Winston Salem Fire Dispatch

[randyK]

Does anyone know why at the end of all W-S fire dispatches they still use the callsign KUJ558? I think it was for their old repeater freq 460.625. FCC records show this callsign expired in 2005.
Randy

[C138Kaysone]

I always wondered the same thing, the Alamance county sheriff dispatch always say their call sign at the end "KID448" after a BOLO "be on the look out" has been broadcasted but since ccom dispatches alamance, graham, haw river, elon.. the others dont really say their call signs at all, I only thought you would do that on HAM Freq's every 10 minutes but not on a VHF/UHF Commercial/Business Band.

[KE4ZNR]

Originally Posted by randyK

Does anyone know why at the end of all W-S fire dispatches they still use the callsign KUJ558? I think it was for their old repeater freq 460.625. FCC records show this callsign expired in 2005.
Randy

My Guess: Just tough to break an old habit. Raleigh PD was using the no longer valid "KSZ446" to end Raleigh 1 BOLOs/announcements even after they switched to 800Mhz. Of course the 800Mhz system they are using is not licensed under KSZ446 but over 20/30 years of saying that at the end of multiple BOLOs/announcements per day it is tough break that ingrained habit. I have talked to RWECC dispatchers that say it feels weird not to say the usual "KSZ446 WNCK345" at the end of each BOLO/announcement.
For those unaware:
KSZ446= Old Raleigh PD Ch 1 Citywide Dispatch UHF callsign (no longer valid)
WNCK345= Old Garner PD UHF Dispatch Callsign (No longer valid).
Happy Monitoring!
Marshall KE4ZNR

[yodermans]

Hello All.

I am one of the people behind the mics. We are mandated by the FCC to give the Call sign every 30 mins or after a broadcast if the system is not equipment with automatic system that ids the transmitter for you. I just got a email last week were Fcc fine a department for not doing that.

[KE4ZNR]

Originally Posted by yodermans

Hello All.

I am one of the people behind the mics. We are mandated by the FCC to give the Call sign every 30 mins or after a broadcast if the system is not equipment with automatic system that ids the transmitter for you. I just got a email last week were Fcc fine a department for not doing that.

Welcome to RR.com yodermans! Good to have you with us!
I think everyone is aware of the FCC requirement to ID every so often. What is being discussed here is the fact that some agencies/counties ID with no longer valid callsigns.
Good discussion so far!
Marshall KE4ZNR

[fcfd988]

WSFD communications has always done things a little different....... They do continue to use the callsign KUJ-558 even though the 460.625 freq that callsign was associated with was taken off the air in 2005. It absolutely makes no sense. Also what makes no sense is the fact that WSFD dispatch is still known as "KUJ", obviously derived from the callsign. When the field units call dispatch, they call "KUJ". The same thing holds true for the WSPD dispatch. They still give the old callsign KLS-490 after transmissions and are still known as "KLS". It seems like they always have a lot of people in training over at W-S communications. Since they are still giving the old callsigns, it seems that they are still training new people to do it. But why??

Other Forsyth County comm centers used to use this practice. FCSO's old UHF callsign was KIU-783 and they used to be known as "KIU". They actually stopped using this identifier some time before going to 800 MHz and are still known today as "Sheriff's Office". Kernersville PD's old callsign before 800 MHz was KST-221 and I think they are still using "KST" for their identifier.

I am thankful that over at Forsyth County Fire and EMS Communications we have always been "Control". At least when we switched to 800 MHz we didnt have to give up an old habit like the other centers. Our people were trained to the level of understanding that when we stopped transmitting on the old VHF EMS freq that we no longer gave the callsign.