Christ LifeFlight Cincinnati

[scannerboy02]

No dispatch on 59903.

Air Care pilots communicate with Metro Aviation's OCC via satellite on every flight.

 

[KyFireFreak]

I used to dispatch for UC Air Care. They only used the outerlink satcom stuff when they were out of range of the UHF or MARCS. MARCS was the primary, and it did not work very well either. I cannot imagine using that for primary communications without major upgrades made. UHF was mostly used by services coming into the Cincinnati metro area that didn't have our MARCS talkgroup. The two were patched together on the console all of the time however.

Also then, Christ didn't have radio communications at all for air. We had to relay by phone to the ER or mostly the Cath lab any patient report if needed. I surely hope that changed.

 

[jcmt]

I can confirm that there are no routine voice comms on satellite for UC AC as someone who currently flies with them. There is indeed OCC communication via data/tablet, however. Agree with the above, operations are a mixture of their UHF and MARCS.

 

[littona]

It would appear they have some kind of "hotspot" setup. It looks like they have a VoIP box on the counter next to the base/mobile radio and the light is changing between green and red when he transmits and receives on the portable.

I have heard them communicating with Air Care base on UHF when they are airborne.

That's a Vocality/Cubic RoIP device. It's my best friend.

https://www.vocality.com/vocality-roip

 

[wa8pyr]

I used to dispatch for UC Air Care. They only used the outerlink satcom stuff when they were out of range of the UHF or MARCS. MARCS was the primary, and it did not work very well either. I cannot imagine using that for primary communications without major upgrades made.

My guess would be that the MARCS radio in the bird wasn't programmed correctly; most radios for aviation assets have been set up the same as ordinary ground-based radios, which causes the radio to have trouble deciding on a tower site, as well as lighting up tower sites 100 miles away from where the bird is actually flying.

It's been a pretty common issue with MARCS that they've only started getting resolved in the last year or so by limiting the aviation radios to 2 watt output and setting some talkgroups to only operate on certain tower sites.

 

[KyFireFreak]

My guess would be that the MARCS radio in the bird wasn't programmed correctly; most radios for aviation assets have been set up the same as ordinary ground-based radios, which causes the radio to have trouble deciding on a tower site, as well as lighting up tower sites 100 miles away from where the bird is actually flying.

It's been a pretty common issue with MARCS that they've only started getting resolved in the last year or so by limiting the aviation radios to 2 watt output and setting some talkgroups to only operate on certain tower sites.

Sorry that post is clear as mud. MARCS and the UHF actually worked just fine. The outerlink satcom was horrible. It was choppy and intelligible on most days. The only part of that system that worked right was the flight following for the aircraft.

 

[medic_32]

Routinely in Cincy Area the medical reports are called to UC and Children's on Air Care talkgroup or UHF and then the other facilities MARCS or through the helicopter company's comm center. I'm not sure what frequency CLF is using to talk to AirComm.

 

[scannerboy02]

They appear to be using 451.8 CTCSS 136.5 simplex.

That frequency is on WQIE652 as an Itinerant for Continental US operation.

I heard them call Air Care base and tell them they were going on a flight so I went over to The Christ Hospital and waited for them to get back and when they landed they called AirCom on that frequency and advised that they were down safe on the pad. I did not hear a response from AirCom.

 

[fyrfyter33]

They literally just had their local radio stuff installed the other day. Tail number is N585CH. It shows up on FlightRadar24 as Air Methods Helo.

 

[scannerboy02]

They literally just had their local radio stuff installed the other day. Tail number is N585CH. It shows up on FlightRadar24 as Air Methods Helo.

What radio stuff was installed the other day? They have been using radios since day one, they posted a video of them using a radio to go into service. Did they get more/new radio stuff?

 

[scannerboy02]

They are doing radio checks between AirComm and Ohio Life Flight on MARCS talkgroup 54736 right now.

I also heard them being dispatched for a scene flight in Kentucky (turned down due to weather) last night on the same talkgroup.

 

[IStebleton]

They are doing radio checks between AirComm and Ohio Life Flight on MARCS talkgroup 54736 right now.

I also heard them being dispatched for a scene flight in Kentucky (turned down due to weather) last night on the same talkgroup.

That talkgroup was the old University Hospitals MedEvac channel. PHI recently took over that system and may be using that same channel. As for Christ LifeFlight, we'll just have to wait and see

 

[scannerboy02]

This IS being used to dispatch The Christ Life Flight, or Ohio Life Flight as they are calling it. They use it every day, all day. I have heard them being dispatched on several flights.

 

[belvdr]

This IS being used to dispatch The Christ Life Flight, or Ohio Life Flight as they are calling it. They use it every day, all day. I have heard them being dispatched on several flights.

Did you submit this for a database update?

 

[scannerboy02]

No. I don't submit information. I have had several negative experiences with database admins in the past and as such I no longer submit my findings. I will post them in the forums and if an admin would like to place that information in the database they can.

 

[Reconrider]

No. I don't submit information. I have had several negative experiences with database admins in the past and as such I no longer submit my findings. I will post them in the forums and if an admin would like to place that information in the database they can.

What kind would those be? I've only submitted one thing and didn't have an issue.

 

[scannerboy02]

This has happened to me several times over many years. Not going to turn this into a database admin thread, lets keep this thread about The Christ Life Flight

 

[IStebleton]

I got confirmation from someone at AirCom that "Ohio LifeFlight" is Christ LifeFlight. So if someone would like to submit information regarding what they heard that would be great. I am not in range of MARCS so I cannot confirm any of the radio traffic

 

[granpawdave]

Here's my question then, are they using the trunks from Cincinnati or Hamilton County?

Any help would be appreciated.

Dave

 

[scannerboy02]

They are a MARCS subscriber so they will show up on whatever site the radio(s) are affiliated with.

They are on the Hamilton County and/or Cincinnati sites most of the time being that the base is at Lunken Airport.