West Des Moines Fire And EMS

jyoung1993 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-04-2009, 04:20 PM

I use a Radio Shack Pro-433 and always picked up the West Des Moines Fire and EMS until this past week. Does anyone know if they changed their trunk frequency? I get everything else in the Des Moines Metro, but for some reason I don't get the West Des Moines Fire and EMS. Any help would be great.

Thanks in advance!

timkilbride · #2 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 05:32 PM

I heard a test page last night on 154.160 and 155.535.

jyoung1993 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 07:31 PM

I have those two frequencies, but that only broadcasts the dispatch and nothing else. The trunked frequency never has anything broadcasting anymore after they are dispatched out. I hope I am making sense.

iascanguy · #4 (**permalink**) 10-05-2009, 10:17 PM

There haven't been any changes, they are still using the same frequencies. Are you still able to hear the control channel(s)?

Donald

jyoung1993 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-06-2009, 11:13 PM

I really don't know the lingo when it comes to scanners, so when you say control channels, do you mean the frequencies 154.1600 and 155.5350? If that is what you mean, they yes I get those. I don't have any problems picking up Clive and Urbandale fire and EMS trunked frequencies, Just West Des Moines now. The trunking channels I have for West Des Moines fire and EMS are 656 and 1296. I can pick them up when they switch channels after they are called out if they have more than one call. Also I have the frequencies that are listed for Windsor Heights programmed in my scanner but I have never been able to pick anything up. Is there more frequencies for Windsor Heights that I am not aware of?

WQIR683 · #6 (**permalink**) 10-07-2009, 12:39 AM

Windsor Heights is dispatched by Polk County last I knew so you'll only hear them on the Westcom trunked system if they're assisting one of the other three (WDSM, Clive, or Urbandale). As to the status of that system I'm unsure.

iascanguy · #7 (**permalink**) 10-08-2009, 10:15 PM

154.160 and 155.535 are VHF frequencies WDM uses for paging. The control channel will be on one of the trunked 800Mhz frequencies used by Westcom. It is a continuous data stream that changes frequencies every night about midnight. It sounds like your scanner is receiving Westcom ok. Maybe you have accidentally locked out the the TalkGroups (TG) for fire and ems. Do you have them programmed into a scanlist? You can view the list and see if they show locked out. Or program one of the TG’s (656 or 1296) so you can hold on it and monitor just that TG and listen for activity.

Windsor Heights is on Racom and you will only be able to hear them on the Polk County Sheriff dispatch talkgroup. Their ‘city’ or car TG is Provoice and can’t be monitored on a scanner.

Donald

jyoung1993 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 12:24 AM

Thanks for you help Donald. I get the dispatch of the Fire and EMS on the VHF frequencies. I have all the control channels that were listed on this site programed and also the talk groups. Its odd because I have had this scanner for two year and then all of the sudden I get the dispatch on the VHF frequencies and then nothing on the talk groups after they are dispatched. The first thing I did was check to see if I had them locked out on accident, and they were not locked out. I don't know if I should reset my scanner and reprogram it and see what happens or not.

iascanguy · #9 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 12:30 AM

Before you reset the scanner, try programming Westcom into your scanner again (so you will have 2 Westcom systems) and if the new system works you can delete the old one, or you can just delete the Westcom system you have and reprogram it. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure if resetting the scanner will help but it might be the next step.

Donald

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung1993

Thanks for you help Donald. I get the dispatch of the Fire and EMS on the VHF frequencies. I have all the control channels that were listed on this site programed and also the talk groups. Its odd because I have had this scanner for two year and then all of the sudden I get the dispatch on the VHF frequencies and then nothing on the talk groups after they are dispatched. The first thing I did was check to see if I had them locked out on accident, and they were not locked out. I don't know if I should reset my scanner and reprogram it and see what happens or not.

jyoung1993 · #10 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 06:06 AM

I will give that a shot.. Thanks!

jyoung1993 · #11 (**permalink**) 10-10-2009, 07:28 PM

I did monitor the West Des Moines EMS TG after I heard them dispatched on the VHS frequency. I did pick them up on the TG, so I hit the scan to see if it would pick them up while scanning, but I couldn't pick them up. Any ideas why it is not picking up the talk group while the scanner is scanning?

iascanguy · #12 (**permalink**) 10-12-2009, 11:44 PM

I am not familiar with the Pro 433, but I think it may have an ID scan mode and an ID search mode. If you are in scan mode, you will need to have the TG Id's you want to hear programmed into a scanlist. In search mode you will be able to hear all TG Id's.

Donald

jyoung1993 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-17-2009, 02:50 PM

I just reprogrammed my scanner and it works fine now. Thanks to all of you who gave me some helpful insight!