Band Opening on 154.250 9/2/2011 Fri

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W9NES

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before 7 am today I was getting a Fire Dispatch on 154.250 that was not in Indiana.I ran the call sign of KGP953 and could not find anything of the fcc database.They were dispatching Station 60.This was a Repeater and heard both Dispatch and the truck company responding.They were dispatching Ottawa Fire.Does anyone know where Ottawa Fire is located? Thank You,
 

Viper43

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Munster PD heard today along with other out of state stuff and even Tippecanoe Co while trying to log Columbus Public Safety....strange stuff when you hear Tippecanoe Co down here :)
 

W9NES

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Thanks Viper 43 for your post.Also heard another Fire Dispatch on 154.160 and it was not Shelby County Indiana Fire. They called all the Fire Department Units along with Engine 1, Engine 1 Portable, ect all the way down to MEDIC 1-5,Great to be up before 7AM to take advantage of the VHF band openings.
 

VE3RADIO

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before 7 am today I was getting a Fire Dispatch on 154.250 that was not in Indiana.I ran the call sign of KGP953 and could not find anything of the fcc database.They were dispatching Station 60.This was a Repeater and heard both Dispatch and the truck company responding.They were dispatching Ottawa Fire.Does anyone know where Ottawa Fire is located? Thank You,

There is an Ottawa, ON (Canada) and a Ottawa, IL... most likely Ottawa IL
 

W9NES

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Thank You WZ 1 for your post. This was not Ottawa, ON (Canada).With all the band openings on VHF all might to check out the Fire Freqs in the 154Mhz band.This was a great catch for me on a Bearcat 300 scanner on my nightstand with just the pull up antenna.The scanner is on our second flloor on out two story home and this acts like a antenna that is up around 25-30Feet,I do not have any outdoor antennas up but when I get a band opening I hear all over.
 

58006

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Chicopee Mass 154.160?

Thanks Viper 43 for your post.Also heard another Fire Dispatch on 154.160 and it was not Shelby County Indiana Fire. They called all the Fire Department Units along with Engine 1, Engine 1 Portable, ect all the way down to MEDIC 1-5,Great to be up before 7AM to take advantage of the VHF band openings.

That sounds like the Chicopee Mass Fire Department shift change roll call. Of recent it is load and clear in the Saratoga-Lake George Region of NYS.
 

RadioGuy1951

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2 way FM-DX

The BEST "FM Ducting" I had was way back in the early to mid 1980's...I was eating lunch in in my car near Novato, CA (Marin County) and had my trusty Bearcat 250 with me plus a Radio Snack mag mount scanner antenna on the roof of my car, and I was listening to the Marin County CHP dispatch on Silver Base - 42.08 Mhz, and if I remember correctly the PL is 138.4...

All of a sudden some FM interferrence started and then I was listening to a female southern accent asking her units to "Please repeat because of skip from California"...

And then the local CHP Dispatcher said she was getting skip "from someplace else"...

I extended my lunchbreak until I got both call signs...


I hated to turn the scanner off and return to work, but as a wage slave I had no choice...but that day will always be rememebred in my feeble brain as the best coast to coast "FM Ducting" on a VERY hot day...


I called up a friend at the San Francisco FCC office and run the callsigns (there was NO internet back then where you could do a database search)...

That "Southern female voice" was that of the Florida Highway Patrol swapping VHF-LO skip on that very hot August day with the California Highway Patrol...


And that VERY HOT day was much like TODAY (so keep your radio on and a log book nearby) it's 103*f here...
 
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Viper43

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When I lived in PA I used to hear the Huston TX FD all the time on VHF Low. I'd hear them for hours on end. Kinda miss the low band stuff these days
 

Ishmole

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When I lived in PA I used to hear the Huston TX FD all the time on VHF Low. I'd hear them for hours on end. Kinda miss the low band stuff these days
Me too! It was great for listening to, but horrible if you were trying to call your own base. Low band was great
 
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