Entities -how many per tower?

[mainetrunk]

Hi guy's. I got a mystery going on here in southern Maine.
Here's the gig-- scanning 460.725. It has 2 channel's/ dcs codes.. 131 and 174..
I -know- Emery Mills energy is 1, still working on the other.
there appears to be 2 user's..
ULS License - Industrial/Business Pool, Conventional License - WPEP966 - KOSTIS, WILLIAM N - Frequencies Summary
ULS License - Industrial/Business Pool, Conventional License - WPEP966 - KOSTIS, WILLIAM N - Frequencies Summary
Question is;
Can 2 sepparate entities share the same tower/freq?
Or can it be a channel 2?
Outside of the gas company, it is basicly an airline freq..
Going by the hints I have heard, they deal with gas, oil, propane, and trusses..
The last hint I got was the dc 174 user, and that was propane talk/delivery

 

[n0nhp]

The company I used to work for had many "community repeaters" (what it looks like the owner is doing with his machines) on a number of local mountain tops. We usually limited each repeater to 6 primary users plus another 3 or 4 secondary users. Primary users usually used 6 to 25 users and the channel was considered their primary channel. Secondary users were as large but only used the repeater when they were out of range of their primary.
Each user was assigned a DCS or sub-audible tone and we tried to keep competing companies on different machines.
Going to trunked repeaters has allowed many more users per channel and reduced the logistics of trying to keep companies separated.

Short answer is yes, two entities can share, as long as they respect the other user and monitor the frequency before transmitting.
Yes it can be a channel 2 to extend coverage away from their primary channel. Same rules apply.

Bruce

 

[mainetrunk]

I am seeing/hearing that out of a few area's... Scanning/searching will never be the same

 

[cmdrwill]

AKA Community Repeater. The repeater has a multi user capability with a different PL for each user.

 

[mainetrunk]

Are they doing that cause of a lack of freqs?
If you check the FCC Database under the state of Maine, you will see they have at least 50 freqs, which most haven't been heard from since 1980..Ish...
A waste. Especially now, we just got all state entities ( excluding D-O-T, plows ) onto a p25 trunk system.
Which would leave alot of unused vhf/uhf freq's..
Scanning just got to be a challenge, lol

 

[n0nhp]

Imagine yourself as a business owner with a fleet of 12 vehicles/operators that need to stay in touch. Do you want to foot the bill for FCC licensing and coordination, tower rental, riggers, radio shop to program and install the repeater etc?
Or buy/lease 12 handhelds or mobiles, and pay a monthly airtime rate?
Most of these community repeaters have been in operation for 30 or more years and they allow all of the staff to be aware of what is going on.
Many newer businesses with the same requirements now use cell phones and or PTT applications on their cell phones so many of the repeater operators are either relinquishing their licenses or quietly going out of business. There were 4 operators in my area when I first went to work for the radio shop. My old shop is the last man standing due to picking up the people who still need that kind of service as well as the larger construction/sand and gravel operations.
Economics are the primary reason for just about everything you will run in to.
If your public service goes encrypted, you now have a target for your hobby, however be aware that revealing what you hear from private industry is much more sensitive than in the clear public service. Publishing any of it will result in severe penalties if it is traced back to you.

Bruce

 

[prcguy]

I was a community repeater owner/operator for a number of years and did the exact same thing. Since I was licensed as a common carrier, everyone I leased repeater service to operated under my license. Companies could buy radios, get them programmed the same day and be on a repeater with no FCC hassles.

It was sometimes a challenge loading up repeaters with various users and juggling them around so their airtime meshed well with other users on the same repeater. I agree that about 6 different large companies or primary users on the same repeater is about all you want to run with maybe a few casual users who use radios in off peak times.
prcguy

The company I used to work for had many "community repeaters" (what it looks like the owner is doing with his machines) on a number of local mountain tops. We usually limited each repeater to 6 primary users plus another 3 or 4 secondary users. Primary users usually used 6 to 25 users and the channel was considered their primary channel. Secondary users were as large but only used the repeater when they were out of range of their primary.
Each user was assigned a DCS or sub-audible tone and we tried to keep competing companies on different machines.
Going to trunked repeaters has allowed many more users per channel and reduced the logistics of trying to keep companies separated.

Short answer is yes, two entities can share, as long as they respect the other user and monitor the frequency before transmitting.
Yes it can be a channel 2 to extend coverage away from their primary channel. Same rules apply.

Bruce