Old USFS LE frequency

[Norman]

This afternoon I heard two units on the old USFS LE freq of 166.125. I believe it was in the TNF.
They were discussing an incident near Pendola Ranch Rd and old Camptonville Rd. No ID's were heard,
and no PL was used. Couldn't tell if they were USFS units or CA F&G. I thought this freq was discontinued?
I haven't heard anything on it for a long time now. Anyone else hear this and could comment?

[kma371]

Originally Posted by Norman

This afternoon I heard two units on the old USFS LE freq of 166.125. I believe it was in the TNF.
They were discussing an incident near Pendola Ranch Rd and old Camptonville Rd. No ID's were heard,
and no PL was used. Couldn't tell if they were USFS units or CA F&G. I thought this freq was discontinued?
I haven't heard anything on it for a long time now. Anyone else hear this and could comment?

Don't think it's old. Do a search in the DB

[Norman]

The only reference to this freq in the DB that I could find, is on the TMU. Not listed in common chs.
Whomever I heard was definitely not in the TMU. Like I said, it's been over a year since I have heard any activity on this frequency.

[kma371]

Might want to check again as it's also listed as the staff LE repeater in YNP. Don't think it would be fish and game. I'll try and listen to see if I hear anything.

[silverspy]

That is interesting. The database also shows that 171.787 as the R5 LE Frequency; I heard activity on
171.387 last year on the Klamath. 171.787 also happens to be the receive frequency for the old NIFC
Command 7 Frequency. The new California IHOG also shows another new Federal LE Net in Tehama
County, USFS also?

[silverspy]

Correction, the activity heard last year on the Klamath was on 171.787, not 171.387. ��

[kma371]

Sorry, but what does that have to do with 166.125?

[Norman]

I left my house this am after 08:30, and heard it while driving to town. However, it was too weak to copy.
Stay tuned.

[methusaleh]

Just because it's "old", and was in use by one agency, doesn't preclude the possibility that it is in use once again by a different entity.

A couple years or so ago, my office (federal LE) inherited some old portables from a completely different agency whose mission is nothing like ours. I do not know specifically how or why they arrived. They were not reprogrammed, so we used them only on simplex, which was of course the old user's frequencies. A knowledgeable hobbyist monitoring in the area probably would not have known what they were hearing.

[silverspy]

What it has to do with 166.125, is that I'm attempting to determine which frequency is the "true" R5 LE Net, if
in fact there is only one.😀

[northzone]

166.1250 does not fit the new federal bandplan that puts all repeater outputs (in fed vhf band) between 169.5125 to 173.9875. Some region 5 forests have not converted yet to the new 171.7875 but they all will. In time the law channel will also all be p25 and encrypted.

For right now some R5 forests are still using the old channel (there is actually another LE channel that needs to move to a new freq also).

So yes, 171.7875 is the new R5 USFS law channel but it is not the only channel being used right now.

[silverspy]

And 166.125 does not fit the proper NTIA 2019 standard for a repeater output,
it would be more like an input under this scheme.😀

[silverspy]

Thanks for clarification. I must have posted my response at the exact same time��

[Norman]

The "new" LE freq of 171.7875 has been active for maybe two years now. I used to hear a fair amount of activity on it. Not so much anymore.The only regular user seems to be the MNF, and their activity has dropped considerably. In the ENF, I hear their LE units on the regular frequencies. Same with the SNF.
That's why I was surprised to hear 166.125 being used.