Where did Bear Mountain go ?

[speedlaw]

During the summer, the Bear Mountain outlet is great fun scanning. Harriman State Park, 154.890 is overwhelmed by people who give the Parks PD plenty of things to do. Super slow channel on winter days, and nonstop in the summer.....

Silence.

My BCT 15X works on every other channel. Occasionally the repeater will morse ID.

Where'd the Park PD go ?

 

[nyscan]

They now use a talkgroup on the Rockland County Public Safety Communications System. It can only be monitored using a P25 Phase II compatible scanner. More info on RR database.

 

[GTR8000]

As nyscan stated, the NYS Park Police - Palisades Region (aka "Bear Mountain") now primarily operate on talkgroup 2121 of the Rockland County 700 MHz trunked system.

You will occasionally still hear sporadic transmissions on 154.890 if a unit is out of range of the system, but those instances are few and far between. The Rockland system has excellent coverage that extends a few miles into Orange County along the entire Rockland-Orange border.

 

[speedlaw]

Thank you !

I was afraid it was something like this....do I want to buy a new scanner for one agency ? Darn.

thanks everyone

 

[K2KOH]

If you're in Orange County it might not be a bad idea. Considering they're going to replace their EDACS system soon, it could be a Phase II system, not sure.

 

[GTR8000]

Think of it as an investment in the future.

Westchester will eventually migrate from the current analog trunked system to a P25 Phase II system, it's just a matter of time.

Even if you're not particularly interested in what goes on in Rockland on a daily basis, incidents on the river and at the bridges can lead to some interesting listening, particularly on the Interop talkgroups. You'll often hear the various PD and FD marine units operating on those talkgroups (including WCPD Marine 2 and Tarrytown FD, who both have 700 MHz radios on the system), as well as the county's helicopter. Being in CoH, I'd assume that the river is of interest to you!

It's also not uncommon to have the Park PD operating on those talkgroups along with county FD and EMS units for fires or rescues within the state parks.

 

[speedlaw]

Think of it as an investment in the future.

Westchester will eventually migrate from the current analog trunked system to a P25 Phase II system, it's just a matter of time.

Even if you're not particularly interested in what goes on in Rockland on a daily basis, incidents on the river and at the bridges can lead to some interesting listening, particularly on the Interop talkgroups. You'll often hear the various PD and FD marine units operating on those talkgroups (including WCPD Marine 2 and Tarrytown FD, who both have 700 MHz radios on the system), as well as the county's helicopter. Being in CoH, I'd assume that the river is of interest to you!

It's also not uncommon to have the Park PD operating on those talkgroups along with county FD and EMS units for fires or rescues within the state parks.

Yes, I have a good line of sight on the river, and have had a scanner 10+ years...when my old one died, I got the 15X....about six months ago !!! Anyone want to buy a barely used 15X ?

 

[namhcor]

The Bear went over the Mountain! Lol!

 

[Spec]

You may hear from time to time Bear Mtn on 158.775 when they dispatch for Reg 7 Taconic when their nighttime dispatch goes off duty .

 

[NC1]

I used to work at the Administration Building at Bear Mountain, across the field from the Bear Mountain Inn. The Park Police were on the 1st floor and I was occasionally needed to fix their computers. I do remember they had a VHF Low frequency (had it programmed in my scanner) and I cannot recall what it was, not even a hint of a clue.

Not sure if a repeater was used, but there were plenty of the HT's around. I believe their Maintenance Department was also VHF Low. If you can look up (somehow) their older frequencies, they might still be using it even though the license may be expired many years.

 

[GTR8000]

You may hear from time to time Bear Mtn on 158.775 when they dispatch for Reg 7 Taconic when their nighttime dispatch goes off duty .

The OP inquired about listening to the Palisades Region activity, not the Taconic Region. I don't believe that he is particularly interested in listening to the "Bear Mountain" dispatcher running plates for Taconic cars overnight, as opposed to him colloquially referring to 154.890 MHz as "Bear Mountain" when inquiring as to where the traffic on VHF disappeared to.

I used to work at the Administration Building at Bear Mountain, across the field from the Bear Mountain Inn. The Park Police were on the 1st floor and I was occasionally needed to fix their computers. I do remember they had a VHF Low frequency (had it programmed in my scanner) and I cannot recall what it was, not even a hint of a clue.

Not sure if a repeater was used, but there were plenty of the HT's around. I believe their Maintenance Department was also VHF Low. If you can look up (somehow) their older frequencies, they might still be using it even though the license may be expired many years.

The Park Police do not operate on low band. Prior to cutting over to the Rockland County 700 MHz trunked system in November of last year, they operated on a VHF repeater (154.890 MHz as noted by the OP). That VHF repeater is now secondary to trunking.

You are most likely thinking of the Parks Maintenance frequency of 37.94 MHz, which is listed in the database.

 

[sc800]

He may have been referring to the parks forest rangers. Which can operate on both VHF low and the park police frequencies

Interestingly they used to have regular government plates on their trucks but now have park police 8F6X plates

 

[GTR8000]

So that there is no confusion, the Park Forest Rangers (PFR) also operate on the Rockland County 700 MHz system. All 8F6x units have 700 MHz APX 6500 mobiles, and the PFR's are issued APX 7000 portables. The only difference between the Park Police and PFR portables is that the PFR have the added ability to also operate on the Rockland County fire talkgroups.

DEC also has two portables on the system for the local 7N36x officers. They are also frequently heard operating on the Bear Mountain talkgroup.

 

[Spec]

The OP inquired about listening to the Palisades Region activity, not the Taconic Region. I don't believe that he is particularly interested in listening to the "Bear Mountain" dispatcher running plates for Taconic cars overnight, as opposed to him colloquially referring to 154.890 MHz as "Bear Mountain" when inquiring as to where the traffic on VHF disappeared to.

Well thank you very much for that info. 17 posts and already the post police.

 

[NC1]

Just because there is no listing, or it's an "outdated" frequency, keep in mind that the radios are still there.
Don't think for a minute that they won't use them to have a conversation "off the books" where the chances of nobody listening is extremely high. After all - it is not assigned to them, right? It is human nature to use what is conveniently at their disposal without putting a lot of thought into it.

Well think again, it happens all the time across the country every day. Is it legal? Probably not, but then again who is going to turn them in or complain? The chances of anybody in an official capacity hearing them and taking the time to identify the offender to write them up for it is most likely a fraction of a hair above 0%, if even that.

You might be surprised at what you hear on those old expired frequencies, and that goes for almost any jurisdiction in the country.

 

[KC2zZe]

Stepping in before these rumors of old / expired / outdated / illegal use of channels take hold and grow roots:

The state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation's VHF-Low Band frequencies for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission's New York side...

39.440, 97.4 Palisades Administration
39.880, 97.4 Palisades Parks Talk 1
39.560, 97.4 Palisades Parks Talk 2
37.940, 97.4 Palisades Operations

are NOT expired (WPEX799,810; WQTF208, 209) and, in fact, are quite active. To my understanding, the only State Park Police asset capable of the low band channels is Station 901 (aka "Bear Mountain") for monitoring purposes should a facility or maintenance unit require public safety resources.

The VHF-low band channels are used by the rangers, maintenance and administration to talk among themselves and are only a small part of a complex radio network overlaying the Park Region. The other parts are
- the Rockland PSCS trunked talkgroups, used as detailed in post 13 above,
- the UHF linking system (WQRL742), and
- the legacy VHF-high band repeater that's used by:
== State Park and DEC EnCon Police units out of range of the Rockland PSC system and
==outside agencies (e.g.: volunteer ambulance corps) responding to incidents in PIPC parks/facilities, for coordination purposes.

I hope this helps put to bed some of the inaccurate information being bandied about.

 

[speedlaw]

Stepping in before these rumors of old / expired / outdated / illegal use of channels take hold and grow roots:

The state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation's VHF-Low Band frequencies for the Palisades Interstate Park Commission's New York side...

39.440, 97.4 Palisades Administration
39.880, 97.4 Palisades Parks Talk 1
39.560, 97.4 Palisades Parks Talk 2
37.940, 97.4 Palisades Operations

are NOT expired (WPEX799,810; WQTF208, 209) and, in fact, are quite active. To my understanding, the only State Park Police asset capable of the low band channels is Station 901 (aka "Bear Mountain") for monitoring purposes should a facility or maintenance unit require public safety resources.

The VHF-low band channels are used by the rangers, maintenance and administration to talk among themselves and are only a small part of a complex radio network overlaying the Park Region. The other parts are
- the Rockland PSCS trunked talkgroups, used as detailed in post 13 above,
- the UHF linking system (WQRL742), and
- the legacy VHF-high band repeater that's used by:
== State Park and DEC EnCon Police units out of range of the Rockland PSC system and
==outside agencies (e.g.: volunteer ambulance corps) responding to incidents in PIPC parks/facilities, for coordination purposes.

I hope this helps put to bed some of the inaccurate information being bandied about.

OP back again. Thanks for all of this, I have some programming to do....

 

[Comspec333]

If you're in Orange County it might not be a bad idea. Considering they're going to replace their EDACS system soon, it could be a Phase II system, not sure.

Yes, Orange County will be a Phase II system.

 

[asnhnetwork]

I miss the days on 154.890 400 to 401. When both NJ and & NY operated on the Parkway on that frequency and did a lot of coops.

 

[GTR8000]

Update: As of noon on Tuesday the 18th, a crosspatch between the 700 MHz talkgroup and 154.890 was established.

You will now be able to monitor all of the 700 MHz talkgroup activity on 154.890 (and vice versa for those monitoring the Rockland system)

Good news for those with scanners that are only capable of analog or P25 FDMA