Texas Interoperability Plan 2013

[Duster40]

Admins..please put this in the proper place..

Information that I have received, I believe to be correct...(came from Public Safety source/person)

TEXAS INTEROPERABILITY PLAN as of Jan. 2013 ..some new frequencies have come into use,
and several previously 'designated' frequencies have changed their operating purpose and/or
'channel name'.

The new channel plan is as follows:

Channel Name Frequency Usage

VCALL10 155.7525 Calling Channel
VTAC11 151.1375 Tactical Channel
VTAC12 154.4525 Tactical Channel
VTAC13 158.5375 Tactical Channel
VTAC14 159.4725 Tactical Channel
VFIRE21 154.2800 Tactical Channel
VFIRE22 154.2650 Tactical Channel
VFIRE23 154.2950 Tactical Channel
VFIRE24 154.2725 Tactical Channel
VFIRE25 154.2875 Tactical Channel
VFIRE26 154.3025 Tactical Channel & Air-to-Ground
Prev. Texas Air 2
VMED28 155.3400 Tactical Channel & Air-to-Ground
VMED29 155.3475 Tactical Channel
VLAW31 155.4750 Tactical Channel
VLAW32 155.4825 Tactical Channel
VTAC33 159.4725 Output Freq. Itinerant Repeater
VTAC34 158.7375 Output Freq. Itinerant Repeater
VTAC35 159.4725 Output Freq. Itinerant Repeater
VTAC36 151.1375 Output Freq. Itinerant Repeater PRIMARY
VTAC37 154.4525 Output Freq. Itinerant Repeater SECONDARY
VTAC38 158.7375 Output Freq. Itinerant Repeater
TXCALL1D 154.9500 Car-to-car Prev. Texas Law 1
TXCALL2D 155.3700 Air-to-Ground Prev. Texas Law 2

Unless otherwise noted, these are all simplex freq. using a PL Tone of 156.7
The repeaters listed use a PL Tone of 136.5

 

[nd5y]

All of that is already in the database at Common/Shared Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference
It was obtained straight from the latest (March 2012) version of the state interoperability channel plan at TxDPS - Texas Statewide Interoperability Coordinator

 

[Duster40]

Thanks...just making sure...

 

[mass-man]

Tom, you are the go to guy for TFS and fires here in N. Texas. During an incident do you hear the on scene commander or whomever call these channels by the V name and number? Or by frequency? While fires are hugely destructive, they communications do make for some interesting listening. I have a VX3 that I want to enter this entire list into for the spring.

tnx....

 

[nd5y]

The last time there were wildland fires in the Mineral Wells area almost everybody used Texas Fire 1, 2, and 3. One time the DPS brought in a command post trailer and set up a repeater on one of the VTAC33-38 channels (I don't remember which one). I heard a few fire crews using the VTAC11-14 channels but I think they were from out of state.

Everybody uses the channel names.
The only time I have ever heard frequencies used was when TFS dispatch was talking to aircraft and aircraft talking to eachother.

 

[nd5y]

It will be interesting to see how many public safety agencies don't follow the plan.
Some of them never even programmed their radios properly when the "old" plan was created in 2004 or whenever it was.

Only a few cities & counties and only one DPS office (Bryan) have base stations licensed on VCALL10. That is supposed to replace 155.370 as the primary VHF calling channel.

 

[mass-man]

Thanks Tom...as many trips as I make to Weatherford, one of these days I am going to go further west and get with you!!!!

W5CEM

 

[nd5y]

I don't live in Mineral Wells any more.

 

[fasteddy64]

One of our radio techs just left my station about 30 minutes ago, after re-programing the VHF radio in our brush rig. Ours was the last one in the AFD inventory he needed to do to get us "compliant".

 

[mass-man]

Uh, I just noticed that Tom!!! I was just in Wichita Falls the second week of Dec. Oh well, I am thru there often enroute to Amarillo and points west! My clients have decided that driving is in their best $$$ interest...I kinda like the hours and chance to listen to the radios!!!

 

[nd5y]

Changes made to Texas Common/Shared databse

The Texas Common/Shared database page now only contains the Texas-only interoperability channels, which are not part of the natiowide plan. The rest of the nationwide VHF high band narrowband, UHF narrowband, 700 MHz, and 800 MHz channels, which are part of the Texas Statewide Interoperability Channel Plan, are located on the Nationwide Interoperability database page.

Apparently it is a site policy not to have nationwide stuff in the state and local database sections.

 

[nd5y]

The complete channel plan is in the wiki Common/Shared (TX) - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[nevfdjustin]

I have noticed (from a TFS standpoint) that most FDs/VFDs aren't even aware of the changes to the comm plan. I have spent a lot of time in my region trying to educate folks, and help them understand the changes.

For what it's worth, VFIRE21 is close enough or the same as TXFIRE1, so everyone with the old plan is still somewhat interoperable.

TFS refers to all channels by a channel name, as stated before you will hear aircraft sometimes use freq instead of a name, but that's typically on an air-to-air freq, most air-to-ground are either named or repeaters ("Dispatch from Tanker 21 on Lubbock Repeater")

I believe the tactical repeater in the new format is VTAC36, but I am only about 90% sure of that without finding my comm plan