Listening to Lifestar from New Haven Area?

[fdscan]

Hi guys,

I had a quick question... Regarding the Life Star choppers out of Hartford Hospital.

Is anyone in the New Haven/Southern NH County area able to monitor them? I remember on their old low-band frequency, maybe 47.xxx, I was able to pick up bits and pieces but never focused on listening to them all too much. I'm just curious because it shows that the repeater locations are on the hospital and in Vernon for the VHF frequency, and on the hospital and in Norwich for the UHF frequency. Since these guys fly to/from Yale as well, I would assume the radio coverage has to be good in that area? I plan on monitoring them tomorrow, but seeing how Lifestar isn't needed THAT often (I assume?) I'm not sure how active the frequencies will/would be (The UHF one in particular). Just checking to see if anyone has the answer to this before I start trying it out on my own.

Thanks,

RJ

 

[brndnstffrd]

You can typically hear them on the air every hour or so on the air. Some days they are busier than others, especially on the weekends, but in addition to responding to accidents/emergencies they also do alot of transports between hospitals, so you can hear them more than you might think. The VHF repeater has decent coverage and that is what you will hear them on the most. There isnt really too much to hear on their UHF channel, as their dispatches and the majority of the coms are done on VHF.

 

[cg]

The UHF repeater has good coverage in the Hartford area (I never monitored the Norwich site) but is intended for portable to base coverage. It is primarily used for contacting the pilot to OK a flight and then for crew acknowledgment.
The VHF has very good range but keep in mind that much of the comms over 15-20 miles may include an antenna that is several thousand feet in the air. You will often hear the pilot say before dropping out of range that he is landing in one or two minutes.

chris

 

[sefrischling]

I listen to LifeSTAR in East Lyme on 155.38500 PL 82.5 and hear them fairly clearly. As there is a LifeSTAR based in Norwich I can at times hear them on 461.38750 PL 141.3, but not very often. You can hear LifeSTAR talking to Yale with some regularity in New Haven on the VHF.

 

[N1SQB]

I listen to LifeSTAR in East Lyme on 155.38500 PL 82.5 and hear them fairly clearly. As there is a LifeSTAR based in Norwich I can at times hear them on 461.38750 PL 141.3, but not very often. You can hear LifeSTAR talking to Yale with some regularity in New Haven on the VHF.

Lifestar based in Norwich? There are 2 Lifestar helos, Lifestar 1 and 2. Which one is based in Norwhich?

Manny

 

[sefrischling]

Manny,

Backus Hospital has N138HH, which I believe is LifeSTAR II.

 

[fdscan]

I can't say if the helicopter is actually based in Norwich but the FCC license shows a repeater/control point there.

So basically the only UHF action that I'd get would be around the hospital itself, for crew-to-hospital?

I'll punch them in today and see what I get.

 

[MarkB513]

RJ mentioned an old low band Life Star had used, possibly 47.xxx. I only remember them using 155.385 so it must have been before my time of scanning. Anyone know what the actual frequency was? Just curious....

 

[N1SQB]

Manny,

Backus Hospital has N138HH, which I believe is LifeSTAR II.

Thanks! I was always under the impression that they were BOTH out of Hartford hospital. It makes sense to spread out the helos for better coverage. This means that the central and eastern sides of the state are covered. The lower Fairfield county and New Haven county areas all have hospitals close enough where a helo would not really be practical. So that just leaves the northwest corner, up in them there hills! LOL..
As far as comms go, I really don't worry about the frequencies they use. I just monitor CMED New Haven, for when they transport to Yale.
Manny

 

[sefrischling]

I can't say if the helicopter is actually based in Norwich but the FCC license shows a repeater/control point there.

There is a LifeSTAR Hanger on the grounds of Backus Hospital and a crew is based there. The helo based there is N138HH, the bird with the blue nose, where as the bird in Hartford has the white stripe up the nose.

 

[sefrischling]

So that just leaves the northwest corner, up in them there hills! LOL

LifeSTAR can get up to the Northwest corner from Backus or Hartford pretty damn quick, there is also overlap coverage from UMass LifeFlight out of Worcester.

 

[imonitorit]

The crew at Backus uses 461.3875 for local "in-house" comms. There is a morning radio check conducted with lifestar center. Once off the ground they contact center on 155.385. On approach they contact Backus security on the 464.975 repeater used by hospital security.

 

[imonitorit]

As far as I know....the lifestar out of Backus is N145HH. This is what I've been picking up on ADS-B.

 

[fdscan]

I ended up picking up a little bit of traffic on 155.385 frequency, but I'm not sure if it was them or not.

Nothing on UHF, I think a lot of static but it wasn't them. Makes me wonder what the radio setup is like aboard the chopper...

 

[firerick100]

here a pic i have of one of them

 

[fdscan]

Nice pic.

 

[sefrischling]

As far as I know....the lifestar out of Backus is N145HH. This is what I've been picking up on ADS-B.

I have been up there somewhat often and that's not the helo I have primarily seen in the past year or so

 

[N1SQB]

LifeSTAR can get up to the Northwest corner from Backus or Hartford pretty damn quick, there is also overlap coverage from UMass LifeFlight out of Worcester.

I imagine it can! I've seen them zip by my location enroute to Bridgeport hospital and they move pretty fast.
I did not know about the overlap coverage from UMASS. Interesting! How far into CT. do they cover, do you know?

Manny

 

[firerick100]

I have been up there somewhat often and that's not the helo I have primarily seen in the past year or so

this pic was taken around 2005 so they may have bought a new copter by now

 

[sefrischling]

What photo? I live in Niantic, the mother of my kids is a nurse, I am up and around Backus fairly often. My "day job" (I have three) is covering aviation security as a journalist, so I watch everything that flies.