Open mic, Capitol PD legacy freq...

[MOTORHEAD3902]

Monitoring for some time now an apparent open mic on the old Capitol Police legacy freq of 155.130. Judging by the background comments heard, someone else noticed too and tried to let them know about it via public service. Think I heard one of the incredulous voices utter something about it must be "skip" that is being reported, as none of that equipment is still in place. Right. Evidently, it IS. The PL is right, as well one of the voices sounded familiar from when I got a paycheck from them...

Wonder how long one of these transmitters can be keyed before the magic smoke gets let out of the cabinet?

 

[KF4ZTO]

Still hearing it, at 1:15 a.m. richmond time. These transmitters are going to fry pretty soon

 

[gcgrotz]

I remember when someone keyed the old electric co-op UHF link here years ago, it took about 3 days to finally blow. But that was on old GE Pro with some wierd tube final, it actually melted the solder on the tube base.

Maybe we should start a pool on when it will go off?

 

[trainman111]

Still hearing it as of 2:54 p.m. Whose radio is it. Is it the main dispatcher?

 

[W4BOZ]

Can anyone hear anything on the input?

 

[trainman111]

Not hearing anything here.

 

[KF4ZTO]

I called them about this a few hours ago. Apparently the FCC has already contacted Capitol PD concerning this.

 

[trainman111]

Wow. That didn't take long. What did Capitol PD tell you about the problem?

 

[MOTORHEAD3902]

Still going strong as of 0125 local. :twisted:
The background I was hearing last night made it seem like the mic was in an area near a "breakroom" or office area, as I heard several speakers debating firearms training (loosely) and, at times, television audio...
No background tonight, however.

 

[KF4ZTO]

Capitol PD told me they were "aware their old system was having problems". They also said they were awaiting another call from the FCC and that the supervisor would call me back at some point today. The person I talked to was very professional and sounded like the dispatcher (I was put on hold when radio chatter came into the background). I'm glad they at least know about the problem, I just hope they can fix it before the transmitter melts.

 

[W4BOZ]

This thing is loud. 20 miles North and 10 miles South of Richmond and I was still hearing it in the car.

Since I live near downtown, I decided to drive around where the FCC data "says" the site is with a few radios. I could not hear the machine next to the Capitol PD building or the James Monroe building, which I thought it might be on a few blocks over. I wasn't using any serious DFing gear, just radios with no antennas or limited antennas but from where I was, I thought I should have been able to hear it better than I was.

There's definitely someone sitting behind a desk in the room where the mic for this thing is. Whoever it is has been sitting there most of the day. He's said his name and what agency he's with over the phone, but of course I've missed it.



EDIT: I stopped listening sometime around 5:30 or so, no later than 6 and when I turned my radio back on between 6:30-7:00 it had been shut off. Guess they fixed it.

 

[KF4ZTO]

sounds good