Drive through Frequencies...

[eahuntley]

Last night I was driving through the drive through at a Carls Jr. and I happened to have my BCD396T operating in the "close call" mode. It picked up the frequency, and when I pulled through I sat there and listened to it for a few minutes. On the one frequency, I was getting both sides of the conversation. Is this typical? I swear the last time I picked up a drive through there was 2 frequencies, One for the customer and one for the clerk. Also, does anyone know how much power these headsets are using? I was only able to maintain the signal up to about 2 blocks away from the restaurant, but maybe I could pick it up further away with a better radio and antenna? (I've got a yaesu ft-8500 and a Diamond x510 antenna at home, not even a mile away)

 

[af5rn]

Yes, you could receive them much farther away with a quality antenna. I used to receive a McDonalds a couple miles from my house with an Antenna Specialists MONR57 up about 20 feet in the air. Amazing. Although, it depends upon what kind of system they are using. Some are more powerful than others.

Just resist the urge to try and hack them with a programmable transceiver. Good men have paid thousands to the FCC for similar tomfoolery.

 

[brentoli]

I used to receive a McDonalds a couple miles from my house with an Antenna Specialists MONR57 up about 20 feet in the air.

What kind of whacker would listen to a drive-thru.

 

[texasemt13]

What kind of whacker would listen to a drive-thru.

I wasn't going to come out like that and ask but,... eahuntley- why are you so interested in drive thru comms?

As far as I know (which isn't very far in some instances), they only use one frequency. The way I have it figured out is that the drive thru itself constantly broadcasts (that's how they can hear you drive up), then when the cashier needs to speak they transmit on the freq (while the customer just sits there listening to their order being repeated), then when the employee stops the drive thru goes back to transmitting (even though no one may be speaking).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (there's always someone...)...

 

[eahuntley]

It was just a curiosity. I'm interested in radio as a whole, and that just happened to be something I stumbled into and it caught my attention. I have no intention of transmitting out of band, I've grown fond of my ticket and I'm not particularly interested in losing it(or any of the other penalties either).

The main thing that caught my attention was that I was hearing both voices on one frequency. Some years ago I had a similar experience where I ran into a strange transmission that ended up being a restaurant, but I could only hear one side of the conversation. I was curious if that was the standard now, or if that's just how it works with those particular intercoms.

Believe it or not, I don't spend time driving around trying to hunt down restaurant frequencies. Like I said, I just happened to have enabled the close call earlier and hadn't turned it off when I went through the drive through.

 

[ecps92]

The Same who listens to Police, Fire, EMS, DPW, The Electric Companies etc.

Get a Life.

What kind of whacker would listen to a drive-thru.

 

[ecps92]

Why does he have to answer Why he is interested. Have You been appointed the Radio Police to inquire before giving someone the answers ?

A good Start for frequencies would be
http://www.bearcat1.com/fastfood.htm

Back in the Early days it was a VHF Lo with VHF High pair, now it's moved into UHF/UHF or even 800/900 SpreadSpectrum.

On the UHF/UHF or the VHF/VHF there are a few common set-ups.

Example Frequencies Only

469.0125 88.5 Output Speaker [What you hear if you sat outside the Drive-up]
464.0125 100.0 Clerk TX, Where Clerk listens to 469.0125 to hear you.

469.0125 82.5 Talk-Around [Common chit-Chat] won't activate the outside speakers
464.0125 82.5 Clerk TX where 469.0125 would be Clerk RX

Hope this helps., almost set-up like a Repeater.

I wasn't going to come out like that and ask but,... eahuntley- why are you so interested in drive thru comms?

As far as I know (which isn't very far in some instances), they only use one frequency. The way I have it figured out is that the drive thru itself constantly broadcasts (that's how they can hear you drive up), then when the cashier needs to speak they transmit on the freq (while the customer just sits there listening to their order being repeated), then when the employee stops the drive thru goes back to transmitting (even though no one may be speaking).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong (there's always someone...)...

 

[texasemt13]

Why does he have to answer Why he is interested. Have You been appointed the Radio Police to inquire before giving someone the answers ?

Man, everyone in these effin' forums takes everything the wrong way. ecps92 do you enjoy listening to drive thru comms? Personally I think it is so mundane that this is why I asked. Maybe he has something VERY interesting to listen to that I have not stumbled across. Ever think I was just asking to ask? Did you think I had some silly insult to couple with in my next post.

ecps92 why do you listen to cruise ships? Or is that an offending question?

And in response to the Radio Police- are you the friggin internet police to be questioning me? Effin' hypocrites around here...

 

[ecps92]

I guess Spell check hasn't been issued to Texass [Notice the extra letter], based on many of your last postings

You can choose to listen , you can choose to Delete.

If you took a look at my Web site, you would have you answer.

As for Fast-Food ? nice to know where the interference is coming from, just like knowing the NFL QB Radio [Yes Yes YES, they are encrypted, but they Transmit Right ?] frequencies, to be able to track/eliminate interference.

Man, everyone in these effin' forums takes everything the wrong way. ecps92 do you enjoy listening to drive thru comms? Personally I think it is so mundane that this is why I asked. Maybe he has something VERY interesting to listen to that I have not stumbled across. Ever think I was just asking to ask? Did you think I had some silly insult to couple with in my next post.

ecps92 why do you listen to cruise ships? Or is that an offending question?

And in response to the Radio Police- are you the friggin internet police to be questioning me? Effin' hypocrites around here...

 

[PHOENIX_SCANNER]

I always get a kick out of how everyone at RR seems to be so quick to snap. Radio guys are a short-tempered bunch.

I have to say the whole scanning thing is about curiosity, no matter what you listen to. I am sure many of the wives of the members here think their husbands listening to ANYTHING on a scanner is just as dumb as some on here might think it is to listen to a drive thru. Outsiders see scanner people as weird geeks for the most part. So it seems a bit funny to see some one here laughing about what others listen to, since to most people we are all strange for listening to scanners to begin with. It's all relative.

Think about how strange it is (to some) to go to a race or an airshow and spend the whole time fiddling with a scanner instead of watching the show.

I do think I would get bored listening to people ordering food pretty quickly, but understand the curiosity.

 

[btritch]

154.540

Well I'm going to say from the start to keep from getting called a whacker, The reason I listen to fast food comm's is because my brother works at one and we like to listen while going by to see if he's doing drive thru...That's the only reason...But he works at our local hardees restaurant and the strangest thing...I can hear them talking to the customer on 154.540 but I cannot hear the other side of the conversation from the customer to the store..I have scanned EVERY band with no luck..Could it be hard wired from speaker to building, etc.. Curious why that is?

 

[jons]

well i listen to security companies and twing companies besides my local law and fire

 

[trimmerj]

Friday night ya take the kids to McDonalds.You sit in the parking lot monitoring the drive through. Get a Battery Powered Bullhorn and makes fun of the people's orders. "Hey Lady, You're not gonna eat all that, are ya "

 

[ecps92]

Have you tried the Low-Band channels ? [30-50 Mhz]

Well I'm going to say from the start to keep from getting called a whacker, The reason I listen to fast food comm's is because my brother works at one and we like to listen while going by to see if he's doing drive thru...That's the only reason...But he works at our local hardees restaurant and the strangest thing...I can hear them talking to the customer on 154.540 but I cannot hear the other side of the conversation from the customer to the store..I have scanned EVERY band with no luck..Could it be hard wired from speaker to building, etc.. Curious why that is?

 

[W4KRR]

Sometimes it isn't the content of the transmission as much as it is the catch. Same reason some people go fishing and then throw back what they catch.

 

[ecps92]

I like that Ken ! Nice

Sometimes it isn't the content of the transmission as much as it is the catch. Same reason some people go fishing and then throw back what they catch.

 

[mciupa]

Last night I was driving through the drive through at a Carls Jr. and I happened to have my BCD396T operating in the "close call" mode. It picked up the frequency.....

Aw man , you didn't even tell us the frequency!! :roll:

 

[brentoli]

Actually, that was for the poster that was listening to them from home. Not the close call. That actually sounds interesting, driving around with close call on.

But.

Wow.

That was quite the response.

 

[af5rn]

What kind of whacker would listen to a drive-thru.

Okay, just to try and diffuse a little tension here, Brentoli is an old good friend of mine, and he was just messing around with me. There was no animosity intended.

It was probably twenty years ago that I stumbled across that McDonalds on my base scanner. It was in the 49mhz band, alongside the old cordless phones and baby monitors. I was living in a suburban neighbourhood at the time, and spend hours mapping out the entire neighbourhood, house by house, by frequency. If anyone in the area made a cordless phone call, I could quickly tell you who they were and where they lived. Came in really handy when a neighbourhood feud erupted, hehe.

I remember how shocked I was to hear the McDonalds, because there were NO businesses within two miles of my house! Of course, no, it is not the slightest bit interesting to listen to. But it was fun figuring out where it was coming from, and learning that I could actually hear low power transmissions that far.

 

[trace1]

Ya' want fries with that???