Fast Food

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del1964

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Ok...dumb question...I did search for "fast food" in this Indiana forum but with no results. I cannot seem to find any fast food drive thru frequencies no matter what I've tried. I've tried close call several times in several drive thru's. I've had my 396xt on service search with "special" turned on with no luck. Possibly I've not been patient enough or just not sure where to start? Has every drive thru converted to Ghz frequency ranges or ? Any help would be appreciated. I live in Seymour and pretty much all the fast food restaurants are here.
Arby's, McDonalds, Burger King, White Castle now, Wendy's, etc etc.
 

ecps92

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Try the RR WIKI ;)

Ok...dumb question...I did search for "fast food" in this Indiana forum but with no results. I cannot seem to find any fast food drive thru frequencies no matter what I've tried. I've tried close call several times in several drive thru's. I've had my 396xt on service search with "special" turned on with no luck. Possibly I've not been patient enough or just not sure where to start? Has every drive thru converted to Ghz frequency ranges or ? Any help would be appreciated. I live in Seymour and pretty much all the fast food restaurants are here.
Arby's, McDonalds, Burger King, White Castle now, Wendy's, etc etc.
 

jerk

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Ok...dumb question...I did search for "fast food" in this Indiana forum but with no results. I cannot seem to find any fast food drive thru frequencies no matter what I've tried. I've tried close call several times in several drive thru's. I've had my 396xt on service search with "special" turned on with no luck. Possibly I've not been patient enough or just not sure where to start? Has every drive thru converted to Ghz frequency ranges or ? Any help would be appreciated. I live in Seymour and pretty much all the fast food restaurants are here.
Arby's, McDonalds, Burger King, White Castle now, Wendy's, etc etc.

Most of the ones around here use Spread Spectrum,meaning you won't hear anything.
 

del1964

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That would explain that...lol I programmed in a bunch from WIKI and other sources but haven't had a chance to try them yet. Keep ya posted.
 

W9NES

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Yes you will hear something.When I listen to these Ferquencies I get my local Mike's car wash in the clear analog communications along with Wal mart, KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy's Mcdonalds. Long John Silvers,Hardees,ETC.The Key word here is "Listen" in your area.You will know what you can hear and not hear.I hear all of these that I have listed in my post free and in the clear on the Northwest Side of Indianapolis in the area of 86Th street and Michigan Road
 

ddoorman

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FYI

I do not listen/scan fast food establishments, but the other day I was at a Burger King (North Calumet in Valpo) and discovered their drive thru order lane was using 33.4 MHz in the clear. "Do you want cheese with that?"
 

JacobInIndy

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I get hits on 155.4500 at a few places in town.

It was by mistake that I discovered this. I put in the National Law Enforcement MA channel with the wrong step.

Needless to say, I was very confused when I heard someone ask if they could get a large fry with their chicken sandwich on what I thought was a law channel.
 

usswood

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I get hits on 155.4500 at a few places in town.

It was by mistake that I discovered this. I put in the National Law Enforcement MA channel with the wrong step.

Needless to say, I was very confused when I heard someone ask if they could get a large fry with their chicken sandwich on what I thought was a law channel.

hard to believe that a FF joint would be up in the VHF police band??
 

JacobInIndy

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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.5.0.182 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

usswood said:
I get hits on 155.4500 at a few places in town.

It was by mistake that I discovered this. I put in the National Law Enforcement MA channel with the wrong step.

Needless to say, I was very confused when I heard someone ask if they could get a large fry with their chicken sandwich on what I thought was a law channel.

hard to believe that a FF joint would be up in the VHF police band??

I know, I get the taco bell @ about 24th and Meridian and I also get something on 70 EB just before the South split.

I also get what sounds like a school bus barn or something near me house.
 

W9NES

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School Bus barn will be IPS Busses and the are on 155.775 with a Repeater.Try 154.600 for the fast food places or 154.570. You might be getting a image freq from another frequency.Downtown Indianapolis has a lot of RF bleed over problems in that area comming from 21Street and I-65 on top on Methodist Hospital.When I am downtown and have my two way radio on I get numerious frequencies comming over the front end of my radio just setting on one frequency.Most of the Fast food places are on the Color Dot/Star Itinerant Frequencies on VHF and UHF.I hear the Drive Thru and White Castle on Michigan Road on the 400Mhz frequencies with both the person taking the order and the customer at the drive thru.
 

del1964

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hard to believe that a FF joint would be up in the VHF police band??

There's actually a website or maybe it was youtube that actually shows how to "hijack" a fast food restaurant's frequency. Take a CB and remove the crystal inside. Take a crystal from an appliance (they use a toaster) and put this crystal in the CB and run through your 40 channels until you hear the fast food restaurant talking and there you have it.....you can actually transmit to the people in line and the workers on their frequency. It is hillarious. Tempted to try it sometime. Somehow this toaster's crystal multiplies the CB's frequency range enough I believe to get it up somewhere around 155mhz if I remember correctly.

http://gizmodo.com/369819/how-to-hijack-a-fast-food-drive+thru-frequency
 
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N9WP

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It would not be a good idea to transmit on frequencies you are not authorized to transmit on. I know it sounds like fun but don't do it, it's not worth the risk of getting busted, disturbing the business, or possibly transmitting over any public service agencies, especially if they happen to be in route with an emergency.
 

jerk

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There's actually a website or maybe it was youtube that actually shows how to "hijack" a fast food restaurant's frequency. Take a CB and remove the crystal inside. Take a crystal from an appliance (they use a toaster) and put this crystal in the CB and run through your 40 channels until you hear the fast food restaurant talking and there you have it.....you can actually transmit to the people in line and the workers on their frequency. It is hillarious. Tempted to try it sometime. Somehow this toaster's crystal multiplies the CB's frequency range enough I believe to get it up somewhere around 155mhz if I remember correctly.

How to Hijack a Fast Food Drive-Thru Frequency - DIY - Gizmodo

And the video has nice clear speech right...
CB radios use AM and Fast Food restaurants use FM, plus the "unit" uses a PL tone to talk-back to the box, none to use as an intercom between workers. (or vice-versa, I forget which).

Now you can use a programmable radio to listen and transmit, but the FCC takes a really dim view of this if caught. Construction workers however have used their 154.54 or .60 portables to place orders as they were traveling to the restaurant... but might be urban legend as well.
 

del1964

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I've never tried it and yes you're right, it's against the FCC laws but if you watch that video, you can clearly see that they were doing it.
 

W9NES

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I will back up N9WP and Alpha Bravo 1 with what they have posted.It is neat to watch the videos and see what they do but it is all illegal.*Just like the Railfan who got arrested for talking to the train crews who had a radio in his car programed to the railroad frequencies and he got caught.
 

del1964

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I will back up N9WP and Alpha Bravo 1 with what they have posted.It is neat to watch the videos and see what they do but it is all illegal.*Just like the Railfan who got arrested for talking to the train crews who had a radio in his car programed to the railroad frequencies and he got caught.

Agreed. back to my original post, I have yet to actually hear any drive thru conversations either in Edinburgh, IN where I work or in Seymour, IN where I live. You know, it could have something to do with pranksters in the past.
 

N9WP

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del1964, I had picked up a couple fast food places that are here in Lebanon by just using the close call when going through the drive through. Some times it would hit on it and other times it wouldn't. I want to also think that when I did get them, I had the close call only searching the VHF and UHF bands, not low band or 800mhz. I might have also been using a mag mount antenna on the outside of my truck too and not just the duckie on the scanner. The signals are pretty weak and you about have to be right next to it.
 

del1964

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What I've been wondering as far as close call is concerned and picking these up is this : The National Weather service has a tower right there on Tipton Street in Seymour, IN blasting away on the NOAA frequency 162.55 I believe it is. Would this strong signal basically wipe out any possibility of receiving any close call hits in that band? I do have weather frequencies "broadcast screen" turned on and even added my own narrow ranges around the weather frequencies and have those user made broadcast screens turned on. just wondering since the way close call works is it looks for signals "above" the noise floor...correct?
 

N9WP

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Correct, that NOAA transmission could be de-sensitizing (sp?) the radio so that close call isn't working. It is looking for signals above the noise floor but also at a certain high level of signal strength and up. I think there are technical specs someplace on the forums here but I don't know what they are.

I can tell you that picking up a drive thru is iffy on getting the close call to work, I'd say with me, 1 out of 3 times of going through a drive thru will I get the close call to hit on it. It also helps if you have cars in front of you and behind you. Sometimes the close call won't hit until after I've already ordered and I'm at the pick up window and the car behind me is placing an order. Other times it may hit while I'm waiting on the car in front of me so I can pull forward to place my order.
 

jerk

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I've never tried it and yes you're right, it's against the FCC laws but if you watch that video, you can clearly see that they were doing it.

No they say they are doing "it" but they had Yaesu radio in the very beginning.
CB radios don't sound that good or clear, and if you want to hear what FM sounds like on AM, just change your setting type on a local conventional frequency.

I'm saying it never happened with a CB radio.
 
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