Texas A & M Forest Service changes

[KevinC]

I too hear a base on 168.650. I'm a whole lot closer to CS than you (I'm about 80 miles away) but I doubt it's coming from there. I wonder if they have multiple low sites with TX steering? Otherwise aircraft would probably hear multiple transmitters.

 

[nd5y]

I wonder if they have multiple low sites with TX steering? Otherwise aircraft would probably hear multiple transmitters.

That's what it looks like.
I just heard a weak aircraft calling College Station that just departed Abilene. I couldn't hear the base.
Then a few minutes later a tanker with a full scale signal was talking to them and I heard both sides (the same relatively weak base in the Wichita Falls area).
They got coordinates and frequencies for a fire in Louisiana.

 

[nd5y]

Abilene air tanker base is still 134.075. I haven't heard activity on it for several years.

 

[Myles]

Finally had a substantial fire in range of me while I was home to monitor. The Liberty 3696 Fire SE of Cleveland is nearly 100 acres.
Heard comms on these freqs from aircraft:
124.475 (new freq for me. Heard this mentioned on 159.420 I believe)
159.300 PL 114.8 TFS Air-Ground 1
159.420 PL 100.0 TFS Conroe
168.625 PL 110.9 Forest Service Air Guard
168.650 PL 110.9 Forest Service Nationwide Flight Following

The first 3 freqs had the most amount of traffic and more interesting to listen to. I need to check if any of the VFIRE interop freqs are used by aircraft.

 

[nd5y]

I need to check if any of the VFIRE interop freqs are used by aircraft.

I haven't heard the aircraft use VFIRE channels very often. Most of the air-to-ground traffic I have heard is between the air attack plane and the TFS fire supervisors on the TFS air-to-ground channels.

Sometimes if there are several fires near eachother the IC (or whoever in in charge of the incident communications plan) might move air-to-ground to a VFIRE channel or a federal channel (according to the TSCIP VFIRE26 is supposed to be only for air-to-ground with state/federal aircraft).

A couple times I heard the air attack plane try to contact local ground units on a VFIRE channel when there weren't any TFS units at a fire yet. The VFIRE channels are mostly used as tactical channels by the locals.

 

[nd5y]

Cowan fire in Baylor County TFR contact freq 119.800.