Southern NV Radio Scanner Book April 2007 Review Part II
The second of a two part review follows. Page 28 begins a very detail explanation of the NSRS (Nevada Shared Radio System) that is used by numerous State agencies and a few others. The topic of patches is discussed and this is most appropriate as you may be listening to a given talkgroup and all of a sudden it goes quiet for some time as the radio traffic has been shifted to another talkgroup. Programming the listed DPS Patch LV talkgroups is a very wise idea if you want to hear all the DPS traffic. Several more radio sites are posted in this edition for Southern Nevada. An updated list of 319 talkgroups used on the NSRS is showing both by agency name order and a reverse by talkgroup ID as done for the SNACC system. Page 41 discusses the Nevada Department of Public Safety in some detail and breaks down the new radio unit callsigns for the different divisions which became effective on March 1, 2007. The ranking structure for personnel was also mentioned. It almost sounds as if the writer for this section works for DPS. The current radio codes used by DPS follows along with the criminal history codes, current and older incident disposition codes. DPS beat codes are included along with the DPS VHF high band conventional system for Southern Nevada (the licensed one) which is still used from time to time. Frequencies for other State of Nevada agencies follows on page 44.
Selected US Government frequencies follow on page 45 with certain updates noted. It is unfortunate that some governmental agencies with the feds are using encryption more and more such as the Hoover Dam Police. But the US Border Patrol still has plenty of traffic in the clear in the southwestern states. A section on the Nellis AFB follows with the UHF Motorola trunking system used by part of it and then aviation frequencies both VHF and UHF used by military aircraft at and near the military installation. Commercial & general aviation frequencies follow for Southern Nevada and a detailed listing of air traffic control center frequencies for LA, Oakland, and Salt Lake which are likely to be heard in Southern Nevada. Frequencies used by AIRINC in the area are also included, most of which carry some rather interesting company traffic from the different air carriers.
Page 49 contains information on ground transportation (railroads, monorail, CAT Bus System, taxis, and limo services). Some of this can be interesting when the monorail malfunctions or CAT bus drivers have difficulty with stressful situations. A section on motor-sports follows. Then comes information on non-aviation frequencies used by various airlines. Golf courses & country clubs follows. Page 51 begins a very long section on hotels & casinos. Numerous updates were noticed not only for the LV area but Laughlin area as well. Selected businesses on page 60 and 61 follows. A very long and updated section on ham radio for this region comes next followed by LV area television audio frequencies and a last minute update section which briefly presents the Alert Codes 1-4 used at McCarran Airport.
This writer is happy with what he has seen and looks forward to the next edition. Not many requests have been seen on RR from people in Northern Nevada asking for a Statewide book. Perhaps a page or two covering the basics of the Reno & Carson City area would be appropriate as the writers have done with Mohave County, AZ. For a low budget publication which probably sells around 100 copies an edition the staff at Cat Comm cannot be expected to come up with some fancy colorful cover and binding that some people have suggested. Add to the cost of professional printing and the book would probably become a loss financially and would cease publication. So for the present time I suspect the publication will remain as it is, a very good, useful, hands on book that aids the monitoring public in pursuing their hobby of monitor radio listening. Thank you Cat Comm for helping us advance in our hobby.
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