I just got back from camping in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park last weekend, and was able to bring my scanner along. KNP has been somewhat of a confusing place for RR listeners over the last few years, with several threads per year popping up about KNP frequencies heard and questions about their use. Exsmokey has posted and maintained some excellent info for the park radio system, but I believe his ability to actually visit the park and confirm the frequency usage is somewhat limited being on the other side of the Sierras.
I could have posted this trip report in one of the existing KNP threads, however I camped in Grant Grove with no cell phone or internet service, so the information I gathered below was done so independently of what's currently in the database, wiki and forums. I remembered several past KNP threads referring to the system being broken up between "Front Country" (west) and "Back Country" (east) nets, but that's all the information I had to go from. I kept the scanner on "limit search" mode between 163 MHz - 174 MHz the whole weekend and took notes, with the intent of cross-checking against the RR database and forums when I returned to civilization.
It's also worth noting that the "Rough Fire" was burning just down the hill from us near Hume Lake while we were staying in Grant Grove, so the limit search mode caught a lot of federal firefighting traffic related to that incident as well. Finally, with Grant Grove being near 6600 ft elevation, I caught a lot of distant federal band traffic as well.
As a baseline, here are the two most recent/relevant KNP threads I can find:
http://forums.radioreference.com/ca...6420-sequoia-kings-canyon-national-parks.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/federal-monitoring-forum/317038-knp-backcountry-gone-digital.html
Here's the KNP channel plan Exsmokey posted in the first thread, now just over a year old:
I can verify the following:
KNP's Front-Country (west) Net is referred to as "Command", with dispatch identifying as "Park Dispatch" or just "Dispatch." This is what Exsmokey refers to as a Multicast system, i.e. the same common repeater input frequency feeds three repeater output frequencies based on receiver voting on the input. Each of those three repeater output frequencies carries the same simulcast traffic, so a ranger on any of the three repeater output frequencies will hear the same audio.
171.675 MHz (Rx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command - Park Ridge Repeater. Strong signal in Grant Grove.
171.700 MHz (Rx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command - South (Milk Ranch Repeater?). Signal got stronger as we approached Lodgepole.
171.625 MHz (Rx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command - Further South? (Tharps Hill Repeater?). This signal was consistently weak as far south as the General Sherman Tree, so I figured it must have been further south or southeast of that location. I found Tharps Rock near Alta Peak on a map, and if this is the correct repeater location I suspect it's either lower power or directional towards the S/SE and partially blocked by the terrain east of General Sherman Tree, hence why it had a weaker signal than Milk Ranch in that area.
165.600 MHz (Tx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command Repeater Input. This was confirmed in the Grant Grove area from several ranger mobiles and a stronger base station identifying as "SIO".
Here's a sample of the traffic on Command:
Park Dispatch did a morning fire weather broadcast around 9 am, but also gave a run down on available fire units and their coverage for the day, which I jotted down. Note that since the Rough fire was burning in full force there may have been some KNP units committed, and this might not represent normal coverage.
Per the second thread at the beginning of this post, I can also verify that the Back-Country net has gone P25 digital.
172.1125 MHz (Rx) NAC 61F - KNP Back-Country. I'm unsure of the repeater location for this frequency, but I was only able to receive it on a short stretch of Hwy 198 between Hwy 180 and Lodgepole.
I heard 700 and 800 units. Also, although not a true "multicast" setup since there are multiple repeater output/input frequency pairs, I believe all the repeaters on the Back-Country net are definitely simulcast, because I heard several units contacting dispatch referring to different repeater locations (I believe I heard one say he was on Palmer while another said he was on Gould). In both cases the signal strength was consistent with the traffic coming from the same repeater (same Rx freq and NAC).
168.6125 MHz (Simplex) NAC 293 - NPS General Use (aka "GENUSE").
General Use is used as a simplex tactical in the park, often by units patrolling the campgrounds. This is an NPS nationwide frequency so look for it in use in other parks. All traffic was P25 digital.
I also found two UHF open carriers I suspect are used for repeater downlinks in the park, although I was never able to hear any traffic on them. These were in Grant Grove so likely coming from the Parkridge site.
410.825 MHz CSQ
415.9125 MHz PL 141.3
The following frequencies are not KNP/SEKI related, but were active as part of the Rough Fire burning near Hume Lake in the Sequoia NF:
170.0125 Rx PL 123.0 - Fire Command repeater used on the Rough Fire (low power, portable repeater?).
Federal Incident Response (IR-1/6).
168.400 Tx PL 123.0 - Repeater Input to IR-1/6 Fire Command repeater (strong signal from Air Attack).
168.7375 MHz CSQ - Air Attack doing an incident size-up for ground units (used as an Air-to-Ground).
163.100 MHz CSQ - Helicopter talking to ground units. NIFC All Call 01?
170.6875 MHZ PL 123.0 - Federal Incident Response (IR-3/8)? Related to Rough Fire.
171.475 MHz PL 85.4 - Sierra NF Admin Net (Repeater Output). "In service good morning."
169.875 MHz PL 123.0 and PL 136.5 - Sierra NF Admin Net Repeater Input (Dispatch only). Reference to CA vehicle code, SNF#, Edward 1. IDed as "Sierra". Grant Grove seemed to be in a better spot to hear the uplink from the dispatch center than the actual repeater.
172.225 MHz PL 85.4 - Sierra NF Emergency Net (Repeater Output). Fire weather broadcast. Dispatcher IDed as "Sierra." "Battalion 91" (or 591). Engine 2224. Ranger 24. "On scene of Music Incident."
169.925 MHz PL 136.5 and PL 146.2 - Sierra NF Emergency Net Repeater Input (Dispatch). "Copy traffic from 520?" "KNB26" (or similar callsign). Morning resources for Stanislaus, Fresno, High Sierra and Sequoia NF.
168.775 MHz - Sequoia NF Fire Net (Repeater Output).
168.65 MHz PL 110.9 - National Flight Following. Air Attack placing an order with Sequoia NF dispatch for a tanker out of Porterville. "Sierra copies."
Unrelated / Distant Fed Stuff:
171.55 MHz PL 103.5 - Los Padres NF Admin Net. "Los Padres, 453 copies."
170.4625 MHz PL 103.5 - Los Padres NF Forest Net. Status report on fire resources Santa Barbara, Ventura and Monterey. Likely traffic related to the Cuesta fire.
173.4625 MHz NAC 100 - "58 do you have traffic for 14?" "56, 59 on Fremont." Referred to maintenance on vessels. I believe this is US Army Corp of Engineers on Fremont Peak near Monterey. Traffic was maritime related.
169.6625 MHz NAC 100 - Open mic. Appeared to be simulcast with the Fremont repeater. US Army Corp of Engineers?
173.4125 MHz NAC 124 - P25 Encrypted.
165.1125 MHz NAC 124 - P25 Encrypted (possibly simulcast with the above).
408.325 MHz - P25 Control Channel. SysID 4C7. Site 101. WACN BEE00. NAC 4C1. US Penitentiary Atwater.
381.675 MHz - P25 Control Channel. SysID 14C. Site 522. WACN BEE00. NAC 140. Navy NRSW ELMR system, NAS Lemoore site.
Hope that helps!
I could have posted this trip report in one of the existing KNP threads, however I camped in Grant Grove with no cell phone or internet service, so the information I gathered below was done so independently of what's currently in the database, wiki and forums. I remembered several past KNP threads referring to the system being broken up between "Front Country" (west) and "Back Country" (east) nets, but that's all the information I had to go from. I kept the scanner on "limit search" mode between 163 MHz - 174 MHz the whole weekend and took notes, with the intent of cross-checking against the RR database and forums when I returned to civilization.
It's also worth noting that the "Rough Fire" was burning just down the hill from us near Hume Lake while we were staying in Grant Grove, so the limit search mode caught a lot of federal firefighting traffic related to that incident as well. Finally, with Grant Grove being near 6600 ft elevation, I caught a lot of distant federal band traffic as well.
As a baseline, here are the two most recent/relevant KNP threads I can find:
http://forums.radioreference.com/ca...6420-sequoia-kings-canyon-national-parks.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/federal-monitoring-forum/317038-knp-backcountry-gone-digital.html
Here's the KNP channel plan Exsmokey posted in the first thread, now just over a year old:
Exsmokey said:
I can verify the following:
KNP's Front-Country (west) Net is referred to as "Command", with dispatch identifying as "Park Dispatch" or just "Dispatch." This is what Exsmokey refers to as a Multicast system, i.e. the same common repeater input frequency feeds three repeater output frequencies based on receiver voting on the input. Each of those three repeater output frequencies carries the same simulcast traffic, so a ranger on any of the three repeater output frequencies will hear the same audio.
171.675 MHz (Rx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command - Park Ridge Repeater. Strong signal in Grant Grove.
171.700 MHz (Rx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command - South (Milk Ranch Repeater?). Signal got stronger as we approached Lodgepole.
171.625 MHz (Rx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command - Further South? (Tharps Hill Repeater?). This signal was consistently weak as far south as the General Sherman Tree, so I figured it must have been further south or southeast of that location. I found Tharps Rock near Alta Peak on a map, and if this is the correct repeater location I suspect it's either lower power or directional towards the S/SE and partially blocked by the terrain east of General Sherman Tree, hence why it had a weaker signal than Milk Ranch in that area.
165.600 MHz (Tx) PL 167.9 - KNP Command Repeater Input. This was confirmed in the Grant Grove area from several ranger mobiles and a stronger base station identifying as "SIO".
Here's a sample of the traffic on Command:
Park Dispatch did a morning fire weather broadcast around 9 am, but also gave a run down on available fire units and their coverage for the day, which I jotted down. Note that since the Rough fire was burning in full force there may have been some KNP units committed, and this might not represent normal coverage.
Per the second thread at the beginning of this post, I can also verify that the Back-Country net has gone P25 digital.
172.1125 MHz (Rx) NAC 61F - KNP Back-Country. I'm unsure of the repeater location for this frequency, but I was only able to receive it on a short stretch of Hwy 198 between Hwy 180 and Lodgepole.
I heard 700 and 800 units. Also, although not a true "multicast" setup since there are multiple repeater output/input frequency pairs, I believe all the repeaters on the Back-Country net are definitely simulcast, because I heard several units contacting dispatch referring to different repeater locations (I believe I heard one say he was on Palmer while another said he was on Gould). In both cases the signal strength was consistent with the traffic coming from the same repeater (same Rx freq and NAC).
168.6125 MHz (Simplex) NAC 293 - NPS General Use (aka "GENUSE").
General Use is used as a simplex tactical in the park, often by units patrolling the campgrounds. This is an NPS nationwide frequency so look for it in use in other parks. All traffic was P25 digital.
I also found two UHF open carriers I suspect are used for repeater downlinks in the park, although I was never able to hear any traffic on them. These were in Grant Grove so likely coming from the Parkridge site.
410.825 MHz CSQ
415.9125 MHz PL 141.3
The following frequencies are not KNP/SEKI related, but were active as part of the Rough Fire burning near Hume Lake in the Sequoia NF:
170.0125 Rx PL 123.0 - Fire Command repeater used on the Rough Fire (low power, portable repeater?).
Federal Incident Response (IR-1/6).
168.400 Tx PL 123.0 - Repeater Input to IR-1/6 Fire Command repeater (strong signal from Air Attack).
168.7375 MHz CSQ - Air Attack doing an incident size-up for ground units (used as an Air-to-Ground).
163.100 MHz CSQ - Helicopter talking to ground units. NIFC All Call 01?
170.6875 MHZ PL 123.0 - Federal Incident Response (IR-3/8)? Related to Rough Fire.
171.475 MHz PL 85.4 - Sierra NF Admin Net (Repeater Output). "In service good morning."
169.875 MHz PL 123.0 and PL 136.5 - Sierra NF Admin Net Repeater Input (Dispatch only). Reference to CA vehicle code, SNF#, Edward 1. IDed as "Sierra". Grant Grove seemed to be in a better spot to hear the uplink from the dispatch center than the actual repeater.
172.225 MHz PL 85.4 - Sierra NF Emergency Net (Repeater Output). Fire weather broadcast. Dispatcher IDed as "Sierra." "Battalion 91" (or 591). Engine 2224. Ranger 24. "On scene of Music Incident."
169.925 MHz PL 136.5 and PL 146.2 - Sierra NF Emergency Net Repeater Input (Dispatch). "Copy traffic from 520?" "KNB26" (or similar callsign). Morning resources for Stanislaus, Fresno, High Sierra and Sequoia NF.
168.775 MHz - Sequoia NF Fire Net (Repeater Output).
168.65 MHz PL 110.9 - National Flight Following. Air Attack placing an order with Sequoia NF dispatch for a tanker out of Porterville. "Sierra copies."
Unrelated / Distant Fed Stuff:
171.55 MHz PL 103.5 - Los Padres NF Admin Net. "Los Padres, 453 copies."
170.4625 MHz PL 103.5 - Los Padres NF Forest Net. Status report on fire resources Santa Barbara, Ventura and Monterey. Likely traffic related to the Cuesta fire.
173.4625 MHz NAC 100 - "58 do you have traffic for 14?" "56, 59 on Fremont." Referred to maintenance on vessels. I believe this is US Army Corp of Engineers on Fremont Peak near Monterey. Traffic was maritime related.
169.6625 MHz NAC 100 - Open mic. Appeared to be simulcast with the Fremont repeater. US Army Corp of Engineers?
173.4125 MHz NAC 124 - P25 Encrypted.
165.1125 MHz NAC 124 - P25 Encrypted (possibly simulcast with the above).
408.325 MHz - P25 Control Channel. SysID 4C7. Site 101. WACN BEE00. NAC 4C1. US Penitentiary Atwater.
381.675 MHz - P25 Control Channel. SysID 14C. Site 522. WACN BEE00. NAC 140. Navy NRSW ELMR system, NAS Lemoore site.
Hope that helps!
