PA 700 MHz Air to Ground System

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KD4YGG

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700Mhz P25 System Control Channel In Pittsburgh

Monitored earlier today in the Pittsburgh area:

P25 Phase I System
ID: 002
ZONE: 201
SITE: 001
WAN: 00001
NAC: 01B

773.06875 Mhz is current control channel

Unsure of exact location or usage...

PRO96COM screenshots below:
 

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GTR8000

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The link you posted was to the Admin page.

P25 System 002 (Pittsburgh Area) Trunking System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Scanner Frequencies

773.06875 is a State License frequency, and there was discussion about PA building out 700 MHz P25 systems in the Southwest corner of the state for use by PSP helicopters. Looks like you found one of these sites. See these two posts for details:

http://forums.radioreference.com/pe...ce-struggle-opensky-issues-5.html#post1934956

http://forums.radioreference.com/pe...ce-struggle-opensky-issues-5.html#post1935013
 

mtindor

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Per posts on the TRAMAlist Yahoo Group in March/April 2013, some additional channels:

770.95625 ch 144
773.84375 ch 375

Details, somewhat sketchy, are on TRAMAlist. From what I read, it is a P25 control channel off an Opensky2 controller on PA-STARNET. I have no further information. Just relaying what I see on the TRAMAlist. Don't list it as a PA-Starnet site based upon what I say. Someone else might come along who can give a more definitive answer.

Mike
 

KD4YGG

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Cool - thanks for the correction and background info...
 

mtindor

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Cool - thanks for the correction and background info...

Thank you for adding it. I can't hear it from here to confirm it, so it's good to have somebody who is both able to confirm its existence and willing to make the info available to others.

Mike
 

kirkwoodcr

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Thank you for adding it. I can't hear it from here to confirm it, so it's good to have somebody who is both able to confirm its existence and willing to make the info available to others.

Mike

I work across from downtown, I'll add it and see what I get on my portable. I may be able to get it on my base station at home since I do pick up Pittsburgh easily.
 

HM1529

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The link you posted was to the Admin page.

P25 System 002 (Pittsburgh Area) Trunking System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Scanner Frequencies

773.06875 is a State License frequency, and there was discussion about PA building out 700 MHz P25 systems in the Southwest corner of the state for use by PSP helicopters. Looks like you found one of these sites. See these two posts for details:

http://forums.radioreference.com/pe...ce-struggle-opensky-issues-5.html#post1934956

http://forums.radioreference.com/pe...ce-struggle-opensky-issues-5.html#post1935013

Should this system exist as a statewide system instead of only for Allegheny County?
I don't know if sites are linked or stand alone.
 

GTR8000

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Should this system exist as a statewide system instead of only for Allegheny County?
I don't know if sites are linked or stand alone.

Unless the system is truly statewide, i.e. either physically exists or provides coverage in every county, it should be assigned only to the individual counties it covers.

If someone finds a site in Philly with the same WACN, the system can be added to Philadelphia County as well, and so on.
 

KD4YGG

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I work across from downtown, I'll add it and see what I get on my portable. I may be able to get it on my base station at home since I do pick up Pittsburgh easily.

My location at the time was in Monroeville.
 

HM1529

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Unless the system is truly statewide, i.e. either physically exists or provides coverage in every county, it should be assigned only to the individual counties it covers.

If someone finds a site in Philly with the same WACN, the system can be added to Philadelphia County as well, and so on.

Well, this is sort of an unusual system. There are only 10 sites, but the system is designed to provide coverage statewide for aerial operations. If they can actually get aerial coverage at the York site from Philly all the way to western PA, I don't think it would make sense to only add a York transmitter site to the existing ID'd Allegheny County site since those two would effectively provide coverage for much of the southern area of the state.

Of course, without finding the other sites and seeing what the WACN's are, I suppose there is no discussion to be had at the moment.

I should have had a scanner with me on Monday. I was in York County for work and could have ID'd the frequency being used as the cc. Darn it.
 

GTR8000

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Ben, if the system effectively provides coverage for the entire state from just a few sites, then we'll list it as a statewide system, no problem.

Let's find the rest of the sites, piece it all together, see how the WACN's and SysID's match up, and go from there.
 

KD4YGG

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Interestingly enough there were no neighboring sites listed by PRO96COM, and there were no radio affiliations during the 20-30 minutes I monitored.
 

HM1529

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In State College today. Passing through Harrisburg this morning, I picked up the following CC:

773.78125
N01B
W:00001
Sy:007
R200
S001

Data is from the PRO-106 screen.

I'll be busy all day...just wanted to throw this out there.

No traffic heard.

With the handheld in the truck, I picked up the signal from the turnpike west of the Lebanon/Lancaster exit to, roughly, the US 322/US 11/15 interchange area.

Also, I'm not getting any 700MHz CC's in State College.
 

hosehead88

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I will monitor from Harrisburg going forward. I am getting 99% on my PSR-500 in my office. I will add to my 996XT in the truck this evening and report back if I hear any action.
 

GTR8000

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HM1529

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It would appear that this "Bucks County" system is, in fact, another site on this system.

Bucks County Project 25 System Trunking System, Doylestown, Pennsylvania - Scanner Frequencies

Those two frequencies are state license allocations, and the WACN/SysID pattern matches what we've seen so far.


Is Bucks County even replacing their Motorola system with a P25 system in the first place, or did someone hear that site and the gun was jumped?


Bucks is adding a 700MHz P25 system.


I suspect the site I snagged this morning may be the YORK01 tower site. THis would be at Reesers Summit in NE York County.

I caught this site on the way back from State College:

769.95625

N01B
W:00001
Sy: 006
R203
S001

Not sure of the location, but it seemed strongest around Morgantown and a little east of there. Mobile with the handheld in the truck, reception of this site was not good going further east of Morgantown (lost signal east of Downingtown)...but now that I am home, I am receiving it with a decent signal. I started picking it up about a mile east of where I lost the Harrisburg area site coming home...near Lebanon/Lancaster on the turnpike. Guess they're spaced for minimal overlap, at least on the ground.

I caught the 769.95625 frequency near Blue Marsh yesterday, too. But, I had a PSR-800 with me and could not program it on the fly to grab any data. That's one reason I still like my PRO-106 over the 800. The 800 is handy for going into a new area without any prep because you can load from the stored DB. The 106 is better for examining new trunked systems on the fly without a laptop.

Forgot to add that this latest site could be at BERK02 or CHES01, possibly.
 
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GTR8000

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I caught this site on the way back from State College:

769.95625

N01B
W:00001
Sy: 006
R203
S001

This one actually seems to be related to what was noted for "Bucks County":

You: 00001-006, 203-001

Bucks: 00001-006, 002-003

Unfortunately the way each scanner or program like Unitrunker or Pro96Com displays most of this info (especially the RFSS and Site #) is not uniform, leading to a lot of confusion.

I'm not saying that site is in Bucks County, but the RFSS/Site # sure do look suspiciously alike. 002-003 does not follow the pattern, 203-001 sure does. I bet the RFSS/Site # for the Bucks site is really 203-003
 

HM1529

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This one actually seems to be related to what was noted for "Bucks County":

You: 00001-006, 203-001

Bucks: 00001-006, 002-003

Unfortunately the way each scanner or program like Unitrunker or Pro96Com displays most of this info (especially the RFSS and Site #) is not uniform, leading to a lot of confusion.

I'm not saying that site is in Bucks County, but the RFSS/Site # sure do look suspiciously alike. 002-003 does not follow the pattern, 203-001 sure does. I bet the RFSS/Site # for the Bucks site is really 203-003

There's no way I would have been picking up anything from Bucks over in Morgantown and west of there.
From my home location, I am getting the Morgantown area CC with a good signal. The CC provided for the mystery Bucks site barely breaks squelch on the handheld here in Norristown.

The numbers do seem to match...maybe they are both part of this state system. The only ID'd traffic on that Bucks system was aerial surveillance. I don't think Bucks started building out their system, yet.
 
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