LE on VA DOF 12?

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WG3K

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Was over in the GW National Forest over the weekend and heard lots of traffic on VA DOF 12 that sounded almost like law enforcement. Anyone have any idea what I was actually hearing?

159.28500 KA6410 M CSQ VA DOF 12 Southeast US State Forestry COMPACT FM Public Works
 

W4UVV

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Prince George, Virginia--Central Va.
159.2850 mhz. COMPACT non-interop comms

Was over in the GW National Forest over the weekend and heard lots of traffic on VA DOF 12 that sounded almost like law enforcement. Anyone have any idea what I was actually hearing?

159.28500 KA6410 M CSQ VA DOF 12 Southeast US State Forestry COMPACT FM Public Works

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Your guess was correct. Possibly you were hearing area ciity/county PD and/or SO Law Enforcement types mobiles using 159.2850 mhz., a Fire comm COMPACT National Forest interop frequency, like another vhf tac frequency. Excluding national forest COMPACT comms, all state users should be mobile simplex only, no repeaters.

Over the past few years VA. DGIF and DOF have been FCC licensing either new or relicensing some of their pre-STARS conventional licenses possibly as a backup to STARS or complying with interop comm requirements. Currently DOF statewide licenses for 159.2850 mhz. are approximately 33 and serve mainly as interop fire comms to the JNF and/or GWNF and/or other COMPACT users statewide.

However, as you heard not all comms were fire related. Within the past two years infrequent tac/surveillance comms have been monitored by individuals located near the national forests within simplex monitoring ranges. Relatively few individuals regularly scan this and other COMPACT interop simplex frequencies. This is one of the attractions which makes COMPACT simplex frequencies popular for some LE mobile/mobile comms. I recall also DGIF mobiles also have been heard on one of the vhf COMPACT frequencies using conventional analog as tac/surveillance comms. Often such comms are monitored at nighttime.

John
W4UVV.
 
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