So...I have all the standard "easy" frequencies...

[rjw4609]

like the standard police and fire. But I noticed when I listened to a Fire page yesterday, the dispatcher advised..."you will be on Tac 1" (At least, I assume it was Tac) I'm assuming the dispatcher is relaying the channel the fire crews will use for fireground communication. I would really like to program that frequency in, since I think that would be the truly exciting communication. I don't see any Tac 1 frequencies listed in the Database for my city. So..my question is, how do I find those frequencies? I am a true novice to scanning, but am a feed provider. I want to give any listeners to my feed the best experience I can....so, I will be very grateful for any help I can get....
Thanks much.

[captclint]

Originally Posted by rjw4609

I don't see any Tac 1 frequencies listed in the Database for my city. So..my question is, how do I find those frequencies?

Welcome to RR. TAC frequencies are not consistently labeled. It would help if you would go to the User CP link at the top and edit your details to include city and state. Many questions need that info for meaningful answers. Until we know that, we can only say: use the search function, or close call function if you can get to the incident.

[rvictor]

Many of the tactical fire frequencies are used with low power radios so even if you know the frequencies, you may not be able to hear anything on them unless you happen to be near the incident. They will often be designated in frequency lists as "Fireground" or "FG" in addition to the "Tac" which you heard. Where there are multiple frequencies, they may be further designated by color, e.g., "FG Red".

In many cases fire departments have mutual aid frequencies on which they coordinate the services of the various departments working major fires. You might want to keep your eyes open for these frequencies for your area since they can often provide some interesting listening and cover greater geographical areas. They will probably be listed by some acronym. In my area it's IFERN (Interagency Fire Emergency Radio Network) or MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System).

Dick

[ddoorman]

One of the joys of this hobby is finding something knew and unknown to the general public. You ask "how do I find these frequencies?" The simple and straight forward answer is: You search for them. You turn the scanner on, listen and take notes as to activity and freq involved. If the traffic goes to a freq not programmed into your scanner, then conduct a search. You might not find the freq the first couple of times, but if you adjust your search limits, etc you will eventually find the freq. Then you can submit the information to this forum.

[T-Santon]

It also doesn't hurt to search the FCC Frequency Database for city and county licenses in your area.


Tip: Click on "Advanced License Search". Then under "Service Group", select "Part 90 - Land-mobile - Site Based". Then, either enter the City and State, or click "Geosearch" and select the County and State. It's also helpful to set the "Results Display" to 100.


Many licenses in my area will say "Applicant is a Fire Department" or "Applicant is a City Goverment. Radios used for highway maintenance." or something along those lines. They may or may not in your area.

[rjw4609]

I just wanted to drop a quick "Thanks" for all the information. I will take some time this weekend and try to update my scans. Thanks again!
PS If you feel like listening in, I am listed as Billings Montana Police and Fire (Yellowstone County.) Happy scanning!

[DickH]

Originally Posted by rjw4609

I just wanted to drop a quick "Thanks" for all the information. I will take some time this weekend and try to update my scans. Thanks again!
PS If you feel like listening in, I am listed as Billings Montana Police and Fire (Yellowstone County.) Happy scanning!

TAC-1 is a Talk Group on a trunked system. Billings has an LTR system and the 5 frequencies are in the database. There is a note there saying no one has provided the Talk Groups for listing in the database, so I guess its up to you.
That LTR system has only 5 freqs. so it may not be too difficult to figure out the LCN (Logical Channel Number). That is the channel numbers where you MUST put the freqs. in your scanner to be able to follow (trunk track) the conversations. Once you have that all figured out and programmed correctly you will see the Talk Groups. When you listen for a while you will be able to figure out which TGs the various agencies use.
If you search these RR forums you can find information about how to figure out the LCN for an LTR system. (this stuff ain't easy).

[captclint]

Originally Posted by DickH

That LTR system has only 5 freqs. so it may not be too difficult to figure out the LCN (Logical Channel Number). (this stuff ain't easy).

Mapping an LTR System - The RadioReference Wiki