Need Info & Your Favorites 151-160 mHz

[TinEar]

Been having a lot of fun tracking unknowns in the 151-160 mHz range just as a change from the normal county/city police and fire freqs. I'd like to know if you have some favorites in this freq range that you'd list here if you're in the central Maryland area. I'm only using the radio whip so nothing fancy to find them. Please provide callsign if you have it.

I've been listening to 159.735 that is loud and clear, both dispatcher and mobile units. It's a fire dispatcher but I can't identify it. I've run an FCC search on that freq and then from 159.7-159.75 on MD, VA, DE and NJ and can't come up with a listing. I tried the wider freq range just in case the scanner was stopping on .735 and the freq was actually .7375 or something like that. No results.

I'm also hearing prisons on 154.86/153.905/158.97.
PG County Animal Control on 158.94.
A Fire Dispatcher on 159.015 that might be Talbot County but it also could be several others within listening range. Haven't heard a morse identifier yet.
VA State Police on 159.00 and 159.135.
159.18 using callsign KGM35. FCC says it's PG County on that and 155.055 but can't identify the user yet.
Earlier mentioned 154.40 is Blades DE - WNQO297 - simulcasting Essex County DE Fire traffic.
154.22 is somewhere in NJ. FCC shows tons of listings for that freq in NJ but I haven't caught a callsign to pin it down yet.
159.45 I believe is DNR in Charles County.
154.13 using callsign KNAW775 is Clayton NJ simulcasting Gloucester County NJ.
153.77 Fire freq (Heard Engine 51)
154.875 is police traffic.

And those are some of what I'm listening to lately and would really appreciate any police/fire freqs you've identified in these ranges other than those normally heard from the major counties in the area. I've got another 100 or so I'm trying to identify that are either police or fire in nature and will post them when identified. I'm finding that the FCC listings are only marginally helpful because it seems some local government entities are just throwing freqs and callsigns into a pot and using them the way they want without regard to their license.

 

[jbstahr]

I'm finding that the FCC listings are only marginally helpful because it seems some local government entities are just throwing freqs and callsigns into a pot and using them the way they want without regard to their license.

Thats assuming they even bother to renew their licenses. Does the FCC ever crack down on municipalities using freqs on expired licenses? I have encountered several here in SC that haven't renewed or are operating on an unlicensed freq.

 

[Dispatcher308]

TIN EAR

159.450 is a Statewide DNR frequency that they use with 151.145 as a repeater input for the Park Rangers

Also just so everyone knows that 151.205 uses multiple Pl tones. it is the Natural Resources Police Channel


Also I Like to Listen to 151.205 MD NRP, 154.190 pl 151.4 York City.PA,
160.185 Chester Co. PA Fire Dispatch 159.735 Chester Co. PA Fireground and 159.600 Chester Co. Pa Fireground both are simulcast from EDACS Trunked System. (Tin Ear I hope this Answers your Question) Also 160.235 Amtrak Police very very interesting.

 

[GlacierClipper]

Sometimes the FCC will fine city, county and state agencies for not properly being licensed.

There are a few agencies that operate their radios even without having an expired license and have never applied for a license.

 

[TinEar]

Nathan, thanks for the help. For some unexplained reason I never bother to check for PA listings since I had convinced myself there was not anything I could hear from there. Now that you identified my 159.735 freq as Chester County PA, I also realized another freq I've been working on 154.785 is the PD dispatcher (West) from that same county. I'll have to expand my universe. I also was fairly sure I was hearing a fire simulcast from the Philadelphia area on 154.50 last night but reception was coming and going. I'll also have to check 154.19 with the PL you mentioned to separate it out from the DC dispatch simulcast. DC Citywide PD has been transmitting on 159.15 again the past few months but there is also someone else on that freq I can't identify yet. I haven't much bothered with anything over 160 but I'll have to check out that Amtrak Police freq you provided. I thoroughly enjoy finding these VHF freqs from distant points and find it much more interesting than listening to all our local trunked systems just for a change of pace.

With regard to the other posts about the FCC more closely regulating public safety/local government licenses, it almost appears that it's an accepted plan to leave them alone. Why? Perhaps shortage of personnel or a workload that forces them to concentrate on more important aspects of airwave usage with the thought that local government entities are not a threat. Airwave anarchy comes from many sources.

Oh..forgot to mention that 153.77 fire is now identified as Kent County MD fireground.

 

[Dispatcher308]

Tin Ear

Tin Ear
Since I have put up both of my scantenna's, I tend to pick thing I have never heard b4 and I am doing the same thing. I also have been checking for callsigns and looking in the Police call database to get a quick reference & if I cannot get it from there then I break out the big dogs.


Also Tin Ear if you hear York City & you are not in North Harford, North Baltimore or North Carrroll then I doubt you will hear it but if you do I will be surprised.

Also Check us out on 143.040 it is not used much but when we do you can't miss us Statewide.

Have Fun All

 

[SCPD]

A few years ago, when I was in the MD Army National Guard, the State was installing a statewide repeater system. I last heard the net in use right after the 9/11 incident. 139.050mhz (PL tone 127.3) was the output and the input was 141.125mhz. The Eastern shore repeater was on 138.950mhz (PL tone 127.3) with the input on 141.125mhz.

 

[TinEar]

Good info there frootydawg. I'll load them into one of my scanners. Haven't seen you post in a long time.

Nathan, I'm going to load up York County to see what I hear. Since I seem to get well into Virginia and hear selected freqs from Delaware and New Jersey, I might just make it. The problem is that York County Fire is low band which will be out of reach and the city of York Fire duplicates almost all their freqs in the 154 band with things from this area that should wipe them out. York County police is a possibility though on 155. I'm certainly farther south than the locations you mentioned - in Glen Burnie - but seem to be in a "hot spot" for listening. Those two freqs from Chester County PA (159.735 Fire and 154.785 Police) are always very clear from here. By the way, the 159 mHz band is booming this evening. Being able to copy morse is a tremendous help in identifying these freqs. The only problem is that while in search mode I often miss the first letter or two before it stops on a freq. The FCC database makes no provisions for entering a partial call or the ability to use a * qualifier for missing portions so it's all or nothing. It must be really difficult to identify a new freq if you don't know morse and don't recognize the street names.

[Edit] In my first post above I made a typo for the prison freqs. The first one should be 153.86 rather than 154.86.

 

[doctordave]

Tin Ear,

A few more freqs to consider.... 159.21 is police in Kent MD (strong repeater output), 151.04 MSP JFK Highway, 154.755 PA State Police Car-Car (also used by troops...very active during major incidents and easily copied in Northern MD), 155.505 is PSP York Troop channel ...easily copied in Northern MD (mobiles are on 155.85 but tough to hear South of extreme Northern MD), 154.86 is also DE State Police Statewide Enforcement Net patch into 800 - used to comm w/ PSP, MSP, etc - fairly strong output & heard about as far West as the Bay, 151.085 QA Co Fire 1 simulcast w/ 800. Of course, the various VHF Coast Guard freqs are interesting this time of year (ch 22 & 83 especially).

Are the National Guard freqs listed by frootydawg still active/accurate? They don't completely jive w/ our database....wondering if our database truly reflects the currently utilized freqs. I certainly hear radio checks on the Central & Eastern NG repeaters.....have yet to hear anything on Incident Command....have yet to monitor the Western MD NG freq listed.


Dave

 

[TinEar]

Thanks doctordave. You're right on the Kent Count (MD) 159.21 and MSP 151.04 freqs - they've always been in my scanner and are very loud repeaters. Same with the 151.085 QA Fire freq. I'll have to try to positively identify those 154.775 and 155.505 freqs which I'm already hearing traffic on but haven't identified them by callsign yet. What I'm hearing is probably what you've identified them as being.

Last night I was listening to that fire channel on 159.015 that I'm trying to identify. As mentioned, it could be Talbot County's simulcast but there are other possibilities and I'm not sure yet. It's a very strong signal. I heard them dispatch a medic unit to the "Ocean Gateway MSP Barracks." Which one is that?

[Edit] Just answered my own question about the "Ocean Gateway MSP Barrack." Did a search and found it's the street address of the barrack in Easton which should confirm the 159.015 fire frequency as being Talbot's simulcast. Very good signal.

I can't comment on frootydawg's submissions because I haven't heard anything there yet.

I previously listed 158.94 as PG County Animal Control. Last night I got a callsign - KUH24 - and the FCC database confirms PG County and links 158.94 with 155.94, 154.085 and 45.52 as also being associated with that callsign. On 155.94 I've heard nothing but PG County Government chat. The database at this site shows 155.94 being shared with the county sheriff but I've never heard their traffic there. It also shows 158.94 as being the Office of Emergency Preparedness with callsign KCT686 but I've never heard anything there but Animal Control.

 

[doctordave]

Somewhat unrelated topic.....what do agencies use as the input(s) to the DC PMARS system (866.3625)? I am a tad bit too far north to copy the 800 output...wonder if the input might still be in the 450's - something I might be able to receive in Northern Baltimore County (doubtful, eh?).


Dave

 

[ericcarlson]

Somewhat unrelated topic.....what do agencies use as the input(s) to the DC PMARS system (866.3625)?

The input should be 821.3625 (-45 MHz offset).

-Eric

 

[NINN27]

MSP and DNR use repeater frequencies...

any idea what those frequencies are? if so... are there any PL tones with them, and what are they?

 

[Spleen]

159.210 looks like it's still being used by VA municipal and county departments, but it's never going to blow away Kent County here at the listening post in downtown Baltimore. The notch filter I use is adjustable, but it can only do so much against 152 and 158MHz pagers...


Who is on 155.090 these days? Nothing found in MD and VA license search; I'm getting a good carrier but crappy modulation...

 

[TinEar]

Set my search last night for 7.5kHz spacing and copied Kent County (MD) Fire Dispatch with a strong signal on 154.1975 and their channel 3 on 154.2425. Both dispatch and mobiles were loud and clear. Guess I'll have to add these to my normal scan function now since they are such good signals. I don't know any others using that 7.5 kHz spacing in this area.

Can't help you Spleen with 155.09 but I'll tune it in tonight and see what I get.

 

[Dispatcher308]

To All,

If you look in the Military Dept. Section it lists all of the Repeater Frequencies as well as the Mema Frequencies, I also have some direct Frequencies to put in there as well. Edit: I have verified all the National Guard Frequencies as I have a National Guard Icom radio & have verified with a Frequency Counter. Also as I have Stated before the Incident Command Channel is ONLY USED DURING EMERGENCIES WHEN THEY HAVE A REAL INICIDENT WHERE THEY NEED A COMMAND CHANNEL.

Also the MEMA channel is only used as well during Emergencies as Nextel's are the Primary Source of Communications for day to day operations

 

[TinEar]

Hmmm..heard Westminster, Carroll County fire simulcasting dispatches on 155.07 and 154.455. The callsign (KGD821) identifies it as Westminster but the 154.445 freq is not assigned to them on any of their licenses that I can find. Anybody know what's up with that? After the dispatch, the fireground activity could be heard on the 154.445 freq.

Identified 155.025 using callsign KLM638 as University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in Princess Anne last night.

On 155.55 is usually just the PD from the U of M, Baltimore County in Catonsville but last night there was also activity on that freq from Bridgeton NJ in Cumberland County using callsign KEA702.

Heard 155.79 PD from Hagerstown in Washington County using callsign KGA870. Good signal last night.

Yesterday, I mentioned freq 154.80 as belonging to MD State, Department of General Services - Buildings and Grounds. Another freq associated with them and using the same unit numbers is 155.835 - also with a good signal.

Heard two of the prison freqs simulcasting for the first time last night on 153.905 and 158.97. That's the first time I heard a simulcast which obviously means they are tied together. Makes sense.

On the PG County Sheriff freq of 155.58 I heard traffic from another place and the dispatcher identified himself as "Harrisburg Dispatch." I don't have a callsign yet.

I heard all three of the Chester County PA fire freqs last night and all of them with very strong signals...159.735, 159.60 and 160.185. They have a very distinctive chirp or squawk as units unkey which makes identification very easy. Since I found these freqs about a week ago, the signal quality has been excellent every evening/night so I guess it isn't just a one-time shot.

More coming....

 

[TinEar]

More on the 155.07/154.445 fire dispatch simulcast reported above. I think I may have come to the wrong conclusion. Hearing the morse callsign identifier KGD821 on 155.07 simply proves that Westminster broadcast their callsign on that frequency. It does not prove that they belong to the voice traffic I was hearing. The callsign and the voice traffic could be from two different sources and I think it was.

Doing a little more research, it starts to look like both 155.07 and 154.445 belong to fire departments in Kent County Delaware and that both are simulcasting the county dispatches. 155.07 is in Dover and 154.445 is a fire department in Marydel - both in Kent County DE. That's who I now believe belong to those two frequencies. It makes you a little crazy listening on two radios to those two frequencies because the 154.445 simulcast is about a full second behind the 155.07 broadcast.

 

[TinEar]

And a few more monitoring finds....

154.95 is Easton town police with a good signal from both dispatcher and mobiles. It's a fairly active frequency. (Callsign KGB464)

I mentioned the Harrisburg Dispatch guy on top of PG County Sheriff freq 155.58. He was back last evening very loud and clear talking with Lancaster units 10, 11, 20 and 29. The signal is strong enough to override PG County at times. It sounds like it could be state police. Some of the conversations here made me think this might be a new use of this frequency since they were feeling their way around. And the Harrisburg Dispatcher was confused over which Lancaster units were supposed to be working on his freq.

Chester County PA fire dispatch on 160.185 is using callsign WPGM325 rather than what's listed in the database at this site (WPGM291).

Dispatcher208, I am hearing York PA police on 155.415 with a fairly good signal quality. Surprise!

Heard 158.985 probably from the Lancaster PA area but need to confirm that with a callsign.

Not sure why I've never programmed Charles County Fire/EMS dispatch on 158.775 since it's such a good signal. But I have now.

This is turning out to be a lot of fun trying to find and identify some of these more distant frequencies - and some in our back yard - that have not been considered major enough to talk about in the past. Our primary focus seems to be on the trunked systems. One nice thing about these VHF freqs is that you can take one bank in a scanner and program, for instance, all the fire dispatchers from a multi-state area.

 

[Guest]

Try 138.0500AM Gets active around 6:00. If you get any thing update my page.

8)