MSP??

I've been parked on 39.3200 MHz for the last hour and it's a ghost town.
I'm aware of the patched talkgroup on the county system (32464) and
B9 at 32496. I haven't monitored low band in a while.
Does SYSCOM still coordinate medevacs on 44.7400 MHz?
Are they still using low band?

Is the VHF (155.7300 MHz) extender still in use?

I dug up a Beartracker stored away and attempting to determine if its of any value.

Thanks,
Tim

Yes. They still use low band.
Syscom uses 44.74, but is also using, more frequently, the 700mz frequencies for medical.

In some ares where FiRST has been around for a while, there may be much less activity on low band as they have migrated.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

Hoseman292 said:

I've been parked on 39.3200 MHz for the last hour and it's a ghost town.
I'm aware of the patched talkgroup on the county system (32464) and
B9 at 32496. I haven't monitored low band in a while.
Does SYSCOM still coordinate medevacs on 44.7400 MHz?
Are they still using low band?

Is the VHF (155.7300 MHz) extender still in use?

I dug up a Beartracker stored away and attempting to determine if its of any value.

Thanks,
Tim

Click to expand...

If your beartracker is one of those that proportion to scan state police frequencies for the selected state, it's probably way out of date with frequencies. It is a very discontinued scanner and scanning process.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

Switched Antennas

Thanks Mark,
I switched from a wideband Omni to a 10 meters whip and I'm hearing traffic fine from the Rockville barracks.
Haven't attempted 44.7400 MHz yet.
44.7400 was great to monitor in the 80's to hear SYSCOM dispatch medevacs.
For Maryland the Beartracker is programmed to alert for any traffic on their extender VHF frequency.
With test equipment I generated a signal on 155.7300 MHz and the alert tripped. Before installing I wanted to be sure their mobile extenders were still in use. Thanks for the info.

Tim

most portable are now 800 Mhz and the VRS are have very little use

Doubt the mobile extenders are still in service. Same for using the 155mz channel for barracks to barracks.



Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

It is my understanding that MSP will still use mobile extenders, as MdFIRST has only mobile coverage in some areas of the state. I thought I had read at some point that they would continue to use the VHF extender frequency, but can't be sure. I would imagine using a 700mhz frequency as an extender would be more likely. However, in areas with consistent portable coverage (the Baltimore area cells, and the Eastern Shore), troopers are connecting directly to the system using their portables, and you won't hear the extender at all. I'm guessing you'll see more extender use as the western regions sign on to FIRST.

As for SYSCOM and medieval dispatch, if the helicopter is at their base, dispatch is done by phone. One the helicopter is airborne, they do still use 44.74mhz, but it's steered, so only the transmitter geographically closest to where the helicopter is operating will be used.

I hadn't heard that they will be using any "extenders" or VRS. In the caprices and crown Vic's the VRS antenna is a short antenna mounted inside the vehicle. You can see about 3 inches of it if you look into the rear window of their cars.

I know on the shore the VRS are only hooked to their low band radios for cars that even still have them (some were taken out to put in new cars going to areas of the state still using lowband)

According to PMO-released info over the last few years, additional in-building coverage for the state system will be provided where required via ISSI links to local systems or additional towers for counties migrating to FiRST. I have seen/heard no mention of VRS/DVRS for the system by PMO or MSP ESD.


Going back to some more stuff for the OP:

Looking at your loc and that freq, I guess you're in Montgomery County monitoring Barrack N. Most of their operations are conducted on their talkgroup on the county's 800 MHz SmartZone system. I don't know if the patch from 39.32 is bidirectional, but if it is, it'll only be heard within good range of their base transmit antennas, which can vary by terrain. You'll probably only hear mobiles in your area talking back to Rockville on 39.32 very, very rarely.

SYSCOM 44.74 is still being used by TROOPER and many tertiary MEDEVAC providers. Input from 44.74 is patched to the 7AIR60 (P25, simplex) network, which is becoming the dominant channel patched in that net as towers get built out across the state and TROOPER and tertiary-provider aircraft radios get upgraded. 7AIR60 is slated to become the main SYSCOM airborne channel due to the superior noise cancellation and audio characteristics P25 provides. That, in turn, is also patched to the SYSCOM talkgroup on the Maryland FiRST system for aviation units to use/monitor while decked.

dpcain said:

SYSCOM 44.74 is still being used by TROOPER and many tertiary MEDEVAC providers. Input from 44.74 is patched to the 7AIR60 (P25, simplex) network, which is becoming the dominant channel patched in that net as towers get built out across the state and TROOPER and tertiary-provider aircraft radios get upgraded. 7AIR60 is slated to become the main SYSCOM airborne channel due to the superior noise cancellation and audio characteristics P25 provides. That, in turn, is also patched to the SYSCOM talkgroup on the Maryland FiRST system for aviation units to use/monitor while decked.

Click to expand...

I heard AirCare xx on SYSCOM 44.74 yesterday, a bit unusual for me at my location. Anyway, do airborne transmissions from a helo operating on 44.74 get automatically repeated on 7AIR60 (769.63125) for other aircraft using 700 radios?

Fuzzy recollection is that they are, but I'm really not sure now that I think about it.

I may have heard that at least once over a year ago.

For sure, both feed into the FIRST talkgroup. Can't really remember the last time I definitely heard a bidirectional patch on the simplex VHF/700 systems... if at all. I'll keep an ear open on 7AIR60 to see...

Express Care 1 marked up last month on 7Air60 that they had their radio programmed now for this frequency. They then did a test on 7Air67. I did hear them test on Air 67 also.