General Question

[CaptHorton]

Hey guys, new to this site, of course I am enjoying to use and listen to all the different broadcasts I can. I have a general question someone might be able to enter, I contract for the railroad, and they give us Radios to use for them.

I am wondering if there is a way to get a Radio and program it with the same 6 digit code or frequency they use to talk and listen on for my own use just to be able to listen when I am not working out on the rails at the moment. I am a total noob to this stuff and am trying to learn, so I'd appreciate some feedback, ideas, info ect ect if anyone feels kind enough to answer my question.


Thanks everyone.

T

 

[IowaGuy1603]

Hey guys, new to this site, of course I am enjoying to use and listen to all the different broadcasts I can. I have a general question someone might be able to enter, I contract for the railroad, and they give us Radios to use for them.

I am wondering if there is a way to get a Radio and program it with the same 6 digit code or frequency they use to talk and listen on for my own use just to be able to listen when I am not working out on the rails at the moment. I am a total noob to this stuff and am trying to learn, so I'd appreciate some feedback, ideas, info ect ect if anyone feels kind enough to answer my question.


Thanks everyone.

T

Most modern scanners will receive the railroad frequencies.



You would have to have a commercial radio programed to the frequencies in order to talk on them.........and the company would most likely need to give you permission to use their system before most radio shops would do the programming

 

[josiahgould]

If you're just interested in listening in, use a scanner like IowaGuy said. I use my Pro-404 to listen to CSX down here in FL, and it works just fine. Plus, if anything "suspicious" comes up, well, a scanner just can't transmit.

If you want to talk on their frequencies, get permission. Get it from someone who is allowed to give you permission, get it in writing, get it notarized, and make copies of that permission. Keep a copy on yourself and a copy stashed in a safe place. Then get a cheap HT, some of them can be programmed to transmit out of the HAM bands. Keep in mind that's not exactly legal, since it's not certified for those frequencies. To be legal you'd have to get a radio spec'd for the railroad frequencies. Now they're not going to give you permission and one of their radios is going to be expensive, so just listen on a cheap scanner, ok?

Summary -
To listen, get a scanner.
To transmit, get permission (not gonna happen), get a radio.

(I've tried getting permission myself on KSC because I used to live along a stretch of track that kids like to set "traps" up on. They politely told me not a chance.)

 

[CaptHorton]

Sadly, children don't understand the big picture of rails and what not, and what kind of epic damage they can cause.

I think I have seen operation lifesaver 10000 times, and I think that's one of the videos children should have to watch in school, I don't care how young you are you have to understand that trains are dangerous, as well as fascinating!

 

[CaptHorton]

Oh and thank you very much, Josiah and Iowa

 

[N8IAA]

Yes, you can program commercial radios to listen to the railroad frequencies. I have a Yaesu vhf commercial radio that I have programmed for a variety of frequencies. I just inhibit the transmit capabilities. No foul, no harm. Definitely hears a bunch better than my expensive scanners
HTH,
Larry

 

[CaptHorton]

Yes, you can program commercial radios to listen to the railroad frequencies. I have a Yaesu vhf commercial radio that I have programmed for a variety of frequencies. I just inhibit the transmit capabilities. No foul, no harm. Definitely hears a bunch better than my expensive scanners
HTH,
Larry

Where's a good place to get this kind of brand of a scanner? As I said I am new, and looking for a good place to start, and I don't want to over pay for stuff, if you know what I mean.