LA - Dept. of Water and Power Discussion Thread

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inigo88

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Added 1-005 Mojave Yard and 1-006 Randsburg Peak today. No voice traffic heard, although I don't have a Phase II capable scanner.

I suspect 1-007 is the site NW of Ridgecrest. Mojave thru Bishop are all on the same FCC license, which appears to be spot on.
 

LAflyer

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Thanks for hunting down the new sites.
The system is Phase-I so should not have issues hearing potential voice traffic.
 

DPD1

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Do they ever use that one old low band freq anymore? I still used to hear the helo patrols check in on that every once in a great while, a few years back. I forget the exact frequency.
 

karldotcom

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Do they ever use that one old low band freq anymore? I still used to hear the helo patrols check in on that every once in a great while, a few years back. I forget the exact frequency.
I haven't heard the patrol freq but several 47.xx freqs were is use this weekend when 100k lost power.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

DPD1

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I think the one I used to hear was 48.36. Their helos would go out and patrol the local reservoirs, and sometimes they'd report their location to somebody on that, sort of like a base ops thing. I'd catch them on VHF ATC at the same time. Kind of interesting.
 

Progline

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As of this morning, I can't hear the analog trunked system control channels anymore in the San Fernando Valley. It was simulcasting most of the talkgroups with the P25 system, but I guess they turned it off? P25 system very active.

And to the earlier post, I heard the helicopter in the morning on the Low-Band channel a few weeks ago. They seem to get on the air when leaving LA (and arriving back) to check in with "LA Radio".
 

LAflyer

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Yes sounds like the old Moto Smartnet system is off the air. I guess I'll depreciate the system in the Db.

We still need help confirming talkgroup users on the P25 system. Below TGs have been noted with activity.

100
105
108
110
117
118
119
126
138
139
148
200
201
210
211
212
215
218
220
221
306
403
404
405
406
501
505
600
601
603
702
703

Thanks
 

LAflyer

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They have added additional freqeuncies to the P25 system.

So far the basin site has 12-frequencies now
935.387500
935.400000
935.412500
935.450000
935.462500
935.475000
935.487500
935.500000
936.387500
936.400000
936.425000
936.437500

Have not had time to monitor other sites.
 

MtnBiker2005

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Quickly logged this site doing the I-15/Wild Wash Rd freeway road trip.

-TowerInfo
System ID : 691
WACN : BEE00
Tower Number (Decimal): 1-6
Tower Number (Hex) : T0106
Control Capabilities : Data,Voice,Registration
Flavor : Phase 1
Timestamp : Sun Jul 3 11:22:01 2016

-Frequencies
#Format: Channel,Usage,Frequency(/Slot),Input Channel,Input Frequency(/Slot),Input Explicit(1/0),Hit Count
"00-0157","c",936.97500,"00-0157",897.97500,0,0
"00-0196","a",937.46250,"00-0196",898.46250,0,0

-Neighbors
#Format: TowerID,TowerIDHex,System ID,Channel,Frequency
105,"T0105",691,"00-0275",938.45000
107,"T0107",691,"00-0077",935.97500
 

Progline

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Drove up/down 395 last week and observed the following:

  1. All systems listed in database are active: Mojave, Randsburg, Cottonwood, Independence & Bishop. Heard activity (not much) on all systems.
  2. DWP vehicles seen all had their UHF cab-top antennas replaced with 900 MHz quarter-wave's.
  3. The Independence system was being repeated on the old 451.125 repeater, not sure if the link between the UHF analog & digital 900 was one or 2-way.
  4. There seems to be a big gap between LA and Mojave...Is there something missing here (like a system on Hauser, Burnt Peak, Blue Ridge, etc?
  5. North of Mammoth Lakes, the Bishop system goes away. HOWEVER, at the north Junction of 395 & 158 (June Lake Loop), DWP has a small facility, and the "Bishop" system is full scale there.

Hope this helps!
 

SCPD

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We are on an extended holiday trip and are currently visiting friends in Lakeview, OR. We went down to harass an old co worker now working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Modoc County, California. We made a pit stop in Alturas where we parked next to a DWP pickup with a large shell camper on the back and three antennas, one being a low band antenna. The vehicle was that of a DWP radio tech and when he returned to the vehicle we struck up a conversation. He told me the UHF system for the Owens Valley is no longer being used and has not been removed entirely yet as they were finding a few "stragglers" on the system now and again. He says once they've tracked down all these folks the UHF system will be pulled out. He says the eastern Sierra and all of the L.A. area is now full time on the P25 system. He says the DC line is on low band (48.360) as is Nevada and Utah. He may have mentioned Arizona too. I was surprised to see him in Alturas, but he explained the DC line to me. he says the remainder of the low band system in the eastern Sierra was removed a long time ago.

He also mentioned that the P25 system is active in Mono County as well as the Owens Valley. There are sites on the top of June Mtn. and one on Aurora Peak, NV at along the DC line. Both of these sites are used to cover the Mono Basin and the aqueduct down to the upper Owens River north of Crowley Lake. I'm trying to get an acquaintance of mine in Bishop to buy a digital scanner in order to monitor the backcountry system of Sequoia Kings Canyon NP's and DWP, but he isn't serious enough about the hobby to make the purchase.

Long ago I was working on some prescribed burning at Lake Mead and saw a DWP truck crossing Hoover Dam. So I wasn't completely surprised to see this radio tech in Alturas, but was not expecting it either.
 

Progline

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Thanks for the input, Kendrick.....Alturas is the last place I'd expect to find an LADWP truck!

In looking at the California FCC database here on RR, it would appear callsign WQUH645 is the Aurora, NV and June Lake sites. I don't know how to tell, based on the listings, which are the control channel(s), but I'd guess that Aurora is the one I heard @ the North End of June Lake Loop, as it was on the same freq as the Bishop system (935.175).

I could find nothing that showed a Mammoth Mtn/Lakes radio site, so not sure what they would be using in that area.
 

SCPD

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Thanks for the input, Kendrick.....Alturas is the last place I'd expect to find an LADWP truck!

In looking at the California FCC database here on RR, it would appear callsign WQUH645 is the Aurora, NV and June Lake sites. I don't know how to tell, based on the listings, which are the control channel(s), but I'd guess that Aurora is the one I heard @ the North End of June Lake Loop, as it was on the same freq as the Bishop system (935.175).

I could find nothing that showed a Mammoth Mtn/Lakes radio site, so not sure what they would be using in that area.

My guess is that June Mtn. picks up everything north of the coverage of Silver. Aurora, NV probably covers the portions of the Mono Lake Basin that June can't provide. I forgot to mention that the radio tech indicated they were pulling off Glass Mountain, where they used to have a 450 MHz site that covered the Mono Basin. It is a helo only accessed site with no commercial power. June and Aurora have commercial power. June has ski lift access in the winter and can be driven to in the summer.

We didn't get a chance to drive south through Mono and Inyo Counties on this trip. We have a new friend living in Bishop now. We spent too much time in southern Oregon and had to jet down U.S.395/U.S. 95/U.S. 93/I-40 to get back to northern Arizona. We didn't get the chance to program in the database control channels into our scanners to hear the system in the Owens Valley or determine the control frequencies for the Aurora or June Mtn sites. I'm not sure when we will get back that way.

I understand why a person might be surprised to see a LA DWP truck in Alturas. I was too, but had forgotten how far north DWP maintains the "Pacific Intertie" or "DC Line." I saw a DWP truck in southwest Utah about 30 years ago so I know they have a long reach.
 
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ME801

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I checked with a friend of mine and he said that he see's LADWP trucks in the Delta UT area on a daily basis. I'm trying to get him to email me a picture of the antennas, but he said he has seen a low band antenna recently.
 

BCFlash

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LADWP has always had the contract to operate the Hoover Dam. They have a large facility up in Boulder City, NV not far from the dam. I don't know which radio system they use.
 

Progline

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Spent some time in the area last week and I can provide the following:

The Aurora Peak System WQUH645 is online and on the same Control Channel the Bishop system (935.175). It is heard well in the Mono Basin area. I only went as far north as Conway Summit, so I can't speak for coverage beyond that.

The June Lake System (also WQUH645) is now online, control channel 935.6375. Both of these systems are also listed in RR's FCC licenses section. There is a lot of duplication of coverage with Aurora, in the Mono Basin area, but this is the only system to be heard well, south of Lee Vining. It also works great in the June Lake Loop (obviously).

The legacy UHF repeaters appear to be down, as they are no longer simulcasting the 900 system.

I have to say, however, that these systems pale in coverage compared to the legacy UHF system that was on Silver Peak. That thing covered EVERYWHERE, and had much more traffic on it than the 900 system does. There are considerable holes in the 900 coverage (south of Mammoth, for instance before getting into Bishop's range). Part of the problem, I'm guessing is that the Bishop system is on Poleta Peak, which is only about 5000' in elevation. Its on the hills, due east of the Bishop Airport.

I heard most activity on 2 talkgroups: 217, which was used by Aqueduct & Reservoir Patrols and 218, which sounded like Aqueduct Maintenance...but not sure of that.
 
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