Shenandoah Valley - Winchester area and beyond

Hello,

My long time neighbor will be moving into a retirement community just west of the City of Winchester in a month or so. He is retired law enforcement and a very avid scanner listener. His zeal for all thing radio communication actually got our family to puchase are first scanner last year, a 536HP.

My question today is by any chance would any here be will to share their favorite lists for this area?

Due to a recent surgery he can no longer use the computer as well and I fear he will struggle to get his two scanners programmed once he moves. We will be driving him down and setting him up and based on Google Maps he should be able to hear the WV state system and well East.

He owns both a 536HP & 436HP.

His listening interest? Everything! Law, Fire, Rail, Air, Transit and Business.

Thanks so much taking the time to read my post,

Anne-britt

Anne-britt,

When you mind sharing if you receive these?

I am going to be in this area for business in a few weeks and these would be a great help.

I am mainly interested in the SIRN (WV) and STARS (VA) systems but anything would be helpful.

Thought about purchasing a GPS puck for my 436HP but just can't justify the cost to the wife since I don't travel much anymore.

Thanks,

Max

Here is a start.

Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Dispatch 154.22 110.9PL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Countywide 155.295 074DPL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Tasker 154.34 125DPL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Brown 155.265 143DPL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Cross Junction 155.175 051DPL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Countywide 154.43 065DPL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Events 154.1075 245DPL
Frederick Co Fire/Rescue Admin 155.9625 411DPL
Metro Mutual Aid 154.28
PHI AirCare 460.1125 71.9PL


Winchester City Fire/Rescue Dispatch 154.37 110.9PL
Winchester City Fire/Rescue Channel 2 154.415 110.9PL
Winchester City Fire/Rescue Channel 3 154.25 110.9PL
Metro Mutual Aid 154.28


Warren Co Fire/Rescue Dispatch 155.6175 179.9PL
Warren Co Fire/Rescue FG 155.7375 179.9PL

Clarke Co Fire/Rescue Channel 2 155.07 P25:351
Clarke Co Fire/Rescue Dispatch 155.7225 734DPL


Frederick Co Sheriff 155.01 311DPL
Winchester Medical Center Security 463.675 023DPL
Frederick Co Sheriff Channel 2 155.55 311DPL
Winchester City Police 159.21 244DPL
Winchester City Police Channel 3 158.925 244DPL

Kristopher,

Thank you so much for the response.

To anyone else that may read this, please keep the favorite list(s) coming.

As a new member here, my posts may be a little delayed due to the approval needed but I will respond in a timely manner.

My request for favorite list(s) might seems trivial to some but this move is a big deal for him and sorting out his scanners will take a load off his mind.

In addition to being the best neighbor we have ever had, he literately schooled my family when we brought the 536HP and shared his files and I would very much like to pay him back by being able to supply him with some favorites lists so he can hit the ground running without getting too frustrated with not having the ability to edit the lists on the computer.

Anne-britt

EEPhD said:

Anne-britt,

When you mind sharing if you receive these?

I am going to be in this area for business in a few weeks and these would be a great help.

I am mainly interested in the SIRN (WV) and STARS (VA) systems but anything would be helpful.

Thought about purchasing a GPS puck for my 436HP but just can't justify the cost to the wife since I don't travel much anymore.

Thanks,

Max

Click to expand...

Sure thing, Max.

Based on my limited research here on RR, looks like Hogback Mountain, Pinnacle Knob, Mount Weather are the towers to catch STARS traffic on this area.

As for SIRN, Martinsburg, Kearneysville Site 1, Romney, Ridge, Keyser, Moorefield and the Berkeley Springs towers seems to be the best bet.

This is the locals could really help. Talkgroups? Settings?

The Frederick County STARS site should be receivable without any problem. It is P25 Phase I, Link to STARS database page is - Virginia Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) Trunking System, Statewide, Virginia - Scanner Frequencies, It lists the talkgroups of the various state agencies. For me the Virginia State Police is the most interesting and is one of the most active. Frederick County STARS site freqs are -

ShenValleyFire13 said:

Here is a start.

...
PHI AirCare 460.1125 71.9PL
...

Click to expand...

Are you sure about this tone? That's what AirCare uses at Shannon Airport in Fredericksburg. Additionally, we have this frequency in database for Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport with tone of 156.7.

Medevac Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Thanks,
Dave

I can't speak for the PL tone for AirCare- Frederick Co, VA, but I can confirm SVRA is correct.

dtscho said:

Are you sure about this tone? That's what AirCare uses at Shannon Airport in Fredericksburg. Additionally, we have this frequency in database for Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport with tone of 156.7.

Medevac Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Thanks,
Dave

Click to expand...

Anne-britt,

Are the frequencies and radioreference database helping you? I don't have a 436 file for that area, but maybe someone else does, if that helps. If not, maybe I can make something and send it.

tglendye said:

Anne-britt,

Are the frequencies and radioreference database helping you? I don't have a 436 file for that area, but maybe someone else does, if that helps. If not, maybe I can make something and send it.

Click to expand...

Todd,

The data Kristopher provided and RR database are great and I been doing as much research as I can but the main issue I am having is trying to determine what is best to include.

For example I found that the best sites to include to receive the most traffic for STARS would be Pinnacle Knob, Mount Weather and Hogback Mountain but I have no clue about what talkgroups are most active.

Same thing for the WV SIRN systems, the site are easy to find but the active talkgroups is the hard part.

Your offer to make a file is really amazing. I thought my original request was a long shot but the RR forum users have been great.

Thanks.

P.S.

I read about 20 pages of the VA forums and there seems to be a few very knowledgeable users who live in this area. I tried to send them a private message but I am still too new of a user to utilize this function.

If you know mike_s104, fredva or W4UVV, ask them to take a look at this post.

Anne-britt

BM82557 said:

The Frederick County STARS site should be receivable without any problem. It is P25 Phase I, Link to STARS database page is - Virginia Statewide Agencies Radio System (STARS) Trunking System, Statewide, Virginia - Scanner Frequencies, It lists the talkgroups of the various state agencies. For me the Virginia State Police is the most interesting and is one of the most active. Frederick County STARS site freqs are -

Click to expand...

Thank you.

Which talkgroups do you find yourself holding on the most?

I don't mean to clutter my own thread but I do wish to properly thank everyone who has taken the time to post.

Anne-britt

anne-britt said:

Thank you.

Which talkgroups do you find yourself holding on the most?

I don't mean to clutter my own thread but I do wish to properly thank everyone who has taken the time to post.

Anne-britt

Click to expand...

From my location, approx 25 miles north of Winchester, it's mainly the Culpeper VSP tgs ( 17 through 31) and the Fairfax VSP tgs ( 65 through 80). Forgot to mention yesterday that the Mount Weather STARS is also received in the Winchester area.

BM82557 said:

From my location, approx 25 miles north of Winchester, it's mainly the Culpeper VSP tgs ( 17 through 31) and the Fairfax VSP tgs ( 65 through 80). Forgot to mention yesterday that the Mount Weather STARS is also received in the Winchester area.

Click to expand...

Thanks again for the information.

No reason to add the Hogback Mountain site, you think?

Based on your location, do you monitor the SIRN system as well?

The community he will be moving into looks to be in the range for certain sites on this system.

Anne-britt

anne-britt - that's nice of you to help your neighbor out.

I do not live in the Winchester area. But for the WV SIRN, I would recommend state police talkgroups 9005 and 9007. Those are the dispatch talkgroups for that part of WV. The adjacent counties in WV are Morgan and Hampshire counties, and they have listings on the WV SIRN database page. I would suggest including those counties' fire, EMS, and police dispatch and tactical talkgroups. Personally, I would avoid the talkgroups marked "private" as they are likely to contain routine chit-chat.

I would think that having the two nearest STARS sites and the two nearest SIRN sites would be sufficient.

fredva said:

....

I would think that having the two nearest STARS sites and the two nearest SIRN sites would be sufficient.

Click to expand...

I agree. In fact, I might only scan one STARS and one SIRN if the nearest sites are active enough- especially if his scanner will be mainly in one location. Having too many sites will slow the scanning down on the 436. Not to hi-jack this thread- but is there a way to increase the scan speed on trunked systems? I haven't found any settings on Sentinel.

Todd has a good point - for performance reasons, it would be best to scan only one site from each trunked system under normal circumstances. When I suggested two sites each, I was thinking of having one primary and one backup in case the primary site went offline for awhile. However, the extra sites could be put in a separate Favorites List or lists that would be turned on only if there was a problem with the primary site.

fredva said:

anne-britt - that's nice of you to help your neighbor out.

I do not live in the Winchester area. But for the WV SIRN, I would recommend state police talkgroups 9005 and 9007. Those are the dispatch talkgroups for that part of WV. The adjacent counties in WV are Morgan and Hampshire counties, and they have listings on the WV SIRN database page. I would suggest including those counties' fire, EMS, and police dispatch and tactical talkgroups. Personally, I would avoid the talkgroups marked "private" as they are likely to contain routine chit-chat.

I would think that having the two nearest STARS sites and the two nearest SIRN sites would be sufficient.

Click to expand...

Mike,

Sorry about that. I just assumed by your location designator that you were in Frederick County, VA. I should of taking the extra few seconds and viewed your profile.

Thanks for the SIRN information. This is helping me get a better grip on the workings of these systems.

tglendye said:

I agree. In fact, I might only scan one STARS and one SIRN if the nearest sites are active enough- especially if his scanner will be mainly in one location. Having too many sites will slow the scanning down on the 436. Not to hi-jack this thread- but is there a way to increase the scan speed on trunked systems? I haven't found any settings on Sentinel.

Click to expand...

Todd,

That makes sense. My logic was to try to "jam" as much potential for traffic as possible.

While these are the two main (trunking) scanners he uses and the two he will be moving with due to space considerations. He is use to having dedicated scanners running on Rail, Air, Milair hooked up to band tuned antennas.

His plans are to utilize a compact wide-band antenna on a small tripod near one of his windows since having a outside antenna is not possible.

Anne-britt