.7625
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.2875
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
501.2375
FB2
70p
40e
Units:
0.5 MI N OF RT.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Control Point 1 - 135 CEMETERY ROAD, WOODSTOWN NJ
501.0375
501.1625
501.2125
501.2375
501.2625
501.3625
501.4125
501.5625
501.7375
501.7625
501.2875
FB8
FB8
FB2
FB2
FB8
FB8
FB8
FB8
FB8
FB8
FB2
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
70p
2 - 989 ELMER CENTERTON
501.0375
FB8
70p
501.1625
FB8
70p
501.2125
FB2
70p
501.2375
FB2
70p
501.2625
FB8
70p
501.3625
FB8
70p
501.4125
FB8
70p
501.5625
FB8
70p
501.7375
FB8
70p
501.7625
FB8
70p
501.2875
FB2
70p
3 - MOBILES, 32.0
501.0375
MO
501.1625
MO
501.2125
MO
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
100e
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
Units:
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
RD, PITTSGROVE (SALEM) NJ
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
75e
Units: 1
100e Units: 1
km radius around fixed location 1
50p
50e
Units: 800
50p
50e
Units: 800
50p
50e
Units: 800
6 - PENNSVILLE WT, HAMLIN ST., W OF GREENWOOD AVE.,
PENNSVILLE (SALEM) NJ
501.0375
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.1625
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.2125
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.2375
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.2625
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.2875
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.3625
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.4125
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.5625
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.7375
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
501.7625
FB2
70p
50e
Units: 1
7 - QUINTON, STATE ROUTE 49 (088098), QUINTON (SALEM)
NJ
501.0375
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.1625
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.2125
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.2375
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.2625
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.2875
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.3625
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.4125
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.5625
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.7375
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
501.7625
FB2
70p
15e
Units: 1
PAGE 5
All Ohio Scanner Club
Serving Ohio and the Surrounding States With the Most
Up To Date Radio Monitoring Information That Is Available
125 Royal Drive Apt 805, Madison, AL 35758-1785
[email protected]
Issue #206 MAY/JUNE 2013
Things are not looking good for the AOSC. We have not
had column editors covering Northeast or Northwest Ohio
for several years, and almost a year ago, we lost our
Central and Southeastern Ohio column editor. There is
strength in numbers, which we no longer have.
Membership has dropped drastically in the past couple
years, and it has been 3 years since we have had a new
member join the club. We now have just 54 members.
With columns covering only the Cincinnati-DaytonSpringfield-Lima Ohio and Covington Kentucky areas plus
the Federal Government, Military and Railroads, we have
very little to attract new members. This is the 2nd issue
this year that has had just one column plus filler from me.
Without support of members writing columns or sending
information to column editors, it is no longer feasible to
continue publishing this newsletter. I currently have
enough cash in the bank to print and mail 2 issues (this
one and July/August), with a little left over to cover part of
the cost of a third issue. I will not be sending renewal
notices with this issue or the next two, renewal payments
received after this issue is mailed the first week of May will
not be cashed, and members who do not renew from the
last batch of renewal notices will not be dropped. I will
cover the balance of the cost of the September/October
issue out of my pocket. The September/October 2013
issue will be our last.
Over the years, our column editors have worked hard to
provide up to date confirmed data for this newsletter.
Without their hard work, the AOSC would have died a long
time ago. Lou Campagna, publisher of the Scanner
Digest, has offered to give Ohio and our column editor’s
space in his newsletter. The Scanner Digest is a quarterly
email-only publication that covers Pennsylvania, part of
New York and New England, the Washington DC Metro
area and Iowa. I hope that we will become a very active
part of that and help the Scanner Digest to grow even
larger than what our 54 members will add to their total of
about 850. There will be no cost to AOSC members who
wish to receive the Scanner Digest unless you absolutely
must have a printed copy. The logistics of how this will
happen are now being worked out. I will provide more
details about this in the next issue. Basically, what is
happening is that the AOSC has decayed to the point that
it no longer has a chance of providing a value to our
members or growing without major changes. We lost our
column editors for northern, central and southeast Ohio.
Because we were not publishing data of interest to
members in those areas, they dropped out of the club.
Because we have very few members in those areas, no
one wants to write columns for those areas. Because we
have no coverage for those areas, people from those
areas have no incentive to join the AOSC. As I said, there
is strength in numbers, and we no longer have the number
of members it takes to make our publication grow to be a
better publication (15-20 years ago, the page count of
each issue averaged 60 pages!). Almost 75% of our
current total membership lives in the area south of US Rt
30 and west of US Rt 68 in southwest Ohio. We have
more members living in Pennsylvania and Virginia than we
do in Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Columbus Ohio
combined.
Back in the day, people from just about anywhere (we had
members in over half of the states, plus Canada, France,
Germany and one other country which I do not remember
right now) would join the AOSC or other scanner groups
because there was no other information available except
expensive and sometimes difficult to find frequency
directories (several of which were published by AOSC
members!). Now, anyone can go to RadioReference.com
and pay a few bucks for a subscription, then connect their
scanner to the computer and download data into the
scanner. Those same people, if they were interested in
receiving a publication such as our newsletter, would
ignore it if the sample copy they looked at did not have
something for the area that they are interested in.
By moving to become a part of the Scanner Digest, there
is a better possibility that they will give it a second look
and subscribe to it. The price of the subscription,
regardless of whether it costs $12 or $24 a year or is free,
whether it is a PDF they read on the computer or is
printed, whether it is on glossy magazine paper, printer
paper or newsprint, does not figure into the decision – it
has to have information that interests them.
A couple months ago, I realized that this change was
really very long overdue. I have looked at the AOSC
member database every 2 months when I printed the
envelopes to mail to newsletter, but I was not paying
attention to what was in that database. During a
discussion with Mark Meece and Tom Swisher a couple
months ago about the decision to not have a booth at the
Dayton Hamvention this year, I realized that the numbers
were trying to tell me something........Membership has
dropped to just 54 people......It's been 3 years since we
had a new member join the club.......We should have
done this a couple years ago!
If you are receiving a printed copy of this issue and
wish to receive the Scanner Digest, please send your
email address to me at [email protected]
PAGE 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SOUTHWEST OHIO
Mark Meece N8ICW
480 N Twelfth St,
Miamisburg, OH 45342
[email protected]
Covering: Adams, Allen, Ashland, Auglaize, Brown, Butler,
Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Crawford, Darke,
Defiance, Erie, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton,
Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Highland, Holmes, Huron,
Logan, Lucas, Miami, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Preble,
Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Van Wert,
Warren, Wayne, Williams, Wood and Wyandot Counties
151.8200 MHz Unknown P25 User
Also keep an ear out for the Trotwood PD talk groups
(7088 - Local 1, 7120 - Local 2, 7152 - Local 3) as well as
the amateur simplex and other amateur frequencies.
Dayton Vectren Air Show
Aircraft Band:
122.475 A10's
123.225, 379.700 Daffy Control
123.150, 123.450 Aerobatic Teams
123.475 Unknown
133.000 Sean Tucker
124.900 VHF Air Boss
282.325 UHF Air Boss
No Column for This Issue
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Ken Williams, PO Box 24
Arcanum, OH 45304-0024
[email protected]
Welcome to the Montgomery County Report. For those of
you who still monitor Dayton Fire Department's VHF
station page on 154.430 MHz. I'm sure you've noticed that
it has gone silent after close to fifty years of use. The new
frequency is 155.520 MHz. Those of us who've been
monitoring Montgomery County for a while will recognize
this as Germantown PD's old dispatch channel. I do not
know the reason for this change other than Moorefield
Twp. FD, located about 30 - 35 miles away, was sharing
this channel with Dayton. It is ironic that if interference
from this was Dayton's reason for changing, Moorefield
changed to 151.445 MHz. a few months ago.
There may be some change coming for Miami Twp. PD at
some time in the future. All of the media outlets in the
Dayton area have reported that contracting with the Sheriff
for police services is being looked at by the township
trustees as a cost savings. If that happens MTPD will
cease to exist. In the next township east, which is
Washington Twp., the Montgomery County Sheriff has
provided police service for decades. There was a protest
at a recent township trustee meeting so we'll see if this
occurs.
Spring and summer will be here soon so I'm going to get a
head start on some events in Montgomery County. I'll list
the frequencies and talk groups from past issues of this
newsletter. I'll credit the contributors at the end.
Dayton Hamvention
471.0000 MHz Staff/Maintenance?
456.8000 MHz Event Staff?
457.1750 MHz Event Staff?
461.4375 MHz Merchants Security
463.8875 Mhz Merchants Security
51.000 MHz Military Gear Ham Users Group
456.8125 MHz Unknown P25 User
VHF/UHF:
143.625R/148.140 PL 203.5 Air Show Base
451.500 DPL 743 Parking
451.800 DPL 131 Buses
456.800 DPL 703 Buses
456.800 DPL 143 Buses
452.775 DPL 546 Event Staff
453.000R/458.000 DPL 731 Event Staff
468.550 DPL 031 Event Staff
463.575R/468.575 PL 192.8 Airport Emergency Channel
EMS
467.0125 PL 107.2 Flight Line
469.5500 DPL 516 Ticket Booth
397.175, 397.475 ISR
County TRS
7440 Vandalia FD Ops 46
7312 Vandalia PD Tac 1
7376 Vandalia Citywide
2640 Butler Twp. PD Special Events
12528 Law Enforcement LE-1 Interoperability (event
security may be here)
12656 Fire/EMS I-OP 1 Interoperability (EMS dispatch,
gators, etc. have been here)
12688 Fire/EMS I-OP 2 Interoperability (Command staff
has been here)
Dayton TRS
46992 Airport Maintenance
47024 Airport Fire
47984 Airport Police
48944 Airport Shuttle Buses
Wright-Patterson AFB TRS
976 Fuel
1552 Special Events
Note that these are from past columns and are a good
starting point for monitoring these events. Thanks to Mark
Meece, Tony Stewart and SCFAT for this info.
See you next issue.
PAGE 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------NORTHERN KENTUCKY
Randy True,
11205 Mann Rd.
Covington, KY 41015-9094
[email protected]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------FEDERAL GOVERNMENT and MILITARY
Mark Meece N8ICW
480 N Twelfth St,
Miamisburg, OH 45342
[email protected]
JBMDL newest residents, the USMC MAG 49 Task Force,
rolled the field to execute their battle plan. There was
plenty to monitor when a HMLA-773 UH-1N COYOTE
established high overhead, took control of the show boss’s
frequency, commanding the action in the air and on the
ground. Next on scene was a VMGR-452 KC-130
YANKEE refueling two HMH-772 CH-53’s HUSTLERS,
prior to the helicopters inserting their troops. After
acquiring targets, two HMLA-773 AH-1W’s RED DOGS
followed close behind providing massive fire support,
resulting in huge pyrotechnics explosives, while three
HMM-774 CH-46’s WILD GOOSES dropped additional
troops into the conflict. Two VMFA-112 F/A-18’s
COWBOYS provided top-cover support through-out. The
scenario concluded when the inserted troops marched to
the crowd line, receiving handshakes and accolades from
an enthusiastic audience.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------RAILROADS
Tom Swisher WA8PYR
5576 PATRIOT AVE.
ORIENT, OH 43146-9275
[email protected]
The air show continued with military performances with
multiple burner passes and victory roll by a B-1B Lancer
as well as an F/A-18 Super Hornet tactical demonstration.
The USAF Thunderbirds closed out the show with a
performance that included two sneak passes!
MILITARY
Daniel Myers K3NXX
823 Horsham Rd.
Horsham, Pa 19044-1209
[email protected]
2012 Air Show In Review for Scanner Digest Issue 64
Spring is in the air and for the military monitor that can
mean only one thing, air show season! Unfortunately,
dark clouds in the form of a federal budget sequestration
have obliterated only but a few air shows for 2013. As of
01 April 2013, all military participation, including the jet
teams, has been cancelled. Below is a condensed
summary of shows I attended last year.
BLUES DIAMOND BREAKOUT
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL), NJ
Here in the northeast our show season starts in May. For
2012 that began with southern New Jersey’s Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL). Since McGuire hosted
their last show in 2008, lots of changes have occurred
including a name change to reflect their new mission and
the role of our changing military. With the shuttering of
nearby NAS JRB Willow Grove, PA, remaining Navy and
USMC units have moved to McGuire AFB necessitating a
lot of noticeable new construction.
The show opened with the U.S. Army Golden Knights flag
jump and National Anthem. Immediately following, the
local crowd swelled with pride when McGuire’s
“Hometown Team” C-17 Globemaster III, KC-10 Extender
and KC-135 Stratotanker formation made several passes.
PAGE 8
On the ground, fifty plus static display aircraft were spread
along the large Air Force ramp including a representative
from each unit housed at the base along with a pair of
transient A-10s, F-16s and F-15s.
Air Show Boss
127.500
HMLA-773 (AH-1W/UH-1N) RED
DOG/COYOTE
264.200
Show Discrete
119.050
HMH-772 (CH-53) HUSTLER
283.000
U.S. Army Golden Knights
123.150
HMM-774 (CH-46) WILD GOOSE
264.400
VFA-106 (F/A-18) EMPIRE
343.300
VMFA-112(F/A-18) COWBOY
249.900
333FS (F-15E) ROCKET
300.925
IN/ANG (A-10) BLACK SNAKE
259.400
SC/ANG (F-16) MACE
149.175(am)
Joint Base Andrews AFB, MD
For twenty-eight years I have looked forward to the
uniqueness of the Andrews AFB Joint Services Open
House (JSOH) Air Show and once again, 2012 did not
disappoint.
Andrews is the Secretary of Defense’s air show and hosts
the East Coast’s largest display of unique static aircraft
and displays from all military services. Notable for 2012
was NASA’s Super Guppy, a MDANG C-27 and two
VMFA-115 F/A-18++s. Broadcast live from two JumboTron screens, Andrew’s uniqueness continued in the air
when for the first time Andrew’s based HS-1 flew a tight
formation of four “Apocalypse Now”, UH-1s followed by
Beechcraft Corp. demonstrating their newest SpecialMission T-6 Texan II-C. In celebration of their 100th
Anniversary of Aviation, the USMC flew AV-8B Harrier and
MV-22 Osprey tactical demonstrations. The latter being a
first for the show. With a limited 2012 schedule, the F-22
RAPTOR was back in the air! Following a P-51 Mustang
demo, the jet and warbird joined for the Heritage Flight.
On Saturday and on his way to a flyover at the Preakness
Horse Race, the Spirit of Nebraska B-2 stopped by for
three revealing passes. The Blue Angels wowed the
crowd with near perfect performances during their biannual appearance. Unfortunately financial cutbacks will
force Andrews to go to an every-other-year show.
Air Show Boss 125.350 / 379.200
HS-1 (UH-1)
292.200 / 141.700(am) F-22 Demo 376.025
Jones Beach, NY
For the ninth straight year; the natural setting of beach
grass, sand dunes and a gentle ocean, has provided the
environment for a first class air show at Jones Beach
State Park.
The U.S. Army Golden Knights jump opened the show by
bringing the colors of two nations to show center,
accompanied by the playing of the U.S. and Canadian
National Anthems. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds
eight-ship formation graced the Jones Beach sky for the
second time in three years. Both days the Snowbirds
practiced with a nine-ship formation one hour prior to
show opening, treating early show attendees to two team
exhibitions. The NYANG 106th RQS (Search & Rescue)
“Perfect Storm” local heroes made their annual
appearance. Taking off from nearby Republic Field, the F22 Raptor wowed the crowd with another incredible demo.
For the fifth year, the US Navy Blue Angels have headlined the show.
U.S. Army Golden Knights
123.500
NYANG
106th RQS (SAR Demo)
282.800
Air Show Boss
128.250
F-22
RAPTOR Demo
376.025
Republic Field (KFRG)
118.000
Baltimore, MD
Partnering with Operation Sail; ICAS, the U.S. Navy, U.S.
Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard commemorated the
Bicentennial of the War of 1812.
A weeklong celebration was planned for Baltimore when
forty modern navy “gray hull” warships and tall ships from
many countries sailed into Baltimore Harbor. The Navy
Leap Frogs parachute team made two jumps from 12,500
feet over Baltimore City. The first into Clifton Mansion
Park, the only remaining Baltimore home of a War of 1812
officer, and later into Patterson Park, the site of the
decisive battle of North Point at Hampstead Hill.
On the Patapsco River, guarding the entrance to
Baltimore Harbor, Fort McHenry National Park hosted its
first ever air show. In 1813, Fort McHenry’s commanding
officer Major George Armistead commissioned flag maker
Mary Pickersgill to create a flag that was, “so large that
the British will have no difficulty seeing it”. During the
bombardment of Fort McHenry, U.S. Attorney Francis
Scott Key, aboard a British truce vessel, was so inspired
by the vision of the 30 x 42 foot flag, he wrote a poem that
would eventually become our national anthem.
With the fifteen stars and fifteen strips 30 x 42 foot StarSpangled Banner flag flying high over the fort, the
weekend show opened with a collectively inspired
audience singing the National Anthem at this unique
historic location. At its conclusion and exactly on time, a
flight of four VFA-31 TOMCATTERS hit show center! The
air show, organized by Carrier Strike Group Two Rear
Admiral Gregory Norsel and U.S. Navy Captain Dan
PAGE 9
“Unda” Cheever, showcased the 1812 rebirth of the U.S.
Navy and its role in the battle for Baltimore. Before the
sky event began, Navy Seals in their Mark V Swift Boats
provided force protection with a Special Warfare Dynamic
Waterborne demonstration. Having to coordinate with the
FAA for some of the busiest airspace on the east coast,
Air Boss Wayne Boggs controlled the show with aircraft
taking off from nearby Martin State Airport. Larry Rudd
handled the announcing duties, including the show being
broadcast on a large screen back at the inner-harbor.
There were fly-bys of Chief of Naval Air Training
(CNATRA) aircraft; T-6B, T-44, T-45, TH-57 along with an
E-2 and MH-53 followed by another pass by the four-ship
VFA-31 “Felix Flight”. The U.S. Coast Guard showed how
they save lives with an H-65 SAR Demo before the F/A-18
Super Hornet took center stage, rocking the Baltimore
skyline! The Blue Angels KC-130 “Ernie” performed prior
to the six blue jets executing another impressive show.
Back at Martin State Airport, a large collection of Navy
aircraft was on public display. The air show was one of
the largest events ever held at Fort McHenry. Planners
are busy preparing for a similar event in 2014 to honor the
battle of Baltimore.
Air Show Boss 133.050
Navy Seals Mark
V Swift Boats
34.70
Show Discrete 127.975
U.S. Navy Leap
Frogs
461.0375
VFA-31 (F/A-18)
TOMCATTERS 245.650
NAS Oceana, VA
After three successive years of rainy cold weather, finally,
crisp autumn air and clear skies graced this Virginia
Beach area venue. This year’s theme, “…and our flag
was still there”, recognized the 200th anniversary of the
War of 1812. Friday evening the public was invited on
base for a Twilight Show. Back dropped by a majestic
sunset, most of the daytime acts performed with a
different perspective- glowing afterburners, dazzling
sparklers and bright flames.
Oceana is the home to every East Coast Navy squadron
and the base was proud to launch those assets.
Traditionally the show opens with the Air Power
Demonstration, with mock airfield attacks including
pyrotechnics followed by the multi-ship Fleet Fly-By and
F/A-18E simulated refueling. Further military
demonstrations were provided by the Legacy F/A-18C and
F/A-18F Super Hornet. Other sectional flights included an
F-4Q Phantom/ F-16C Viper U.S. Air Force Heritage
Flight. The existing Phantoms, used as target drones, will
soon be exhausted and replaced with retired F-16As. And
once again this year; the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flew a
near perfect show. I have been watching the Blue Angels
for thirty-five years and this was my last opportunity to see
them in 2012. This is the best Blues Angels team I have
witnessed. Congratulations to team leader Captain Greg
McWerther and the 2012 team for an outstanding year!
122.475 Show Discrete
251.750 VFA-34 Ops
285.750 F/A-18 tact
273.800 VFA-15 Ops
301.300 VFC-12 Ops
275.300 VFA-106 tact
342.900 Fleet Fly-By / Air Power Demo
124.825 Show Mini Boss
275.300 VFA-81 Ops
343.400 VFA-34 (tact 17)
127.075 Show Control / Tower 285.700 VFA-81 tact
349.900 VFA-106 Ops
357.800 F/A-18 tact
Rotor Fest-Performer Pilot Briefing
I was invited to sit in on the pilot briefing for the 2012
Rotor Fest air show, held each October, at suburban
Philadelphia, PA Chester County Brandywine Airport
(KOQN). The briefing was conducted by David Schultz Air
Shows, LLC company’s President and Air Show Boss.
Prior to the performer briefing, The Civil Air Patrol (CAP)
held their orientation. These dedicated volunteers were
teen and pre-teen boy and girls, accompanied by several
adult officers. They had arrived very early, working long
hours helping to ensure public safety.
Schultz’s briefing began with a time hack and introduction
of himself, his ground boss and announcer. The air boss
distributed pilot briefing cards, information sheets and
show schedules to each performer; while each pilot signed
the Roster Roll Call as required by FAA regulation.
His Power-Point-Presentation began with a weather
update, not only for the airport and immediate area, but for
those parts of the country where some of the departing
pilots would be heading after the show. Keep in mind,
most of these helicopters departed with VFR flight plans.
The presentation continued with a reminder of FAA
regulations (parts) and TFR waivers. Rules of
Engagement were stressed, namely, only the air boss and
pilot performing should be on the show control frequency.
The U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Parachute Team would be
jumping from 6,000 feet- coordinating with Philadelphia
Approach Control. Schultz further explained additional air
show guidelines. Tarps had been laid out on the ground
denoting the acrobatic show box. Taxiways, hover lanes,
the recover runway, safe landing zones, set-back
distances and crowd areas were all denoted on explicitly
enhanced photos of the airport and local area. In case of
an in-flight emergency, pilots should set down in the
designated divert area- a nearby ball field. In the event of
radio failure, the pilot should continue to fly the recovery
lane. If the Air Boss loses his radio, he will jump into his
red SUV and drive around in circles in the middle of the air
field. All should pay attention for any “Knock it off” calls.
In conclusion, Schultz advised the pilots, “If you have not
performed it before, don’t do it here”!
Schultz’s presentation was professional, thorough, and
concise, with an emphasis on safety.
PAGE 10
229.725 FENIX, VAQ-129 F/A-18G a/a
318.500 FENIX, VAQ-129 F/A-18G a/a
Rotor Fest- The Show
Celebrating their 13th annual show, this ninety minute
flying event featured the United States Army Special
Operations Command Parachute Team; USMC UH-1N,
AH-1W’s and CH-46, and U.S. Coast Guard SH-65. The
show’s sponsor and benefactor is The American
Helicopter Museum & Education Center. The museum’s
mission statement is to collect, restore and display historic
aircraft, and chronicle the origin and development of
Rotary Wing Flight. Southeastern Pennsylvania has a long
history of rotor flight; where the nation’s rotary-wing
aviation heritage began.
HMLA-467 (AH-1W) SABER
HMLA-773 (UH-1N / (AH-1W) RED DOG
David Schultz Air Shows
KOQN CTAF
310.200
264.200
132.950
123.075
Arriving aircraft reported by others:
KPHL
KWRI
(1) C-130 St. Joseph, MO (jump aircraft) (2) VFA-86 F/A18
(2) Army Lakota Helicopters
(5) VAQ-129 F/A18G
(1) VFA-11 F/A-18E/F
(1) VX-30 P-3
(1) VFA-213 F/A-18E/F
(3) VFA-136 F/A-18C
(5) Army AH-64’s (fly-by)
(1) USCG HH-65
(5) Military Cessna Citations
AIR FORCE 2
USAF THUNDERBIRDS 2012 USN BLUE ANGELS
2012
Canadian Forces SNOWBIRDS
141.075 Solos
237.80 (8) Solos
116.000 Ground Flight Checks 235.250 Diamond
275.35 (9) Diamond
272.100 Formation
Primary
305.90 (10) “Fat Albert” KC-130 299.500 Arrival Formation
284.25 (16) Delta Formation
242.600 Solos
255.20 (17)
246.500 Solos
346.50 (18) Start-Up and Maintenance
Army vs. Navy Game, Philadelphia, PA
Since 1890 the United States Naval Academy (USNA)
Midshipmen and United States Military Academy (USMA)
Black Knights have been meeting each other on the grid
iron. This annual clash and weekend long party always
takes place on the second Saturday in December in
neutral territory; most in Philadelphia, Pa. In years past,
many Navy and Army aircraft would stage out of suburban
Philadelphia NAS JRB Willow Grove. Living across the
street from the now closed base (2011 BRAC), this annual
tradition provided me a great monitoring opportunity!
Aircraft now fly into and stage from nearby Philadelphia
International Airport (KPHL) as well as McGuire AFB
(KWRI).
The air show portion begins with a stadium jump by the
U.S. Army Golden Knights and U.S.N. Leap Frogs.
Concluding the National Anthem and on cue, a formation
of Navy jets followed closely behind a gaggle of Army
helicopters overflying the stadium. Unfortunately in 2012,
rain and low ceilings cancelled the scheduled flyover.
Listed below are the aircraft (reported) that flew in for the
festive weekend. For those interested in catching the
2013 arrivals on Friday and departures on Sunday one
must to decide to locate at KWRI or KPHL. I was able to
catch the flights of F/A-18Gs departing McGuire.
PAGE 11
Scanmaster Skyscan Desktop
Discone Really Works!
By: Dave Marshall N8OAY
Several years ago, I don't remember exactly when, a
bunch of scanner listeners in the USA, including me, got
very excited about this antenna after seeing it written up in
some of the European radio publications. So much so
that, if I remember correctly, Grove and a a couple other
dealers started importing it. It is an exotic looking
miniature discone with four different length vertical
elements on a magnetic stand. Although it is a magnet
mount antenna, you absolutely cannot use it on a moving
vehicle. It is about 40 inches tall with an 8 element cone
that is about 15 inches in diameter. It can handle being out
in the weather, just not on a moving vehicle.
The antennas that made it to the USA never lived up to
the hype, and now I know why. So if any of you have this
antenna and stuck it in the closet or garage or whatever
because you thought it was junque, get it out and fix it!
Several years ago, I acquired one from a friend, stashed it
in the spare bedroom and forgot about it until I found it
when I was packing for my move to Alabama. A few weeks
ago I decided I wanted to use it out on the patio, since I
had discovered some RG-6 Flat Coax that would let me
use antennas outside and still be able to close and lock
the sliding glass patio door. Having a ground floor
apartment with a 2nd floor balcony directly above my
patio, I needed something that would work sitting on a
table. It worked no better than a Diamond RH-77 inside
the apartment on the scanner, and nowhere close to as
good as a 2 meter J-Pole taped to the window.
I decided to take it apart and find out why. The only other
discone I was ever unhappy with was the cheap 3 element
Hustler discone, so I thought this 8 element discone
antenna should work better than it was. A check with a
continuity tester had showed me the shield of the coax
was not connected to any part of the antenna. The center
conductor was connected to the 4 element disk and the 4
vertical elements, as it should be. I took the cone
elements off and removed the mast section to see how the
coax was connected. There are 2 set screws that lock the
short mast PVC pipe to the cone. After disassembly, I
found the coax shield had pulled out of the very poorly
made crimp-type PL-259 that connects it to the center of
the cone.
PAGE 12
I replaced the faulty PL-259 and reassembled the
antenna, being careful to get the slightly different length
cone elements properly spaced (4 are about 1/8th inch
longer) It works! On VHF and UHF it is better than the
Radio Shack 20-032 mobile magnet mount scanner
antenna, and is very much better on 700 MHz. It also
works better on 700 MHz than a 7db gain 800 MHz
cellular phone antenna which I have used (mostly mobile)
for many years. I can hear a remote site on the Madison
County AL 700 MHz P25 trunk system that I have never
been able to hear before except while out driving around. I
have been able to confirm PL tones on VHF repeaters that
are 60-65 miles away, which is a big deal, considering the
terrain. I am VERY impressed with it, considering all of the
bad press the Skyscan has received.
But to qualify things, that Radio Shack mobile scanner
antenna is not really a scanner antenna. It is a 6 meter, 2
meter, 70 centimeter amateur radio antenna that is being
repackaged and sold as a scanner antenna (which is why
there are so many web pages with instructions to modify it
for better scanner reception). I bought my 20-032 to use
as a base ham antenna with a Yaesu VX5R HT since it
covers 6 meters, which it does very well.
I am guessing there were a lot of the Skyscan antennas
shipped with that defective PL-259 since I have never
seen a comment online from anyone in the USA that liked
it. I have it sitting on a steel table on my ground floor patio.
The balcony of the 2nd floor apartment is directly above
my patio. When I packed to move, I almost did not bring
the Skyscan, knowing that it was little more than a paper
weight. So, if you have one still laying around, replace that
PL-259 and get some use out of it.
If you do not have one of these antennas and now think
you want one, Nevada UK and Waters and Stanton still
sell the Skyscan Desktop Discone, but it is not cheap, and
will cost a fortune to ship it across the pond. The Diamond
D-220 Mini Discone is now available and may be an equal
or slightly better performer. If your only outdoor antenna
option is a patio under a roof of some sort, I think a
discone is better choice than a mobile magnet mount or a
ground plane on a makeshift mount. If I can save up the
money, I may just buy a D-220 to compare the two.
RG-6 Flat Coax
Coinciding with the above report, I discovered Flat Coax
for use with windows of sliding glass patio doors. It is
designed for TV satellite dish antennas, which I think
operate at very low receive signal strength in the 2.4 GHz
frequency range, so signal loss should be minimal. It is
available at Radio Shack (Item number 15-247) for $5.99
for one 8 inch section. I bought 6 pieces on eBay for $7.99
with free shipping. They and the RS 15-247 appear to be
identical. This stuff is thin enough to fit the slots and
groves of a sliding glass patio door letting it fully close and
lock, yet still conduct a RF signal. I have one of each of
three antennas: the Skyscan, the Radio Shack 20-032 and
the cellular antenna setting outside on a steel table using
this Flat Coax with a 12 foot section of RG-58 inside for
each antenna. I do not have an SWR or Signal Strength
meter to check them out, but the 20-032 works fine with
my Yaesu VX5R 6m, 2m, 70cm portable ham radio. I am
able to use several repeaters that I could not hit using a
high gain rubber duckie antenna sitting outside on the
patio. Note that the RG-6 Flat Coax is 75 ohm impedance.
I do not have a SWR meter to check it, but considering the
great improvement in performance, I think the impedance
is not an issue. I have the Flat Coax installed between the
coax the is part of the antenna and 12-foot sections of
Radio Shack RG-58 with BNC connectors, using the
necessary adapters to convert the Flat Coax F connectors
to BNC. They have an adhesive strip that keep them in the
groves of the door frame which really does not stick to
anything. After opening the sliding glass door just a couple
times, I had to add a piece of foam double stick tape of the
kind you find in the hardware department at Walmart,
which seems to be holding the flat coax to the door frame
correctly.
Photo from http://jan.kepic.cz/antenna/ANTscdesktop
We’re looking for photos!
We’re looking for photos to be submitted
for the Scanner Digest Newsletter.
Contact us for details.
[email protected]
IOWA
Jim Lawrence
c/o Scanner Digest
[email protected]
Greetings again from Iowa. As I write this column at the
end of April, winter finally seems to have loosened its grip
and warmer weather is forecast. Summer and a return to
long sunny days can’t arrive soon enough.
Monitoring the Federal Government in Iowa
Monitoring the federal government is never an easy task
these days. In many cases, a P-25 capable receiver is
necessary. Encrypted voice makes identifying the user
almost impossible and some frequencies may go months
without any activity, then suddenly show a burst of activity
only to go silent again. Sometimes P-25 Network Access
Code (NAC) can be used to guess who the user is; other
times, it’s not helpful at all. Then factor in that, here in
Iowa, listeners in the southern part of the state can hear
traffic on frequencies in the VHF federal band from
Missouri’s new P-25 system. It can all be very confusing!
PAGE 13
Nonetheless, below is my list of active frequencies in the I80 corridor between Des Moines and Iowa City and my
best guess as to who the users are. There certainly may
be other frequencies that are active. Notice that some
three-letter federal agencies/departments are missing
from this list, notably the FBI, DEA and FPS. If you’re
listening to the federal government in Iowa, please send
me an e-mail to the address above to let me know what
you’re hearing.
Frequency
163.4625
163.5125
163.5375
163.5875
164.6500
165.1125
165.1375
165.2875
165.3750
166.7000
167.8625
171.7625
171.9625
172.9000
173.4125
173.4375
173.4625
173.4875
173.5125
173.5375
406.1125
406.3750
407.1375
407.3375
407.8375
409.7375
410.2000
414.7375
Tone/NAC
User/Comments
$300 IA ANG at Des Moines, encrypted
$001 USSS
$A00 IA ANG at Des Moines, encrypted
$C00 IA ANG at Des Moines, encrypted
$650 ATF
$001 USSS
$001 USSS
VA Hospital paging Des Moines
$791 ICE
$791 ICE
$001 TSA at Des Moines & Cedar
Rapids
$100 US Army Corps of Engineers
$400 IA ANG at Des Moines, encrypted,
"Flight center"
67.0 VA Hospital ops Des Moines
D065 USPS Des Moines
$482 USPS in Des Moines
D023 USPS Des Moines
$293 VA Hospital security Des Moines
D025 USPS at Des Moines
D065 USPS fleet maintenance Des
Moines
USPS
A comment about the entries for the Iowa Air National
Guard: they are based on loggings prior to their adopting
full-time encryption on most frequencies. If you’re in the
Des Moines area and monitor the IA ANG, please share
your loggings with me if you spot an error.
Rail Scanning in Iowa
Railroads in Iowa play a huge role in transporting
agricultural products to market and to ports along the
Mississippi River for eventual export. The Iowa
Department of Transportation has produced an excellent
map that shows all rail lines in Iowa. You can see it
here:
Road and yard frequencies are available on
Radioreference at:
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=4330
If you're a rail scan fan and want to share more
frequencies with our
readers, please send them along to me.
Construction Season
Road construction season is underway and this is a
perfect opportunity to use your scanner’s “signal stalker”
or “close call” feature when you are sitting in traffic waiting
for a flagger to allow you to proceed. Most private
flagging companies use VHF or UHF business or
itinerant frequencies for flagging operations and finding
the frequency in use by those handling traffic control is a
matter of “signal stalking”. Don’t forget to include CB
frequencies in your search; I’ve caught traffic control
flaggers using them for traffic control in northern Michigan.
And that’s it from Iowa for this issue. As always, your
contributions are greatly appreciated. Until next time,
happy listening!
AMATEUR RADIO
Robert Gulley AK3Q
[email protected]
Amateur Radio: Double Duty Antennas
By Robert Gulley AK3Q
That old saying, “You don’t know what you’re missing!”
recently applied to my base scanner station when a storm
came through and uprooted my scanner antenna. High
winds actually separated two sections of a fiberglass mast
and left the antenna laying across some other coax on my
garage roof.
Fortunately there was no real damage to the masts or the
antennas, but due to weather and life issues I wasn’t able
to get back up on the roof right away to repair things. And
that, as they say, is a good thing!
http://www.iowadot.gov/iowarail/railroads/maps/basemap.
pdf
PAGE 14
Because I am NOT going to go without being able to listen
to my scanner for more than a day (is that the definition of
a scanner addiction?!), I re-purposed an A/B switch to go
between my 2m/440 amateur rig and my scanner. I
assumed this would be a temporary solution, but now I am
not so sure. I am finding my 2m/440 MHz antenna is doing
a bang-up job, far better than my wideband discone.
Now before you discone-haters out there smile knowingly,
I think my discone must have had an issue on the lower
frequencies from the get-go, of which I was not aware. I
am not jumping on the discones-are-from-the-devil
bandwagon! But I had noticed some strange reception
behavior in lower frequencies, particularly aircraft, railroad,
and the local NOAA weather station. I just couldn’t hear
much on these bands, and the weather station was
terrible!
After doing some random tests with several handheld
radios and talking with a scanner buddy of mine, I decided
there was a sensitivity/overload issue with my radio—it is
not an uncommon complaint for this model in the lower
non-digital frequency modes. So I wrote it off—after all,
my handheld scanners didn’t have any real issues, and I
certainly don’t mind having a second scanner going
anyway. Besides, one size rarely fits all anyway—my
Radio Shack 137 does a great job with civilian aircraft and
marine/railroad stuff.
scanning both digital and analog modes, and basically
getting double duty out of one antenna. I recently put up a
tri-band 2m/220/440 antenna for a second station
downstairs, and set it up with a triplexer to handle my
2m/440 and 220 rigs, and the system works great. Since
you are only allowed to transmit on one frequency at a
time in amateur radio anyway, I can keep both radios
going and use as needed without a switch.
I may, however, put in an A/B switch to allow a feed to a
scanner down at that location. If the antenna performs
anything like my log periodic, I will have some great
reception there as well. It might just bring some new
signals into my trusty old BCD898T radio—one of the best
analog scanners I have owned.
Of course, mobile antennas are commonly put in use for
double-duty; I regularly use mine for amateur radio, while
at other times I use an adapter and go to my handheld to
take advantage of the outdoor antenna. If I traveled more I
would no doubt want both radios going, but as it is, I
usually can be satisfied with one or the other for the short
trips I take.
Back to my present setup. After a few days of listening to
my scanner I started hearing things I had not heard
before, or if heard, only rarely. My scanner has almost
everything around us programmed in, thanks to a great
local scanner group (Monix); if it’s out there, somebody
from the group is going to find it and let us know about it!
A common issue for amateur radio folks and scanner folks
is the question of how to split signals from one antenna to
two or more radios. The triplexer I mentioned above is one
option (or duplexer for two outputs). Of course if you are
receiving only, a good quality cable splitter can be used if
you are using F connectors on your antenna coax, or use
ladder line and then convert it to a coax feed. If you are
using the antenna for transmitting as well as receiving,
you will want to have a duplexer or triplexer which is
designed with filters to prevent interference or worse,
reflection back into the other radio.
I started hearing civilian air broadcasts better, and the
weather station was loud and clear. But I also started
hearing some distant stations better, and more local VHF
public safety frequencies. I am fortunate enough to live in
an area where there are a lot of analog signals still to be
captured by police and fire departments, and so activity is
pretty constant.
The same holds true for using an A/B switch—not all
switches are made equally. Good quality switches coast
more money, but they usually allow grounding of the
unused antenna, and some offer a separate ground
setting for when neither antenna is in use. Some also offer
a bit of lightning protection, primarily from static build-up
rather than a direct strike. Not much can help you there!
In addition to the local VHF signals, I am also receiving
some outlying counties better on the digital modes. Less
signal dropout and greater clarity/strength on what were
only moderate digital signals. My 2m/440 antenna, by the
way, is a log periodic at 45 degrees, which means by
design it has some directivity to it.
If you have never really thought about making your
amateur radio antenna(s) available for scanning, give it a
try. You might find you get some surprising results, and
you may just free up a slot for another antenna like I did.
I’m thinking something for 900 MHz/1.2 Ghz might be nice
. . . and my wife will never notice! (Oops—sorry honey, I
didn’t see you there!)
Since I don’t typically use both radios at the same time, I
am tempted to keep this double-duty arrangement going.
It would free up a spot for another antenna (I had six
antennas up on that garage before the discone came
down), and the space might be better used to add another
amateur radio antenna. We’ll see.
73,
Robert
This experience did get me thinking about how well I was
able to put an amateur radio antenna into service for
PAGE 15
WASHINGTON DC REGIONAL
David Schoenberger
[email protected]
MOTOTRBO in the Washington, DC Area
For this column, I’ll discuss MOTOTRBO, a digital radio
technology. MOTOTRBO, which is marketed by Motorola
(although other manufacturers make compatible
hardware), is intended for business users and small public
safety agencies. MOTOTRBO has many advantages over
analog: clear voice transmissions with no static, improved
weak signal performance, and better portable radio battery
life. MOTOTRBO also allows for data uses, such as GPS
vehicle tracking and text messaging. Many agencies have
recently switched to MOTOTRBO to comply with the
January 2013 narrow banding mandate, and because of
termination of the Nextel network in June 2013.
MOTOTRBO is a TDMA (time division multiple access)
system. This means that on a repeater, two voice
transmissions can occur simultaneously on a single
frequency—doubling the capacity of an analog system.
MOTOTRBO has two levels of selective Privacy. Basic
Privacy is an 8-bit scheme, which allows for 256 possible
combinations, and Enhanced Privacy is a 40-bit scheme,
which allows for 1,099,511,627,776 combinations. These
privacy levels do not approach what is used for modern
public safety encryption, which uses either 128-bit or 256bit encryption.
Trunking is available with MOTOTRBO. There are two
types of trunked systems: Capacity Plus and Connect
Plus. Capacity Plus is intended for single sites, and
accommodates up to twelve voice channels. It does not
have a control channel, and frequencies must be
programmed in exact order, much like LTR trunking.
Connect Plus is intended for multi-site systems,
sometimes spread over a large geographic area. This type
of system uses control channels, and can support
thousands of users.
Currently, there is no scanner that can decode
MOTOTRBO. For monitoring, there are a couple of
options. A user can purchase a MOTOTRBO radio,
programming cable, and programming software. Then, if
one knows the parameters of the frequency to be
monitored, one can program them and listen (assuming
the frequency does not use Privacy). There are several
parameters: the color code, which can range from 0-15;
the TDMA time slot (1 or 2); and the group, which can
range from 1-16776415. The other option is to use a
scanner with a discriminator tap, and feed the raw audio
into a computer. A program called Digital Speech Decoder
(DSD) can use the unfiltered audio and output the
decoded voice to the computer’s speakers.
years. The users are too numerous to list, but here are
some of the bigger ones just in DC:
Colleges/Universities: American, Catholic, Georgetown,
George Washington, Howard Hospitals: Children’s,
Howard, United Medical Center Attractions: Capitol
Complex, Hillwood, Nationals Park, Newseum, Verizon
Center Miscellaneous: CNN, DC Correctional Treatment
Facility
How does one know if a particular agency or business is
using MOTOTRBO? A hobbyist can examine FCC
licenses for the MOTOTRBO emission designators
(7K60FXE for voice, 7K60FXD for data). (Some agencies
add the designators, but haven’t switched to MOTOTRBO
systems, and some agencies switch to MOTOTRBO and
fail to update their licenses with the proper emission
designators.) So, the FCC database is not the final word,
and actual monitoring is required, but it’s a good start.
Here are a couple of links about MOTOTRBO:
RadioReference Wiki - MOTOTRBO:
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/MOTOTRBO
RadioReference Wiki - Digital Speech Decoder:
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Digital_Speech_
Decoder_(software_package)
I hope this was a good introduction to MOTOTRBO. More
information is available on RadioReference, particularly in
the forums. Hopefully, we will see a MOTOTRBO scanner
on the market in the near future.
ILLINOIS
Mike Dickerson
[email protected]
No Column for this Issue.
PHILADELPHIA METRO
Column Editor Wanted
Press release from Harris Corporation. Regarding the new
radio system being implemented in Chester County PA.
Harris to Modernize Emergency First
Responder Comms on $42M Award
Harris Corp. has won a $42 million contract to modernize
and maintain Chester County, Pa.’s emergency
communications system for first responders.
The company will deploy Project 25 Phase 2 technology to
fulfill the project’s coverage requirements, including
interoperability with adjacent radio systems, Harris said
Tuesday.
MOTOTRBO was first monitored in the DC area in the fall
of 2007. The technology has spread rapidly in the last six
PAGE 16
The P25 P2 is part of its APCO P25-based VIDA voice
and data communication network that uses Internet
Protocol technology.
Under the contract, Harris will install remote transmitters
and receiver sites and convert the microwave system that
links the remote sites to the 911 operations centers at the
local Government Services Center and in South
Coatesville.
ago will fund–in full–the purchase of 17 portables and
seven car radios for the 14-member police department.
The county’s 911 consoles and equipment will also be
replaced with new portable radios and control stations for
emergency responder applications.
The Montgomery County Commissioners, in
December, approved the purchase of a $29.97 million
public safety radio system, paving the way for
the replacement of an existing radio system that dates to
1996 and has recently been plagued by numerous failures
and shortcomings.
To fulfill terms of contract, Harris will maintain the new
system for eight years. “Chester County is the fastest
growing county in Pennsylvania and we have to ensure
our communications capabilities grow as well,” Chester
County Commissioners Ryan Costello, Kathi Cozzone and
Terence Farrell said in a joint statement. “We’re looking
forward to working with our first responders, many of
whom are volunteers, as we move toward construction of
this new system.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------The following is a link from the Horsham Patch
New Police Radios Coming to Hatboro
Police Chief James Gardner said Hatboro could be the
first Montgomery County municipality to roll out new police
radios. Posted by Theresa Katalinas (Editor), May 07,
2013 at 03:44 PM
The last time Hatboro bought radios was 1996, Gardner
said. The outdated Motorola radios are no longer
serviceable and are out of service, he said, adding that the
department is using “loaners from the county” until the
new devices arrive.
About $24 million of the total purchase will fund upgrades
to the existing infrastructure, such as the installation of 10
additional transmitter towers and the retrofitting of
microwave relays to the county's existing towers. The $24
million figure also includes upgrades to about 3,400 radio
units owned by the county's various first responder
departments.
Another $6.12 million will be used to purchase about
1,800 more radio units. The county will spend an
additional $9.88 million on a 10-year maintenance
agreement with Motorola that will go into effect a year
after the system has been completed and formally
accepted by the county.
The new radios, Motorola APX 6000, will come equipped
with upgrades including microphones and ear buds, which
Gardner said will come in handy for police coverage of
noisy events like the borough’s annual car show.“The
radios are state-of-the-art,” Gardner said, adding that the
radios are smaller and a “lot more functional.”
Perhaps best of all, Gardner said the devices will be
compatible with the existing communications system, so
police will be able to put them to use right away. The
remainder of the $125,000 grant will cover computer
software upgrades, Gardner said.
CONNECTICUT
Keith Victor
[email protected]
No Column this Issue
While other municipalities budget their share of the $6
million cost of buying new police radios countywide,
Hatboro has money in hand and is awaiting delivery of the
long-awaited units.
Hatboro Police Chief James Gardner said roughly $92,000
of a $125,000 grant the borough received several years
PAGE 17
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Frank Speicher K3FS
[email protected]
http://www.pghscannner.com
Westmoreland County has been using an 800 MHz P25
TRS since 2004. This system started with two tower sites.
One located in the Southwest (Tower 101), and Northeast
(Tower 102). Police, fire, EMS, transit, and now airport
operations have transitioned over to this system since it
went into operation, Westmoreland County had used low
band for fire communications, and high band for EMS and
police communications. They used simplex and repeaters.
There are only about 5-6 channels available at both
towers sites to carry communications. As would be
expected, this does get overloaded at times. Especially in
severe weather conditions. Paging for fire and EMS has
remained on low band and high band respectively. The
county is looking to update the fire paging system, and
looks to be going to high band. Still a little too early to say
when this will be implemented. They had planned from the
start that eventually the system could be expanded to
other counties. They had envisioned that perhaps it would
eventually evolve into a regional TRS. Looks like things
are are now happening that will make this the case.
Armstrong County has decided to go to the Westmoreland
county 800 MHz P25 TRS as well recently. They will also
be part of the Westmoreland TRS system, with new tower
sites in Armstrong County. The control channel has
already been reported on the air on the frequency of
858.4875. Armstrong is looking to switch over to the TRS
during this summer. I am not sure what they plan to do for
fir and EMS paging.
Fayette County has been using a Motorola type II system,
that has two sites for years and is also going to join the
Westmoreland county system. They have approved the
change, and are currently working with Motorola to design
their part of the system. Agencies have been notified of
the impending change and will need to plan on new radios
for the changeover. They are expected to change over
after Armstrong County has moved over to the system. As
was mentioned earlier, Fayette County had planned to
stop using low band for fire dispatch paging by April 30.
The Connellsville tower had been shut down in January
due to antenna damage. They should now be using only
the high band frequency of 155.190. This was already
narrow banded, and testing was done with pagers that
included Minitor III, IV and V. The testing was successful.
Even though the older pagers worked on the narrow band
frequency agencies are encouraged to replace the older
models with Minitor V pagers.
Indiana County is also planning to change from their
conventional analog system to the digital trunked system. I
have not seen any reports of a new control channel on the
air yet, or what the time frame will be for changing over.
Pennsylvania had started implementing their statewide
system years ago. Now most PSP, and all Penndot users
are on the system. This system is a proprietary one called
Open Sky. There is not a scanner made that can receive
this system. About a month ago control channels were
noticed in the 700 MHz band. These turned out to be a
TRS system also run by Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh that
control channel is 773.0875. There is not much activity on
the system, but there is some. It was initially noted that the
helicopters were on this system. Since then, other users
noted on there include, PA Air National Guard, PSP, radio
service techs, and more. It is not clear why this P25
system is cropping up throughout the state. There is
certainly no shortage of speculation on this matter. Even
in P25 systems I have noticed that when there is a need
for aircraft, the communications from the aircraft are in the
clear. This may be due to the noise of the aircraft, plus the
use of encryption just do not work. Unlike the
Westmoreland county TRS that any digital scanner can
receive, you will need a newer digital scanner to receive
those system. This is because of the fact that this system
is a 700 MHz trunked system, and only the newer radios
are capable of trunking there.
Washington County continues to transition fire agencies
from low band to high band. At this time just about all fire
departments have moved to high band at this point.
Washington County is now assigning a fireground channel
o9n dispatch. All departments still respond on the dispatch
channels and are to switch over to fireground once on
scene. I am still working on verifying the fireground
channels and pl's, This may be a little difficult since these
are simplex frequencies. Another change they have made
is moving all agencies on zone 2A fire 151.430 PL 127.3
to Zone 2 fire 151.0625 PL 110.9.
Washington County had a UHF link on 467.3875 DPL 152
that retransmitted the traffic on 155.295 PL 110.9. This
link is no longer on the air. It is not known who this
belonged to, but it was very useful for listening to 155.295
from my location. They had a pretty good receive antenna
on that site, and made it easy to hear the responding
units. This went off the air as the narrow band deadline
was approaching.
It is baseball season again. Here are a few frequencies for
PNC Park.
216.0125
WFM
Scoreboard ops,
451.8500
PL 71.9
Maintenance,
451.9750
PL 131.8
Maintenance (Repeater),
452.4625
PL 146.2
Aramark (Food service),
461.0375
Operations,
461.1250
PL 146.2
Aramark,
461.1750
PL 79.7
Operations,
471.7375
PL 74.4
Guest Services,
461.8375
PL 151.4
Gates,
461.8625
PL 151.4
Operations,
461.9000
PL 85.4
Parking (Repeater),
462.0500
Operations,
462.1375
DPL 244
Audio and video,
PAGE 18
462.3000
462.7875
462.2375
463.625
463.8875
464.500
464.5625
466.2375
467.1625
467.8125
468.2875
468.5875
530.225
director.
PL 131.8
Operations,
PL 91.5
Ground crew,
PL 131.8 Operations,
PL 151.4 Security (Repeater),
PL 79.7
Maintenance,
PL 141.3 Electrical, scoreboard,
Operations,
PL 151.4 Public Relations,
PL 91.5 Operations,
PL 74.4 Operations,
WFM Scoreboard and remote cameras
Please feel free to email me with any suggestions or
comments. I maintain a web site at
http://www.pghscanner.com that has scanner information
for the area
MASSACHUSETTES
Peter Szerlag
[email protected]
MBHSR Interops - 470.0125 R - PL 127.3
Hampshire County - public safety Tac 1 - 158.8725 - PL
127.3
Metro Fire Orange - 470.1875 R - PL 156.7
Metro Fire Silver - 470.1375 R - PL 173.8
New Braintree MSP Fire / Ambulance Dispatch Center 154.9125 R - PL
141.3 Dispatch - 154.68 - PL 141.3 FG - 157.45 - PL
141.3 Paging
Plymouth County Fire Mutual Aid Net - Ch 1 - Command 483.10 R - Ch 2
- FG - 483.20 R - Ch 3 - Special Ops - 483.40 R - Ch 4 483.475 R Dispatchers - Ch 5 - 483.775 R - EMS - Ch 6 - 483.925 R
- Staging
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the Massachusetts column.
Boston Marathon Incident
Here are a few goodies from an official document.
http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/emba/apr13.html - run
report for Boston Marathon incident - April 15 2013 - Box
1572
Dukes County –
Up Island Police Repeater - 158.85 R PL 91.5 - input is
166.25 - County 2 - 158.94 PL 91.5 - County 3 - 158.955
PL 91.5
Dukes County Fire - "252" - 153.77 - PL 114.8 - "838" 153.77 - PL 91.5
1451 PM - 1st alarm - E33 E7 E22 L15 TL17 R1 D4 C6
1451 PM - Rehab + RIT units - E39 L26 TL3 RHU D3 H1
1457 PM - extra E + L - E3 L24
Worcester County - southern area - District 7 fire mutual
aid ops - 159.4575 R PL 91.5 Orange - D7 Red 33.42 PL
131.8 + 154.265 PL 74.4 - D7 Blue 33.60 PL 94.8 +
154.295 PL 74.4 - Primary 33.62 PL 131.8
1507 PM - 2 extra E - E4 E10
Berkshire County Fire - Interior Ops 155.805 PL 107.2
portables - Response 152.9825 DPL 311 - Command
159.7575 DPL 413
1556 PM - special mutual aid call for Cambridge L1 S2
Div1
BAPERN North Tac - 482.9625 R - NAC 537
BAMA Dispatch - 470.075 R - NAC 291 - Boston Area
ambulance mutual aid
Boston CMED coordination channel - 155.385 - no PL
Boston Regional EMS mutual aid - 470.20 R PL 103.5 Tac 2 473.20 PL 107.2
1530 PM - 2nd alarm - E24 E14 E50 L1 SU TaC ASU D7
D1 C1 C2 C3 K1 A65 A10
(D = District Chief - RHU = rehab unit - H1 = Safety Chief SU =
Special Unit - TaC = Tac Comm - C1 = Commissioner C2 = Chief)
Boston Police primarily handled the incident on Channel 1
460.350R (which was jammed for approximately 3
minutes following the blasts due to doubling - there were
800 cops on the one channel for the Marathon)
MEMA - R1 tac 151.3475 DPL 226 - R2 tac 154.7175 DPL
226 - R3 tac 156.1575 DPL 226 - statewide tac 154.8625
DPL 226
The Watertown shootout saw BPD units operating on BPD
Ch 1 - with a patch to 470.9875R done at 3 AM - MSP
used a couple of Special Talkgroups - most other PDs
operated on their home channels
Boston Interops - 158.91 R - DPL 612
Things could have been much worse. Hopefully all of the
PAGE 19
injured will be able to recover and live prosperous lives.
Approx $30M has been raised (so far) to help them out.
The scanner feed at Radio Reference was taken down
during the manhunt. A new feed popped up shortly
thereafter. There were some news media stories about the
roles of scanners in spreading info and rumors.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/x121330448
1/Wellesley-High-School-teacher-recalls-terrifying-ordealin-Watertown#axzz2TC75SRUs
- this article mentions that a couple hunkered down in their
basement while listening to a scanner app on a cellphone.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
John Bolduc
[email protected]
Confirmed / Reconfirmed since last issue.
Fire Departments
User / Location
Acworth
Alexandria
Allenstown
Alstead
Alton
Amherst
Antrim
Barnstead
Bedford
Bedford FireGrnd
Belmont
Bennington
Brentwood
Bristol
Brookline
Brookline
Brookline
Canaan
Candia
Canterbury
Capital Area Ch 1
Capital Area Ch 3
Capital Area link
Carroll Cnty Ch.1
Carroll Cnty Ch.3
Chester
Chichester
Danbury
Deerfield
Deerfield
Derry
Derry
Derry HazMat
Derry link
Dorchester
Dorchester
Dover
Dover
Dublin
Zone
Channel
G01
E01
F02
F03
Freq
PL
154.4300
159.9000
154.3550
154.4300
159.9000
151.2200
154.4300
159.9000
156.1800
154.2800
159.9000
154.4300
154.1900
159.9000
33.7200
453.3625
453.6625
153.9500
154.1900
154.3550
154.3550
154.2200
460.6375
154.1750
154.3250
154.1300
154.3550
159.9000
153.8150
154.1900
154.1300
458.6000
154.2650
465.2750
153.9500
159.9000
154.2950
154.4150
154.4300
136.5
d331
136.5
136.5
d331
103.5
136.5
d331
94.8
CSQ
d331
136.5
136.5
d331
136.5
103.5
141.3
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
186.2
136.5
136.5
114.8
136.5
d331
136.5
136.5
114.8
d371
136.5
d565
141.3
d331
210.7
229.1
136.5
Dunbarton
Durham
East Kingston
Effingham
Epping
Exeter
Farmington
Francestown
Franklin
Gilford
Gilmanton
Gilsum
Goffstown
Goffstown
Grafton
Grafton Cnty
Grafton Cnty
Greenfield
Greenland
Greenville
Greenville
Greenville
Hampstead
Hampton
Hampton FireGrnd
Hanover
Hebron
Henniker
Hillsboro
Hooksett
Hopkinton
Hudson
Hudson
Jaffrey
Kensington
Laconia
Langdon
Litchfield
Littleton
Londonderry
Londonderry
Londonderry
Londonderry
Londonderry
Londonderry
Londonderry
Loudon
LRMFA Ch 1
LRMFA Ch 2
LRMFA Ch 3
LRMFA Ch 4
LRMFA Ch 5
Lyndeborough
Madbury FAST Sq
Marlborough
Meadowood
Meredith
Merrimack
Milford Area Comm
Milford Area Comm
Milton
Moultonboro
Nashua
Nelson
New Boston
New Hamp Forestry
New Hampton
F04
F05
F06
F07
E08
F08
F10
F11
D04
D05
D06
D07
D08
F12
154.3550
154.4150
154.1900
154.1750
154.1900
154.4000
154.3700
154.4300
159.9000
154.2800
159.9000
154.4300
154.2950
158.8800
153.9500
154.1300
159.9000
154.4300
154.1900
154.3925
155.4075
157.7100
154.1300
154.1450
154.2800
153.9500
159.9000
154.3550
154.3550
154.3550
154.3550
153.9500
155.9550
154.4300
154.1900
159.9000
154.4300
151.1075
154.4000
151.1750
458.0875
458.1125
458.1375
458.8875
458.9125
458.9875
154.3550
159.9000
160.1100
160.1550
154.2800
154.3025
154.4300
156.1050
154.4300
154.4300
159.9000
153.9800
453.1625
453.6125
154.3250
159.9000
151.2500
154.4300
154.1600
151.4450
159.9000
136.5
229.1
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
d723
136.5
d331
.
d331
136.5
192.8
136.5
141.3
141.3
d331
136.5
136.5
173.8
107.2
114.8
136.5
156.7
141.3
d331
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
NAC370
136.5
136.5
d331
136.5
97.4
136.5
d466
d612
d516
d712
103.5
d412
d023
136.5
d331
d331
d331
136.5
d331
136.5
d131
136.5
136.5
d331
136.5
100.0
114.8
136.5
d331
103.5
136.5
136.5
NAC850
d331
PAGE 20
New Ipswich
New Ipswich EMS
New London Ch.1
Newfields
Newington
Newmarket
Newmarket
Ossipee Corner
Ossipee Valley EMS
Ossipee Valley M/A
Pease Natl Grd
Pelham
Pelham
Peterborough
Peterborough
Plainfield
Plaistow
Plymouth
Portsmouth
Richmond
Rindge
Rindge fireground
Rochester
Rockingham Cnty
Rumney
Rye
Salem
Spofford Vlg
Stoddard
Strafford
Strafford County
Strafford County
Stratham
Sullivan
Sutton
Sutton Ch.5
Swanzey
SWNH Disp
Temple
Tilton-Northfield
Tuftonboro
Unity
Wakefield
Warren-Wentworth
Washington Ch.5
Weare
Westmoreland
Wilmot
Wilton EMS
Winchester
Windham
Windham Fire Grnd
Windham HazMat
Windham link
Windham link
Wolfeboro
Wolfeboro Mut Aid
Wolfeboro Mut Aid
F13
F14
D14
D09
E07
154.4300
153.8900
154.9950
154.1900
154.1900
154.4150
155.4300
154.1750
154.1750
154.1750
173.5875
158.7450
158.7450
154.3850
154.4300
154.1300
154.1900
159.9000
153.7700
154.4300
154.4300
153.8000
154.9800
154.1900
159.9000
154.1900
460.4625
154.4300
154.4300
159.9000
154.6575
156.1050
154.1900
154.4300
154.9950
154.0250
154.4300
154.4300
154.4300
159.9000
154.1750
154.4300
154.1750
159.9000
154.3100
154.2500
154.4300
154.9950
155.1000
154.4300
154.1750
154.2800
154.2650
452.9250
457.9250
154.2500
154.1750
159.9000
136.5
186.2
136.5
136.5
csq
229.1
d606
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
210.7
NAC652
136.5
136.5
141.3
136.5
d331
173.8
136.5
136.5
136.5
103.5
136.5
d331
136.5
192.8
136.5
136.5
d331
d131
d131
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
d331
136.5
136.5
136.5
d331
136.5
85.4
136.5
136.5
136.5
136.5
146.2
156.7
136.5
186.2
186.2
136.5
136.5
d331
Police Departments
User / Location
Allenstown
Alton
Alton
Amherst
Antrim
Freq
159.0900
154.0850
154.8300
151.4600
155.3700
PL
P25
P25
P25
94.8
P25
NAC
317
527
117
317
Atkinson
Atkinson
Auburn
Barnstead
Barnstead
Belknap Cnty
Belknap Cnty
Belmont
Belmont
Belmont
Bethlehem
Brentwood
Bristol
Brookline
Campton
Candia
Candia
Carroll Cnty
Cheshire Cnty
Chester
Chester
Concord
Danbury
Danville
Danville
Deerfield
Derry
Dover
Dover
Durham
East Kingston
Epping
Epping
Epsom
Exeter
Franklin
Fremont
Goffstown
Goffstown
Greenland
Greenville
Greenville
Hampstead
Hampton
Hampton Falls
Hancock
Haverhill
Health & Human Srv
Hillsboro
Hillsboro Cnty
Hillsboro Cnty
154.9500
154.7550
154.8150
154.0850
154.8300
154.8300
154.0850
154.0850
154.8300
155.2500
154.7700
154.8150
154.7850
153.7850
154.7550
154.8150
154.6250
154.8600
155.0700
154.8150
154.9500
155.0850
154.6800
154.9500
158.8950
154.8150
151.0100
151.0625
151.0625
155.7750
154.9500
154.8150
154.9500
159.0900
155.5350
154.7850
154.8150
155.1900
151.2650
154.9500
155.4900
156.0300
154.8150
155.0250
154.9500
155.3700
154.7700
156.1425
155.3700
155.5200
155.5200
Hillsboro Cnty
154.6500
Hillsboro Cnty
Hooksett
Hopkinton
Hudson
Kensington
Kingston
Kingston
Kingston
Laconia
Lee
Litchfield
Londonderry
Londonderry - MHT
Londonderry - MHT
155.4900
155.5650
155.6850
159.2175
154.9500
154.9500
154.7550
154.8150
155.7900
155.7975
154.9050
155.8650
153.7400
152.3750
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
136.5
P25
P25
P25
P25
82.5
P25
P25
79.7
P25
136.5
P25
P25
136.5
P25
P25
136.5
P25
P25
136.5
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
146.2
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
146.2
146.2
P25
P25
P25
P25
p25
P25
P25
136.5
P25
136.5
/P25
146.2
P25
136.5
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
d351
d411
117
117
527
117
527
527
437
117
117
527
417
117
117
117
117
852
117
117
827
117
293
117
117
117
317
527
117
827
827
117
117
830
117
317
118
117
317
117
617
117
470
117
117
117
817
ABE
370
293
PAGE 21
Londonderry - MHT
MACC Link
Mason
Meredith
Meredith
Merrimack
Merrimack
Merrimack County
Merrimack County
Milford
New Castle
New Hamp State PD
New Hamp State Trp-A
New Hamp State Trp-B
New Hamp State Trp-C
New Hamp State Trp-D
New Hamp State Trp-E
New Hamp State Trp-F
New Hampton
New Hampton
New Ipswich
New London
Newfields
Newington
Newmarket
Newton
North Hampton
Northwood
Nottingham
Pelham
Plaistow
Plaistow
Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth PSUniv
Portsmouth
Portsmouth Navy Yard
Raymond
Rockingham County
Rockingham County
Rockingham County
Rumney
Rye
Salem
Sanbornton
Seabrook
Seabrook
Strafford
Stratham
Thornton
Tilton
Tilton
Washington
Waterville Valley
Weare
Windham
Windsor
Wolfeboro
Wolfeboro
Woodstock
152.4200
465.0375
155.4900
155.3700
154.8300
155.5500
154.7400
155.7000
159.0900
458.4625
154.9500
155.9100
151.4000
154.9350
154.6650
156.2100
151.3250
152.6300
152.6300
154.6800
154.9200
154.0850
154.8300
155.4900
155.9625
154.9500
154.9500
155.3700
154.9500
154.9500
154.8150
154.8150
155.8125
159.0450
154.7550
154.7550
151.1750
154.7550
154.7400
138.7000
155.6400
154.8150
154.9500
155.4150
154.7550
154.9500
155.7300
154.8300
154.7925
154.8150
154.7250
154.9500
154.7550
154.8300
154.0850
155.3700
154.7700
158.8500
155.6100
155.3700
155.6100
158.8200
154.7700
d026
192.8
146.2
173.8
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
94.8
P25
136.5
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
p25
146.2
94.8
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
p25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
P25
136.5
P25
P25
P25
136.5
P25
Londonderry School New Frequencies
117
227
227
117
317
117
826
826
826
826
800
826
852
852
852
527
117
117
117
460
117
117
117
117
293
293
117
417
417
417
88A
293
860
117
117
117
417
117
117
868
117
527
117
417
527
317
117
617
317
117
117
High School
Mathew Thornton Elementary
Middle School
South Elementary School
North Elementary School
Moose Hill School
159.9000
451.2375
451.7375
452.1125
452.1875
452.6375
Simplex
Simplex
Simplex
Simplex
Simplex
Simplex
d445
d445
d346
d445
d445
d445
The old frequency of 458.500 is no longer in use / nor licensed.
MAINE
Loren Fields
[email protected]
Greetings, and welcome to this edition of the Maine
Scanner Digest column!
Jumping right in, it is important to note that there seem to
be almost daily changes in the MS/CommNet build-out.
Many know that Maine Public Safety at the state level are
changing over to P-25 trunking while staying within the
VHF-hi range of frequencies. This has required incredibly
creative licensing and multiple waivers, to include intrusion
into the heretofore sacred Railroad frequency pool and the
federal NTIA arena. As new frequencies come online one
will first hear the obligatory 1000Hz tone with a NAC of
$293, then voice traffic with the same NAC. Trunking data
channels are now churning with the eventual telltale NAC
of $077. Installation techs can be heard reciting bizarre
poetic lines as radio checks. The State has been divided
up into 1/4 mile grids with an aggressive testing plan being
implemented. The best link to keep tabs on all of this is
found at:
http://scanne.net/wiki/index.php?title=MSCOMMNET_Mai
ne_State_Communications_Network as this is constantly
being updated with reports from monitors all over Maine
and beyond.
Anecdotal tidbit: The new antenna installations on the
rooftops of Maine State Police cruisers were designed to
get the most gain for the digital radio structure project.
Troopers will "off-the-record" comment about the
hellacious shriek certain installations will create at speeds
of 65 mph-plus. One seasoned Trooper likened the noise
to one's hearing after a high-octane "Judas Priest"
concert...no joke! This Trooper is a fine individual and
shall remain nameless. Regardless, our Crown Victoria
MSP cruisers still on the road look like remote-controlled
cars.
Here is a spectacular link to the OIT map of the new
infrastructure, to include CBP info as many sites are
now co-located:
http://www.maine.gov/oit/services/radio/mscommnet/MSC
ommNet%20Map%20April%2015%202013.pdf
PAGE 22
Here's yet another great scanning opportunity,
"Vigilant Guard" described as follows:
The exercise coined Vigilant Guard 2014 (VG-14) focuses
on disaster preparedness by bolstering coordinated efforts
among emergency response agencies performing their
support role to civilian inter-agency partners associated
with Homeland Defense and Defense Support of Civilian
Authorities (DSCA).
This exercise will test the Maine Army National Guard as
the first military responder in support of the Governor and
the State Emergency Management Agency. VG-14
reinforces the premise that all incidents are local and
demonstrates the value of Emergency Management
Assistance Compacts (EMAC); the process by which a
state reaches out to other states for additional assistance.
Participation is designed to enhance emergency first
responder capabilities and validate emergency procedures
in the event of a large scale disaster.
This brings up another topic: SCAN-ME at Yahoo!Groups.
You can sign up at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScanMe/
The Maine State Police (MSP) are transitioning to new
cruisers from the phased out Crown Vics. Here are some
new models of both the Explorer and Taurus Interceptor
models, which are mostly internally interchangeable:
Here's the full article:
http://readme.readmedia.com/Maine-National-GuardHosts-Vigilant-Guard-2014-Initial-PlanningConference/5364960
Thanks to Denis, K1STB for posting this article recently:
Expanded emergency radio coverage planned for
Otisfield and Norway
ScanPeditions: What is a "ScanPedition?" For me it is
when I decide to load up my car with scanners and
accoutrements (such as "poguey bait", bug spray, sun
block and lots of water) and head out to a pre-designated
location, such as an airshow or the like. In this case Mt.
Waldo in Frankfort, ME was a recent destination for an
acquaintance. Instead of setting up a static location to
scan from, this person chose to "tower hop" and take
pictures of the tower sites knowing the Mt. Waldo site has
several different towers and multiple licenses. Google
Earth is a great place to start in conjunction with a good
PAGE 23
atlas when planning such an excursion. Here's a screenshot:
In Maine, this is found in DeLorme's. Many sites have tote
roads (if that) which are only accessible by four-wheeled
drive vehicles with exceptionally good low range for the
trip back down. In this case that means hiking up most of
the way. I won't go into the licensing for each tower, nor
the GPS, but have included pictures of the individual's
hike and the three tower sites. Those with "smart" phones
know about all the GPS apps for an exact Lat/Lon. Just
make sure to turn on the GPS feature only when ready to
access the app(s) due to the increased power demands
when the GPS function is on.
My acquaintance was annoyed at the fog bank rolling in
from the ocean. Here are the pictures sent to me,
however.
Mt. Waldo (Frankfort, ME) Site #1
PAGE 24
PAGE 25
I would encourage everyone to take a drive up (or down)
Rt. 17 to the east of Bald Mountain for the utterly
spectacular scenery there, especially with "Leaf-Peeping
Season" just around the corner. Here's a Google Earth
screenshot I took prior to deciding to hike the trail, with
Bald Mountain being the little yellow triangle near the
middle left:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>
My performances as the "Freedom" hornist with the
Downeast Brass Quintet take me around the State and
beyond. These usually include at least one scanner
"rolling" when riding with the lads and more when I travel
alone (at which time I am constantly logging intercepts
with the dual Pro-106's.)
We were recently in Oquossoc performing on
Mooselookmeguntic Lake (the third largest lake in Maine,
with Sebago being second and Moosehead being first)
and I decided to hike up Bald Mountain. The Statemaintained trail is 1.3 miles involving some "climbing" and
ends up with a beautiful observation tower for hikers to
ascend and take pictures. Verizon "just so happens" to
have a 4G tower within sight of the observation tower. I
noticed a little extra "salad" on the halo (StationMasters, it
appears) and snapped the following photo over the tree
line. I am unsure as to the access road to the actual
Verizon tower itself, and had absolutely NO desire to slog
through the small bog:
Under the "Oops!!" section, we present this morsel on
your tax dollars:
U.S. Marshals lose track of encrypted radios: WSJ report
That's all for this edition's Maine column. Please
contact me (Loren Fields) if you are ever in the Augusta,
Maine area and would like to talk communications or just
grab a cup of coffee.
I also encourage you FaceBook denizens to visit my
FaceBook page and say "hello!"
Until next time, keep your hand on your wallet, your
powder dry and your shot group tight. God Bless
America, and obey Acts 2:38. Fields out.
PAGE 26
SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK
Phil Lichtenberger
c/o Monitor Long Island, Inc.
PO Box 1642
North Massapequa, NY 11758
[email protected]
over the state line in Bergen County, NJ. All but one of
the sites are linked together with a microwave backbone.
The lone site is linked via T1 due to obstructions in the RF
Path.
Rockland County Public Safety
Communications System
For the last few months, a new radio landscape has been
taking shape in Rockland County, NY. An entirely new
radio system is in place, and the days of “low band” and
VHF are fading away. A new RF environment in Rockland
is growing on 700 MHz.
Rockland County is yet another place where local public
safety has taken their operations to a P25 trunked system.
But this one comes with a twist. This system has been
built “out of the box” as a Project 25 Phase II TDMA
system.
As of now, only those with a GRE PSR-800 will be able to
monitor the TDMA talk groups on this system. According
to the Radio Reference Database, there are a small
number of encrypted groups that are used for radio testing
at this time. The popular “DSD Decoder” software does
not currently support P25 Phase-II TDMA decoding, but
they are collecting samples and hopefully will have
something in beta soon. Uniden has not yet released any
information on anything under development that will work
on P25 Phase-II TDMA.
Site Locations:










Pearl River
o Blue Hill Plaza
Pomona
o Cheesecote Mtn
Monsey
o Grove Street
West Haverstraw
o Helen Hayes Hospital
Haverstraw
o Jackie Jones Mountain
Palisades
o Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory
Valley Cottage
o Mountainview Ave
Bear Mountain (Orange Cnty)
o Overlook Lodge
Sloatsburg
o St. Mary's Villa
Mahwah (Bergen County, NJ)
o Stag Hill
The new “Rockland County Public Safety Communications
System” is made up of 10 simulcast transmit/receive sites.
There are 8 sites within Rockland County. One site is just
outside the county in Orange County, and the last is just
PAGE 27
These ten sites operate in Simulcast. All sites utilize the
same control channels in operation at the same time, and
all assign users to the same voice channel on all 10 sites.
771.6562 771.4187 772.0562 772.5562 772.5812
5+
5555
769.5937 772.8312 772.8437 773.1562 773.1687
5
5
5
5
5
+Primary Control Channel -Alternate Control Channels
So what does this have to do with the extinction of “lowband” and VHF? As per RadioReference.com resident
guru on this system, “Chauffeur6” announced that Fire
Paging will now be done on 470.800 MHz (PL 77.0Hz).
This UHF frequency is simulcasted over all 10 of the
Rockland County Public Safety Communications System’s
sites on Talk Group 4000. “Low Band” 46.18Mhz will be
used for paging, but will no longer be used for any
responses. In addition to this change, fire-ground
operations will continue on their legacy UHF “TAC”
frequencies. Operations are to be done on the Trunk
System using Talk Groups 4001 – 4003. Fire coordinators
will be on Talk Group 4441.
populating the RadioReference Database and Wiki Article
on the Rockland County Public Safety Communications
System. This article would not have been possible without
his expertise.
73
Phil / w2lie
Printed versions of the Scanner
Digest Newsletter are available.
$1.00 each shipped via USPS.
Checkout the website for specific issues.
Get them now. Potential collector’s item.
[email protected]
Just like FD, the County’s EMS will dispatch on their
legacy VHF frequencies, but will move over to the Public
Safety Communications System after dispatch.
Although Fire and EMS will continue to transmit the initial
dispatch on VHF or UHF, the county’s police departments
are making a hard switch. Once the decision has been
made in each department to migrate, the old frequencies
will fall silent. The single exception to this is the
Countywide police interop frequency of 154.725. There is
a bidirectional link in place with Talk Group 2001 so that
NYS Police Troop F, NYS Parks, and other regional area
police agencies can communicate with in-county police
agencies seamlessly between VHF and 700MHz.
Since the information on police migration is changing
daily, I would suggest looking at the Radio Reference
database for the daily updates on this site.
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=7128
Also to note on this system, there are talk groups for
Interoperability and Mass Casualty Incidents. OEM will
have use of Talk Group 5011 as well as the four
countywide Interop talkgroups.
With the limited supply and high price tags of PSR-800’s,
monitoring this new public safety system might not be in
everyone’s budget. And I’m sure there are a lot of
scanner users in the Rockland area who are in for a shock
when they discover that their local public safety are no
longer using their old frequencies, and it will cost an arm
and a leg to monitor.
I would like to thank Chris, “Chauffeur6”, for his help in
writing this article. The information in this column came
from his knowledge of the system, and the work he did
PAGE 28
Battery Terminology Explained
Rechargeable Battery
A battery utilizing rechargeable cells.
Primary Battery
A battery utilizing non-rechargeable cells. Typically, not
reuseable
Clamshell
A reuseable battery cartridge utilizing primary (nonrechargeable) cells, typically AA alkaline cells.
Battery Eliminator
A battery case containing no cells that utilizes a cord
(Typically 12 VDC cigarette lighter style) to connect to an
external power supply.
Milliampere-hour (mAh)
The rated capacity of a battery. The higher the mAh rating,
the higher the capacity and therefore the longer the
battery will run a device on a full charge.
Battery Chemistries
Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
Advantages:
• Fast and simple charging even after prolonged storage
• High number of charge/discharge cycles; provides over
1,000 charge/discharge cycles with proper maintenance
• Good load performance; rugged and forgiving if abused
• Long shelf life; can be stored in a discharged state
• Simple storage and transportation; not subject to
regulatory control
• Good low-temperature performance
• Economically priced; NiCd is the lowest in terms of cost
per cycle
• Available in a wide range of sizes and performance
options
Disadvantages:
• Relatively low specific energy compared with newer
systems
• Memory effect; needs periodic full discharges
• Environmentally unfriendly; cadmium is a toxic metal
and cannot be disposed of in landfills
• High self-discharge; needs recharging after storage
• Nickel content makes recycling profitable
• Economically priced; Ni-MH is the lowest in terms of
cost per Ah
Disadvantages:
• Limited service life; deep discharge reduces service life
• Performance degrades if stored at elevated
temperatures; should be stored in a cool place at about
40 percent state-of-charge
Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion)
Advantages:
• High energy density
• Relatively low self-discharge; less than half that of NiCd
and NiMH
• Low maintenance. No periodic discharge is needed; no
memory.
• Light Weight
Disadvantages:
• Requires protection circuit to limit voltage and current
• Subject to aging, even if not in use (aging occurs with
all batteries and modern Li-ion systems have a similar
life span to other chemistries)
• Transportation regulations when shipping in larger
quantities
Lithium-Ion Polymer (Li-Po, Li-Poly)
Advantages:
• Higher energy density than even Li-Ion
• Relatively low self-discharge; less than half that of NiCd
and NiMH
• Low maintenance. No periodic discharge is needed; no
memory.
• Extremely Light Weight
Disadvantages:
• Requires protection circuit to limit voltage and current
• Subject to aging, even if not in use (aging occurs with
all batteries and modern Li-ion systems have a similar
life span to other chemistries)
• Transportation regulations when shipping in larger
quantities
Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)
Advantages:
• 30–40 percent higher capacity than a standard NiCd
• Less prone to memory than NiCd
• Simple storage and transportation; not subject to
regulatory control
• Environmentally friendly; contains only mild toxins
PAGE 29
ScannerDigest Newsletter
Welcome to the Scanner Digest Newsletter! We’re currently
publishing quarterly e-magazine containing information for the
scanner hobbyist. If it can be monitored on a scanner, we’ll
attempt to cover it from 30 to 1300 MHz and beyond!
Our purpose is to produce a newsletter to facilitate the
exchange of information pertaining to the various services
covered by a typical scanner radio. Dedicated regional column
editors make up the heart of this publication.
The Scanner Digest Newsletter is not responsible for the accuracy
or consequences incurred regarding the use of information listed
in this publication. Since the purpose of this newsletter is to
provide a platform for the submission and exchange of radio
communication information, it thus becomes impossible to deem
all contents as accurate. The very nature of radio licensing and
usage makes it difficult to verify the accuracy of the information
contained within. Generally information listed within the pages of
the newsletter are derived from multiply sources including current
FCC files, hobbyists and those directly involved with various
public safety agencies.
Scanner Digest’s policy has been not to limit or edit the individual
columns submitted, unless we deem the information sensitive in
nature which may jeopardize the safety of the parties involved.
Only in this case will we edit out this type of input.
(Example: We will not publish the frequencies used by a law
enforcement surveillance team.)
Naturally the comments of the various column editors are not
necessarily the views and opinions of the Scanner Digest
Newsletter. All materials, maps, information, photographs
submitted to a regional column editor or to Scanner Digest
directly, become sole property of the Scanner Digest Newsletter.
We encourage and will make every effort to give proper credit to
all submissions. All contents within are copyrighted. 2003-2013
Subscription Information
Subscriptions are acknowledged via email. Currently Scanner
Digest Newsletter produces four (4) issues per year. Newsletters
will be emailed to subscribers to via an attachment. The attached
document will be in the popular Adobe Acrobat PDF file. By
accepting these terms you are made aware of the consequences of
opening such attachments. We will scan each outgoing email with
an anti-virus tool to minimize any possibility of transmitting an
infectious message.
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Visit our website: www.ScannerDigest.com
PAGE 30

aosc merger with scanner digest monitoring times ceases

Transcription

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