Mystery Frequency

[Andrew2340]

As if my 155.085 mystery hasn't bugged me to death, but tonight I heard an EMS call dispatched on 155.385 (locally used for MAMA Air Medical Svcs) with a PL Tone of 127.3. Where was this? They said a station name, but I missed it.

Well, I had another mystery frequency, but I was able to figure it out with a little Google-ing. I heard 154.220/141.3PL key up and dispatch units to an MVA with possible ejection on "Old Durch Road" near "Coley's Paw" or "Foley's Pond". "Paramedic 1811" was first on scene and advised that there was 1 PI. Engine 60 called "Little Mountain 1" and then checked en route. Rescue 180 was soon to follow. After they checked in with "Control", I was able to figure out this was Newberry County, SC. I've heard them quite often in the past. One night Pioneer Foods mill caught on fire, you should have heard the traffic for that!

 

[jeffmulter]

155.385 / 127.3 is likely York County, S.C. ... just south of Charlotte. They will identify as "York County E-O-C."

I just happened to be working in the City of Rock Hill Government Center today, where the county EOC is located, and got a quick tour of the Motobridge setup. EOC dispatchers will be able to patch their talkgroups and conventional channels to channels / talkgroups in other Piedmont-area counties with a couple of mouse clicks. Impressive.

155.385 / 127.3 is also Tattnell County EMS in Georgia, west of Savannah.

The mobile units working out of Charleston Memorial Hospital in Charleston, S.C. also used to use 155.385 / 127.3 for comms with the hospital (the latter was on 155.385 / csq).

Although you were hearing Newberry County Fire on 154.220 / 141.3, Cherokee County (Georgia) also dispatches fire on the frequency and tone. They are just north of Atlanta, but I have logged them here at home on a couple of occasions.

 

[Andrew2340]

Thanks Jeff! I'm not really sure who I was hearing, I only heard it that once. I used to hear Hawkins County (TN) EMS all the time on that channel, I don't kniow why I can't hear them anymore. They used to come in clearer than MAMA! Thanks for your help though, I appreciate it Jeff!

 

[jeffmulter]

At one time, Hawkins County EMS was using a tone of 100.0 Hz. They might have changed.

If you are on the WNC_Scan list - or Chattradio - on Yahoogroups, you might post the question. Thad Osbourne / TGO1 is on those lists, and helped me I-D Hawkins a few years ago.

The York County channel has a UHF link to provide coverage in the western portion of the county. There was a period of time when that link was passing signals on 155.385 with a variety of PL tones ... not just 127.3 Hz. That was the only occasion I ever logged Hawkins here ... through that link.

BTW ... York County is in the process of moving to an 800 Motorola digital system, so the days for the EMS VHF channel are somewhat numbered.