154.430 Mhz -old Portland Fire Tapout

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KC7VH

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This morning I heard something interesting on the old Portland Fire tapout frequency. At 0630 there was a role call being made of all the area hospitals. What's interesting is that I did not hear any of the hospitals reply. I heard a reference to the HEAR system, but I thought that was on 155.340 Mhz.

Has anyone else in the Portland area heard this before?
 

PaulNDaOC

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I'm not surprised 154.43 is still up,,it would be perfect for using as the secondary dispatch system ISO looks at.

Is it possible BOEC was doing some interop patch testing?
 

PaulNDaOC

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On a related note, I biked by the the old building the other day at NE 21st and I-84 and Sunshine Dairy now has an office in it.

I always wondered how the decision came about to place the alarm center in that old small building all to itself.

I paid a visit there back in the 80's and recall about 3 firefighters working there dispatching, and it was before dispatching tap-out, so most activity I think was on 154.01?

"KOB647 calling phantom box...." aw the memories
 

rosecitytransit

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I always wondered how the decision came about to place the alarm center in that old small building all to itself.

Because that's where they decided to put the tower? And the tower was probably put there because back before annexations it was about the middle of the city and there was no need to broadcast to the other side of the West Hills and the entire region?

Also, Radio Reference is not showing any licenses at the tower. Is it used today? FCC Callsign Proximity Search: N 45.5294568491591 W -122.64488303626422 Range: 0.25
 

oregontreehugger

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Some historic info. I pulled from the City website at: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/fire/article/384861

"In 1928, Fire Alarm Dispatch (FAD) was constructed solely for use as a communications headquarters at NE 21st and Pacific Avenue. By 1930, 752 pull boxes alerted 16 fire stations throughout the City, using 48 circuits that connected everything to the Central Fire Station."

"February 1993 was a nostalgic day for Portland firefighters and the beloved Fire Alarm Dispatch. Built in 1928, the walls in the stone building had heard millions of cries for help from citizens of Portland, and alerted firefighters to respond with its electronic circuits and underground cables. Now civilian dispatchers at a new Emergency Communications facility in Southeast Portland were the voice behind the call to 9-1-1."

Also, apparently during the WPA days back in 1941, a lengthy paper titled "History of the Portland Fire Alarm System" was written. The PDF is available here:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdo...92BAE59?doi=10.1.1.582.5630&rep=rep1&type=pdf
 

sparklehorse

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"KOB647 calling phantom box...." aw the memories

Oh yeah, I remember that well. My folks lived in NE when I was a kid in the 1970's. I had a tunable VHF police radio back then with no squelch. It was my very first public safety radio. Fire ops were all simplex then, so you usually couldn't hear much unless you were within a couple miles of a fire. I think the pull box near our house was 3258. I always kept an ear out for "Calling Phantom Box 3258", but never heard that one while I lived there.

Found some pics here:

PDX RETRO » Blog Archive » FIRE ALARM DISPATCH

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