First Responder

[Sac916]

Anybody have the freqs or trunk system for First Responder Ambulance Co. for the Sacramento Valley?

 

[Sac916]

Anybody have the freqs or trunk system for First Responder Ambulance Co. for the Sacramento Valley?

Sheesh, while I'm at it - How about other PRIVATE ambulance companies out there?
Have any data to share for Sacramento valley area.

 

[Station81FirstAlarm]

Don't have too many, but:

AMR Sacramento - 155.265 (heard they had some licensing issues though)
AMR Placer - 155.295
AMR Yolo - 155.235
Above 3 do simulcast from time to time. Sac is 100 units, Placer 200 units, Yolo 300 units.

Medic Ambulance - Uses a UHF high trunk 400 sumthin mhz'ish. Possibly LTR. Never did figure out their freq. when I worked there.

First Responder - Your origninal request. Have no idea, although I have seen them using Nextel for their comms a bit.

Can't even remember who else is in the area, Priority One maybe, but no idea.

I got out of the interest in private ambulance when 1. when I stopped working for them 2. knowing that I could hear better the calls dispatched by fire, and 3. hearing interfacility transfers dispatched constantly just brings back bad memories.

For ambulance to hospital traffic, most of Sacramento is on the TRS, although I'm sure the old UHF mednet probably gets some use, especially in placer county (SRMC med 4).

Not much info, but hope it helps.

 

[scannerboy02]

AMR Sacramento - 155.265 (heard they had some licensing issues though)

That would explain why I'm not getting traffic on it any more.

the old UHF mednet probably gets some use, especially in placer county (SRMC med 4).

UCDMC also uses med 8 in addition to the blue net 155.340 and the SRRCS TRS.

Also just a side note CALSTAR has been using the SRRCS TRS for Sutter Roseville lately and I also heard them doing a radio test with state parks on 858.4875 a few days ago.

 

[scannerboy02]

AMR Sacramento - 155.265 (heard they had some licensing issues though)

Could they have gone to the LIFECOM PassPort system?

 

[darkstar187]

I currently work for First Responder Sac. I am new to scanning and would like to figure out the frequencies as well. I have a Pro-97 and by using the Limit Search feature on the Pro-97 I have come up with 2 frequencies I have heard FR Units on.

I have heard units 216/221/227 on 457.062500
I have heard unit 226 on 457.762500

Now I can only hear the units talking to Dispatch. I cant hear dispatch calling out to the units. I have trying using the Limit Search feature and Signal Stalker feature by the dispatch to pick up the frequency but I haven't got anything. There are also a lot more rigs that I haven't been able to get yet.

When talking about the radio we refer to it as the "400."

Maybe some of this information can help those who know more about this stuff then me and can help me with trying to find out how the system works and how to find out the other frequencies.

Thanks

 

[Sac916]

I currently work for First Responder Sac. I am new to scanning and would like to figure out the frequencies as well. I have a Pro-97 and by using the Limit Search feature on the Pro-97 I have come up with 2 frequencies I have heard FR Units on.

I have heard units 216/221/227 on 457.062500
I have heard unit 226 on 457.762500

Now I can only hear the units talking to Dispatch. I cant hear dispatch calling out to the units. I have trying using the Limit Search feature and Signal Stalker feature by the dispatch to pick up the frequency but I haven't got anything. There are also a lot more rigs that I haven't been able to get yet.

When talking about the radio we refer to it as the "400."

Maybe some of this information can help those who know more about this stuff then me and can help me with trying to find out how the system works and how to find out the other frequencies.

Thanks

That's awesome information , thanks!

Those two frequencies, were they aquired from transmission of the ambulance radio?

 

[darkstar187]

Yes one of them was. I did a limit search while using the ambulance radio and it caught it. I then continued to do a limit search around 455.000 to 459.000 and got the other ones.

I tried doing it with the dispatch but couldnt get anything. Any advise?

 

[Sac916]

Yes one of them was. I did a limit search while using the ambulance radio and it caught it. I then continued to do a limit search around 455.000 to 459.000 and got the other ones.

I tried doing it with the dispatch but couldnt get anything. Any advise?

Use your Signal Stalker - it's much more efficient. Try grabbing freqs several times. I suspect that FR uses a Trunked radio system, leased access from SMR ( business radio system )

If you have a side channel, key up on that a couple times. If you are able to descretely key up a few times to grab freqs or to confirm freqs, that would be the best tactic.

 

[darkstar187]

I am a newbie when it comes to this kind of stuff. What do you mean by have a side channel?

 

[Sac916]

I am a newbie when it comes to this kind of stuff. What do you mean by have a side channel?

No worries - sorry, sometimes the lingo is a foreign language.

Side channel meaning, a back up channel, an ambulance-to-ambulance channel. Some radio system have a set up like this..

channel 1 = dispatch (main)
channel 2 = car-to-car

or another example

channel 1 = placer dispatch
channel 2 = yolo dispatch
channel 3 = car-to-car

The car to car would be known as side channel.

Good luck - thanks for the info! have fun out there

 

[darkstar187]

No worries - sorry, sometimes the lingo is a foreign language.

Side channel meaning, a back up channel, an ambulance-to-ambulance channel. Some radio system have a set up like this..

channel 1 = dispatch (main)
channel 2 = car-to-car

or another example

channel 1 = placer dispatch
channel 2 = yolo dispatch
channel 3 = car-to-car

The car to car would be known as side channel.

Good luck - thanks for the info! have fun out there

Ok. I have more info I forgot to mention about FR. Maybe this will help some. The units we use are Kenwoods. In the ambulances we can hear all the dispatches and can hear all the other ambulances talking to dispatch, we can hear everything. On the radios we have I believe three different options. Vaca, Pine and I cant remeber the third. We use Pine.

 

[Station81FirstAlarm]

Vaca, Pine, and the others (possibly Big Rock), or ummmm...can't remember that far back are repeaters for a UHF (400) Trunk. Medic Ambulance uses the same setup. The freq.'s that you are likely locating are just pieces of that puzzle. Good info to search the databases with though to try to figure out who owns the service. It is likely shared with anyone from tow trucks to buses. I'm willing to bet when you key up you have to wait for a beep before you can transmit. I'll try to do some more digging around because I've been curious about what service seems to govern that particular system.

 

[selgaran]

I have heard units 216/221/227 on 457.062500
I have heard unit 226 on 457.762500

The standard offset in this band is 5 MHz, so try listening to
452.0625
452.7625

 

[darkstar187]

Vaca, Pine, and the others (possibly Big Rock), or ummmm...can't remember that far back are repeaters for a UHF (400) Trunk. Medic Ambulance uses the same setup. The freq.'s that you are likely locating are just pieces of that puzzle. Good info to search the databases with though to try to figure out who owns the service. It is likely shared with anyone from tow trucks to buses. I'm willing to bet when you key up you have to wait for a beep before you can transmit. I'll try to do some more digging around because I've been curious about what service seems to govern that particular system.

Yes, we do have to wait for a beep before we transmit. I am working tomorrow i can do some testing.

 

[inigo88]

The units we use are Kenwoods. In the ambulances we can hear all the dispatches and can hear all the other ambulances talking to dispatch, we can hear everything. On the radios we have I believe three different options. Vaca, Pine and I cant remeber the third. We use Pine.

I believe the "Pine" you use is referring to Pine Hill, just east of Folsom Lake in El Dorado County. Here are the radio towers in google maps. The "Vaca" channel refers to an entirely different LTR standard system located on Mt Vaca in Solano County.

Here's the license for the (I'm guessing LTR Standard) system your company is buying the airtime from on Pine Hill: WPVL865. It belongs to Crystal Communications, and I don't see anything submitted for it yet in the database.

Do you know if your scanner can track LTR trunking? If so we can get you set up on this system, and maybe even get the talkgroup and information straight so it can be submitted to the database. Like they said before, because it's LTR trunking, the frequency is shared by multiple users that can't hear eachother (because each is on their own unique talkgroup, which acts like a radio channel). When you key up the radio, it sends a request on the trunking controller at the site to use your "home channel", which is the default frequency programmed for your company's radio to start at. The system checks to see if the frequency is in use by another seperate user (maybe a taxi cab or tow truck company), and if it's not, it sends out a message (called an outgoing signal message or word) telling you and everyone else on your radio channel (which is called a talkgroup ID) to use that frequency. By the time the radio beeps after you key it up, you are on that frequency and transmitting, and every other radio at your company has switched to that frequency and unmuted so that they can hear you. If you key up the radio and your home channel is in use, the system will be sending out a message on the home channel saying that it's occupied and will provide a FREE channel to go to instead, which will tell your radio and everyone else's on your talkgroup to go to a new frequency. If a third talkgroup tries to key up, the system will be sending out messages saying that both the original frequency and your frequency are occupied, and they'll be temporarily redirected to a THIRD free frequency.

What this all means is that if you try to listen to one frequency on a busy LTR system, nothing will make sense, because it will bounce back and forth through several different conversations on the same frequency... while if you correctly program it into a scanner capable of trunk tracking LTR and hold on your talkgroup, you'll hear just what your company dispatch and ambulances hear on their radios and nothing else.

 

[inigo88]

Medic Ambulance - Uses a UHF high trunk 400 sumthin mhz'ish. Possibly LTR. Never did figure out their freq. when I worked there.

Station81FirstAlarm and Antfreq,

I just brought this topic up in the bayscan yahoo group and found out some good information about them.

Medic Ambulance uses LTR Standard in the 480 MHz range, and buys their airtime from Champion Communications. They have dispatch talkgroups on at least two of their systems - the primary system being on Mt Diablo, in Contra Costa County, and their secondary is on Big Rock Ridge in Novato, Marin County.

Apparently, their Mt Diablo system went down from the heavy wind during the recent storms, and they've reverted to their backup on Big Rock. It got my attention because I originally submitted the Big Rock system and it barely has any users (tow truck company and taxi cab company), so when I started hearing ambulance traffic in Vallejo running code 3 it was definitely a departure from the norm! I can't confirm the validity of all the frequencies or talkgroups on Mt Diablo, but absolutely can with Big Rock since I've confirmed it using LTRDump software.

Mt Diablo (Champion Communications) - When it comes back online! Should be:

CH01 - 484.3875 MHz
CH03 - 483.9625 MHz
CH05 - 484.0875 MHz
CH10 - 490.9375 MHz
CH15 - 483.3125 MHz
CH18 - 490.0625 MHz (HOME - so this is where you'll most likely find them)

Talkgroup:

0-18-109 -- Medic Ambulance Dispatch (callsign "Vallejo")

I haven't monitored this one first hand so I can't confirm the validity of everything. And upon looking in the database, the system hasn't been updated since 2004, so the overall information should be taken with a grain of salt since these things change A LOT!

I can however confirm the details for Big Rock...

Big Rock Ridge (Champion Communications)

CH01 - 483.8375 MHz
CH08 - 484.1375 MHz (HOME)

0-08-110 -- Medic Ambulance Dispatch ("Vallejo")

Other users:

0-08-117 -- Taxi Cab Company in Berkeley
0-08-119 -- Nave Tow in Novato

I look forward to hearing what you guys can find out for First Responder!

Inigo

 

[darkstar187]

I believe the "Pine" you use is referring to Pine Hill, just east of Folsom Lake in El Dorado County. Here are the radio towers in google maps. The "Vaca" channel refers to an entirely different LTR standard system located on Mt Vaca in Solano County.

Here's the license for the (I'm guessing LTR Standard) system your company is buying the airtime from on Pine Hill: WPVL865. It belongs to Crystal Communications, and I don't see anything submitted for it yet in the database.

Do you know if your scanner can track LTR trunking? If so we can get you set up on this system, and maybe even get the talkgroup and information straight so it can be submitted to the database. Like they said before, because it's LTR trunking, the frequency is shared by multiple users that can't hear eachother (because each is on their own unique talkgroup, which acts like a radio channel). When you key up the radio, it sends a request on the trunking controller at the site to use your "home channel", which is the default frequency programmed for your company's radio to start at. The system checks to see if the frequency is in use by another seperate user (maybe a taxi cab or tow truck company), and if it's not, it sends out a message (called an outgoing signal message or word) telling you and everyone else on your radio channel (which is called a talkgroup ID) to use that frequency. By the time the radio beeps after you key it up, you are on that frequency and transmitting, and every other radio at your company has switched to that frequency and unmuted so that they can hear you. If you key up the radio and your home channel is in use, the system will be sending out a message on the home channel saying that it's occupied and will provide a FREE channel to go to instead, which will tell your radio and everyone else's on your talkgroup to go to a new frequency. If a third talkgroup tries to key up, the system will be sending out messages saying that both the original frequency and your frequency are occupied, and they'll be temporarily redirected to a THIRD free frequency.

What this all means is that if you try to listen to one frequency on a busy LTR system, nothing will make sense, because it will bounce back and forth through several different conversations on the same frequency... while if you correctly program it into a scanner capable of trunk tracking LTR and hold on your talkgroup, you'll hear just what your company dispatch and ambulances hear on their radios and nothing else.

Yes I do believe my scanner has LTR. Under my mode I am able to select LTR. I am not sure on how to search only under LTR. If you are able to help me or someone else can help me I will work on it while at work.

Thanks

 

[inigo88]

What kind of scanner? If it's a radioshack PRO-97 then this system and your talkgroup will be really easy to figure out. If it's a Uniden... not so much.

 

[darkstar187]

What kind of scanner? If it's a radioshack PRO-97 then this system and your talkgroup will be really easy to figure out. If it's a Uniden... not so much.

yeah pro-97.