154.355 pl 118.8

[jamiewmorris]

I am monitoring freq 154.355 with pl tone of 118.8 which shows in database as Beaufort County, but I heard someone from Great Falls FD call into Chester dispatch for a radio check. I did look into Chester Co listing and it does not list this freq, can anyone say whether this is a new channel??

 

[CCHLLM]

Well, Kershaw County has 154.355 with 123.0 PL, and personal observation tells me that scanners sometimes can't distinguish between adjacent PL freqs, though I don't have a clue why Great Falls would use a Kershaw freq to call Chester. Maybe Great Falls FD has the surrounding counties' freqs and the incident could be an operator malfunction, i.e., picking the wrong channel? I've never done that myself..... Liar, liar, pants on fire! And at the worst possible moments, too! I remember the time.....I thought I was on the Tac channel.....never mind.... That was 22 years ago and I still hear about it. :-(

 

[jamiewmorris]

I know for sure that the person said Great Falls FD to Chester Dispatch, and Chester dispatcher answered. And then I heard one of the FF say something to the effect he was near the Chester/Fairfield county line. But most definately it was with PL tone of 118.8.

 

[jeffmulter]

Any chance you heard the comms via Berkeley Co's fire channel, rather than Beaufort ?

Some scanners, when you hold or or into "manual" mode, will open the PL tone up.

Chester's fire dispatch repeater is on 154.010 / 127.3, which is also the input to Berkeley County's fire channel on 154.355 / 127.3. I've heard Chester Co via the Berkeley Co repeater on numerous occasions.

Conversely, Berkeley Co on 154.445 / 127.3 will also be heard via the Union Co, SC Fire repeater.

BTW - the db for Berkeley Co does not look correct. If 154.010 is also being used as a fireground channel, it woul not be done using the same Pl tone as the one used for accessing the repeater (unless dispatch was controlling when the repeater was "up").

 

[bpalmer]

Beaufort County. 154.355 T118.8 it is a pretty strong signal that I have heard on average days from South of Savannah Ga to Georgetown SC.

Of late I have being hearing Chester mentioned on my radio here in Beaufort and have being trying to figure out if Chester County has this frequency. I have not be able to discover the tone. If it helps I heard a wreck the other day at 21 and Theodore Rds. I also heard the Chester Fairfield line mentioned

This frequency is also heard here orginating in Brantly County Ga and Berkeley County.

I suppose the radio could be mixing up two diffrent signals somehow so you hear voice from one and the tone from the other. When I hear Chester mentioned and go into tone search, the radio knows a tone is there, but cannot find it.

 

[jeffmulter]

>> Of late I have being hearing Chester mentioned on my radio here in Beaufort and have being trying to figure out if Chester County has this frequency.

No - they do not (see my previous post).

>> I have not be able to discover the tone.

It's 127.3 (see my previous post).

>> This frequency is also heard here orginating in Brantly County Ga and Berkeley County.

There are also a couple of SC fire departments, and several Ga fire departments using 154.355 as their primary channel. Using the tone function on your scanner to differentiate the various tones will help you identify each agency.

>> I suppose the radio could be mixing up two diffrent signals somehow so you hear voice from one and the tone from the other.

Nope - tone squelch on an FM carrier doesn't work that way. If it did, tone squelch would be useless on a frequency populated by multiple users in a region.

 

[bpalmer]

None of which really answers the question "why are we hearing 154.355 with Chester County" mentioned as though that was the orginating dispatch office.

Somehing seems a bit odd qand I am too faraway to sort it out. If it was Just Kershaw County reporting something or other then we could figure that outjust seems we are missing something.

I am well aware that several places use the 154.355 freq. I just noted what I hear in Beaufort on a fairly regular basis. On a wide open band I hear way more then I can sort out..

As to the tone thing, My receiver has not been able to decipher the tone, for what ever reason. Not getting a solid tone number makes it hard to figure out who I am listening to. We also have the problem of:

QUOTE=jamiewmorris;826110]I am monitoring freq 154.355 with pl tone of 118.8 which shows in database as Beaufort County, but I heard someone from Great Falls FD call into Chester dispatch for a radio check. I did look into Chester Co listing and it does not list this freq, can anyone say whether this is a new channel??[/QUOTE]

 

[bpalmer]

154.355

None of which really answers the question "why are we hearing 154.355 with Chester County" mentioned as though that was the orginating dispatch office.

Somehing seems a bit odd qand I am too faraway to sort it out. If it was Just Kershaw County reporting something or other then we could figure that outjust seems we are missing something.

I am well aware that several places use the 154.355 freq. I just noted what I hear in Beaufort on a fairly regular basis. On a wide open band I hear way more then I can sort out..

As to the tone thing, My receiver has not been able to decipher the tone, for what ever reason. Not getting a solid tone number makes it hard to figure out who I am listening to. We also have the problem of, From Jamie:

"I am monitoring freq 154.355 with pl tone of 118.8 which shows in database as Beaufort County, but I heard someone from Great Falls FD call into Chester dispatch for a radio check. I did look into Chester Co listing and it does not list this freq, can anyone say whether this is a new channel"

 

[jeffmulter]

>> None of which really answers the question "why are we hearing 154.355 with Chester County" mentioned as though that was the orginating dispatch office.

As posted previously, "Chester's fire dispatch repeater is on 154.010 / 127.3, which is also the input to Berkeley County's fire channel on 154.355 / 127.3."

In other words, Chester's comms are being rebroadcast by Berkeley Co's repeater. On a good tropo day, I can hear Chester direct, and via Berkeley Co.

>> We also have the problem of, From Jamie:

>> "I am monitoring freq 154.355 with pl tone of 118.8 which shows in database as Beaufort County, but I heard someone from Great Falls FD call into Chester dispatch for a radio check. ... "

Some scanners - and the Pro 92 is one of them - will pass any tone when holding on a frequency in "manual" mode. Even when a tone is programmed for that channel in the scanner.

I believe one of the scanners that Jamie uses is a Pro 97. It would not surprise me if the Pro 97 works the same way.

Jamie - was that the scanner you were using when you heard the Chester Co traffic ?

 

[jamiewmorris]

I am using a bcd396t, hooked up to a regular magnet nmo mount vhf antenna on a 7 foot post in my front yard.

 

[brian]

The PRO-97 does not work in the same was at the 92 in manual mode. It will not pass all traffic if a tone is programmed, only the traffic that includes the specified tone.

 

[jeffmulter]

>> I am using a bcd396t, hooked up to a regular magnet nmo mount vhf antenna on a 7 foot post in my front yard.

Hi, Jamie - Do you have a specific PL tone programmed in the system that contains the Beaufort Co entry, or is it set to tone search ? About how far is your residence or monitoring location from the intersection of Hwy 52 and 45, where Berkeley Co has atleast a fire channel receiving site and link ?

Thanks, Brian, regarding the Pro 97. I've never had the opportunity to use one. My monitoring room was nuked a few days ago ... I don't think the Pro 96 goes to open squelch in manual, but I can't find it in here, either. The Opto boards will open the squelch in manual mode, atleast when using the ScanStar software.

Jamie and Billy - If you have an opportunity tomorrow (Thursday) morning, give the scanners a listen. Tropo conditions are expected to be very strong across the eastern halves of both Carolinas, as well as adjoining coastal states. It may be a good time the "heard Chester" circumstances to recur. Hepburn had a good month of on-target predictions for our region during June:

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html#hour48

 

[bpalmer]

"As posted previously, "Chester's fire dispatch repeater is on 154.010 / 127.3, which is also the input to Berkeley County's fire channel on 154.355 / 127.3." (sorry me and the quote feature are not getting along)

I missed this. This sounds reasonable, but where is the coordinator, as this should not happen. Would this explain why I am not able to recieve a tone on 154.355 when I hear Chester.

Brian I think this answer the question I possed to you awhile back.

Jeff Multer
I should be so lucky to have listen time Thursday. Maybe early in the day. My location is good enough and my travel time fair enough that I have in the past confirmed hearing the Gainsville Fl fire Department here on 154.145 (Colleton county #1 for this and also on this Garden City SC and one in Savannah Area.) On band openings I get so many stations on my regular fire Department Frequencies that I can't ID them all. I know I will hear Edgefield County SC and St Johns County Fl, on 154.415, with fair openings.

 

[jeffmulter]

>> I missed this. This sounds reasonable, but where is the coordinator, as this should not happen.

The frequency assignments for the two county fire agencies possibly date back many years ... before the FCC relaxed licensing someone outside the standard fire allocations. Originally, fire comms were limited to 28 ? VHF frequencies, and some of those were designated for mobile, low-power or special use only.

>> Would this explain why I am not able to recieve a tone on 154.355 when I hear Chester.

The tone should be decoding as clearly as it does for any radio on the system. Essentially, the channel repeater doesn't know the difference between a transmission from Chester Co, or a transmission from a Berkeley Co radio.

Out of curiousity, I set up a receiver and tone unit on the input and output to look at the tones on both sides of the repeater ... if the opportunity arises.

>> I should be so lucky to have listen time Thursday. Maybe early in the day. My location is good enough and my travel time fair enough that I have in the past confirmed hearing the Gainsville Fl fire Department here on 154.145 (Colleton county #1 for this and also on this Garden City SC and one in Savannah Area.)

I used to get a fair amount of logs from the northeast counties in Florida. Then Jacksonville went digital trunked for most TGs, the state went to Pro Voice, and some of the counties also implemented trunking.

I have yet to log the Gainesville / Alachua Co area from home, although we spend our vacations in Fla. We usually go down via I-85 / I-75, and return via I-4 / I-95 / I-26. The wife drives, and I monitor / log.

I also monitor on the airborne trips to Tampa, but the aircraft skins really attentuate ground-based VHF ... UHF and 800 reception is great, though.

>> On band openings I get so many stations on my regular fire Department Frequencies that I can't ID them all. I know I will hear Edgefield County SC and St Johns County Fl, on 154.415, with fair openings.

If you have a particular unidentified, pass along the frequency and tone. I may have already identified and logged it.

 

[jeffmulter]

>> If you have an opportunity tomorrow (Thursday) morning, give the scanners a listen. Tropo conditions are expected to be very strong across the eastern halves of both Carolinas, as well as adjoining coastal states. It may be a good time the "heard Chester" circumstances to recur. Hepburn had a good month of on-target predictions for our region during June:

>> http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html#hour48

With regards to tropo, yesterday (Thursday) was generally a dud at this location ... and I was still late getting into work !

 

[bpalmer]

Jeff,

Thanks for the ducting info.

I never saw a great opening here the last couple of days, though there was some here on the coast

 

[jamiewmorris]

*I am listening to this frequency tonight and I am hearing Richburg FD (in Chester Co) respond to a call at I-77 racetrack and were using Richburg callsigns calling into Chester Dispatch.
*I looked up Richburg FD and they list on their page that their frequency is 154.010!
*This time I am not getting a pl tone to come up, but I do hear Beaufort Co responding to a call at 5530 Spring Island Dr.
Does anyone else hear Chester County FDs coming over on this freq?

 

[bpalmer]

Yep,

That is what this thread is all about. As I learned, and it is in the above thread, Chester output is the same as Berkeley County input both use the same tone so Berkeley County is retransmitting Chester County through the Berkeley County site. Is radio fun. SO if you are in range of Berkeley you will hear Chester some (or many) days. In the last few hours I heard Richburg go out to an unoccupied trailer fire. Goes like that.

If you are not using tone to control your input you will definitely hear Beaufort County in a lot of places. I have heard it over a hundred miles from here in Beaufort County.

Spring Island is a super gated and isolated community near Callawassie Island off of SC 170 South of the Broad River and Chechessee Rivers. They mostly have fire alarms and a few medical calls.