Amarillo members?

fasteddy64 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 08:30 AM

I will be spending a few days in Amarillo and am interested in any monitoring tips.

Also are there any good shops/stores that sell radio equipment? I need a good section of coax for my end-fed HF antenna.

Thanks,
Ed
KG5UN

SteveDouglass · #2 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 08:43 AM

Not really- I have to order everything over the Internet. There are a few radio (commercial) supply houses such as Omega - but be prepared to pay out the nose.

Ensnared · #3 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fasteddy64

I will be spending a few days in Amarillo and am interested in any monitoring tips.

Also are there any good shops/stores that sell radio equipment? I need a good section of coax for my end-fed HF antenna.

Thanks,
Ed
KG5UN

Although I no longer live in this area of Texas, I recently monitored various LE agencies in this area. It was Amarillo PD uses DES on one channel, but most of the others are in the clear.

In my opinion, there are more clear channels to monitor than in Abilene, Texas.

When I was there, I programmed Potter and Randall counties for sure. If you are interested in TDCJ-ID, you might want to consult this section of the RR DB. Also, DPS was quite active.

So, do you work for TDCJ?

fasteddy64 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 11:44 AM

Thanks for the info.

No, I do not work for TDCJ, I work for the City of Abilene Fire Department, just coming to Amarillo for my wife's business.

There is still a fair amount to monitor in Abilene, the only thing not in the clear is APD and a portion of AFD stuff. Lots of VFD's and county SO stuff for Taylor and the surrounding counties.

I programmed up the BC-780 with stuff from the RR database so should be able to hear quirte a bit up there.

Ensnared · #5 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fasteddy64

Thanks for the info.

No, I do not work for TDCJ, I work for the City of Abilene Fire Department, just coming to Amarillo for my wife's business.

There is still a fair amount to monitor in Abilene, the only thing not in the clear is APD and a portion of AFD stuff. Lots of VFD's and county SO stuff for Taylor and the surrounding counties.

I programmed up the BC-780 with stuff from the RR database so should be able to hear quite a bit up there.

Abilene used to be a nice place to monitor, but this was before Pro-Voice. I used to live there.

In my opinion, Amarillo may be a bit more interesting due to the general perceived attitude of the community. There seems to be more of a rebellious attitude in that city. The fox show Cops has used Amarillo as a location.

Good luck on monitoring. If you are headed up highway 84, watch out for speed traps in Snyder, Post, and anything north of Lubbock on IH27. Hale Center and mile marker 15 seem to be quite active areas along this route.

DWW

fasteddy64 · #6 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 03:00 PM

Thanks for the tips on the highway, I will be sure to be careful.

Yes the Pro-voice system sure changed monitoring in Abilene. All of the PD traffic is Pro-voice, and the EMS Tac we use on the AFD is Pro-voice, everything else is still in the clear. I just happen to have my own personal Ma-com portable so I can listen to nealy everything.

73,
Ed
KG5UN

Ensnared · #7 (**permalink**) 09-13-2011, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fasteddy64

Thanks for the tips on the highway, I will be sure to be careful.

Yes the Pro-voice system sure changed monitoring in Abilene. All of the PD traffic is Pro-voice, and the EMS Tac we use on the AFD is Pro-voice, everything else is still in the clear. I just happen to have my own personal Ma-com portable so I can listen to nealy everything.

73,
Ed
KG5UN

You know, I am retired from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, mental health. There is an opening for a Woodway PD dispatcher. Perhaps, I might try getting access to a radio of my own, ha.

fasteddy64 · #8 (**permalink**) 09-16-2011, 12:28 PM

Sure am glad I brought more than one radio! this place reminds me of what it was like to monitor in Abilene a few years back, lots of activity.
Currently monitoring a level II haz-mat at the rail yard!

Ensnared · #9 (**permalink**) 09-17-2011, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fasteddy64

Sure am glad I brought more than one radio! this place reminds me of what it was like to monitor in Abilene a few years back, lots of activity.
Currently monitoring a level II haz-mat at the rail yard!

Cool. Abilene used to be pretty hot when I listened in the 1970's and 1980's. Like I said, Amarillo has moxy. Oh, while you there, you might try Dyer's BBQ. It was starred in Texas Monthly. Yum, it was good.

Keep us posted on what you're picking up. I seriously doubt this would be in the clear, but there is a Pantex plant near town. This is where they make bombs or bomb components. I bet is encrrypted, possibly private security like Wackenhut or something.

Ensnared · #10 (**permalink**) 09-19-2011, 11:16 AM

Were you still in Amarillo on Friday when the explosion occurred? Reportedly, the downtown area was evacuated. The news was interviewing a firefighter about this incident.

fasteddy64 · #11 (**permalink**) 09-19-2011, 09:28 PM

Yes sir, we were there! I had all three radios going too (BC-780, Pro-97 and FT-60)
Fire was using 154.34 and 154.31, EMS was using UHF and PD was using VHF. Lots of good comms that day.

I also had the scanner going last night and heard another interesting incident. I came in on it a little late but heard a PD officer reporting one victim in a house with GSW to the head. Heard traffic on the FD reporting the same along with a burn victim. you can hear a lot in Amarillo with a simple conventional scanner!

texasemt13 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensnared

I seriously doubt this would be in the clear, but there is a Pantex plant near town. This is where they make bombs or bomb components. I bet is encrrypted, possibly private security like Wackenhut or something.

I'd like to know about this place also, if any comms are in the clear. As far as I know, Pantex is responsible for assembling/disassembling nuclear components. One hint that nuclear components are there (besides numerous articles online, Google it) is this license. I've heard it in Matagorda County, but there aren't many redfish in Amarillo, so I'm never near there.

Ensnared · #13 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fasteddy64

Yes sir, we were there! I had all three radios going too (BC-780, Pro-97 and FT-60)
Fire was using 154.34 and 154.31, EMS was using UHF and PD was using VHF. Lots of good comms that day.

I also had the scanner going last night and heard another interesting incident. I came in on it a little late but heard a PD officer reporting one victim in a house with GSW to the head. Heard traffic on the FD reporting the same along with a burn victim. you can hear a lot in Amarillo with a simple conventional scanner!

Yes, when I saw this on the news, I immediately thought of you possibly being up there. I am unfamilair with "FT-60." Yes, Amarillo has always been a wild city.

Since I heard there were no victims, this was a great incident for scanning. How long are you going to be up there?

Keep us posted.

DWW

Ensnared · #14 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texasemt13

I'd like to know about this place also, if any comms are in the clear. As far as I know, Pantex is responsible for assembling/disassembling nuclear components. One hint that nuclear components are there (besides numerous articles online, Google it) is this license. I've heard it in Matagorda County, but there aren't many redfish in Amarillo, so I'm never near there.

Yes, that is their mission. I actually know someone who works out there. But, I knew better than to ask questions about radio frequencies.

I don't get the connection between the Department of Health and Pantex.

I am sending a PM to you.

nd5y · #15 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensnared

I don't get the connection between the Department of Health and Pantex.

Radiation Control Program Home Page

Ensnared · #16 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nd5y

Radiation Control Program Home Page

I thought this might be the case, but I was not sure. So, these locations are associated with radioactive material exposure? Interesting observation.

Like I indicated, I suspect the radio transmissions from this facility are encrypted. Or, possibly Wackenhut is in charge of security. God help us.

As you may guess, I am not a fan of this security agency. They were the ones responsible for the security breaches at Los Alamos.

fasteddy64 · #17 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensnared

Yes, when I saw this on the news, I immediately thought of you possibly being up there. I am unfamilair with "FT-60." Yes, Amarillo has always been a wild city.

Since I heard there were no victims, this was a great incident for scanning. How long are you going to be up there?

Keep us posted.

DWW

I am back in Abilene, drove back yesterday afternoon.
It was a very interesting incident to scan, it is always fun to listen to how other departments operate.

The FT-60 is a Yaesu dual-band ham HT, it has an awesome wide receiver and I use it more for a scanner than to talk on. I concentrate most of my monitoring to military air when I am home and the FT-60 excels in that capacity.
I never did any searching for Pantex activity, I was pretty busy on the ham bands, I had my HF rig with me and the bands were quite good.

texasemt13 · #18 (**permalink**) 09-20-2011, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensnared

So, these locations are associated with radioactive material exposure?

Nuclear weapons by there definition involve elements and compounds that decay radioactively. You should read The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes. It is one of my favorites (just finished it for the second time). It's a great book. nd5y hit it on the head, DoH (which is actually DoSHS, State Health Services) is more concerned with exposure (to workers and the public), which is also why that license shows the site in Matagorda COunty (South Texas Nuclear Project).

loumaag · #19 (**permalink**) 09-21-2011, 09:01 AM

When I was living there (Amarillo that is) I tried to see if I could figure out if Pantex had something going on radio wise. I am sure they must but I could never find it. Of course it's about 17 miles out of town and almost 25 miles from where I was in town. They may be low power or using military/federal freqs., and unless I was driving out past the place I would have had no chance of hearing them. All in all, there really isn't much reason to be in the area unless you belong there, so just hanging around hunting for radio transmissions was not something I wanted to do.

Ensnared · #20 (**permalink**) 09-21-2011, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fasteddy64

I am back in Abilene, drove back yesterday afternoon.
It was a very interesting incident to scan, it is always fun to listen to how other departments operate.

The FT-60 is a Yaesu dual-band ham HT, it has an awesome wide receiver and I use it more for a scanner than to talk on. I concentrate most of my monitoring to military air when I am home and the FT-60 excels in that capacity.
I never did any searching for Pantex activity, I was pretty busy on the ham bands, I had my HF rig with me and the bands were quite good.

Thanks

It is good that you were able to hear so much activity in Amarillo. If I weren't worried about breaking protocol and getting a fine, I would pursue my Ham license. I am not interested in pursing it at this point.

In Amarillo, it seems as though radio signals have endless propagation.