nfd540
Member
Is there an interagency or SPEN frequency.
SPEN
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TheManBornWithin
Member
w2xq
Mentor
Yes, it is. Around here, it seems to be used mostly for missing adults and children particularly in the evening hours to shortly after Midnight. I wouldn't classify it as active, though. Once and a while, a municipality will ask if there are any surrounding agencies for a canine patrol for a drug search. Again, typically evenings after dark. HTH.
APX8000
Sarcastic Member
Depends on what part of the State you are in. For example, Morris County uses MIRS-1 on the trunked system for BOLOs, but most agencies and the County also put it out on SPEN 1. Same goes for Hudson County (LERN) on the NJ State TRS, Union County (Hotline) on the 700 NJ ICS, etc.
NJSP cars have VHF SPEN radios and all the bases still monitor it as well. Newark uses it all the time...joke on the street is Newark knows how to talk on it, they just don't know how to listen to it !
You mentioned NY and I can tell you alot of agencies don't monitor NY LAW 1 (the old Statewide MRD 155.370). Rockland County uses their County VHF and TRS "Headquarters" repeater/talkgroup, Orange County uses "Intersystem" on the NYCOMCO EDACS system or the "911 Polling" channel. Alot of the other Counties also uses their 911 channels (Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam for example).
NJSP cars have VHF SPEN radios and all the bases still monitor it as well. Newark uses it all the time...joke on the street is Newark knows how to talk on it, they just don't know how to listen to it !
You mentioned NY and I can tell you alot of agencies don't monitor NY LAW 1 (the old Statewide MRD 155.370). Rockland County uses their County VHF and TRS "Headquarters" repeater/talkgroup, Orange County uses "Intersystem" on the NYCOMCO EDACS system or the "911 Polling" channel. Alot of the other Counties also uses their 911 channels (Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam for example).
AC2OY
Member
I still have them programmed in my scanner and never hear anything. I do see SPEN patch pop up once in a blue moon so I'm assuming that's what they use now? It's on the NJISC system I think. I'm in north Jersey ESSEX county so I should hear Newark if they use it. How does this work their portable or car radios have that channel or is it just the dispatchers that have the ability to transmit and recieve spen?
AC2OY
Member
Lou, were they the ones that used to broadcast music and just keep the mic keyed I used to hear that quite often in my younger years of scanning!!! Oh the good old days my Realistic Pro-2006 I could hear everybody!! Out of boredom I used to do service searches hit the up & down arrows just to see what I could hear that wasn't programmed in.
danieldad
Member
Hi, back in "the day" - (80s-90s), while living in Rochester & working as a regional paramedic, western ny counties commonly routinely used 'point to point' 155.370 mhz, for area wide law enforcement activities ( ie: bolo's, missing persons, chases, etc.), as well as state wide fire, 45.88 mhz. We had a low band radio, in addition to our other radios, in the medic units, to communicate with some of the counties whose fd & ems were on low band, & for comms on 45.88. In addition, there were several counties in lower western ny that utilized 39.xx mhz, which was denoted as sheriff county to county, for similar info that 155.37 was used for in 'upper' wny.
Over that time, I'd often hear activity on 42.xx mhz, also in the low band radio, ( -as well as while listening in my shack at home), which was/is a nysp base to base frequency, - & that has that typical fantastic low band coverage. I'd logged many comms on that 42 mhz freq, sitting in the shack, from Binghamton, across to Cattaraugus County, from various SP substations, & a few sheriff's depts.
Haven't been back home to Rochester since around '03-'04, but keep my eye on the changes.... hope their phase 2 700 system works out for the Monroe/Ontario county thing. So far, its my impression that - for what traffic is on it, - things are going well.
Over that time, I'd often hear activity on 42.xx mhz, also in the low band radio, ( -as well as while listening in my shack at home), which was/is a nysp base to base frequency, - & that has that typical fantastic low band coverage. I'd logged many comms on that 42 mhz freq, sitting in the shack, from Binghamton, across to Cattaraugus County, from various SP substations, & a few sheriff's depts.
Haven't been back home to Rochester since around '03-'04, but keep my eye on the changes.... hope their phase 2 700 system works out for the Monroe/Ontario county thing. So far, its my impression that - for what traffic is on it, - things are going well.
It's a long complicated story, and there are various different versions of how it all got started. Long story short, no it wasn't always North Bergen. It was just a running joke to blame them each time it happened. It was extra funny to me because I'm from North Bergen.
some of the funniest radio transmissions I ever heard in scanning have come from Spen 1.
Saturday night back in the day was Porn audio night and audio clips from movies.
Saturday night back in the day was Porn audio night and audio clips from movies.
AC2OY
Member
LOL ok I hear you I have a few work buddies from North Bergen
AC2OY
Member
Oh my...LOL
APX8000
Sarcastic Member
Newark puts out all their pursuits on SPEN. The cars stay on UHF but Dispatch will either repeat on SPEN or patch it. Especially if it is close to bordering town or State highway.
You will still hear "knock it off North Bergen" and the "Kelly Clarkson" idiot that the FCC guys are hunting down.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You will still hear "knock it off North Bergen" and the "Kelly Clarkson" idiot that the FCC guys are hunting down.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
AC2OY
Member
Wow
SPEN1 is alive and well in NENJ.(Essex, Passaic, Bergen, etc) It's definitely used daily. You may want to upgrade/relocate your antenna if you're not hearing anything.
AC2OY
Member
Actually the last firmware made this scanner a lot more active! If I listen long enough I get SPEN.
I heard 1 of the Medivac helicopters dispatched and told to use SPEN 1 over the weekend. I'm 99% sure it was in North Jersey.
902
Member
Gee, the "Knock it off North Bergen" thing goes waaaaay back to the 80s. Just before I moved (mid-90s) I used to hear a lot of "Reeeeeee-co-laaaaaaa" on midnights. Also, "E.O. to 'Nerk', E.O. to 'Nerk'. Unplug the coffee pot and plug the SPEN radio back in!" Haven't heard any Kelly Clarkson, but I haven't been back home since last summer. Midnights have to be pretty boring.
I always knew SPEN1 as the main channel to know what was going on in the region.
The original SPEN plan called for the following:
SPEN 1 - a point to point frequency, but mobiles were allowed
SPEN 2 - the national law enforcement emergency channel
SPEN 3 - a law enforcement car-to-car channel (was more or less unusable in Bergen Co. because of Rockland Co. using it)
SPEN 4 - an intercom with "everybody else" (same as JEMS 4 and usually claimed by EMS coordination at large scale multiple casualty incidents)
Channels 1 and 3 were supposed to be PL, channels 2 and 4 were supposed to be carrier squelch. The little indie radio shops and self-programmers never followed the plan, and car radios would usually be anything from carrier squelch on everything ("Hey, this thing doesn't transmit") to PL on everything ("Hey, I can't hear everybody").
I had a similar situation in the Midwest, though. Road deputies would play country music at about 3 AM and clutter up the frequency. When we went digital, I programmed every radio with a unique ID that the dispatcher could see. I was listening to the first night of the cut-over - about 0300 some distorted twang comes over the air (digital doesn't handle music well). Car unkeys. 'Spatcher calls the car by unit number asking if he was okay. Very long pause... "Um, disregard, that was accidental!" LOLOL!!! And that stopped all the horseplay there. Completely. I don't think NJSP had much success if any with the fast DTMF tones with the phone numbers of the control points they programmed into the Midland SPEN bases.
I always knew SPEN1 as the main channel to know what was going on in the region.
The original SPEN plan called for the following:
SPEN 1 - a point to point frequency, but mobiles were allowed
SPEN 2 - the national law enforcement emergency channel
SPEN 3 - a law enforcement car-to-car channel (was more or less unusable in Bergen Co. because of Rockland Co. using it)
SPEN 4 - an intercom with "everybody else" (same as JEMS 4 and usually claimed by EMS coordination at large scale multiple casualty incidents)
Channels 1 and 3 were supposed to be PL, channels 2 and 4 were supposed to be carrier squelch. The little indie radio shops and self-programmers never followed the plan, and car radios would usually be anything from carrier squelch on everything ("Hey, this thing doesn't transmit") to PL on everything ("Hey, I can't hear everybody").
I had a similar situation in the Midwest, though. Road deputies would play country music at about 3 AM and clutter up the frequency. When we went digital, I programmed every radio with a unique ID that the dispatcher could see. I was listening to the first night of the cut-over - about 0300 some distorted twang comes over the air (digital doesn't handle music well). Car unkeys. 'Spatcher calls the car by unit number asking if he was okay. Very long pause... "Um, disregard, that was accidental!" LOLOL!!! And that stopped all the horseplay there. Completely. I don't think NJSP had much success if any with the fast DTMF tones with the phone numbers of the control points they programmed into the Midland SPEN bases.
jmp883
Member
I started listening to scanners in the 1980's and started dispatching in the early 1990's. Back then SPEN-1 was truly a radio playground. Movie and cartoon sound bites were common, especially on the overnights. It has calmed down a lot since them, though it can still get interesting. Some agencies use SPEN-4 as a LZ frequency for medi-vac landings.
I guess it's a good thing that SPEN-1 isn't as crazy as it used to be.......:wink:
I guess it's a good thing that SPEN-1 isn't as crazy as it used to be.......:wink:
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