Midland Radio Channel 34?

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CZ

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I came across a new (for me) frequency ( 415.475 MHz.) and the dispatcher referred to, "Frequency they're using is the same as Channel 34 on our Midlands."

What frequency is Channel 34? Any list of Midland channels & how they correspond to other radios used by fire, or parks available?
 

BirkenVogt

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Depends entirely on the programming done by whoever it was.

From the late 80s until a few years back CDF did refer to channel numbers in "the Midland" but the Midlands are all gone now. I still have those lists and I thought thats what you would be referring to but it's not.

Besides CDF you will not find any other published list of freqs on a per-channel basis especially now because any Midland that still uses channel numbers is very old presumably (there are possibly new ones but it is doubtful that is what they have because Midland cashed in on their good name and decided to sell crap, and so nobody buys them any more)

Birken
 

SCPD

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What you heard on 415.475 is the downlink from a remote base or repeater on a National Forest radio system. Let me know what location you were in when you heard it and maybe I can guess what channel 34 is. What you heard was a Forest Service unit talking on a local Forest Net, Admin Net, Fire Net, or Service Net. Most likely what you heard was on Forest Net. The dispatcher was telling the unit responding to an incident that the incident was on another agency's radio frequency or on a NIFC (National Interagency Fire Center) tactiical frequency. The most often used channels in a Forest Service radio are usually in the first 16 channels as this is the capacity of one handheld radio group and the first group usually has the day to day frequencies most often used by the units on that Forest. You were not hearing something on channel 34 in this case.

Once I know what the location was I can figure out what Forest it was and then take a guess or look up some information I have. The Forest Service does not have a wide area channel plan like CDF due to the needs of each Forest varying quite a bit so I may only be able to speculate.
 

northzone

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If you are in northern Cal, 415.475 is a link to a remote base on the Tahoe NF Fire Net. Nice channel to listen to. You can hear all repeaters on the fire net, both mobile and dispatch traffic.
 

BirkenVogt

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However for what it's worth the TNF does not use any Midlands now. They are all Bendix King GMHs or DMHs as I recall.

For what it is also worth, channel 34 in the CDF Midland radios was the Lake Tahoe Basin (TMU) and also Inyo National Forest (same frequency pair). In the 320 channel "chief" midlands it was San Luis Obispo ranger unit.

Birken
 

CZ

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I'm the central part of the San Joaquin Valley, just a bit NW of Fresno

Interesting about the Midlands ... the dispatch did refer specifically to Midland though.

"Sierra" is the call most used, but have heard "Los (or Las?) Plumas" a couple of times on 415.475 also; Freq.'s about 90% quieting, but sometimes gets noisier. 412.800 - another one I came across - is generally much stronger.
 

BirkenVogt

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"Sierra" is the Sierra National Forest and "Plumas" is the plumas national forest. What you are listening to are Forest Service link frequencies between their mountaintop radio sites and their command center. Sometimes the command centers will just go out direct on VHF same as any mobile unit but if the repeater site is too far away they will use these links.

Birken
 

northzone

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Given your location information I would say you are most likely hearing the Sierra forest link from Mt. Bullion to Mariposa on 415.475. Sounds like you are also hearing the Los Padres forest (not los plumas) Mt. Torro to King City link which is also on that frequency.

Good find, people get stuck in a rut listening to the same stuff all the time. It is good to search around the 415mhz, 75mhz, 900mhz all these areas are used for links. You will also find regular federal repeaters in the 415 area (such as 415.050 on Diablo). Also, there is some good listening in the 137 to 151 (less 144-148) military band, both land mobile and aircraft. Have fun!
 

SCPD

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BirkenVogt said:
However for what it's worth the TNF does not use any Midlands now. They are all Bendix King GMHs or DMHs as I recall.

For what it is also worth, channel 34 in the CDF Midland radios was the Lake Tahoe Basin (TMU) and also Inyo National Forest (same frequency pair). In the 320 channel "chief" midlands it was San Luis Obispo ranger unit.

Birken

The Inyo and the LTBMU are not on the same frequency pair.
 

SCPD

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I've lived in the Eastern Sierra for 25 years and the Basin and the Inyo have not shared the same frequency pair in that time.
 

BirkenVogt

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Yeah I just re-looked at my 1995 and 1998 radio comm plans, and while channel 34 does say TMU, Inyo for a label on the 80 channel midland, it is not that way in the 320 channel midland. The 80 channel radios were installed around 1988 IIRC.

Birken
 
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