Sr. Citizen Questions: Getting Back In Hobby

[BOBRR]

Hello,

Am in my 70's now, so please take some pity on some dumb questions.
Getting back into the hobby, and trying to update "things".

I live in Sudbury, Mass. (Middlesex County)

a. I see that our Police Dept. is now on 852.9125 (rather than than what I had from years ago of 467.325)

Is this new freq., the 852.9125, entered as a "Conventional" freq., just like the old one ?

b. Is our F.D. freq. unchanged at 482.750 ?
c. Also for our F.D., I have 33.980. Is this used, at all, anymore ?

Wanted to check out if any new freq. changes for Hanscom Tower and for Logan Tower, but could not find.
Where should I look, please ?

Have there been any MSP frequency changes for the Boston and Metro West areas over, e.g., the
last few years perhaps ?

Much thanks for all the help; really appreciate it,
Bob

 

[w2xq]

Sudbury looks like they are still conventional. See Middlesex County, Massachusetts (MA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference. SP are trunking, here: Massachusetts State Police Trunking System, Statewide, Massachusetts - Scanner Frequencies. HTH.

 

[CoolCat]

Hello,
Am in my 70's now, so please take some pity on some dumb questions.
Getting back into the hobby, and trying to update "things".

What scanner (model) are you using?

I live in Sudbury, Mass. (Middlesex County)
a. I see that our Police Dept. is now on 852.9125 (rather than than what I had from years ago of 467.325) Is this new freq., the 852.9125, entered as a "Conventional" freq., just like the old one ?

Yes.

b. Is our F.D. freq. unchanged at 482.750 ?

Yes.

c. Also for our F.D., I have 33.980. Is this used, at all, anymore ?

It still shows up in the FCC license search, but I doubt they still use it (most agencies have moved off of lowband). It won't hurt to leave it programmed in (unless you need the memory space for other channels).

These frequencies came up in a Public Safety FCC license search for Sudbury:
SUDBURY TOWN OF WPWG285 482.75000 2002-11-08
SUDBURY, TOWN OF KCA583 33.74000 2003-11-27
SUDBURY, TOWN OF KCA583 33.98000 2003-11-27
SUDBURY, TOWN OF KNEX598 154.11500 2003-03-26
SUDBURY, TOWN OF WQJQ417 484.27500 2008-11-24
SUDBURY, TOWN OF WPPU806 807.91250 2004-12-27

Have there been any MSP frequency changes for the Boston and Metro West areas over, e.g., the last few years perhaps ?

That depends on how many years you're talking about. MSP is currently on a Motorola Type2 analog trunking system. The old 800MHz conventional channels and 42/44MHz lowband channels are no longer in primary use, but are still used occasionally for certain purposes. The MSP is now in the process of rolling out a new P25 digital system (starting in western MA -troop B) that the entire statewide system will eventually migrate over to.

Happy Scanning

 

[mcdogg]

Welcome Back!

Hello Bob,

To answer your questions:

a. Yes 852.9125 is a conventional frequency, depending on the age of your scanner you should be able to just plug it in and listen. I originally tried to plug it into my PRO-135 and it wouldn't take, but my newer BC346XT did take it.

b. Yes Sudbury FD is still operating on 482.750.

c. I doubt that SFD still uses 33.980. Maybe (rarely) as a back up....

d. Hanscom Tower operates on 236.600, again you need a scanner that will take this frequency band neither my PRO-135 or BC346XT took this frequency.
On a similar note, Logan has several ATC frequencies that can be found here. Logan International Airport (BOS) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference but I doubt you will them in Sudbury.

e. There have been (and continue to be) lots of changes to being made to the MSP trunking system. MSP require a scanner with trunking capabilities to pick them up. This site will always have the most up to date and accurate info: Massachusetts State Police - Scan New England Wiki

What kind of scanner do you have? This will be the determining factor in what you can still listen to.

This site will always have the most up to date and accurate frequency information for your area:
Scan New England Wiki

Good Luck!

 

[RobKB1FJR]

Airnav.com has Hanscom on there

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KBED

118.5 Tower will cover most of the air traffic over there. Also punch in 124.400 that covers Boston Centers Radar Frequency for your area.

 

[zerg901]

33.98 is still used for the District 14 fire mutual aid net. Listen at 830AM daily for their rollcall. You should hear the test on 33.98, 46.36, and 453.3875 all at the same time. (33.98 has 1 transmitter on the Nobscot Hill Fire Tower in Framingham). Peter Sz