Frequency Help

[LocalScanner45]

I've been trying to monitor the DMR frequencies for Thomas Concrete in the Greenville and Anderson area. My scanner will stop on a color code but I don't hear any voice, I just see the green activity light and full bars on signal strength. Does anyone have color codes for these frequencies?

151.4975 (Fountain Inn)
151.5950 (Piedmont)
152.9300 (Fountain Inn)
158.4375 (Fountain Inn)
152.9525 (Greer)
153.6200 (Greenville)
153.3350 (Anderson)
154.4825 (Anderson)

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

~ LocalScanner45 ~

 

[mlindler]

Do you have any color codes or slots I can try? I'm here in Fountain Inn and I've been trying myself to decode them!

 

[Searay]

I was able to log the following on the Thomas Concrete license in Cherokee County.
159.9300
Color Code 15
Talkgroup 100
Did not catch Slot#

FCC Callsign WQWY945 (Thomas Concrete of South Carolina Inc)

FCC Callsign WQWY945 (Thomas Concrete of South Carolina Inc)

www.radioreference.com

 

[brian]

I've been trying to monitor the DMR frequencies for Thomas Concrete in the Greenville and Anderson area. My scanner will stop on a color code but I don't hear any voice, I just see the green activity light and full bars on signal strength. Does anyone have color codes for these frequencies?

I'm not saying for certain this this is your circumstance, but remember that DMR repeaters can carry data in addition to voice. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they use DMR to track locations of concrete trucks (LRRP, I think it's called). Some of the activity you see on your radio, when you're getting a green activity light but no voice, could be data transmissions. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have the wrong color code or slot.

Using decoding software such as DSD+ will show you this information very clearly.

 

[LocalScanner45]

I'm not saying for certain this this is your circumstance, but remember that DMR repeaters can carry data in addition to voice. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they use DMR to track locations of concrete trucks (LRRP, I think it's called). Some of the activity you see on your radio, when you're getting a green activity light but no voice, could be data transmissions. It doesn't necessarily mean that you have the wrong color code or slot.

Using decoding software such as DSD+ will show you this information very clearly.

It seems like a lot of businesses frequencies tend to carry both data and voice. I've had this same issue with other business frequencies, but eventually heard voice activity. I'm going to continue to try Thomas Concrete frequencies to see if I hear any activity, hopefully I will soon but for the most part it seems pretty quite. I've heard about DSD+ decoding software which I might look into sometime in the near future to help me better decode DMR.

I also wanted to ask you about Glenraven Woven Mills in Anderson. I was wondering if they still use the WQSI525 repeater on 461.350 and 464.4125? Could you provide the other channels and talkgroups you said you heard activity on? I'm referring to post #6 on the SC DMR & NXDN forum. This is another one I've been trying to monitor (even overnight) but never hear activity.

 

[brian]

I also wanted to ask you about Glenraven Woven Mills in Anderson. I was wondering if they still use the WQSI525 repeater on 461.350 and 464.4125? Could you provide the other channels and talkgroups you said you heard activity on? I'm referring to post #6 on the SC DMR & NXDN forum. This is another one I've been trying to monitor (even overnight) but never hear activity.

Haha, pulling up a post of my from 2016. That's 7 years ago. I guess I had more free time back then, because I haven't actively searched out new activity like that in quite a while. I don't think that I ever associated that frequency with Glenraven. I have no idea if it's still active.

My method used to be to set up one of my scanners to scan every frequency in a range to see what I was able to receive from my location. I would use a scanner that I could integrate with a computer (typically a scanner in the PSR-500/600 family) and use Win500 software to log hits AND record the audio. I'd typically scan each 1MHz range (like 451-452, for example) for a few days, and then see which frequencies were active. If I detected a DMR or NXDN channel, I would add those frequencies to a scan list in DSD+ and let those scan for a few days to try to ID the specific digital parameters in use - color code, talkgroup, slot, etc. The key for me was to do this monitoring in an unattended fashion. What I found was that sifting through the large amount of data and recordings I generated was a major time-sink, and I stopped doing it.

Perhaps it's time to try that same process again and see what all has changed.

 

[LocalScanner45]

Haha, pulling up a post of my from 2016. That's 7 years ago. I guess I had more free time back then, because I haven't actively searched out new activity like that in quite a while. I don't think that I ever associated that frequency with Glenraven. I have no idea if it's still active.

My method used to be to set up one of my scanners to scan every frequency in a range to see what I was able to receive from my location. I would use a scanner that I could integrate with a computer (typically a scanner in the PSR-500/600 family) and use Win500 software to log hits AND record the audio. I'd typically scan each 1MHz range (like 451-452, for example) for a few days, and then see which frequencies were active. If I detected a DMR or NXDN channel, I would add those frequencies to a scan list in DSD+ and let those scan for a few days to try to ID the specific digital parameters in use - color code, talkgroup, slot, etc. The key for me was to do this monitoring in an unattended fashion. What I found was that sifting through the large amount of data and recordings I generated was a major time-sink, and I stopped doing it.

Perhaps it's time to try that same process again and see what all has changed.

This is what you said and I thought you were referring to Glenraven Woven Mills....

"I'm not sure about 461.350. But I know it is a DMR system running Color Code 9. That frequency is licensed to Greenville City Center Hotel downtown (WQXD204) but not for a repeater on that frequency. It may be Glenraven Woven Mills in Anderson County, which is licensed for a repeater on this frequency (WQSI525)."

"Monitoring overnight, TG 230 CC9 Slot 1 was active on 461.350. Appears to be conventional. For a 1 hour period between 12:15am - 1:15am, it seems like this might have changed to a Cap+ rest channel, because I see lots of activity listed for other channels and talkgroups. But that activity stopped at 1:15am and didn't recur. Maybe a band opening occurred during that time."


I have tried them during business hours but don't hear anything then either. They have 4 watt frequencies on the WQSV700 license but I don't think I'd be able to decode those due to my location.

 

[brian]

Given that I'm in Spartanburg, if that is indeed Glenraven, then it's probably too far away for me too.

I found that my process of discovering frequencies with the method I described above was made more difficult due to my relative proximity to two states (SC and NC). That made searching more complicated. I do find it remarkable how different radio systems can have such different performance characteristics. Some systems far far away be received easily from my location, while other systems much closer to me can't be heard at all.

New scanner hobbyists often ask, "how far away can this thing hear?" Most veteran hobbyists answer that question with advice about antennas. Without a doubt, that's the most important factor regarding performance of a receive station. But the design and characteristics of the transmitting station are equally important, and I think that's lost of many scanner hobbyists. No system is the same. Band openings then create unusual receive results, adding yet another variable to the process. For me, that can be the fun part of the hobby.

 

[LocalScanner45]

Given that I'm in Spartanburg, if that is indeed Glenraven, then it's probably too far away for me too.

I found that my process of discovering frequencies with the method I described above was made more difficult due to my relative proximity to two states (SC and NC). That made searching more complicated. I do find it remarkable how different radio systems can have such different performance characteristics. Some systems far far away be received easily from my location, while other systems much closer to me can't be heard at all.

New scanner hobbyists often ask, "how far away can this thing hear?" Most veteran hobbyists answer that question with advice about antennas. Without a doubt, that's the most important factor regarding performance of a receive station. But the design and characteristics of the transmitting station are equally important, and I think that's lost of many scanner hobbyists. No system is the same. Band openings then create unusual receive results, adding yet another variable to the process. For me, that can be the fun part of the hobby.

I apologize for the confusion, Brian. I'm close enough that I should hear the WQSI525 repeater when or if it goes active, but WQSV700 license doesn't have a repeater it's just mobiles. I know with a 4 watt output you have to be fairly close and I'm certainly NOT going to challenge that!

Don't feel bad I have that same issue -- things that are closer to me it's difficult to hear as where a station an hour from my location I can decode with my scanner just fine! With all the channels I have in my scanner, the farthest station I've been able to hear is one in Hart County, Georgia.

I have both short and long antennas that I switch between dependant upon what I'm trying to monitor which seems to get the job done. I've had success scanning both digital and analog frequencies, it's a great hobby trying to figure out who or what all stations can be received.

This morning I found a DMR station for Vulcan Materials, I will submit it to the database when I can. I'm currently in the process of trying to identify their other frequencies so I can submit them all at once. As I said previously, I will keep trying to decode Thomas Concrete frequencies as well as some others and post my findings.

Thank you for your help!