Greetings,
Anyone know if there are any VHF DMR activity in the Bay Area?
Anyone know if there are any VHF DMR activity in the Bay Area?
Any VHF DMR Activity?
- Thread starter vince48
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Assuming that you're asking about HAM DMR repeaters , yes there are a few. However, the vast majority are UHF. The few that come to mind are on Mt. Diablo, Mt. Allison and one in San Francisco. A good place to check is norcaldmr.org While that website is a good one for determining the locations of repeaters in the area, there have been a lot of changes recently with regard to talkgroups and such so that part may not be accurate. I can help with that part though if you need it.
Thank you Sir for the reply. I should have been a bit clear, is there any commercial DMR in the VHF spectrum?
I monitor amateur DMR, D-Star on 144 and 440. Although I never monitor anything on 50mhz. Is that band active?
I monitor amateur DMR, D-Star on 144 and 440. Although I never monitor anything on 50mhz. Is that band active?
I'm told that there is some activity on 50mhz. On the N6NFI repeater is Palo Alto (very active, 145.230) I heard a few guys discussing a net that takes place. I just recently bought a radio that can handle 50-54mhz but haven't made any contacts on that band yet. Are you in the hills or in the flatlands? That might govern what you can access to some degree. I'm in San Leandro near the marina and get pretty good reception all around. My brother is closer to Hayward hills and has trouble receiving certain repeaters.
I'm in Hayward in the flats, next to Costco
yes, I monitor EBRCS, south cell and no I'm not a HAM
EBRCS south is my primary scan target. I had trouble with intermod problems in San Leandro using the SDR donlges. I had to build a very narrow corner reflector to deal with it. I think I'm too far north (aiming toward San Leandro hills and picking up two signals. Problems aren't as bad with a PRO-668. I do notice better reception while in Hayward. Any issues for you? I'm assuming you may use a dongle if you're monitoring DMR (or do you have a dedicated DMR radio?
I get some multipath issue occasionally, but I just aim my yagi southwest and that does a good job. I have problems getting the northwest cell. Just can't seem to get a steady signal.
I use a TYT MD-380 hand held, Ettus B200 and SDRnet down converter with DSD+ for my DMR.
I use a TYT MD-380 hand held, Ettus B200 and SDRnet down converter with DSD+ for my DMR.
yes, northwest is in and out for me. Unless I get my yagi up higher, I might has well forget that cell. Same with Central cell, I guess the Hayward hills are in the way.
There is a guy on here who goes by the user name radiobern. I think he may be an alameda county dispatcher. I've talked to him once or twice (he also has a Ham license) and have run across on these forums. It might be worthwhile to look him up and see what advice he has to offer. I think he has his won radio/scanning website.
yes that is Bernard. Good guy.
Yes, there is VHF DMR/MotoTRBO activity. From a quick scan, I found 150.8975, 151.6700, 151.7900, 151.9775, 153.4700, and 153.6800 to be active.
I have much difficulty with EBRCS ALCO NW here at my house in the San Leandro Hills due to multipath. Fortunately, I have been able to find a "sweet" spot in one of the rooms to hear about 95% of it.
I found the area where I used to run my business in unincorporated Hayward (Meekland Ave/A st) was quite good for receiving various EBRCS sites. From specific "sweet" spots there, I could listen to EBRCS ALCO East, NW and SW. EBRCS CoCo West, Central and East also came in as well. Most of the time, it was at least 90% decode. Even Oakland's Harris system was coming in there.
Yes, I run my own website, radiobern.com, but that is sadly out of date since work keeps me busy. My callsign is K6KBL and I do monitor some local ham repeaters plus some ham DMR as well. I just reprogrammed my DMR mobile for the new Brandmeister talkgroups.
Yes, I am a dispatcher now so you might be hearing me on Patrol 1/2, 3 or Service 1, 2. I'll let you guys figure out which agency I work for.
Once Oakland switches to EBRCS, I don't expect the coverage to change. They have recently added more voice channels in anticipation of the increased voice traffic.
In terms of DMR equipment, I have a Connect Systems CS750 handheld, CS800 mobile and a Tytera MD380 handheld. All are for UHF since there are much less VHF ham DMR repeaters in the area. I also have been fiddling with a RTL-SDR dongle in addition to my GRE PSR-500 and RS PRO-668.
I have much difficulty with EBRCS ALCO NW here at my house in the San Leandro Hills due to multipath. Fortunately, I have been able to find a "sweet" spot in one of the rooms to hear about 95% of it.
I found the area where I used to run my business in unincorporated Hayward (Meekland Ave/A st) was quite good for receiving various EBRCS sites. From specific "sweet" spots there, I could listen to EBRCS ALCO East, NW and SW. EBRCS CoCo West, Central and East also came in as well. Most of the time, it was at least 90% decode. Even Oakland's Harris system was coming in there.
Yes, I run my own website, radiobern.com, but that is sadly out of date since work keeps me busy. My callsign is K6KBL and I do monitor some local ham repeaters plus some ham DMR as well. I just reprogrammed my DMR mobile for the new Brandmeister talkgroups.
Yes, I am a dispatcher now so you might be hearing me on Patrol 1/2, 3 or Service 1, 2. I'll let you guys figure out which agency I work for.
Once Oakland switches to EBRCS, I don't expect the coverage to change. They have recently added more voice channels in anticipation of the increased voice traffic.
In terms of DMR equipment, I have a Connect Systems CS750 handheld, CS800 mobile and a Tytera MD380 handheld. All are for UHF since there are much less VHF ham DMR repeaters in the area. I also have been fiddling with a RTL-SDR dongle in addition to my GRE PSR-500 and RS PRO-668.
Well Bernard, as my wife would say, "Your ears must have been burning" since your name was mentioned here on the site.
I'm not sure why Alco NW is as difficult as it is to pick up in San Leandro. As I mentioned, I'm near the San Leandro marina and have trouble with it. Many years ago I used to listen to OPD activity quite frequently. I would have assumed that the radio sites would have remained the same. As often as I see OPD vehicles in San Leandro, I'd expect coverage to be better. Any idea if the OPD TGs will be transmitted on Alco SW sites as they move over to EBRCS?
With regard to DMR, I haven't picked up nearly as many active frequencies on VHF (other than HAM) although the UHF band is littered with them. I'll say though that NorcalDMR's switch to Brandmeister has kept me busy as well. I can hardly keep my codeplug up to date.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond and provide the information. Maybe I'll run in to you again on one of the local repeaters. My call is KK6DOQ. I frequently monitor DMR 5150, San Leandro/W6RGG 444.200 and Palo Alto/N6NFI 145.230
Brian
I'm not sure why Alco NW is as difficult as it is to pick up in San Leandro. As I mentioned, I'm near the San Leandro marina and have trouble with it. Many years ago I used to listen to OPD activity quite frequently. I would have assumed that the radio sites would have remained the same. As often as I see OPD vehicles in San Leandro, I'd expect coverage to be better. Any idea if the OPD TGs will be transmitted on Alco SW sites as they move over to EBRCS?
With regard to DMR, I haven't picked up nearly as many active frequencies on VHF (other than HAM) although the UHF band is littered with them. I'll say though that NorcalDMR's switch to Brandmeister has kept me busy as well. I can hardly keep my codeplug up to date.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to respond and provide the information. Maybe I'll run in to you again on one of the local repeaters. My call is KK6DOQ. I frequently monitor DMR 5150, San Leandro/W6RGG 444.200 and Palo Alto/N6NFI 145.230
Brian
Hi Bernard
Colorful background you have. I didn't know you were a dispatcher. Probably heard to you when the old EDACS system was up and running.
Thanks for the vhf DMR frequencies . I will give them a ear this week.
vince48
No, I haven't been dispatching that long. Actually, dispatching is a fairly new career for me. I guess you could say I'm a long time listener though.
Well, it seems these sites only work for their intended areas. As an example, I drive on Doolittle to get to work. Once I pass that Oakland sign before reaching OAK Airport, the SW site starts to break up. SW is not receivable at all from my old house in west Berkeley.
The primary site for OPD/OFD will be NW. As units transport subjects to SRJ, they will roam onto ALCO East when they give their ending mileage there. I'm not sure if they will roam on SW when they make John George runs.
Yes, I'm constantly updating the code plug on my radios. I have a friend who lives in Livermore and I need to help update his too.
No problem, always glad to help out. Hopefully we can chat on the air sometime.
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