gralston73
Member
Picking up FDNY (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx) in Warren County. Guess the hot weather is good for something 
FDNY Tropo
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BonziBuddy
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On an indoor scanner you mean right? That's pretty impressive.
I've got a GP-3 Amateur antenna 8 feet above my roof-line. My house is on a hill 250 feet above sea level, in Rockland County more than 30 miles away. I pick up FDNY, Citywide, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Bronx all 100%.
When I graduate and move to the city, I want the top floor apartment.
I've got a GP-3 Amateur antenna 8 feet above my roof-line. My house is on a hill 250 feet above sea level, in Rockland County more than 30 miles away. I pick up FDNY, Citywide, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Bronx all 100%.
When I graduate and move to the city, I want the top floor apartment.
- Nyack is barely 20 miles from the center of the city, nowhere near 30 or more
- External antenna mounted on the roof clear of major obstructions
- 250' above the river, which acts as a huge ground plane
If you weren't picking up FDNY at 100% given all those factors, you'd have big problems with your equipment. My buddy picks up all five boroughs clearly from Valley Cottage with a handheld/rubber ducky inside his ground floor condo. :wink:
gralston73
Member
Does anyone ever bother checking the database anymore? I had to check the database to confirm what I was hearing was indeed FDNY...I mean, I had an idea because of the heavy NYC accent and every other word was "K"...but I still did it. I didn't just hop on here and say " Hey, can someone tell me if 154.400 (186.2) is FDNY? Thanks"
D
DaveNF2G
Guest
Even Google would work. I can't even guesstimate in how many places the 5 main FDNY frequencies are available online.
RocklandFires
Member
Your Buddy Duddy !
Spec
Member
Most likely it was some ducting due to weather. Happens from time to time. When it happens again try doing a search up and down for 1 meg either direction and see what you get. Sometimes it will surprise you with some good catches.
I was getting Rochester New York P25 here in Mississauga (Western Suburb of Toronto, Canada) at full bars yesterday! Must be some good conditions!
Yes, all FDNY VHF repeaters use 186.2 as a PL tone. Because of the tropo possibilities, especially with 154.430 (FDNY CW), other users of these frequencies (like NJ) know to use PL tones other than 186.2 so as not to receive an interfering signal from NYC. Therefore, hearing the 186.2 PL tone will help you to determine that it is most likely from NYC (provided you're not past the Mississippi River of course).Does anyone ever bother checking the database anymore? I had to check the database to confirm what I was hearing was indeed FDNY...I mean, I had an idea because of the heavy NYC accent and every other word was "K"...but I still did it. I didn't just hop on here and say " Hey, can someone tell me if 154.400 (186.2) is FDNY? Thanks"
gralston73
Member
I also get 154.430 (136.5) and 154.400 (136.5) out of New Hampshire regularly regardless of the weather. I have an ST-2 mounted 20 ft above ground along with one of those VHF TV amplifiers from Radio Shack. Obviously not designed for scanners...but it works.
Picking up VHF base station signals 30 to 40 miles is not a big deal. How well do you hear FDNY's UHF freqs.
gralston73
Member
No, it isn't. However, I live in Warren County...more than 150 miles from NYC. FDNY isn't something that I pick up everyday...so yeah, it kinda is a big deal.
I have gotten the new UHF frequencies on Skip from my families house in brandford ct, i live in brooklyn and we have an old UHF/VHF TV antenna mounted on our roof about 40 feet and if i use coaxal cable i can hook up my Spectra to the wall connector and it serves as a huge antenna because the UHF/VHF Air channels use to be free when you hooked up to the wall and straight to the antenna, but it's a good deal and works real good in both the VHF and UHF Fed bands
radioman2001
Member
FDNY VHF channels and skip have been a constant problem for all users as far back as I can remember. Before PL was introduced in the early 80's Virginia Beach, VA would come in and cause all kinds of problems, especially to portables. The system would vote VA and not a portable. I have heard that VA also receives FDNY, which kinda makes sense. Those were the days of 500 watts on those VHF channels, I doubt that FDNY has a license to transmit that kind of power anymore. Receiving a transmitter less than 100 miles from it's source isn't skip, It's more likely ducting or just a realy good site and you location.
Skip or even ducting on the UHF TV channels is not likely to happen as much, and as I have found from traveling around, there are too many digital TV transmitters on the TV frequency channel 14,15,16. A few weeks ago I traveled to the Dayton Hamfest in Ohio, as soon as I got to the Penn border I could hear digital hash on both my 478 channel and FDNY channels. I wasn't able to hit my repeater, from where I have been able to in the past.
There is a referendum of sorts going around the county right now to take channels 14 through 20 away from TV and give them to public safety. Appears the sharing arrangement isn't working out, especially when tropo kicks in. I do hope it passes, public safety needs more space and the phrase 100 channels and nothing on TV comes to mind. The stations presently on those channels and the applications for pocket transmitter sites is nothing more than an attempt to prevent the loss of those channels.
Skip or even ducting on the UHF TV channels is not likely to happen as much, and as I have found from traveling around, there are too many digital TV transmitters on the TV frequency channel 14,15,16. A few weeks ago I traveled to the Dayton Hamfest in Ohio, as soon as I got to the Penn border I could hear digital hash on both my 478 channel and FDNY channels. I wasn't able to hit my repeater, from where I have been able to in the past.
There is a referendum of sorts going around the county right now to take channels 14 through 20 away from TV and give them to public safety. Appears the sharing arrangement isn't working out, especially when tropo kicks in. I do hope it passes, public safety needs more space and the phrase 100 channels and nothing on TV comes to mind. The stations presently on those channels and the applications for pocket transmitter sites is nothing more than an attempt to prevent the loss of those channels.
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Ducting is a cool thing, and at this time of year with the thunderstorms it can be very interesting. We are also slowly rotating back into better solar weather.
To put things in perspective...
In my vehicle I have RX'd:
FDNY down in Durham NC (VHF)
CHP out of LA in Oklahoma (Low band)
CHP out of LA in CT (Low Band)
TX DPS in CT (Low Band)
NYPD at the CT/MA line (UHF)
At the house in NY and CT with a simple scanner and antenna:
CHP out of LA (on a Mass State Police channel) - Low Band
FDNY at the MA line
Missouri State Patrol - Low band
Broward County Fl fire
And a few others I can't think of.
Today I was actually able to hit a ham radio station in upper MI on 52.525 from my truck as the storm was coming thru the area...just like he was next to me. Cool stuff.
To put things in perspective...
In my vehicle I have RX'd:
FDNY down in Durham NC (VHF)
CHP out of LA in Oklahoma (Low band)
CHP out of LA in CT (Low Band)
TX DPS in CT (Low Band)
NYPD at the CT/MA line (UHF)
At the house in NY and CT with a simple scanner and antenna:
CHP out of LA (on a Mass State Police channel) - Low Band
FDNY at the MA line
Missouri State Patrol - Low band
Broward County Fl fire
And a few others I can't think of.
Today I was actually able to hit a ham radio station in upper MI on 52.525 from my truck as the storm was coming thru the area...just like he was next to me. Cool stuff.
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