Nyc subway

[Priority-One]

Does anyone have any better info than what's in the DB for the nyc subway?

I hear radio chatter coming out of the train cab all the time, but nothing from my scanner.
I'm looking for IND, BMT, IRT and Culver City lines.



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[blaze]

Does anyone have any better info than what's in the DB for the nyc subway?

I hear radio chatter coming out of the train cab all the time, but nothing from my scanner.
I'm looking for IND, BMT, IRT and Culver City lines.

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The subway rail operations frequencies in the DB are definitely correct, with the minor caveat that the BMT and IND channels don't always correspond to the historical BMT and IND lines (and so may be reversed from what you think they are in a few sections).

The subway is an unforgiving RF environment, and your scanner may simply not be sensitive enough to pick up the signals that the cab radio (with an external antenna) can.

 

[SpectrumAnalyzer]

NYC Subway

Are you referring to your scanner while actually on the train or your scanner at home? What you need to impart is the specifics of your scanner setup at home, scanner/coax/antenna, your general location, type of residence & your specific scanning interest, is it just NYCTA Transit and NYPD Transit division, just how heavy are you into this? Just general or are you HARD CORE? Until we hear back from you check these out to see if any of this grabs you in any way, I've been out of the business for quite a few moons so I'm sure someone much younger & more HARD CORE then I can toss some real juicy up to date stuff on you.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway

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Don't let the OLI Rensselaer address discourage you, there are tons of members specific to NYC, just hook up & network yourself, trust me you wont regret it, if you elect to join OLI PM me before you take the online Presenter exam as the 15 question railroad signage part of the exam is 100% pass only, you must get every sign recognition question right or you will not be able to complete the application exam & every question is timed.

 

[Priority-One]

I have a M/A com P7100IP that I am going to use for AAR monitoring once I find a place to program it for me. I'm going to look at the links you gave me and see where I can go from there. I live directly above the A, D, B, C 8th ave and 6th Ave express on 125th street in Manhattan. So I'm wondering if there is any infrastructure around that will get me a better signal?


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[fdnybuff18]

I would scan the input channels to the MTA Subway Repeaters as well as the outputs.

 

[K2KOH]

Just curious what line you're riding. As far as listening in the subway, the radio system uses a massive cable antenna system, sdo you really should have no problem hearing the Command Center at the very least. I brought my Pro 106 on a nostaligia train and was able to listen to Command, as well as NYPD Transit Bureau. As another poster said, check that you have both input and output. Also, the IRT Flushing line uses the IND frequency.

 

[Priority-One]

I ride the IRT and occasionally the IND. I live right on top of the IRT (literally)
As soon as i get my P7100IP programmed in a few weeks i will report back with my findings.

I am getting a new mobile as well that i will have programmed and have my apartment antenna mounted out the window as well to see what i can get.

 

[SpectrumAnalyzer]

NYC Subway

You never said if your monitoring was exclusive to NYCTA Subway ops, if so from where you live your monitoring options may be severely curtailed since a great majority of the Manhattan lines are underground utilizing horizontally polarized Radiax which I'm quite sure you're already aware of, the only line I can think of is the IRT 7th Avenue line that exits the underground at 123rd Street & Broadway & reenters the underground at 133rd Street, the only other railroads aboveground are AMTRAKS Westside Connector from Penn Station to the MTA North Hudson Division At Spuyten Duyvil & the MTA North Division combined Hudson/Harlem Division tracks from GCT that exit the underground at 97th Street & Park Avenue to just "railroad West "of the 125th Street Station into the Bronx, personally I suggest you just program all 197 AAR narrowband mandated VHF railroad frequencies to maximize your monitoring efforts, depending on where you mount your external antenna you should be able to monitor anything that your own and/or other structures creating the street/avenue canyon effect are not blocking, hopefully you live on the top floor & you could mount a 5/8ths wave monoband dipole above the roofline, if not anything external to the window should at least allow you to monitor a good amount of stuff, your M/A Com P7100IP is a serious radio but don't forget that NXDN which Icom & Kenwood handles is looming on the horizon, don't know how soon (If ever) it will affect the Metro NYC area but I'm already going with the Kenwood NX-700 mobile & the Kenwood NX-210K2(G) since unlike Icom they handle both the 12.5 khz & 6.25 khz splits, I hoped this helped in some small way & please let us know what else we can assist you with & what you eventually decide.

 

[Priority-One]

I plan on monitoring all the AAR channels which include NYCTA as well as the NYPD Transit and other local VHF channels (EMS, FD, ECT)

I have a few hundred $$$ in paypal that i am looking to put towards a VHF mobile and to upgrade my UHF portable.

As stated above, I just recently purchased the M/A Com P7100IP portable and am going to have it programmed for AAR.

I live on the 4th floor of a 20 floor apartment building just off of 125th st on the west side. so i am hoping that helps me get a bit of an advantage as far as the signal goes.

I do plan on upgrading to NXDN for my mobile side of things. but i have to split the budget for a UHF P25 portable and the VHF mobile.

I honestly was thinking of getting a Spectra consolette VHF for AAR, but i would need more than 128 channel capacity.

Never-the-less,

I am going to keep working on it and get the equipment and see what i can do from harlem.

 

[SpectrumAnalyzer]

NYC Subway & Other Good Stuff

Okay your last post pretty much summed up your varied monitoring interest, I'm extremely "HARD CORE" when it comes to anything riding the rails & any & everything relating to fire department communications, now back to you, if you wish to monitor NYPD, FDNY & FDNY/EMS you need not go the commercial grade radio route, thanks to those agencies massive primary communications infrastructures they will be nontrunked analog for quite some time (As for FDNY's UHF 6.25 kHz split I don't know if it's actually digital although numerous sources say the 6.25 khz signals bandwidth is so narrow that it can only accommodate digital formatting) I can't confirm or deny such as I live stream FDNY even when I'm in the Metro NY/NJ/CT area, I would recommend the BCT15X if FDNY is actually nondigital & they go for about $150.00 on Ebay & probably even cheaper & safer on Amazon, if digital is required I'd go with the BCD996XT, I'd get either the Comet SBB-15 52 MHz/146 MHz/446 MHz triband Amateur mobile antenna with it's 61" height VHF low band will come in like gangbusters & it goes for $73.00, or it's alternate the Diamond CR627B which goes for $77.00 mounted on the Tram 1465 base antenna kit that will accept both antennas since they are terminated with PL-259's & the Tram base kit terminates with an SO-239 for $30.00, I'd go with 1/4" copper clad superflex heliax coax terminated with a Commscope 41SP PL-259 connector on the antenna end & a Commscope F1TBM-C BNC connector on the scanner end, $23.00 & $18.00 respectively, some will say this is overkill for what some claim NYPD/FDNY & FDNY/EMS can be heard full quieting with a paper clip stuck in a portable scanner, this is just my choice, you can choose anything in between.

For the scanners I'd recommend Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more or www.w2lie.net (PHIL is a member here & he programs scanners for NYC/Long Island members for a nominal fee) For just about everything else I'd go with The Antenna Farm, Your two way radio source & for excellent deals on new & refurbished commercial grade radios & programming contact Tom (Also a member here) at Red Dog Radios if you seek custom fabricated service specific antennas for difficult installations Dave (Another member here) Has off the shelf antennas or he can custom design something at DPD Productions - Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist & as a last resort when nothing else works trot on out to Flushing on bended knee & respectfully request an audience with the world renowned radio guru Pete at New Customer Home Page Now Pete talks a lot but we all love him dearly because, well because he's Pete, If Pete can't do it just can't be done & that's when you live stream, I hope you can digest all this, good luck & keep in touch.

 

[ansky]

The FDNY UHF frequencies are analog. I'm not aware of any digital channels used by FDNY (or NYPD for that matter).

 

[Priority-One]

I have a UHF radio for my nypd/fdny/ems monitoring.
There are a few P25 channels with nypd and fdny, but mostly encrypted for the nypd. Fdny has a P25 channel for fireground, but not sure if it's used much?


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[KC2zZe]

So, in light of the info presented above, let me see if my notes are correct...

If you're riding
this...your scanner should be tuned to this...

Subway
Line / Channel (or, more accurately, Division)

1 / A
2 / A
3 / A
4 / A
5 / A
6 / A
7 / B2

A / B2
B / B2 *
C / B2
D / B2 *
E / B2
F / B2 *
G / B2
J / B1
L / B1
M / B1
N / B1
Q / B1
R / B1
S (42 Street shuttle) / A
S (Franklin Av. shuttle) / B1
S (Rockaway Park shuttle) / B1
Z / B1

Legend:
-----------------Dispatcher-----Trains
Channel A: 161.1900 / 158.8800 (127.3)
Channel B1: 161.5050 / 158.7750 (127.3)
Channel B2: 161.5650 / 158.8050 (127.3)
* I understand these lines may change channels along the route but don't know if or where this happens.

 

[nycpress]

Apparently, as of this weekend, the "A" Division (IRT) has had narrowbanding completed. Recently issued radios have been programmed with both W and N variations of the divisions, with instructions previously being to use the "W" ones.

 

[KA2ZEY]

There always sounds like there's a nasty hum on transmissions of the subway op frequencies. I wonder if this has to do with the Radiax running parallel to the 3rd rail? Just a guess.