Problems listening to railways and questions on how railways use radios

[wwhitby]

Unless you're on CSX. All CSX mobiles and portables are programmed with a transmit encode CTCSS of 250.3 systemwide and the wayside bases will not accept a call without it.

Thanks! I had picked up the 250.3 Hz tone, but I thought it was the "phantom tone" we used to see showing up on railroad frequencies.

 

[natedawg1604]

CSX uses Verizon’s network so the dispatcher can open up each base station on the ROW, and communicate with the crews remotely.

When you say "Verizon's network" what does that mean exactly? What type of device is connected to the base station radios?

 

[jbhunt04]

When you say "Verizon's network" what does that mean exactly? What type of device is connected to the base station radios?

Mounted on their base stations are a small satellite dish that says “Verizon” on it. I’m not sure if it’s the same network as their wireless phones or a separate one. From what I gather from older threads on this website, that satellite network is what they use for the dispatcher to control the signals and communicate with the line side base stations. It’s replaced ATCS about 9 or 10 years ago.

 

[Ace9133uwu]

It’s replaced ATCS about 9 or 10 years ago.

Nah, not that long ago. I think the systemwide transition from frequency based ATCS to satellite based ATCS ramped up around 2015-16.

 

[ratboy]

Aha, now that makes sense. In the thread you linked, OP states he uses a Pro-197, which of course is more of a “legacy” unit, would a band filter even be worth the trouble or be effective?

I have one of these or a clone, on my PRO-106, but with BNC connectors (I can't find one right now) and it does help when I am in Holland Ohio, at MP297 watching trains, which is about a half mile from a religious FM station WPOS (Make your own guess at what we used to call it) at 102.3, which makes a mess of almost any scanner. It keeps you from having the audio or other noises in the background of just about anything you hear on a scanner, at least in FM mode.

 

[INDY72]

The tone you hear means a train dialed the dispatcher and is trying to call them. It's basically like a "phone call". They punch in a (usually) 3-digit code on their engine radio. They can also call up mechanical help desks, PTC (Positive Train Control) help desks, and the like depending on what's going on in the field.
What type of scanner or radio and antenna do you have? Moving your equipment closer to a window can typically help. Like ElevatorsAndRadios above said, an external outdoor antenna will greatly help, and these can usually be found fairly cheap on websites like ScannerMaster, The Antenna Farm, Buy Two Way Radios, R&L Electronics, and Zipscanners. Just do some research! I personally use the newly released Wouxun KG-Q10H and a professional Laird EXH160SFU antenna for mobile & field usage and this pairing is exceptionally great. The aforementioned Wouxun was purchased on Buy Two Way Radios, and the Laird antenna was purchased at The Antenna Farm.

Also, the DTMF tones are used to control switches in some locations.