New Adirondack DEC Rangers feed.

[k2hz]

ARS-NET has added a new feed for the NYS DEC Rangers in the Adirondack Park area from a tower at Jackson Hill, Boonville.

New York State DEC - Forest Ranger Live Audio Feed

New York State DEC - Forest Ranger Live Audio Feed on Broadcastify.com

www.broadcastify.com

It will monitor the statewide Ranger 159.435 frequency and will probably hear most repeaters in DEC Zones 5, 6 & 7. Primary intent is to cover SAR and Fire operations in the Adirondack Park.

For testing, we are currently scanning all NYSDEC frequencies to see what the site can hear. Since it is in CSQ mode there may be a lot of random other stuff heard. We plan to put the radio on 159.435 only some time on Monday. We may make some changes in the feed name and description when we have a better idea of the actual coverage.

Not much heard yet but I did hear a transmission "on Whiteface" so it is covering up through the High Peaks area.

 

[Thunderknight]

Heard units talking on Gore, but it was scratchy. Whiteface was loud and clear.

 

[Thunderknight]

K2HZ and ARS-NET, I want to thank you for putting this feed up. It must be in a really good spot. I also heard Cathead and Blue Mountain, as well as Black Mountain (scratchy).

 

[k2hz]

K2HZ and ARS-NET, I want to thank you for putting this feed up. It must be in a really good spot. I also heard Cathead and Blue Mountain, as well as Black Mountain (scratchy).

It looks like coverage meets expectations. We originally considered putting it a site near Malone but this is much a shorter drive to the site for us to maintain it (but still about 2 hours) so we decided to give it a try. Antenna is at about 75' at 1600' ground elevation.

The Ranger channel is usually not very busy but we wanted the capability to monitor for when there is an event in progress.

As I mentioned, we are scanning all DEC channels for a temporary test so some of what was heard may be the ENCON Police channels plus there were periods of noise and interference that hopefully will not be present on 159.435. I heard one unit say "on Black" and I think that is a Police site but "Gore TAC" is 159.435 vs "Gore" was probably 159.225 Police. Monitoring remotely we can't be sure what channel is being heard.

Thanks for the comments. Always glad to know someone is listening.

 

[APX8000]

Talk to me about the Raspberry Pi and 7180....what program you running on the Pi and how did you interface it. I'm interested in doing something similar.

 

[k2hz]

Talk to me about the Raspberry Pi and 7180....what program you running on the Pi and how did you interface it. I'm interested in doing something similar.

Kenwood 7180 fixed audio output "AFO" from DB25 pin 17 and pin 18 GND goes to ground loop isolator and then Ugreen USB Sound Card to Pi3b+ running Darkice. With identical model Pi and sound card and fixed audio from radio we can swap components without readjusting in case of a problem which is critical to maintaining multiple unattended sites. Every site is running identical software with the only difference being the feed specific data in darkice.cfg.

A good stable sound card is critical. Cheap generic sound cards will drive you crazy with crappy audio and glitches. Our biggest problem has been crappy sound cables and ground loop isolators. Some of these generic isolators came with a jumper cable with slightly undersized plugs that did not make good connection to the sound card jack. To make things worse, some isolators had poor fitting jacks. In worst case, the plug would fall out of jack if it was vertical.

Most of our sites are running off the site 12V battery system for the radio and the Pi is on a 12/5v converter. Without the ground loop isolator the site battery charger would put low level noise bursts in the audio.

 

[Thunderknight]

I've heard Black Tac (definitely said Tac), and also heard Mt Adams.

 

[k2hz]

The feed is now 159.435 only. Based on observed activity we have changed the feed name and description to:
New York State DEC - Forest Ranger
Monitoring: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Oneida, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren & Washington

New York State DEC - Forest Ranger Live Audio Feed

New York State DEC - Forest Ranger Live Audio Feed on Broadcastify.com

www.broadcastify.com

There was an unusual amount of activity this weekend with the rush of visitors for fall foliage season. There will probably be a lot of quiet time on the feed after tourism and hunting seasons are over unless there is an incident in progress.


If you are interested in monitoring SAR activity in the Central NY Area, there is a Region 7 Search and Rescue feed provided by @jeepsandradios that covers the southern Adirondack area and counties to the south and west:

Region 7 Search and Rescue Live Audio Feed

Region 7 Search and Rescue Live Audio Feed on Broadcastify.com

www.broadcastify.com

 

[k2hz]

Unfortunately the Ranger feed is not receiving since we switched it over to the 159.435 frequency. It was not immediately apparent since the frequency can be quiet unless there is an incident or heavy tourist presence in the Park.

So, unlikely to hear anything until we can back the site that may be quite a while. I think it is likely that I made a programming error. If so, it is an easy fix but it is more than a 2 hour drive to the site.

 

[popnokick]

There are multiple ways to remotely access and control the Raspberry Pi. Is there a reason you aren't using any of them?

 

[k2hz]

We can and do remotely access the Pi. In a worst case where the Pi has locked up and not responding we can force a reboot by remotely cycling the power. The problem is I made a stupid error in the radio programming that requires a site visit to fix.

 

[popnokick]

Got it. So I guess no way to get the 7180 into programming mode and use the CPS remotely?

 

[k2hz]

Got it. So I guess no way to get the 7180 into programming mode and use the CPS remotely?

There may be ways to remotely reprogram a 7180 but not with the simple Pi configuration we have at the sites.

 

[RCjim]

I get a message programming error

But also get the connected message, so far have heard nothing located in Herk County!

With volume wide open I can hear a rushing sound!

 

[k2hz]

As said above the feed is not working since we changed the frequency on Monday due to a radio programming error. It is connected to the Internet but there nothing to hear until we fix the radio.

 

[LathamScan]

Could 'Black' be a reference to the Black Mountain Site along the eastern shore of Lake George in Washington County? I know there's a NYSP site at that location but I'm not sure about DEC.

 

[k2hz]

Could 'Black' be a reference to the Black Mountain Site along the eastern shore of Lake George in Washington County? I know there's a NYSP site at that location but I'm not sure about DEC.

Black is Black Mountain. Blue is Blue Mountain

 

[N2YQT]

Could 'Black' be a reference to the Black Mountain Site along the eastern shore of Lake George in Washington County? I know there's a NYSP site at that location but I'm not sure about DEC.

It certainly is. Pretty neat site.

 

[RCjim]

Hi is the stream up and running?

 

[k2hz]

Hi is the stream up and running?

No. I will post on here and the error notice on the feed will be removed when it is repaired. No estimate yet of when that can happen.
It is a 5 hour round trip so looking to combine the repair with other travel to the area.