KCT234 Mount Mitchell

[CCHLLM]

One of the confusing things about the State of NC listings in the FCC database is that too often the location listed only indicates the control point, though that isn't always obvious, so going by the lat/long is the only semi-reliable indicator of actual location. A ferinstance would be the listing for the WRC repeater KCT232 which is listed as Asheville. Well, that ain't 'zactly where the repeater is located. The actual location is not even in Buncombe County, much less Asheville. It's on Frying Pan Mtn SW of Asheville on the border of two other counties, which is one of those "everybody with a gummint radio" sites. All of the call signs are accounted for in the RR database, it just takes some searching to find 'em because of this lack of consistency. A long-term relationship with state licensing idiosyncrasies (sp? I'm tired an' it's time to go home) also helps decipher some of the madness.

 

[pboy]

FCC license information references the nearest city, town, roadway, etc. Some of these sites are really in the middle of nowhere when it comes to geographically locating them.

Like wx4cbh pointed out, mapping the co-ordinates is the best way to pin them down.

 

[n211cr]

Thanks a lot guys, I do believe the Burns township would be possible, however that frequency is one I have never heard used. I almost wonder if it is more of a administrative license, for some radios they may use. I also know that they would never patch that to 154.19 as is it only Owosso Fire/EMS, some of the others may hold a license covering it for interoperatibility. I couldn't say for sure as if the Burns Twp repeater would be patched to 154.355 at any time which I know uses a tone of 173.8 also. Now if it was the case that that was patched it would make much for sense as to how the tones may change in that matter. I do not know anyone with Burns Twp but I may make a few phone calls. I do know a few FFs in a few other Twp. Thanks Again for digging so deeply. It has something that I have definently found intriguing. What I can do it take and for a few days only record our main fire frequency, 154.355 and see what I can come up with. The fire channel should not receive too much traffic and it will make it simple to go back over listening for it. Thanks Again.

 

[jeffmulter]

>> Now if it was the case that that was patched it would make much for sense as to how the tones may change in that matter.

I think you're asking about why would an agency use one tone into the repeater, and another tone out ?

Two reasons why that might happen. If there is another agency within range, using the same frequency as the Burn input, AND also using 173.8 Hz, Burn Twp would want a different input tone to prevent the other agency from regularly passing through the Burn repeater.

The other reason ... sometimes, an agency will use more than one tone on the input frequency if they have multiple repeaters. For instance, channel 1 might be the western repeater using 173.8 in. Channel 2 might be the eastern repeater using 186.2 in.

A couple of law enforcement agencies in my area also use a separate tone on the input frequency of their repeater to create a simplex discrete channel. The cars use the channel for low-power car-to-car communications.

>> Thanks Again for digging so deeply. It has something that I have definently found intriguing.

Thanks for sharing your loggings with eveyone on this end. Maybe, one day, the amount and accuracy of the channel information online - on Radio Reference and other resources - will enable us to identify these unknown agencies a little easier.

I hope you'll share with us any additional information you come across. And, thanks, for sharing the recordings. If it were me, I might be tempted to seek a QSL / verification letter from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.


BTW - there is also an amateur repeater on Mount Mitchell on 145.190 MHz.


Jeff Multer
Fort Mill, S.C.

 

[n211cr]

Right I understand the tones, what I was making a reference to is that fact that if this other repeater that I do not believe i used much if at all by Burns Twp was accepting either a tone of 186.2 or maybe none at all, but was patched to 154.355 it may be setup to encode that transmission with a 173.8 tone. I know that everything for my area including Burns Twp would be encoded with a 173.8 tone on 154.355. I will play around with identifing which channel I am receiving it on for sure and if it happens to be 154.355 I will also try the input and outputs on their repeater. Thanks Again.

 

[jeffmulter]

>> I was making a reference to is that fact that if this other repeater that I do not believe i used much if at all by Burns Twp was accepting either a tone of 186.2 or maybe none at all, but was patched to 154.355 it may be setup to encode that transmission with a 173.8 tone.

Which would explain why your wav file of the WRC callsign announcements would decode with a tone of 173.8 Hz.


Jeff

 

[n211cr]

Ok well today was my first day in town where I could switch my scanner to channel by channel then listen to the recordings. I decided not to due to how much I and others listen to the stream. On my way home I did hear it come over the FD frequency of 154.355 in the car. It does show decent signal strength, something that could easily be coming from the Burns Twp Base. I will probably talk to one of there members, along with someone from central dispatch to hear the details on them picking it up and possibly the interlinkings of having a patch in place or even a straight repeater for Burns Twp to the Fire Freq. Thanks Again, I will post again when I receive some info back.

 

[jeffmulter]

Thanks for the update, Chad.

We've been fortunate that the tropo common to this time of the year has been helped by some stable high pressure systems in the eastern U.S. I was a little concerned that, by the time you got a chance to visit home, the good conditions would have died down, and the WRC I-Ds wouldn't be heard anymore.

Now, if we could just catch some Michigan agencies down here via high band. I used to catch some of the MSP dispatching via low band skip, before MSP began migrating to 800 MHz ... my most recent loggings are from June and July, 1996, though.


Jeff Multer

 

[BryanTheRed]

Ok Jeff here is one for ya My station is located in Jacksonville,NC on the freq 155.400 pl of 141.3, so why am I hearing transmissions to Bethesda Hospital and we hear these transmission late at night only but frequently!!!

 

[jeffmulter]

JV - One of the most common ways to hear distant VHF high band communications is via tropo.

Tropo is common when inversions occur, although there are other reasons for tropo and similar enhancements of signals to form.

Along the coast, inversions occur naturely between sunset and sunrise, when the air over land cools, while the air over the water remains relatively constant AND warm, due to the jet stream. The boundary between the cool and warm air bodies can form a duct that will carry radio signals for hundreds of miles in some cases.

So the means is naturely there to hear the hospital in Bethesday (Montgomery Co, Maryland). The real question is why you are hearing them on your local EMS channel.

Back in May of this year, I had a Saturday morning when Onslow Co was coming in full-scale on 155.400 / 141.3 . My impression was that this was a repeated channel, but I saw no license for a repeater.

( If Onslow was repeated on 155.400 / 141.3, I might presume the Maryland hospital was transmitting on whatever input that Onslow was using for the repeater. )

Another RR member - and member of the Richland VFD - mentioned that Onslow did not have a repeater on 155.400 MHz, but might be patched at times with the EMS talkgroup on 800 MHz. (The thread was dated 05/29/2005, if you want to look back in the NC Forum posts.)

At this point, I would assume that the Bethesda hospital also uses 155.400 / 141.3, although I have not been able to identify any hospital in that area of Maryland using the freq and tone.

BTW - band enhancements are not limited to the overnight hours. A stable high pressure system can enhance communications over a wide area for several days in a row.


Jeff Multer

 

[BryanTheRed]

These are mainly heard during summer nights. 155.400 is patched to the Onlsow TRS at all times. And there are 4 repeaters throughout the county for all PS vhf comms.

 

[Morgan1058]

I just received this station ID a few moments ago and I am located on Lake Cumberland near Jamestown, KY and I pick up this exact same ID from a base station output I can tell very clearly saying "KCT234 Mount Mithcell North Carolina" in a deep male voice with NC accent too! It is a recorded voice ID as it sounds exactly the same every time I have heard it in past. I am receiving it on 159.285 MHz only as that is a frequency I have in my scanner feed to radioreference.com for Russell County Public Service here in KY. In Kentucky that frequency is licensed to the Commonwealth of Ky for the Division of Forestry as mobiles only statewide! On occasion they come to this area to fight fires in wooded areas around Lake Cumberland is why I monitor that frequency! For further on it being heard here in KY contact KA4ADF... 73, Alan