Columbus Fire And EMS Long fire tone mhz?

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chandler

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anyone know the long fire tone for franklin county ohio Columbus fire and ems pager tone code? its the one when they get a report of a fire or they go on a battalion would be great if someone knows it.
thanks.
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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I don't know if this is accurate or not but I put my phone up to the walkie and recorded a dispatch from 10 FIRE, and then played it to the mic on my computer and had it tell me what frequency it was. The answer I got was:

1000 Hz! I guess that makes sense if you only need one tone!
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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Also, it's an alert tone and not a pager tone. There's only like 2 or 3 departments in the area that still use pager tones and only one of them that the pager tones are actually functional for (the others are just for show since they've had them forever). Oh, and Arlington uses DTMF tones every now and again because they are Arlington and have to be weird :p
 

chandler

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the Columbus fire and ems tune is a alert and it says 1k mz but it's not, but there are a lot of fire depts in franklin county that still use the pager alert system like Grove city, Prairie, Hilliard but Columbus just uses the automatic system. :(
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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Why do you think it's not 1000 Hz?

Grove City, Norwich (Hilliard) and Prairie are all on a trunked system which by definition cannot have their system activated by tones. It's a network switch just like pretty much every other station that has a PA that can be opened up by their dispatcher. The exception is Grandview Heights which while they have the capability to be toned out, I don't know if they actually use it or not. Before the current system, the township units were dispatched by "county fire" which was frankly before my time, but when I first started out here, I would still hear people calling on the old county fire frequency. I have not heard that either on my scanner or on duty for at least a year if not 2 or 3.
 

ibagli

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Audacity on a clip from a feed archive also shows 1000 Hz.
 
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chandler

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Ibagli ya it may show 1,000 but when I put it on my pager it does not detect it but prairie and others do detect it and the pager goes off.
 

BusterCMH

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Why do you think it's not 1000 Hz?

Grove City, Norwich (Hilliard) and Prairie are all on a trunked system which by definition cannot have their system activated by tones. It's a network switch just like pretty much every other station that has a PA that can be opened up by their dispatcher. The exception is Grandview Heights which while they have the capability to be toned out, I don't know if they actually use it or not. Before the current system, the township units were dispatched by "county fire" which was frankly before my time, but when I first started out here, I would still hear people calling on the old county fire frequency. I have not heard that either on my scanner or on duty for at least a year if not 2 or 3.

Motorola 2-tone will work fine on a Motorola analog trunked radio system when it is received by a tone board in a radio located at the station. Norwich Twp uses them for this very reason so when they put their PA in alert mode, the tones open it up.

Grandview is dispatched by Columbus. The Grandview PD no longer has tone capability.

The Columbus tone is for an audible cue only - it opens nothing and performs no function other than to get the listeners attention.

A few townships were dispatched by "county fire". Many were on the "county fire" frequency 33.86 but dispatched for themselves or by their local PD.
 

wa8pyr

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Grandview is dispatched by Columbus. The Grandview PD no longer has tone capability.

Actually GHPD can still dispatch GHFD; since they're located in the same building they simply do it by PA (but rarely do, usually only for a messenger alarm, a walk-in, or injured prisoner). They got rid of the repeater when the owner of the building the fire and PD repeaters are on doubled the rent on each; so they left the PD repeater in place and got rid of the FD repeater.

A few townships were dispatched by "county fire". Many were on the "county fire" frequency 33.86 but dispatched for themselves or by their local PD.

Only Hamilton Township was dispatched by the SO on 33.86; back in the pre-MECC day Mifflin Twp was dispatched by the SO on 33.52 (this was after they closed down their own FD/PD dispatch center). IIRC those were the only two fire departments ever dispatched by FCSO.

In the interest of history (back in the good ol' days, pre-1988 or 89):

Columbus FD - 154.310, 154.400 (self-dispatched)
Grandview Heights FD - 153.980 (GHPD)
Clinton Twp FD - 33.96 (self)
Upper Arlington FD - 460.575 (UAPD)
Norwich Twp FD - 33.86 (self then Hilliard PD)
Washington Twp FD - 33.80 (Perry Twp then self)
Perry Twp FD - 33.80 (Perry Twp Comm Division)
Worthington FD - 33.76 (self)
Westerville FD - 155.040 then 154.160 (self)
Plain Twp FD - 33.86 (self)
Mifflin Twp FD - 33.52 (self then FCSO, pre-MECC)
Jefferson Twp FD - 155.745 (self)
Whitehall FD - 33.92 (self)
Truro Twp FD - 33.92 (self)
Hamilton Twp FD - 33.86 (self then FCSO)
Madison Twp FD - 33.94, if I recall correctly (self)
Franklin Twp FD - 46.56 (self)
Jackson Twp FD - 33.82 (self then Grove City PD)
Pleasant Twp FD - 33.82 (self then GCPD)
Prairie Twp FD - 33.86 (self)

Most of these used Motorola Quik Call II or Plectron with the exception of CFD (wireline to firehouse PA), and a few others.

Perry Twp was kind of unique; I believe it was the only local agency in the county with a separate communications division, with it's own chief. It was set up that way in order to have a measure of independence and impartiality from any of the agencies they dispatched for. At one time, Perry Twp Communications dispatched the following:

Perry Twp PD and Dublin PD - 460.050
Perry Twp FD and Washington Twp FD (once a combined department) - 33.80
Perry Twp Service - 159.195
Shawnee Hills PD - 39.62

Ah, the good old days.
 

gtaman

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Actually GHPD can still dispatch GHFD; since they're located in the same building they simply do it by PA (but rarely do, usually only for a messenger alarm, a walk-in, or injured prisoner). They got rid of the repeater when the owner of the building the fire and PD repeaters are on doubled the rent on each; so they left the PD repeater in place and got rid of the FD repeater.



Only Hamilton Township was dispatched by the SO on 33.86; back in the pre-MECC day Mifflin Twp was dispatched by the SO on 33.52 (this was after they closed down their own FD/PD dispatch center). IIRC those were the only two fire departments ever dispatched by FCSO.

In the interest of history (back in the good ol' days, pre-1988 or 89):

Columbus FD - 154.310, 154.400 (self-dispatched)
Grandview Heights FD - 153.980 (GHPD)
Clinton Twp FD - 33.96 (self)
Upper Arlington FD - 460.575 (UAPD)
Norwich Twp FD - 33.86 (self then Hilliard PD)
Washington Twp FD - 33.80 (Perry Twp then self)
Perry Twp FD - 33.80 (Perry Twp Comm Division)
Worthington FD - 33.76 (self)
Westerville FD - 155.040 then 154.160 (self)
Plain Twp FD - 33.86 (self)
Mifflin Twp FD - 33.52 (self then FCSO, pre-MECC)
Jefferson Twp FD - 155.745 (self)
Whitehall FD - 33.92 (self)
Truro Twp FD - 33.92 (self)
Hamilton Twp FD - 33.86 (self then FCSO)
Madison Twp FD - 33.94, if I recall correctly (self)
Franklin Twp FD - 46.56 (self)
Jackson Twp FD - 33.82 (self then Grove City PD)
Pleasant Twp FD - 33.82 (self then GCPD)
Prairie Twp FD - 33.86 (self)

Most of these used Motorola Quik Call II or Plectron with the exception of CFD (wireline to firehouse PA), and a few others.

Perry Twp was kind of unique; I believe it was the only local agency in the county with a separate communications division, with it's own chief. It was set up that way in order to have a measure of independence and impartiality from any of the agencies they dispatched for. At one time, Perry Twp Communications dispatched the following:

Perry Twp PD and Dublin PD - 460.050
Perry Twp FD and Washington Twp FD (once a combined department) - 33.80
Perry Twp Service - 159.195
Shawnee Hills PD - 39.62

Ah, the good old days.

I remember when Hamilton was still dispatched by the FCSO until two years ago when they stopped being dispatched by the sheriff and went to Columbus to save money.
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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I'm not sure how you are getting your pager to detect the prairie and norwich tones, because I was under the understanding that the way 800 systems work, you never know which voice frequency channel the tones will be played on, but assuming that you figured out a way to get it work, there is another reason your 1000 Hz tone won't open up your pager. The tone is not of a sufficient length. I know that at my rural department, our EMS tones are two tones so those go off pretty quickly, but our fire tones last an ungodly amount of time (i'm guessing around 10 seconds, but that's purely a guess), and i'll hear it over my walkie for a long time before my partner will hear the alerting over his pager. I doubt the tones we use in Franklin County meet any sort of standard timings because sometimes I barely get a quick alert tone, while others I'm responding before they even finish talking!
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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I know for a fact that grandview PD still can dispatch Grandview FD but it's just rare.

And thanks for the history lesson guys! I grew up near the Perry Twp FD and I remember it just disappearing one day with no explanation as to why! I now know of course about the consolidation, but it's interesting to learn about how things used to be around here.

And yes, it must have been Hamilton that I used to hear on the radio calling for "County Fire" when I first started out. I've also not heard of Jefferson township--I'm assuming it got completely annexed by Columbus?

Also, Buster, what's a tone board?
 

wa8pyr

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I'm not sure how you are getting your pager to detect the prairie and norwich tones, because I was under the understanding that the way 800 systems work, you never know which voice frequency channel the tones will be played on!

Pretty simple:

1. Install trunked radio in firehouse.
2. Connect paging tone decoder to audio output on accessory connector.
3. Connect switched audio output to firehouse PA.

I've done several; works like a charm as long as the audio levels are set right. Most houses have a day/night switch in the watch booth which bypasses the tone decoder during the day.
 

wa8pyr

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I know for a fact that grandview PD still can dispatch Grandview FD but it's just rare.

And thanks for the history lesson guys! I grew up near the Perry Twp FD and I remember it just disappearing one day with no explanation as to why! I now know of course about the consolidation, but it's interesting to learn about how things used to be around here.

And yes, it must have been Hamilton that I used to hear on the radio calling for "County Fire" when I first started out. I've also not heard of Jefferson township--I'm assuming it got completely annexed by Columbus?

Jefferson Twp still exists and is actually quite an up-and-coming little area, with fairly high-end housing being built; they have their own water/sewer system and everything. It's part of the Gahanna "metroplex" along with Mifflin Twp. They're dispatched by MECC (Station 141).
 

wa8pyr

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And thanks for the history lesson guys! I grew up near the Perry Twp FD and I remember it just disappearing one day with no explanation as to why! I now know of course about the consolidation, but it's interesting to learn about how things used to be around here.

The FD closure was a direct result of the City of Dublin making Washington Twp coextensive with Dublin, and moving the eastern boundary of Washington Twp over to Sawmill Road. When that happened, somewhere around 60% of the Perry Twp FD tax base vanished. PTFD went away in 2000.

The comm center (by then dispatching only Perry Twp PD) closed in 2005; I used to work there and dismantled the comm center all by my lonesome after they closed it in 2005. If I recall correctly the consoles and other equipment were sold to Ross County SO and used to build a "new" comm center there.
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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Pretty simple:

1. Install trunked radio in firehouse.
2. Connect paging tone decoder to audio output on accessory connector.
3. Connect switched audio output to firehouse PA.

I've done several; works like a charm as long as the audio levels are set right. Most houses have a day/night switch in the watch booth which bypasses the tone decoder during the day.

This actually sounds like something I might want to build soon for a little bit of a project we're working on. I'll have to do some more research into this.

The station I'm at here in Franklin CO is dispatched through being hardwired, but out in rural ohio, we're all on tones/plectron (which are the same thing right? the plectron sounds it, the tones send it?). I've never understood day/night tones though. Why on earth you would want to hear everything in the county through the PA is beyond me. If you want to hear it, turn on a scanner! But there is no need to play everything through the horn all day! (We only use the monitor switch to test volume or when we need to make an adjustment, otherwise, the switch get set to alert)

But yes, the FAO used to tone out all fire assignments to the entire batallion whether or not the station was assigned to the run during the day. That drove me nuts...
 

WuLabsWuTecH

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Jefferson Twp still exists and is actually quite an up-and-coming little area, with fairly high-end housing being built; they have their own water/sewer system and everything. It's part of the Gahanna "metroplex" along with Mifflin Twp. They're dispatched by MECC (Station 141).

Oh! That's blacklick right? I just never knew their name was actually Jefferson Township!
 

wa8pyr

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This actually sounds like something I might want to build soon for a little bit of a project we're working on. I'll have to do some more research into this.

The station I'm at here in Franklin CO is dispatched through being hardwired, but out in rural ohio, we're all on tones/plectron (which are the same thing right? the plectron sounds it, the tones send it?).

Plectron is a brand name for a paging system much like Motorola QuikCall 2. Same principle, different tone frequencies. Many areas now use "Plectron" generically to refer to their paging system, such that you'll often hear them referred to on the radio, as in "set off our Plectrons" (even if the department doesn't use Plectron equipment).

Both be set up for short tone/long tone (1 second/3 second), or a single long tone (8 second), or any variation thereof. Short tone/long tone (and single long tone) is most common.

Generally a group of stations such as a single department would share the short tone (Tone A) and then each station would have an individual long tone (Tone B); the short tone (Tone A sent for 8 seconds) is typically the "All Call" and will open all pagers or receivers for that department with a single tone.

Most modern tone decoders can handle tone frequencies from both manufacturers.
 

wa8pyr

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Oh! That's blacklick right? I just never knew their name was actually Jefferson Township!

Correct. Actually, the only township in Franklin County which has ever been annexed completely out of existence was Marion Township, which was assimilated by Columbus (friendly neighborhood Borg) sometime in the 1950s. The Columbus road maintenance garage on Lockbourne Road just north of 104 is the old Marion Twp fire station, with the old township school (or township hall, I forget which) right next door. After the annexation Columbus FD used the fire station for many years as Station 4.

I don't know that Marion Twp FD ever had radios, as it was well before my time.
 
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WuLabsWuTecH

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Huh! Always more to learn! Every once in awhile when it gets dull and boring at the firehouse, I go through our old binders of stuff and read old radio manuals, and old documents and it's actually kind of fun. I can't believe there was a time when the county only had 4 radio frequencies!!! But I did finally learn about why we have a 10 Alpha, an 8Delta, and a 9 Echo but no Charlie or Bravo! Lots of unsolved questions that you think about and then a few months later stumble across the answer inadvertently.

So does the Sheriff do any dispatching of fire anymore? Because my understanding is that they are REQUIRED by the state (or some other entity) to provide 911 PSAP/dispatching services for any and all townships in the county who request it free of charge. I know there was a big brouhaha that happened when a fire department in northeast ohio found out that they were being charged a couple of grand a month for dispatching by their PD when the county had to provide it for free!
 
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