Anderson Co. WX Sirens

Status
Not open for further replies.

Arkk

ØGreatUnitsØ
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
11
Question for the group... Anyone in the Lawrenceburg / Anderson Co area by chance monitor the data from activating the weather sirens in the county?

I am looking for the frequency this may be on... I used to monitor this back in 2012 when they did it on the County Fire Dispatch channel but they switched it to something else when the digital NXDN conversion took place.

Anyone happen to know what it is?
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
Are you sure they changed it? That would cost a lot of money to change all of the sirens to something else. There would be no real benefit to changing it to a different activation system. Have you monitored the old county fire frequency during a monthly tornado siren test?
 

Remington12G

GØT AES?
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Messages
948
I monitor all the repeaters on a daily basis and have wondered the exact same thing. Everything or almost everything appears to be NXDN 12.5 modulation.

I'll do some poking around and see what I can find. If I had to guess it would be on one of the 2 licenses the county primarily uses for LE/GOV.
 

Arkk

ØGreatUnitsØ
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
11
Yes very interesting. West-Pac I’m sure it had to change because when county fire went NXDN they did not change frequencies and there is no analog system for them anymore and I don’t hear it on the NXDN side.

and Remington12G , I was thinking the same thing so I’ve been looking through all the county and city licenses and haven’t found anything besides their normal repeater and simplex frequencies. What I have found is a few older frequencies they used to use when the Bondville Rd repeater was up back in the day but that’s about it. So they have to be hiding in there somewhere. Very strange.
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
Guys, it didn't have to change. The sirens work the same way a fire dept pager works. The sirens don't care if they hear digital noise, they only care about the 2-tone that tells them to activate. Just like encryption on TGs can be turned off and on, it's certainly possible that Disp can still transmit on analog to active the sirens on the same frequency that the NXDN system is on. When I looked thru the licenses yesterday there were only 2 frequencies that listed pagers, I believe one was a county frequency (154.22, if memory serves me correctly) and the other, I believe, was a city frequency. That's where I would look. It's likely the same frequency it always has been, as there is no benefit to changing it, other than just to spend money. I believe all of those licenses are licensed for analog FM voice, and NXDN, so anyone using those frequencies can use either mode. Sometimes you'll find agencies that use both modes, whereas the common public citizen is listening to the digital system, and the agency will use analog FM on that same frequency kind of like a private channel because if the common citizen listens to that frequency in analog all they're going to hear is the digital noise, unless they have the proper PL or DCS tones set correctly.

Where did the county fire pagers migrate to after the NXDN system was installed? Pagers don't receive NXDN, so they're still on an analog channel somewhere.
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
Here is a fire dept near me that uses mixed modes. They use analog FM, and P25 on the same frequency. It's possible that you guys could be in the same situation.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20210307-052317_Chrome.jpg
    Screenshot_20210307-052317_Chrome.jpg
    27.3 KB · Views: 9

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
In Indiana, this month or next month, there will be 'severe weather preparedness week' typically during that week NWS you do 2 test tornado warnings, one during the day, and one during the evening, so businesses and families can practice their shelter plans. If KY does that, that will give you 2 opportunities to monitor every frequency possible to see which frequency they're on, and capture the set of tones used to activate them.

Only way you're going to find the frequency is if you're listening to the correct frequency for the 4-seconds it takes to activate the sirens; and you may only hear tones, without any dispatch voice. There's no need for the dispatcher to talk to the sirens. LoL.
 

Arkk

ØGreatUnitsØ
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
11
West-Pac, Thanks for the info! But I do believe the 154.220 County Fire frequency is locked in NXDN digital. I have seen mixed mode systems but from what I am aware of this one not. I may have to give it a second listen on the analog side on siren test days just to make sure they are not doing it there but from what I have heard so far they are not.

As far as paging goes they do not have analog paging anywhere. Co FD 154.22 kept paging on that frequency with the NXDN conversion. It's just 2-tone over NXDN.
 

Remington12G

GØT AES?
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Messages
948
Just a little update to this thread. We had our severe weather awareness day last month, I programmed my radios all to mixed mode, nothing on ACFD nor any of the other freqs. Ill continue to monitor as we move into Severe Wx Season.
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
Just a little update to this thread. We had our severe weather awareness day last month, I programmed my radios all to mixed mode, nothing on ACFD nor any of the other freqs. Ill continue to monitor as we move into Severe Wx Season.

Can you give me a list, or a handful of siren locations, preferably in the smaller towns, or on the out-skirts of the county?
 

Remington12G

GØT AES?
Joined
Dec 20, 2018
Messages
948
Can you give me a list, or a handful of siren locations, preferably in the smaller towns, or on the out-skirts of the county?
1341 Alton Rd (ACFD STA #2)
401 Carlton Dr (City Fire STA #2)
1180 Glensboro Rd (Health Department)

There are more but those are the ones I can think of off my head. I don't have a list of all locations however they are mostly placed at government offices, schools, and churches.
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
There is an antenna on this Health Dept siren, so they're still activated via radio. Due to the antenna's size I would guess 450 or 800Mhz, it could possibly be even higher in frequency. Currently RR is disconnected from the FCC DB, once that connection is restored, it'll be a lot easier to research what frequency that may be.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20210410-085216_Maps.jpg
    Screenshot_20210410-085216_Maps.jpg
    30 KB · Views: 18

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
1341 Alton Rd (ACFD STA #2)
401 Carlton Dr (City Fire STA #2)
1180 Glensboro Rd (Health Department)

There are more but those are the ones I can think of off my head. I don't have a list of all locations however they are mostly placed at government offices, schools, and churches.

If you think of any more locations that are not on fire stations, that could be helpful. Fire stations generally have antennas on them, so it may be hard to determine which antenna goes to the siren. Finding a siren with a beam antenna, in a hard to reach (RF-wise) location, would be helpful in determining frequency and transmitter location.
 

radiomankc

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
112
4G LTE data modem in them to provide inexpensive “return path” diagnostics in addition to making the sirens addressable. No need to turn on all sirens in a country…. Just where the threat is
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
4G LTE data modem in them to provide inexpensive “return path” diagnostics in addition to making the sirens addressable. No need to turn on all sirens in a country…. Just where the threat is

Do you know, or are you guessing? There are multiple ways to activate sirens. Not every siren system is the same.
 

Arkk

ØGreatUnitsØ
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
11
There is an antenna on this Health Dept siren, so they're still activated via radio. Due to the antenna's size I would guess 450 or 800Mhz, it could possibly be even higher in frequency. Currently RR is disconnected from the FCC DB, once that connection is restored, it'll be a lot easier to research what frequency that may be.

Anderson County has seven (7) UHF 450 Mhz frequencies licensed to them unidentified as "Anderson County Fiscal Court" but is coordinated to EMS. They are listed as countywide and mobile at two (2) watts. Maybe this could be it. I am unsure. I was always pretty sure they did it on VHF but at this point I am out of idea's.
 

west-pac

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
1,558
Anderson County has seven (7) UHF 450 Mhz frequencies licensed to them unidentified as "Anderson County Fiscal Court" but is coordinated to EMS. They are listed as countywide and mobile at two (2) watts. Maybe this could be it. I am unsure. I was always pretty sure they did it on VHF but at this point I am out of idea's.

2 watts certainly wouldn't be enough power to activate distant sirens from a single, central transmitting tower, especially during inclement weather. I haven't dug any further into the licenses in the county since the question was first asked.

----

At this point the best solution may be just to call the Anderson county EMA office and ask them. From my experience, the county-level Emergency Management Agencies are the local government entity that oversees the outdoor warning/tornado siren systems.

*Be Advised: The EMA office may or may not be willing to give out that information.*
 

KG4EMJ

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2011
Messages
109
Location
Central Kentucky
2 watts certainly wouldn't be enough power to activate distant sirens from a single, central transmitting tower, especially during inclement weather. I haven't dug any further into the licenses in the county since the question was first asked.

----

At this point the best solution may be just to call the Anderson county EMA office and ask them. From my experience, the county-level Emergency Management Agencies are the local government entity that oversees the outdoor warning/tornado siren systems.

*Be Advised: The EMA office may or may not be willing to give out that information.*

I'd go out on a limb and say they WON'T be willing to give out that information. The EM Director here is a bit of an a$$. I had a run-in with him at a council meeting one night.

There are sirens all over the rural areas of this county. There's one at Wild Turkey distillery which is a few hundred yards from the Kentucky river. There are others out west of town. I don't think 2 watts would reliably activate those. I have never been able to pick up the signal to activate them with my radios. I run a Kenwood NXDN dedicated radio as well as a Whistler with NXDN capability. But now you guys have me curious. If anybody figures this out, be sure to let us know.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top