STAT MED EVAC UHF Link

[CHAWMAN24]

I noticed on the Allegheny Co.freq list that STAT MedEvac has 2 UHF frequencies listed. They Are :
463.1375 PL 118.8
463.1375 PL 123.0
Both are listed as mobile frequencies. It also was listed as STAT MEDEVAC UHF LINK. I haven't heard any radio traffic on these frequencies. I live within 10 miles of STAT MEDEVAC 11's base @ Altoona Regional Trauma Center and the aircraft frequently flies in my area. Does anyone know what these frequencies may be used for. Are they possibly used for the aircraft pilot to contact the crew outside the aircraft while on a scene? They also have 2 frequencies for dispatch which are 155.265 and 159.480. 155.265 is used in the Pittsburgh area and 159.480 is used in central Pa. Are these UHF frequencies just used in the Pittsburgh city Area and not the entire STAT coverage area. ?

 

[rcvmo]

Any Med-Evac is required to have some type of back-up comms with ground crew, base, disaster scene. The 150 band freq's are just that.
Central PA, ( Penn State Amb for example) has a unique way of dispatching EMS Rigs. When I listen to them while out there, It appears the mobiles are on a rptr. stationed somewhere on one mountain, while the base transmits only on another tower on some other mountain. Looks like they get great coverage that way.
I do the same with my dept. Have 2 rx towers in the county, 1 transmit on main tower.
rcvmo

 

[talviar]

I noticed on the Allegheny Co.freq list that STAT MedEvac has 2 UHF frequencies listed. They Are :
463.1375 PL 118.8
463.1375 PL 123.0
Both are listed as mobile frequencies. It also was listed as STAT MEDEVAC UHF LINK. I haven't heard any radio traffic on these frequencies. I live within 10 miles of STAT MEDEVAC 11's base @ Altoona Regional Trauma Center and the aircraft frequently flies in my area. Does anyone know what these frequencies may be used for. Are they possibly used for the aircraft pilot to contact the crew outside the aircraft while on a scene? They also have 2 frequencies for dispatch which are 155.265 and 159.480. 155.265 is used in the Pittsburgh area and 159.480 is used in central Pa. Are these UHF frequencies just used in the Pittsburgh city Area and not the entire STAT coverage area. ?

Stat uses a slightly weird setup. Rather than using wireline control (ie phone line between STAT's Comm Center ant the associated radio base) Stat uses in some cases an RF Link to communicate with the remote base stations.
I know here in Uniontown the VHF Base is on 155.265 and a UHF Repeater at the site retransmitts all 155.265 traffic on 468.0125. Going the other way the UHF Repeater receives on 463.0125 and retransmits on 155.265. Basically a cross banded radio setup to allow a radio to replace a phone line for radio control.

At Stat Comm there is a UHF base station on 463.0125/468.0125 to allow Stat to communicate via the Uniontown remote base without using phone lines.

Some of these UHF Links are on Yagi's (directional antennas) some are on Omni antennas. Either way they are low power transmitters with enough power to communicate with the other end. Unless you are close to the tower site where the link TX is present you may not here any traffic on these UHF freqs.

Just my $1.95 and your mileage may vary.

Tony
Uniontown, PA

 

[talviar]

Any Med-Evac is required to have some type of back-up comms with ground crew, base, disaster scene. The 150 band freq's are just that.
Central PA, ( Penn State Amb for example) has a unique way of dispatching EMS Rigs. When I listen to them while out there, It appears the mobiles are on a rptr. stationed somewhere on one mountain, while the base transmits only on another tower on some other mountain. Looks like they get great coverage that way.
I do the same with my dept. Have 2 rx towers in the county, 1 transmit on main tower.
rcvmo

Here in the west Stat dispatches and communicates with the Helo's on 155.265
Also has communications with crew members and bases via wireline phone and cell phone.

Under what regulation are they required to "have some type of back-up comms with ground crew, base, disaster scene?" I am unfamiliar with that reg.

Tony
Uniontown, PA

 

[csvff78]

Stat Medevac is using these as a UHF link. I get signal Stalker hits at UPMC Presbyterian, and can weakly hear it in the south hills area. I have also had PL 114.8 on this. I'm guessing that the PL is for different sites.

Washington county also uses a UHF link of 467.3875 CSQ of 155.295 PL110.9 EMS dispatch and operations.

Westmoreland County runs a UHF link on 463.1875 that passes the PL of the user on 155.160 EMS dispatch and operations.

Frank K3FSS

 

[csvff78]

Ooops forgot to mention that they do use 159.480 PL 103.5 as well. All dispatch around here is on 155.265, but they occasionally go to 159.480 for comms. When they first started there was some P25 digital coms heard on there, so they have that capability.

Frank K3FSS

 

[HM1529]

Any Med-Evac is required to have some type of back-up comms with ground crew, base, disaster scene. The 150 band freq's are just that.
Central PA, ( Penn State Amb for example) has a unique way of dispatching EMS Rigs. When I listen to them while out there, It appears the mobiles are on a rptr. stationed somewhere on one mountain, while the base transmits only on another tower on some other mountain. Looks like they get great coverage that way.
I do the same with my dept. Have 2 rx towers in the county, 1 transmit on main tower.
rcvmo

I'm not sure where you are getting this back-up requirement from. Do you have a reference?

The rest of your message seems to be related to ground based EMS communications. Centre County and some of the surrounding counties (i.e. Clinton, Huntingdon) use the UHF Med channels for EMS dispatching. Most of these counties have multiple tower sites with the ability for the dispatcher to select a tower to use for communications. This doesn't apply to the question about STAT Medevac which is an aeromedical service.

 

[ChrisRupert]

I'm not sure where you are getting this back-up requirement from. Do you have a reference?

The rest of your message seems to be related to ground based EMS communications. Centre County and some of the surrounding counties (i.e. Clinton, Huntingdon) use the UHF Med channels for EMS dispatching. Most of these counties have multiple tower sites with the ability for the dispatcher to select a tower to use for communications. This doesn't apply to the question about STAT Medevac which is an aeromedical service.

Clinton County only uses the UHF MED Channels for ambulance-to-hospital patient reports. MED 9 & 10 is no longer used for ambulance or medic dispatch. That is done on the Fire 1 "Dispatch" Frequency. MED 9 & 10 is used for communication between units in "talkaround" or for out of county units coming into Lock Haven Hospital, which is mainly Pleasant Gap, Bellefonte, or Penns Valley EMS.