Natural Resources Police - AACo / VHF

[maus92]

I've been logging VHF NRP activity in my RF hole in Annapolis. Basically I can receive NRP Crownsville, NRP Matapeake, NRP Holofield, NRP MultiLoc, and occasionally NRP Dundalk and NRP Rock Hall. This is not an extremely busy system - I log transmissions every 3-5 minutes on one of the channels.

NRP Crownsville definitely controls boat patrols on the South River.

I am not sure what NRP MultiLoc is or does...

NRP Holofield is located in Patapsco Valley State Park.

For some reason, I do not receive NRP Solley.

 

[marksmith]

That's pretty amazing. It's coming off the Solley Road tower at Ft Smallwood. With some of the sites you mentioned I would have thought you would certainly get Solley. They are the most active in the Annapolis bay area down the coast of AACO to at least the bridge and I think I've heard units on South River on that frequency.

One thing you have probably noticed is that often the transmission is being carried on more than one site frequency. Often I push Dundalk off because if I do it will come in stronger on Solley. It just happened to stop on Dundalk first.

You are probably hearing what would be coming across 155.940 from one of the other tower frequencies.

Did you hear the unit race to help get a small boat that was disabled and drifting out of the way of the cruise ship coming up the bay earlier this week?

I monitored on Solley. I bet you heard it on something else. Cruise ship held up until path was clear and then resumed. I think right around the Bay Bridge somewhere.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[riveter]

One frustrating thing about NRP that's been bugging me- I have never ever been able to hear a single NRP transmission on the OC/WC repeaters they're licensed for. Someone said a little while ago that they're still active, simulcasting the FiRST nets. However, I'm still at a loss. Anyone know what's actually active around here?

Sorry, not trying to hijack this. Carry on

 

[maus92]

That's pretty amazing. It's coming off the Solley Road tower at Ft Smallwood. With some of the sites you mentioned I would have thought you would certainly get Solley. They are the most active in the Annapolis bay area down the coast of AACO to at least the bridge and I think I've heard units on South River on that frequency.

One thing you have probably noticed is that often the transmission is being carried on more than one site frequency. Often I push Dundalk off because if I do it will come in stronger on Solley. It just happened to stop on Dundalk first.

You are probably hearing what would be coming across 155.940 from one of the other tower frequencies.

Did you hear the unit race to help get a small boat that was disabled and drifting out of the way of the cruise ship coming up the bay earlier this week?

I monitored on Solley. I bet you heard it on something else. Cruise ship held up until path was clear and then resumed. I think right around the Bay Bridge somewhere.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

I actually haven't been listening too closely - been doing more logging. It seems to me based on your description that this is a multicast conventional repeater system, i.e. they transmit the same channel on multiple sites on different frequencies. I'm not sure if they still use one channel (used to be "Tawes") to dispatch statewide, or if NRP breaks this function up into regions. Haven't been able to wrap my head around the logical construction of this system yet.

 

[marksmith]

I believe your description of a multi cast conventional repeater system is correct.

They break the state down into 8 areas within 4 districts, but best I can figure the repeaters around here are all in 2 of those districts. Solley is in both Central and Eastern for example.

Not all repeaters in a district are active at the same time. It's more localized than that. Dundalk for example is coming off of three towers, I believe... all are further north than Solley. I think the closest is at the Baltimore port. Most, but not all of the time, whatever is on Dundalk is on Solley. There are two Dundalk frequencies, I think only one matches with Solley.

I get Rock Hall (Kent County) very good here as well as Matapeake. Crownsville comes in but not as clear as you would think since i would think it's closer than Rock Hall or at least Matapeake.

Some of the others are readable but since the activity is not near me I now have them locked out, or I hear what they are broadcasting better on another frequency/tower.

I usually enjoy the activity I hear on this system. When AACo, or Queen Anne, or BaltCity start sending out a fireboat for something, I flip one of my scanners to Solley.

Almost all the time they are on scene before the fireboats, and the accounts they give of the situation fill in the blanks that are left if just monitoring the counties. I often know what the specific details of the situation are before the battalion chief or whoever has command for the counties.

I'm going to miss this one when it goes encrypted.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[maus92]

I checked my logs again today, but no traffic from the NRP Solley freq. from my location. Do you use the the DPL code for Solley? I do, but perhaps it is incorrect?

 

[marksmith]

Yes. 155.940 DCS365
But you should be able to receive it with no codes at all.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[maus92]

Yes. 155.940 DCS365
But you should be able to receive it with no codes at all.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

Disabling the code is my next step - I just wondered if you were using codes - if not, then that might explain why you can receive, and I cannot. If you were using codes, but different one than what is listed in the DB, then that could also explain it. If you are using the listed code, then I'm SOL.

 

[maus92]

Yes. 155.940 DCS365
But you should be able to receive it with no codes at all.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

Did an FCC search on the Solley freq. The transmit power is only 50W and a fairly low antenna height (there is another site at Dundalk that shares the same freq, and is also 50W.) Crownsville is the same 50W, but a higher antenna. Matapeake is also 50W, and a 300' antenna next to the water. Meanwhile, the multiloc frequency 151.4225 doesn't even have a site anywhere close (Alleghany) yet I seem to get traffic on it - I thought I heard a 8xx unit today - that would make sense, but it's very far away. Antenna is mounted on a fire tower up in the mountains...

Anyway, it seems that NRP uses fairly low powered transmitters, so that could explain why I don't hear Solley around Annapolis.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Yes. 155.940 DCS365
But you should be able to receive it with no codes at all.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

Curious can you pick up the state parks frequencies from your location? I never seem to hear any chatter on their frequencies. I have often wondered if they are simplex/low power.

 

[maus92]

Curious can you pick up the state parks frequencies from your location? I never seem to hear any chatter on their frequencies. I have often wondered if they are simplex/low power.

I would have to go back and look, but some of the Forestry transmitters were 350W(!) A Parks transmitter at Sandy Point was 100W. Being that Sandy Point is closest to me, I will plug in that freq and see what happens.

 

[marksmith]

Curious can you pick up the state parks frequencies from your location? I never seem to hear any chatter on their frequencies. I have often wondered if they are simplex/low power.

No. I have not heard anything on the state parks frequencies. 350w at Sandy Point? I need to look that one up and let a radio sit on it.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[marksmith]

Sorry. 100w. Same deal though.

I have heard some activity on the forestry repeaters locally, but generally that activity I get if I'm in the west part of the state.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[troymail]

NRP isn't something I usually listen to but that's true for many things that have been popping up on FiRST (starting with MdTA when FiRST went live).

On my drive to the Shore yesterday, I detected what looked like correlation between NRP Wye Mills and one of the already id'd NRP Eastern Shore talkgroups. I'd have to go back and pull my recordings to determine which one it was.

As for Solley - I've been picking that up on my Whistler on occasion while driving around south Glen Burnie...

And I agree, there's not a whole lot of activity on those channels.

 

[marksmith]

Depending on the situation in Anne Arundel County, if there is a fireboat rescue or other USCG marine operation going on, you will find the Solley site of DNR to very active and hear more of what is going on than on the AACO fire talkgroups.

Agree that other than in those situations it is a quiet channel mainly dealing with monitoring fishermen, etc.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[maus92]

Still no Solley activity for me - or activity on Parks 151.310, with Sandy Point being the nearest transmitter. I know that personnel use portables at Sandy Point, but they may be low power / non-repeated.

I did look at Google Earth at the various transmitter sites that I receive at my home. Crownsville is only about six air miles away, and has a fairly high antenna height. Matapeake is about 10 air miles, and partially overwater. It's weird that I get Holofield (and Bowie, Dundalk) occasionally and not Solley, however, Solley is about 20 miles north and an overland vector for me, so maybe that explains it. Again referencing the map, Crownsville is well situated to cover the northern ends of both the South and Severn Rivers, with Matapeake probably covering the mouths as they join the bay. Still trying to figure out the multiloc frequency, although it could be an additional Matapeake channel. The other interesting thing is I cannot receive Tracys Landing either, perhaps for the same reasons I don't get Solley.

 

[marksmith]

I have similar results. I get some that I think are explained by water most of the wau, and have a harder time with closer overland locations. I get Matapeake fine but Crownsville just barely. Don't get Bowie but the Rock Hall site booms in.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

I am down in Nags Head, NC. Yesterday, we decided to do the Eastern Shore route to OBX. I had plugged in all the Eastern Shore DNR frequencies and repeaters. I only received some traffic on the Metapeake Frequency. I also had unitrunker running and there was activity on the DNR/NRP talkgroups on FiRST but it was encrypted.

It appears that there is no patching of the talkgroups into the conventional frequencies on the lower shore.

 

[LeSueurC]

I was up in Chesapeake City for a while, 7557 was active on the Elkton site, don't remember hearing any of the conventional channels though

 

[marksmith]

On Sunday late morning there was an alert put out for an overturned jetski in the Stony Creek area off the Patapsco. BaltCity Rescue Boat 1, AACO Fireboat 13 and a number of ground units from stations 11 and 13 responded, along with DNR.

Nothing was ultimately found and all units were placed available, but I continue to find it interesting that when these events happen and DNR responds, that the DNR base, wherever it is, monitors the fire frequencies and continously passes information heard to the responding DNR units.

Baltimore City and Anne Arrundel County on scene commanders on the other hand are always trying to get their water units to hail DNR water units (or USCG) to find out what is going on. DNR units invariably hardly ever respond as their only common is VHF marine, and they don't seem to monitor all the time.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652