Meigs County MARCS Rebanding

[RadioTech19]

Hello All!

I have discovered from a very reliable source that the rebanding of the MARCS network radios in Meigs County, Ohio is nearly complete. I understand what this means, however I am not sure what I need to change in my Pro-106 to keep on scanning. Can someone please advise? Any help would greatly be appreciated.

 

[wa8pyr]

Hello All!

I have discovered from a very reliable source that the rebanding of the MARCS network radios in Meigs County, Ohio is nearly complete. I understand what this means, however I am not sure what I need to change in my Pro-106 to keep on scanning. Can someone please advise? Any help would greatly be appreciated.

You do not need to change anything until the fixed sites are rebanded, and they have not started that yet.

 

[RadioTech19]

What will need to be done on the radio when the site rebanding is done?

 

[kf8yk]

What will need to be done on the radio when the site rebanding is done?

You'll need to enter the new control channel frequencies. Calculating the new frequencies is easy, most MARCS control channels are in the NPSPAC band (866-870 MHz), just subtract 15 MHz from any of the CC's in this band.

For example at the Meigs Pomeroy site:

867.8250 868.5500 868.9500

Will be changed to:

852.8250 853.5500 853.9500

You could enter both the old and new frequencies into your scanner now so when the site gets switched you won't miss anything.

There are a few MARCS control channels outside the 866-870 band, for MARCS these control frequencies are not impacted by rebanding and will remain the same.

 

[wa8pyr]

You'll need to enter the new control channel frequencies. Calculating the new frequencies is easy, most MARCS control channels are in the NPSPAC band (866-870 MHz), just subtract 15 MHz from any of the CC's in this band.

Don't automatically assume the frequencies will drop 15 MHz. That's what is proposed, and most likely to happen; however, there have been several instances around the country where the proposed frequencies did not work out due to new or unexpected sources of interference, and so changes had to be made.

The only way to know for sure is to monitor when the change is made and see what happens.

 

[kf8yk]

Don't automatically assume the frequencies will drop 15 MHz. That's what is proposed, and most likely to happen; however, there have been several instances around the country where the proposed frequencies did not work out due to new or unexpected sources of interference, and so changes had to be made.

The only way to know for sure is to monitor when the change is made and see what happens.

For NPSPAC licenses the proposed frequencies are always 15 MHz lower:

http://www.800ta.org/content/resources/FPR_NPSPAC_Fact_Sheet.pdf

If there's interference after moving then the licensee can complain. I can find no instance of a NPSPAC licensee getting something other than a 15 MHz replacement, If you can provide an example I would like to see it.

 

[RadioTech19]

You'll need to enter the new control channel frequencies. Calculating the new frequencies is easy, most MARCS control channels are in the NPSPAC band (866-870 MHz), just subtract 15 MHz from any of the CC's in this band.

For example at the Meigs Pomeroy site:

867.8250 868.5500 868.9500

Will be changed to:

852.8250 853.5500 853.9500

You could enter both the old and new frequencies into your scanner now so when the site gets switched you won't miss anything.

There are a few MARCS control channels outside the 866-870 band, for MARCS these control frequencies are not impacted by rebanding and will remain the same.

I appreciate your help! I went ahead and added them to my radio system.

 

[wa8pyr]

For NPSPAC licenses the proposed frequencies are always 15 MHz lower:

http://www.800ta.org/content/resources/FPR_NPSPAC_Fact_Sheet.pdf

If there's interference after moving then the licensee can complain. I can find no instance of a NPSPAC licensee getting something other than a 15 MHz replacement, If you can provide an example I would like to see it.

I beg to differ. I'm a system administrator and rebanding is my major project right now. What I said is fact.