Distant Transmission Pickup - 154.325

[Septa3371CSX1]

For the past few days I've been picking up some chatter on 154.325 with a PL of 156.7 on my Pro 97. I'm just outside of Philly in Delco so normally I pick up the Upper Darby Fire Department Operations (simulcast of 506.6625 using a PL of 107.2) on this channel. Whatever I'm hearing on this, it is distant. I know Norristown uses this frequency for fire operations but they use a 136.5 PL. Cumberland County, NJ uses it as well but with a PL of 179.9. Any idea what I'm hearing?

 

[HM1529]

For the past few days I've been picking up some chatter on 154.325 with a PL of 156.7 on my Pro 97. I'm just outside of Philly in Delco so normally I pick up the Upper Darby Fire Department Operations (simulcast of 506.6625 using a PL of 107.2) on this channel. Whatever I'm hearing on this, it is distant. I know Norristown uses this frequency for fire operations but they use a 136.5 PL. Cumberland County, NJ uses it as well but with a PL of 179.9. Any idea what I'm hearing?

Norristown FD doesn't really use this freq much...have only heard traffic a few times in the past year and it is simplex if used.

I didn't look at the DB yet, but could this be something from Luzerne Co? They use a lot of VHF up there.

 

[policefreak]

If it was EMS and Fire dispatch, then it was probably Wicomico County, MD. As far as this is from you (and from me) this does make sense since I have been picking up FM Stations from that area very strong last night. I have also received the Wicomico County TRS from my house in south jersey. Just one very important question. Were you hearing these at night or early morning?

 

[captclint]

For the past few days I've been picking up some chatter on 154.325 with a PL of 156.7 on my Pro 97.. Any idea what I'm hearing?

Ben may be right. That is also Schuylkill County mutual aid Comm with Luzerne County Units with 156.7PL. Antenna has fairly high location. I thought I had added this to the database, but it is not there now.

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

I was picking this up in broad daylight. At least one time it got stomped on by Upper Darby but I couldn't exactly tell what it was other than the 156.7 PL. I managed to pick this up with both the standard rubber duck and the Radio Shack telescoping antenna I use. I'll take a look at the DB and see what's going on. I've been reading that this is a good time of year for skips so it could be coming from MD.

 

[DELCOLHFC]

Great skip this past week!

I would bet on Wicomico Co. MD, I am in the west end of Delco and I can copy them (verified by checking addresses and such) frequently at night. I have heard them and several other MD VHF fire channels almost continually this past week with the very strong ducting activity we have been having. I always hear Baltimore Co. on 46.46 and lately I get Queen Anne's as clear as Delco! Unfortunatly I do get a lot of static/choppyness/intermod....? on Cecil's VHF and Kent Co. is so very weak here at home when I can copy them it makes it difficult to follow calls there. We spend a lot of our summers in Cecil and Kent and it is always cool to be able to listen in on runs in the areas we know.

 

[ctrabs74]

on Cecil's VHF and Kent Co. is so very weak here at home when I can copy them it makes it difficult to follow calls there. We spend a lot of our summers in Cecil and Kent and it is always cool to be able to listen in on runs in the areas we know.

Cecil was barely audible from West Chester when they first put that freq on-line. Now, I can't pick it up to save my life...

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

Now it's really interesting...

Got a band openning on VHF Hi this morning. From my house in Lansdowne just outside of Philly, I'm picking up New York City Fire Dept (you heard right, FDNY) on 154.190 (Bronx and Staten Island) and 154.400 (Queens) with a PL of 186.2 on all. I was able to confirm it was FDNY when I heard Queens County command on the 154.400. I'm picking this stuff up with both the standard rubber duck and the telescoping antenna on my Pro 97 (the only scanner I have). This is getting very interesting. I wonder what I'll pick up next.

 

[policefreak]

Yeah, yesterday morning I heard lots of stuff too. I did not hear 154.325 but I did hear Wicomico Co, MD TRS. Also heard Baltimore County and Baltimore City and a whole bunch of stuff I still don't know what it is.

 

[CommJunkie]

I'm picking this stuff up with both the standard rubber duck and the telescoping antenna on my Pro 97 (the only scanner I have). This is getting very interesting. I wonder what I'll pick up next.

If the conditions are right, you can get skip on a spoon. I rarely get skip since I usually program the PL in with the freq. I hate static.

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

More Skip

This morning I'm picking up Monmouth County, NJ EMS dispatch on 155.175 (PL 151.4). I'm hearing annoucements for certain squads (ambulances) to not respond but to be advised of road closures.

 

[ctrabs74]

The best that I can add to all this is that I'm picking up Lancaster County Police "A" (countywide - Sheriff's Office, the Lampeters, and a couple other depts) and "E-1" (Lancaster City) from Downingtown as I write this. I also picked up LanCo "A" from home in West Chester, where at times (at least inside my house), I'm lucky to even pick up anything from DelCo. I don't know if it's skip or just Lancaster County having strong signals...

 

[policefreak]

Very likely skip. Very muggy day today and tonight lots of moisture in the air. I'll be listening out a little later on. Ha! The other day I was picking up Camden co, NJ from Lancaster county. And from Lower Southampton area of Bucks, I can even get simplex audio from Cherry Hill Fire Dept.

 

[Septa3371CSX1]

What were you picking up from Camden County? Was it dispatch on 154.430 or something else?

 

[policefreak]

from Lancaster, PA in the mornings I can pick up 154.43 EMS/Fire Dispatch (Dont forget PL 192.8 since a lot of counties dispatch on a 154.43) but I also picked up 151.865 E-7 EMS frequency, which I know is a very strong channel. Didn't hear 154.385 F-2 fireground, but there might not have been anything going on at the time, besides you could only hear the dispatchers side of the transmissions. From Bucks, I heard 154.355 F-5 fire ground. I heard the dispatcher and the simplex transmission from a Cherry Hill Fire unit which even at close distances is very hard to hear. From Delaware Co you could probably always get 154.43 dispatch and 151.865, but I'm not too sure about the UHF police freqs. And you might get the dispatch side of the fire freqs. Try it some time!

 

[ctrabs74]

I don't think it's skip. I regularly pick up Berks EMS from Downingtown and even with the thunderstorm that passed through here, I still get some traffic from Lancaster County Police Radio.

In fact, it was one of the Lancaster City channels (I think it was E-1) that caused a lot of interference with Chester County's old East PD repeater, which is why the East PD repeater was turned off before Central and West were turned off.