Alachua County Fire Rescue VHF

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kmangan

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I have noticed morse code and some very brief MDC-1200 ID's on the ACFR VHF paging frequency of 154.325 the last few days. There's no static, which makes me believe it is GRU/CCC doing the transmissions and not a distant agency.

Has anyone else heard this? I just heard another morse code burst as I am typing this. I'm not very good with morse code, so I couldn't tell you what it said. My thought would be it's identifying to a repeater?
 

kmangan

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...forgot to mention. I heard tones on the GFR analog VHF of 154.145 the other day too. I haven't heard those in awhile.
 

bravo14

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...forgot to mention. I heard tones on the GFR analog VHF of 154.145 the other day too. I haven't heard those in awhile.

When I lived in St Augustine for along time. I use to pick up GFR 154.145 on/off depending on weather. I got some of their tones a/b I was making a list years ago.
 

kmangan

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I was able to record the morse code on 154.325. The code is indeed an identifier. KWF908 is what it's announcing. The call sign for 154.325. I have listened to the VHF frequency for a few years now and never heard the morse code in the past. Perhaps a new system is in?

I still can't identify the other MDC-1200 ID's I'm hearing.
 

SRSP2282

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Interesting...

I caught some of the CWID tones this morning on a recording. They came in loud and clear as well. They were not transmitted with a PL. I wasn't able to decode them since the beginning of the tx was clipped on my recording. I also caught the faint sound of a couple of tx's with a MDC ID data burst. ID tracker recoded the signal strength as strong (equal to normal simulcasted traffic on the repeater) along with a pl of 156.7

Here are my thoughts:

CWID tones that kmangan decoded (KWF908) definitely comes back to the FCC registration for Alachua County. I never noticed them in the past so perhaps they are now being announced as part of an equipment upgrade.

Although the MDC-ID transmission content was very scratchy the overall signal strength of the transmission was strong. Perhaps this was caused by some interference from a distant county playing with Alachua's repeater. Looking at some FCC registry data Polk is my first thought. Take a look at this: KIL604 (POLK, COUNTY OF) FCC Callsign Details “GOVERNMENT ENTITY FOR FIRE SERVICE USE” In the past I have pulled in Polk county when the atmospheric conditions have been right. Maybe something going on there. I'm going to keep an eye on my ACFR recordings and see what else comes across...

Whooey, not sure if the P25 system explains the presence of MDC-ID on the frequency but I think you might be on to something in terms of the new P25 system and supporting equipment upgrades with CWID.

Kmangan, what did you hear on the old GFR frequency? CWID or fire tones? Any voice? I haven't had that one programed in my scanners for a while. I thought it was depreciated when the switch was made to the 800mhz system. Guess Ill be adding that one back.
 

kmangan

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The transition to P25 may have something to do with it. I never thought of that.

Jay, I heard A-B fire tones on the old GFR frequency, that was it.
 

ke4crc

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Polk County only uses 2 different VHF channels 153.995 witch they have used for years and a new 155.7 used for the new alpha pagers they are switching over to.
I'll program the 155.325 to see if i can hear any thing around polk and post my results
 

SRSP2282

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Polk County only uses 2 different VHF channels 153.995 witch they have used for years and a new 155.7 used for the new alpha pagers they are switching over to.
I'll program the 155.325 to see if i can hear any thing around polk and post my results

Thanks ke4crc. Does Polk county fire use MDC signaling with their voice transmissions? (Sounds like a squak before or after each voice tx)
 

ke4crc

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Thanks ke4crc. Does Polk county fire use MDC signaling with their voice transmissions? (Sounds like a squak before or after each voice tx)

Not sure about the MDC MAYBE once upon a time they did but I don't know about now.
i have heard that all the voice pagers have now been switched out for the new digital
Alpha-numeric pagers & the switch out of of the station paging system is in progress .
 

kmangan

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I caught the CWID tones a few more times yesterday afternoon. Though it's not nearly as consistent as it was last week. I've been listening for the last hour or so now and haven't heard them at all.
 

whooey

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I just heard it at 1500 hours. Odd.

EDIT: Also hearing some Medi Helo "Air Life 9, to Hamilton County EMS" transmissions on 154.325.
 

KG4YNH

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154.325 is "Hamilton Air". They use it to talk to EMS helicopters when requested. It's simplex.
AirLife 9 is out of Valdosta.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

kmangan

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Very odd things happening on the VHF side again this afternoon. I've heard a CWID for the first time in a few weeks. The transmissions are very garbled too. Almost like two consoles/radios are keying at the same time. I'm hearing other very quick transmissions too every minute or so with no voice or tones. I'll try to record and post if I can.
 

kmangan

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I was able to confirm that they are doing testing on the VHF side. It appears they are moving the main paging location to the tower in Devil's Millhopper that WRUF-FM and WUFT-FM broadcast from.
 

kmangan

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I heard the tower on 5th street was "coming down" I don't know if they meant the entire tower is being taken down, or just the VHF antennas being removed.
 
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