Paging on 158.700 gone?

[gcgrotz]

Well, being a 12 year veteran of paging in the 80's and 90's I still keep an interest in it. That and the fact that I used to live very close to a hospital that had a P6 transmitter that blew away my scanner when scanning VSP and rails.

So now I have moved across town and the hospital moved in a different direction. I tuned up 158.700 to see if they had shut down the hospital site and there was nothing. That means the Carter's Mtn site was gone too. The once mighty P6 channel was silent, that flagship state-wide Metrocall channel quiet. This was the prime frequency in all the major cities.

I know that USA Mobility, the successor of Metrocall, has worked to consolidate their remaining base onto their nationwide 929 and 931 freqs. SO, as a favor, could some of you in Richmond, Roanoke, HR and NoVA check 158.700 for me and see if there is any activity or if they just killed it in this area.

I'll check it when I go over to the valley - they used to have a site on Elliot Knob that covered 50 or 60 miles of I-81.

 

[mancow]

I hope this is nationwide. The 158.1 here rendered vhf useless in the 996T. I will monitor and see if it's the same in this area (near K.C.) as well.

 

[W4UVV]

Some sites still active

Well, being a 12 year veteran of paging in the 80's and 90's I still keep an interest in it. That and the fact that I used to live very close to a hospital that had a P6 transmitter that blew away my scanner when scanning VSP and rails.

So now I have moved across town and the hospital moved in a different direction. I tuned up 158.700 to see if they had shut down the hospital site and there was nothing. That means the Carter's Mtn site was gone too. The once mighty P6 channel was silent, that flagship state-wide Metrocall channel quiet. This was the prime frequency in all the major cities.

I know that USA Mobility, the successor of Metrocall, has worked to consolidate their remaining base onto their nationwide 929 and 931 freqs. SO, as a favor, could some of you in Richmond, Roanoke, HR and NoVA check 158.700 for me and see if there is any activity or if they just killed it in this area.

I'll check it when I go over to the valley - they used to have a site on Elliot Knob that covered 50 or 60 miles of I-81.

158.1000 mhz. and 158.7000 mhz. wide area paging transmissions are active at my Prince George Co. location although the number of transmitter sites appears to be smaller. The 158.7000 mhz. strongest signal is about S20+. and still can cause RFI on certain frequencies. I suspect fewer transmitter sites being used is related to a decease in the subscriber base many of whom now use Nextel, cellphones, etc.

 

[tglendye]

I am in Rockingham and hear nothing on 158.700, anymore.

 

[trainman111]

158.100 and 158.700 are still active in downtown Richmond as well.

 

[W4BOZ]

Besides 158.100 and 158.700, what other VHF paging frequencies are/were in use in Virginia? I see P6 pop up a lot in reference to 158.700, are there frequencies P1-P5 as well?

 

[gcgrotz]

Besides 158.100 and 158.700, what other VHF paging frequencies are/were in use in Virginia? I see P6 pop up a lot in reference to 158.700, are there frequencies P1-P5 as well?

Gotta be quick, I will dig out my list of all the old paging channel designators. P5 was 152.240 and used to be quite busy as well.

152.12 and 152.69 are very busy here in C'ville and are part of some wide area networks. a couple of 929 MHz channels are still quite busy too.

I'll be back...

 

[mancow]

158.100 is still active here but seems to fire off less often.

I would like to meet the tool that still carries a tone activated Vhf pager.