FDNY's new UHF & the chiefs

[62Truck]

How many pieces of apparatus does FDNY have? How many do they replace with new trucks each year? When a "new" piece goes out of service for repair, does the replacement piece have new radios?

I think W2NOV's point was that this is a process that will take some time before it's complete. Until then, FDNY has to maintain two complete radio systems and we should be able to listen to them on VHF.

Driving through Rockland and Westchester Counties yesterday I heard VHF traffic quite clearly. The UHF channels still have that "hang up" issue, which makes listening to them a pain.

Depending on where I am in Poughkeepsie I can hear Manhattan and Queens on their VHF freqs.

 

[tbendick]

As far as input pl. Tones. If you.are putting the inputs in for mixer off transmission's then just set your radio for csq. Nobody needs that information posted, don't need things like PD with all the unauthorized transmissions.

 

[radioman2001]

I think the horse is already out of the barn, PL codes are listed right here on RR.

 

[GTR8000]

I think the horse is already out of the barn, PL codes are listed right here on RR.

Those are the output PL's, the input PL's are not necessarily the same. :wink:

 

[62Truck]

Those are the output PL's, the input PL's are not necessarily the same. :wink:

I second that!

 

[W2SJW]

I second that!

Same here, but I have only one technical question - are the new UHF channels set up like a 'normal' repeater, or are they set up to mimic the VHF existing system (that they are two-frequency semi-duplex with a mixer, requiring the dispatcher to acknowledge the unit in the field first & turn on the rebroadcast for the rest of the borough)?

I've yet to hear a chief call in on the UHF side & hear him TX first - it's always the dispatcher on the initial transmission...

 

[n2nov]

Let me be a little more clear about this, so we don't wind up engaging in a senseless back and forth.

The UHF system is very much "online and active", that is an unquestionable fact. There are units transmitting on UHF. This is not just a case of units transmitting on VHF and those transmissions being simulcast over the UHF frequencies. This has been going on for the better part of a year now.

Yes, the entire changeover process to UHF will take some time (although time is running out, the narrowband deadline is quickly approaching), but this is not some kind of "distant future" project that may or may not come to fruition. The gears have been in motion for quite some time.

Does that clear things up?

In a recent conversation with my contact at HQ, there are no new trucks coming into the city with an order to have UHF radios installed. The most recent trucks received came with a VHF (154 Mhz) radio. While there might be a slow transition, it will take quite a while and I am still considering it "future" until they will be completely a UHF system. Transitions are always hardest on those who are affected.

 

[garys]

In a recent conversation with my contact at HQ, there are no new trucks coming into the city with an order to have UHF radios installed. The most recent trucks received came with a VHF (154 Mhz) radio. While there might be a slow transition, it will take quite a while and I am still considering it "future" until they will be completely a UHF system. Transitions are always hardest on those who are affected.

That's interesting. Unless they don't have the money for new UHF mobiles and are reinstalling older VHF radios. It's possible that they are going to use the UHF for portable only traffic until they can install UHF radios in the trucks.

Any idea on that?

 

[radioman2001]

When it comes to NYPD, yes they split some PL's, I have not found that of FDNY.

 

[jayg359]

Guess I should have explained myself a little better. I am a licensed amateur radio operator, and am also responsible for my Fire Departments radio communications. As for my number of postings, that means NOTHING! I use these forums for research and post only when needed.

To be honest, I am planning on programming these channels in my Volunteer Fire Department's command post and radios for interoperability. We are on the plan for NYC mutual aid, and have actually stood by and responded along with the FDNY. I had the original pl tones in there as well as in my personal HT, but they have since been changed. I updated the PL tones, but dont seem to be making the repeaters, unless they are not being kept on. The last time we stood by in NYC, we were unable to communicate with our FDNY brothers - We took in one run with them, and needed to keep one of our members with the chauffer to communicate with them. I have since programmed our radios with a full zone of the FDNY HT frequencies and wanted to do the same with the dispatch. Since we are entirely UHF I need both the input and output PL tones to make it work properly.

Best

Jay G.
Woodmere Vol FD
KC2ZHI Amateur Radio Operator
Licensed Master Electrician

#1 - Why do you need the input PL's?

#2 - What exactly do you mean by "can't get in on UHF"?

I normally hate self-appointed "RadioReference Police", but without further clarification, your post reeks of something sketchy. Especially since you only have 1 post since you joined 7 years ago. :roll:

 

[GTR8000]

Guess I should have explained myself a little better. I am a licensed amateur radio operator, and am also responsible for my Fire Departments radio communications. As for my number of postings, that means NOTHING! I use these forums for research and post only when needed.

To be honest, I am planning on programming these channels in my Volunteer Fire Department's command post and radios for interoperability. We are on the plan for NYC mutual aid, and have actually stood by and responded along with the FDNY. I had the original pl tones in there as well as in my personal HT, but they have since been changed. I updated the PL tones, but dont seem to be making the repeaters, unless they are not being kept on. The last time we stood by in NYC, we were unable to communicate with our FDNY brothers - We took in one run with them, and needed to keep one of our members with the chauffer to communicate with them. I have since programmed our radios with a full zone of the FDNY HT frequencies and wanted to do the same with the dispatch. Since we are entirely UHF I need both the input and output PL tones to make it work properly.

Best

Jay G.
Woodmere Vol FD
KC2ZHI Amateur Radio Operator
Licensed Master Electrician

My advice to you would be to contact the FDNY directly. If your agency is properly authorized to operate on the FDNY's frequencies, then you should have absolutely no trouble at all obtaining the information you seek.

 

[radioman2001]

Agreed, I did that when I had to program our Fire Chiefs car. Now if I can only get them to put the trunking in. LOL

 

[tbendick]

The uhf works the same as VHF it's not a repeater in the conventional sense. You can't key up the radio and listen for the repeater. The dispatcher needs to turn on the mixer, this is why you hear the dispatcher first.
,

You need to talk your contacts in fdny. We have the nycmac and.utacs for mutual aide, they may not want you using the borough channels.

 

[W2SJW]

The uhf works the same as VHF it's not a repeater in the conventional sense. You can't key up the radio and listen for the repeater. The dispatcher needs to turn on the mixer, this is why you hear the dispatcher first.

Thank you, kind sir, for confirming this!

 

[GTR8000]

I've updated the FDNY section of the DB with a blurb about how the radio system works, as well as changed all the "RM" to "BM" (even though that's still not technically correct, it would probably be even more confusing breaking out the mobiles into separate entries, so we'll leave it as-is).

 

[coolrich55]

I was in the nyc area over thanksgiving weekend and I'm pretty sure 154.250 was not active. At least I wasn't picking it up.

 

[62Truck]

I was in the nyc area over thanksgiving weekend and I'm pretty sure 154.250 was not active. At least I wasn't picking it up.

You might have something set up wrong, Last time I was down in the city (2 weeks prior to thanksgiving) 154.250 was active. What type of radio were you using?

 

[GTR8000]

The Manhattan VHF frequency is very active. If you didn't hear anything on 154.250, then you either had it programmed wrong (frequency and/or PL), or you weren't really all that close to the city as you thought, or were in a dead spot for that transmitter.

 

[coolrich55]

I was in Edgewater where I've been numerous times. I was picking up the other boroughs ok. I was getting Manhattan uhf ok. Maybe it was a dead spot.

 

[GTR8000]

Yeah the Manhattan VHF transmitter doesn't come in as strong to the west as the other 4 boroughs. Queens is usually the strongest, followed by Brooklyn, SI, then the Bronx.