I'm new! I'm posting some random channels and asking some questions on here.

[dudeagle]

Hi! I'm Deagle. I am very new to scanning, I have a junky little Uniden BC80XLT and am interested in finding random channels. For the past 3ish days, I have been scanning aimlessly to try and find some cool channels. I will be posting any new frequencies I find, along with any questions I have. Please let me know if this is the right place for this, or if you have any recommendations, please feel free to tell me. AS OF THE TIME OF THIS POST, I don't know what any of the channels are for, or who they belong to, I just know what they sound like. So please, let me know what the sounds (or the channel) are for. And with that, my first random channel I have found is
154.3250
It sounds like some government thing, idk. It often gives off random tones that sound like one of those hearing tests
And one last thing, I am aware that the majority of the channels I'm gonna be posting are already out there, I just decided to send them here in case anyone finds it interesting.

Thanks for reading!

-Deagle

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Welcome to the RR forums & welcome to the hobby. Why not start by telling us your county & city? If you invest in a Radioreference premium subscription you can utilize the database search query to look up your findings to see if they've been identified in the database

. And with that, my first random channel I have found is
154.3250

The BC80XLT is an ancient scanner which I'm fairly certain can't detect PL or DPL tone. I'd advise upgrading your scanner to one with PL tone and preferably P25 trunking capability (pretty much every scanner made within the last two decades) Below are identified stations utilizing 154.325. Are any close to you?

Freq Out	Freq In	Tone	Callsign	Description	Category	Agency/County	State
154.325		192.8 PL	WPFH772	Slate Creek Volunteer Fire Dept	Slate Creek Buchanan County	Buchanan	VA
154.325		203.5 PL	WPVU328	Riceville Java Volunteer Fire Department	Pittsylvania, County of Pittsylvania County	Pittsylvania	VA
154.325		114.8 PL	KIW334	Fire/Rescue Dispatch (multicast from trunked system)	Prince William, County of Prince William County	Prince William	VA
154.325	153.770	D20 NAC	WPDJ903	Fire	Wytheville Wythe County	Wythe	VA
154.325	151.100	116 DPL	WQWP224	Police Dispatch 2	Bristol Bristol City	Bristol	VA
154.325		107.2 PL	WNBT658	Fire & Rescue Dispatch	Colonial Heights, City of Colonial Heights City	Colonial Heights	VA

 

[wtp]

https://www.uniden.info/download/ompdf/BC80XLTom.pdf

29 to 54
137 to 174
406 to 512
806 to 956
except cell.

 

[jkahn]

Look at the above reply with ranges of frequencies your scanner can receive, then look at RadioReference for your city/state and search within those frequencies to see if there is anything in the database you might want/be able to listen to. You cannot receive anything using P25, only AM, FM, Narrow FM.

 

[richardbritt]

Welcome, look at map of the US, click on your state, then your county and/or city. Scroll the list of any listed frequencies. Check neighboring counties as well. And look at your state again, and look for things like DOT, Forestry etc listed for your state. If you are near a waterway, try 156.8 or 156.65 for starters for marine channels 16 and 13. Usually active for boaters.

Feel free to ask questions on the Forums here also. Everyone was new once.

Regards
Richard and Northeastern NC

 

[dudeagle]

Welcome to the RR forums & welcome to the hobby. Why not start by telling us your county & city? If you invest in a Radioreference premium subscription you can utilize the database search query to look up your findings to see if they've been identified in the database


The BC80XLT is an ancient scanner which I'm fairly certain can't detect PL or DPL tone. I'd advise upgrading your scanner to one with PL tone and preferably P25 trunking capability (pretty much every scanner made within the last two decades) Below are identified stations utilizing 154.325. Are any close to you?

Freq Out	Freq In	Tone	Callsign	Description	Category	Agency/County	State
154.325		192.8 PL	WPFH772	Slate Creek Volunteer Fire Dept	Slate Creek Buchanan County	Buchanan	VA
154.325		203.5 PL	WPVU328	Riceville Java Volunteer Fire Department	Pittsylvania, County of Pittsylvania County	Pittsylvania	VA
154.325		114.8 PL	KIW334	Fire/Rescue Dispatch (multicast from trunked system)	Prince William, County of Prince William County	Prince William	VA
154.325	153.770	D20 NAC	WPDJ903	Fire	Wytheville Wythe County	Wythe	VA
154.325	151.100	116 DPL	WQWP224	Police Dispatch 2	Bristol Bristol City	Bristol	VA
154.325		107.2 PL	WNBT658	Fire & Rescue Dispatch	Colonial Heights, City of Colonial Heights City	Colonial Heights	VA

Ha, ancient is right. My dad bought it a while back for NASCAR races.

 

[dudeagle]

and I am in Fairfax, VA.

 

[dudeagle]

The issue is I can't really receive most of the frequency's listed on Fairfax County, Virginia (VA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
... most likely because I have an artifact to receive the signals... I might make a post about more specifications on my receiver, but It looks like wtp and jkahn already got the main stuff.

 

[dudeagle]

I don't know any terms, so can anyone describe what some of these mean and how they are used? (And how one accesses them)
R
M
BM
PL
TG
SL
FMN
DMR
NAC

 

[dudeagle]

Also, does anyone have the list of repeater imputs for Fairfax, VA?

 

[nd5y]

R = Repeater station
M = Mobile station (includes hand held)
BM = Base & Mobile (simplex)
PL = Private Line (Motorola trademark for CTCSS)
TG = Talkgroup ID
SL = TDMA Time Slot
FMN = Narrowband FM
DMR = Digital Mobile Radio
NAC = Network Access Code

If you don't know what abbreviations or other terms are I would suggest looking in the wiki.

The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Category:RR Glossary - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

 

[dudeagle]

Thank you so much!

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

and I am in Fairfax, VA.

The issue is I can't really receive most of the frequency's listed on Fairfax County, Virginia (VA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

If you intend on monitoring Fairfax County Project 25 Phase II trunked radio system where all your county public safety agencies reside then you'll need a scanner that can cover such mode. My recommendation goes to the Uniden SDS100 or SDS200 to combat likely simulcast distortion you'll face if you're within range of two or more tower sites, reference site map here. Expect a significant learning curve if you have no experience with current gen Uniden scanners but there are plenty of resources at your disposal here on the forums to help get you started. The SDSx00 scanners can be programmed via Uniden Sentinel software (free). Keep in mind that talkgroups ID'ed in the database as mode "DE" are fully encrypted and cannot be monitored by any receiver not intended to operate on the system. Mode "D" talkgroups are clear and can be monitored.

See also:

Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual​

Sentinel SDS100/200 Software Manual

Also, does anyone have the list of repeater imputs for Fairfax, VA?

Check the check box here. Inputs that have been submitted to the RRDB will show up once you do
Though in all honestly there's no need to program them in as you won't hear activity unless you're in the immediate area of a transmitting unit

 

[dudeagle]

i have a free account

 

[dudeagle]

It says I have to have a premium account to view repeaters

 

[RaleighGuy]

It says I have to have a premium account to view repeaters

For anyone interested in scanning the small fee RR charges for a premium subscription (as low as $15 for 6 months) is well worth it for the wealth of information and downloads you get,

 

[nd5y]

It says I have to have a premium account to view repeaters

No, it says repeater INPUTS which are 99% of the time useless for scanning.
The database doesn't include inputs for trunked systems whether you are a paid subscriber or not.
You can find inputs by looking up the FCC license.
Depending on the band you can do simple math to find the inputs. See Offset - The RadioReference Wiki.

 

[ecps92]

It says I have to have a premium account to view repeaters

Only to view the input Frequency, otherwise you have much of what the scanner will need.