154.98

[Kars10az]

OK, I'm lost here. I'm hearing traffic on 154.98 here in Tempe. I'm getting the signal about half-strength on my 996 and a discone at about 30 feet. I live on the upslope to South Mountain and I'm only a few miles from Sky Harbor, as the crow flies.

I've checked RR, and none of the agencies listed match what I'm hearing. Maybe someone else can help me out.

I'm hearing chat about what sounds like fueling airplanes. They're talking quantity in gallons and flights defined by their destination, not a tail-number or carrier. The chat is very casual and personal.

Three of the destinations I heard them mention were Oklahoma City, Bellingham and Colorado Springs. Bellingham and Colorado Springs match Allegiant flights departing from Mesa Gateway within a short time after I heard the traffic, but Allegiant doesn't seem to fly to Oklahoma City, so that kinda blows the Allegiant theory away..

Anyone have a clue what I might be hearing? 154.98 should be public safety, but public safety is definitely not what I was hearing.

 

[ccs247]

WILLIAMS GATEWAY AIRPORT AUTHORITY ?
6263 S. Taxilane Circle
MESA, AZ 85212

 

[KB7MIB]

That's an old Buckeye and/or Buckeye Valley FD channel. I don't know if they still use it at all or not.
My cynical first guess is, someone at one of the local airports (whether Sky Harbor, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, or even one of the smaller East Valley ones like Falcon or Chandler) bought a couple of cheap radios and just programmed in a random frequency. Either unaware of, or unconcerned about, licensing requirements.
Check the FCC's ULS site, maybe it is licensed properly, and just hasn't been reported for addition to the DB yet.

 

[Kars10az]

I checked RR and didn't find it. CCS247 responded that it's Gateway Airport (THANK YOU). Apparently I didn't research it far enough. Either way, I guess I have my answer now.

154.98 used to be a Buckeye Valley frequency, which is why it's in my radio. I can't hear Buckeye Valley from the east end of South Mountain, so I knew it wasn't them. Then I started getting the context of what they were talking about.

Thanks for the response.

Ed