Listening to Frequencies

[dispatcher812]

I am trying to reprogram my 796D and Alpha tag each channel for the RR that uses it and realizing it is a bigger job then I thought. I am looing at mostly Eastern US. New Englan and South to North Carolina. I have found that some of the bigger ones CSX, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, use alot of the same frequencies. How do you tell who is who? Kevin

 

[WisconsinRailfan]

That's a good question, I learned just by listening a lot, and I am not always sure who is who. Hopefully someone posts a good suggestion.

 

[nickwilson159]

Do your homework before you travel. Railfan websites, forums, timetables, etc. all give frequency/channel info for the area. Virtually every railroad IDs their transmissions too..."CSX NF dispatcher answering," "NS 13T clear Gang Mills," etc. I never recommend "flying blind," as it's too easy to get confused by local operations...a little bit of research before going somewhere will go a long way.