New N-WIN Site on the air

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realgeo

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Howdy, one and all!

While driving home from Nebraska City tonight, I was scanning the 162.575 to 174.000 band and found a brand-new N-WIN Control Channel on 172.7750 with a site number of 0144-0178.

The signal seemed to decrease as I traveled northward, away from Nebraska City, though it wasn't at full-strength in Nebraska City itself. At this point, I'm thinking it's not the actual Neb City site but will need to do some research to see where it could be. It's definitely not north of Otoe county as I could barely hear it in Murray.

I'll be returning to Neb City around mid-day on Saturday (today) and will have my Dell Netbook and Pro96Com with me to gather some more data!

Any speculation on which site this _might_ be, assuming it's not Nebraska City?

73
 

xmo

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The word is that the State has finally secured frequencies to enable the build-out of the nine sites needed to complete the system [51 total] - so keep watching the incomplete areas for more new activity.
 
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Meeting Minutes

I was looking over the last meeting minutes, and the priority is getting the network going between Lincoln and Kearney. Jones Creek site is near Hubbard, NE and I have not heard anything scanning Fed frequencies up here yet for that site. Cedar Bluffs? I know that is north of Nebraska City, but that was the only one mentioned besides Jones Creek waiting for a Fed frequency.



1. Updates of Projects: Matt Schnell, NPPD
At the last state radio system users’ group meeting they established the priority of getting the network between
Lincoln and Kearney operational. The group also discussed how to set up the system so that it can automatically
reroute traffic when an outage occurs.
a. Phase 1 – All Phase 1 sites are fully operational on the Radio system. The generator for White Clay is
pending.
b. Phase 2 – All Phase 2 sites are fully operational. Motorola is changing out fiberglass antennas with metal
antennas at Chadron, North Platte, and Cozad to determine if the antennas are causing some of the
difficulties experienced in those areas. We will not know if the new antennas fix the problem until
another storms come through those areas.
c. Phase 3‐ Jones Creek and Cedar Bluffs are waiting for federal frequencies. The Giltner antenna will be
moved to the other side of its tower because there is interference from I‐80.
d. Phase 4‐ Leases are being negotiated in in several sites. NPPD is working with the U.S. Marshalls to
secure a federal frequency for use in the Omaha area. The statewide coverage study will begin once all
present antenna and site problems have been addressed.
2. NCOR / Mutual Aid: Rod Hutt
Several regions are starting to implement mutual aid in their areas. The Southeast has some base
stations. The pilot projects in Kearney and Ogallala are going to put in a consolette and a Raven switch.
Omaha is waiting on an Ethernet switch from Raven. September 30th is the last day you can order
equipment for the Gold Elite consoles so please share this information with anyone you know who
might be affected.
 
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I can get OPPD Cedar Bluffs tower up here, so I may have a good chance of receiving the new Cedar Bluffs NWIN tower as well. Jones Creek is going to be a challenge, I can't get Hartington at all down here, but Osceola, which is further out, I get on a regular basis.

I will be running search and hopefully and will have results soon. As I write this, no new neighbors are listed on the Norfolk and Humphrey Towers.

I am still searching for Elgin tower, Elgin tower, where are you?!?!?!?!
 

SCPD

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I did a search in the Omaha area today did not come across any control channels in the 136-144 or 163-174 range
 

realgeo

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Updated location info

Howdy one and all!

After concluding my on-air work on Saturday, I hit the road for the far reaches of Southeast Nebraska in an attempt to locate the approximate area from which the new site, 0178, was transmitting.

And NO - it's not coming from Cedar Bluffs, NE! If I was barely able to hear it in Murray, NE and could hear it in Nebraska City, as I mentioned in the original post, it's definitely in Southeast Nebraska! Cedar Bluffs is southwest of Fremont, NE.

Anyway.... as I drove down HW75 and reached Auburn, my Icom 2820 displayed variable full signal, but my 396XT was showing only intermittent full-signal on the trunk-mounted Austin Spectra antenna. Additionally, I could barely hear it on my 396XT using my Radio Shack antenna while standing outside of the car.

Driving west on HW136 to the old AT&T microwave "double tower" site revealed decreasing signal strength, even sitting underneath the microwave reflectors. The signal was definitely not west.

Returning again to Auburn and driving further south on HW75 toward the Howe cemetary revealed ever-increasing signal strength on my 396XT via the Spectra antenna. Across the road from the cemetary produced a nearly full-signal indication on my 396XT with only a piece of wire sticking out of the BNC connector's center conductor.

From the evidence gathered in the field, I think it's reasonable to assume that the signal is coming from a generally southeasterly direction from the Howe, NE area. Verdon, Dawson, Falls City, or maybe the NET TV translator site south of Pawnee City.

Also, according to Pro96Com, the site is showing a status of "Site Trunking Mode", which means that they just put it on the air... and it had to be Friday, as I checked on Thursday and didn't hear it. Site Trunking Mode further indicates that it isn't even connected to the network yet - no neighbors.

I wish I could locate the Excel file I once saw with the candidate site list as that would probably pin the location down. Anyone?

Data has been submitte for inclusion.

73
 

realgeo

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Murray, NE
After doing a little research and locating the original RFP Attachment D document, which lists all of the candidate sites at that time, I'd conclude that this site is what they referred to as "Richardson-Falls City".

From Attachment D, the coordinates are: 40-13-11.0 N 095-39-56.0 W

... which puts it on the NET Television tower just southeast of Shubert - a mere 10.83 miles directly southeast of the Howe cemetary, thereby confirming my field observations from Saturday's trip down HW75.

Joe - would you please name this Richardson-Falls City, in accordance with my recent submission?

Thanks and 73
 
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