Scanning in Anchorage

Status
Not open for further replies.

lsh1885

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2002
Messages
382
Location
Orlando, Florida
I live in Florida, but will in Anchorage and later in Seward in early May. I will be bringing my PSR-800 with me. Is the AWARN analog system still in use in Anchorage or have they already moved to the digital system?
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
There is traffic on both systems. AFD is mostly on P25, but some utilities are on AWARN as well. APD is on P25, but is also still on conventional as of today.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
TONS of action in Anchorage. I guess that depends on what you are trying to listen to, and what youre comparing it to. But it's enough to keep me entertained.
 

lsh1885

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2002
Messages
382
Location
Orlando, Florida
I am back in Orlando now, but was in Anchorage from May 2nd to May 8th and found it to be plenty active. I do have a good story to tell about an Anchorage Police Officer and I know this is a radio related forum so I apologize in advance for being off topic, but I will be brief. When I first arrived In Anchorage I was trying to get from the airport to my hotel room with my rental car and took a wrong turn and was lost. An Anchorage police car turned on his blue lights and was pulling me over, I thought I might be getting a ticket, but no, he was pulling me over because he knew I was lost and wanted to help me out. I had no problem finding the hotel with the directions he gave me and I appreciated how kind he was to me!!
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
I am back in Orlando now, but was in Anchorage from May 2nd to May 8th and found it to be plenty active. I do have a good story to tell about an Anchorage Police Officer and I know this is a radio related forum so I apologize in advance for being off topic, but I will be brief. When I first arrived In Anchorage I was trying to get from the airport to my hotel room with my rental car and took a wrong turn and was lost. An Anchorage police car turned on his blue lights and was pulling me over, I thought I might be getting a ticket, but no, he was pulling me over because he knew I was lost and wanted to help me out. I had no problem finding the hotel with the directions he gave me and I appreciated how kind he was to me!!

Glad your trip was good. Way to beat the tourist rush!

What all did you enjoy listening to?
 

syscon411

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Messages
9
Does anybody know the 700mhz freqs for the new P25 TRS that APD and AFD are using? I'm looking for the freqs for Anch, ER and Kinik repeaters.

Thanks!
 

lsh1885

Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2002
Messages
382
Location
Orlando, Florida
I listen to it when i was in Anchorage a couple of weeks ago on vacation, all the info you need is in the Radio Reference database.
 

syscon411

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Messages
9
I was looking in the database, but when I load the 700mhz freq from the DB into my radio, i just get dead air in Anch, ER and Eklutina. Am I missing something? Also anyone know if Mat-Com has gone encrypted yet.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
I was looking in the database, but when I load the 700mhz freq from the DB into my radio, i just get dead air in Anch, ER and Eklutina. Am I missing something? Also anyone know if Mat-Com has gone encrypted yet.

Couple of things here:

The Simulcast C/C you need is 774.531250. I can only receive this channel in the Anchorage bowl - South Eagle River to McHugh Creek.

This is of course a subsystem of ALMR, and most 4**** talkgroups are assigned to this tower/towers. This is how my scanner is programmed for the Anchorage/Matsu area - these are control channels only:

154.650000 (A LOT of military traffic hits off this tower)
154.662500
154.825000
154.837500
154.950000
156.137500
154.887500
154.700000
154.925000
155.475000
155.912500
774.531250
851.450000 (never had anything hit off this tower, but it's active)

I guess it also depends on what you're using to scan. Mine is PRO-106, and has almost no trouble with the simulcast with rubber duck antenna or a paperclip. Anything stronger will probably make the simulcast unlistenable.

and for MAT-COM...well, they pretty much do as they please with encryption. Listen to them near the end of the month - more often than not dispatch will be in the clear around that time. Mat-Com maintains a few channels (3-4 for State Agencies/1 for Wasilla Police) and they all tend to alternate in encryption. Last week the NCIC channel was in the clear for a day or two. I'm not sure what their logic with encryption is. Currently everything is enc mode.

Hope this helps.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
It's possible that 800MHz site was rebanded and you would need to manually or custom set the tables on your scanner in order to track that site.

I know there were a bunch of airport conv. channels that switched down 15mhz from 866 to 851..so you are probably right. I'm going to have to look up on how to set tables, I've never had to do that...
 

kikito

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,601
Location
North Pole, Alaska
I know there were a bunch of airport conv. channels that switched down 15mhz from 866 to 851..so you are probably right. I'm going to have to look up on how to set tables, I've never had to do that...

Which scanner do you have?

They have some pretty good wikis here within radioreference.com that will show you how. Here's one for the GRE PSR-800:

PSR-800 - The RadioReference Wiki

Setting Up a System for Rebanding
Select the system
Select the site
Bring up the trunking tables for the system
Set it from Auto-fill to Custom
Hit the Set Reband button
Load the new configuration to the scanner
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
I have a pro-106, so I guess I'll look around.

Edit: with an ARC-500 programming software
 
Last edited by a moderator:

kikito

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,601
Location
North Pole, Alaska
Now that I remember, being a P25 system, it shouldn't need the custom tables set for rebanding. I guess it never hurts to confirm for your particular model though.
 

aps_ak

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 30, 2011
Messages
287
Location
Anchorage, AK
I'll check. I input the tables shown on the ALMR system page, but I don't think I'm missing out on too much traffic.
 

syscon411

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Messages
9
Hey Everyone,

Does anyone know the input freqs on the P25-ALMR? I'm looking for the 700/800 Mhz.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top