ITAC/NPSPAC Help Wanted

[K9GTJ]

Can someone tell me more about these freqencies and how they relate to the system I monitor? http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=952

Which frequencies do I need to program in the scanner?

800 MHz NPSPAC channels are frequently used on this system:

866.0125 821.0125 R 156.7 PL ICALL/NPSPAC1 800 MHz Calling

866.5125 821.5125 R 156.7 PL ITAC1/NPSPAC2 800 MHz Tactical

867.0125 822.0125 R 156.7 PL ITAC2/NPSPAC3 800 MHz Tactical

867.5125 822.5125 R 156.7 PL ITAC3/NPSPAC4 800 MHz Tactical

868.0125 823.0125 R 156.7 PL ITAC4/NPSPAC5 800 MHz Tactical

 

[nd5y]

Those are the nationwide 800MHz public safety interoperability channels.
You only need to program the repeater outputs
866.0125
866.5125
867.0125
867.5125
868.0125

In a few years after rebanding they will move down 15 MHz
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Common_Public_Safety

 

[K9GTJ]

What makes them diffferent than I-CALL? I have I-CALL selected on the system with my scanner. (Channel #1 says I-CALL in the description which confuses me.)

 

[ocguard]

There is really no difference. Since the inception of these nationwide interop channels, they have gone through about a half a dozen names. NPSPAC, I-Tac, I-Call, 8-Tac, 8-Call, so in and so forth.

I-Call or 8-Call is supposed to be used for hailing, or "calling". That is, either different municipalities calling one another, or a field unit calling a dispatch center to request an I-Tac channel for use.

I-Tac or 8-Tac channels are used for on-scene or tactical communication. The may be used in repeater mode or in simplex mode. When in simplex mode, you may hear or see them referred to as I-Tac1D or 8-Tac1D, the "D" indicates Direct mode. Regardless, you should only need to monitor the repeater output frequency (the higher one of each pair).

There are also now V-Tac, U-Tac, and 7-Tac channels for use in areas that are using VHF, UHF, or 700mhz systems respectively.
http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Common_Public_Safety#Interoperability

Note on this Wiki page that the 8-Tac frequencies WILL CHANGE after 800mhz rebanding is through!

 

[car2back]

What makes them diffferent than I-CALL? I have I-CALL selected on the system with my scanner. (Channel #1 says I-CALL in the description which confuses me.)

I think you're confusing private calls with the Icall NPSPAC channel

Private calls or I-Calls are direct communications between 2 users on a trunked system instead of all users on a specific talk group.

"I-Call" on the convetional NPSPAC 800mhz freqs is the main channel for calling other units or agencies on. It's like the channel 19 of NPSAC :wink:

As to which ones to scan, I have noticed in my area (Tulsa metro) the only NPSPAC repeater that is always on is the I-call (866.0125) channel. The others are activated as needed.

 

[DaveIN]

In your case Howard county can use these frequencies to talk to state units or nearby county agencies not able to use the EDACS system.