Metrolinx Rail Traffic Control

[mciupa]

Getting a constant carrier signal on 161.55 NXDN (1 RAN), Talkgroup 0 and Radio ID 1. No audio heard.
Researching this, it is Railroad Ch. AAR96 . TAFL has purged a lot of Railroad listings so I don't know which Intermodal this may be broadcasting from.

Or, it could be Port Operations Ch. 19 Marine Band. I haven't seen NXDN used for those purposes. I'm thinking it is more Railroad oriented.

 

[DaveH]

Getting a constant carrier signal on 161.55 NXDN (1 RAN), Talkgroup 0 and Radio ID 1. No audio heard.
Researching this, it is Railroad Ch. AAR96 . TAFL has purged a lot of Railroad listings so I don't know which Intermodal this may be broadcasting from.

Or, it could be Port Operations Ch. 19 Marine Band. I haven't seen NXDN used for those purposes. I'm thinking it is more Railroad oriented.

Also called AAR 485 for narrow 7.5kHz NXDN channels:

Railroads (United States) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Railroads (United States)

www.radioreference.com

Sounds like it may be a test signal, TG 0 probably not normally valid.

Marine use sounds unlikely.

I do a few scan passes over rail frequencies from time to time, no NXDN so far here.

Dave

 

[ve3cgr]

I'm picking it here in Aurora. -98 rssi in the house.

 

[Forts]

I believe 0 is valid on NXDN. It's not on DMR however.

 

[gtaman]

Check it with DSD plus and see if you pick up data packets. May be using it for data.

 

[ATCTech]

Is it still there Mike? I have nothing at all out here, but now (18:20) is the first time today I've checked.

Bob

 

[mciupa]

I just read your post and maybe they read this thread. No signal now.

 

[VA3ADP]

I just read your post and maybe they read this thread. No signal now.

Maybe CN Police?

 

[DaveH]

What does frame decoding look like in DSD+ window? (could someone post a screen shot?).

Conventional NXDN sometimes does not use a TG, just RAN and RIDs.

According to Wiki, not even RAN is used, for rail voice.

MJC: is your info coming from scanner or DSD+? Reason I ask is that scanners seem to report
dummy TG 0 for DMR, so may happen with NXDN.

As for signal disappearing, possibly moved to another frequency, and if it's in test phase may
go on and off...nothing sinister.

Dave

 

[wa8pyr]

According to Wiki, not even RAN is used, for rail voice.

Actually I believe NS and possibly others may use RAN 1 as default in the codeplugs of their Icom radios. I bought a used NS railroad radio (Icom F3161DT-RR) and all the NXDN channels were set up for RAN 1; I've seen several codeplugs from other railroads which also had RAN 1 on the NXDN stuff.

However, that was all on stuff programmed by the railroad radio shops; I haven't checked the pre-programmed AAR channels to see if they're using RAN or not.

I'd be interested to know what the AAR standard calls for as regards NXDN use on the railroads. P25 on the 700 MHz NIFOG interoperability channels calls for NAC 293 and talkgroup 1 standard.

 

[mciupa]

What does frame decoding look like in DSD+ window? (could someone post a screen shot?).

Conventional NXDN sometimes does not use a TG, just RAN and RIDs.

According to Wiki, not even RAN is used, for rail voice.

MJC: is your info coming from scanner or DSD+? Reason I ask is that scanners seem to report
dummy TG 0 for DMR, so may happen with NXDN.

As for signal disappearing, possibly moved to another frequency, and if it's in test phase may
go on and off...nothing sinister.

Dave

This was discovered while monitoring Marine Band on my BCD 536HP. I heard the NXDN warble and changed the Audio Type to Digital and it spit out that info. We have Intermodal facilities close by using NXDN and I felt this was probably the likely user. If it comes back, I'll give DSD+ a shot.

AMTRAK is also a user on that frequency but there should be none of their assets in Canada. The Maple Leaf, for instance stops at Niagara Falls NY until the border re-opens.

 

[mciupa]

As they say in Little Italy, "She's a back!" So I didn't kill 161.55 Don't judge me, my [Public Release] is showing

 

[gtaman]

As they say in Little Italy, "She's a back!" So I didn't kill 161.55 Don't judge me, my [Public Release] is showing

View attachment 84267

AES on the railroad eh? I wonder if it’s PD

 

[ATCTech]

Same here Mike.

 

[wa8pyr]

AES on the railroad eh? I wonder if it’s PD

NS uses encryption for their PD frequency 161.205. Although, I haven't verified (tricky since they're not too talkative on the radio). I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're using AES.

 

[mciupa]

From the EVENTS file:

2020/05/04 12:44:49 Enc Group call; TG=2 RID=1 [---] Alg=AES 4s
2020/05/04 12:44:53 Enc Group call; RID=1 [---] Alg=DES 4m46s

Talkgroups: 1, 2, 1932, 55240
No audio and only TG 2 using encryption

 

[gary123]

I'm leaning towards CN Police. Maybe conducting some type of investigation at a yard.

 

[DaveH]

I'm leaning towards CN Police. Maybe conducting some type of investigation at a yard.

Out of curiosity what were CN Police last heard (or seen) using? I think it was mainly cellphones, possibly
a PTT type of service.

Dave

 

[VA3ADP]

Out of curiosity what were CN Police last heard (or seen) using? I think it was mainly cellphones, possibly
a PTT type of service.

Dave

CP PS is using Wave On Cloud by Motorola with a nice layer of AES256. Gives them the ability to communicate across North America as they are based out of 9 US cities.

 

[mciupa]

Who likes reading docs?

https://www.railcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RAC-White-Paper_final_EN.pdf