Yes Jim, the CSP is still using VHF on the western slope, even Montrose dispatch which is still using 154.755 (Raspberry and Waterdog Rigdes) and DOW is still using 151.190. I'm finally catching up on my notes from our recent trip up through southern Colorado and New Mexico. My overall impression of new State of Colorado 9600 baud ASTRO trunked radio system is good, at least on the eastern slope. We started receiving the Trinidad site as soon as we crossed over the Colorado border NB on I-25. We had continuous coverage with various sites all the way up I-25 to San Isabel Lake west of Rye. Coverage was spotty on the Deer Peak and Colorado City sites along Highways 165 and 96 until reaching Westcliff then we picked up the Coaldale site. Coverage in the Arkansas River canyon east of Salida was spotty until reaching Salida then the Methodist Mnt. site came in and covered our drive up the east side of Monarch Pass. Didn’t pick up Monarch Pass site until almost up to the top of the pass, and didn’t receive Gunnison until about 5 miles east of town. However, Monarch Pass covered our trip from the top of the pass down to Gunnison. I tried continuously to pick up the pending FCC approval Saguache County (Buffalo Pass) site but had no luck. The Montrose state site on Waterdog Mnt. provides coverage from Delta almost up to Hotchkiss on Highway 92. Had to get to Crawford on Hwy 92 to receive Montrose again. Both Montrose sites can be heard in Cedaredge. I picked up the Meeker, Eagle, Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs sites up on the top of Grand Mesa where the trout fishing was excellent BTW! The Whitewater site was receivable in Delta. When you’re receiving the system, its great, but digital is either there or it isn’t. Receiver capability is much better with an actual ASTRO transmitter, but I was surprised by the good reception with my PRO-96. Coverage on the eastern slope is much better than I expected. The state is currently using existing tower sites for the 800 system (according to my research using Steet Atlas and matching grid coordinates) and the FCC licenses state they can use 100 watts. I suspect they are using every bit of that. It is my opinion that additional sites will be needed to gain the same coverage that existed using the old VHF system, but the extra power at the site transmitters may make up for that.
Traffic heard:
-Trinidad & Walsenburg areas: CSP 2D Dispatch and TAC channels (Pueblo Dispatch) Trinidad PD on 44, 45, and Trinidad PW on 49, Walsenburg PD on 1200, CDOT on 2651, 2652, 2653, Lathrop Lake State Park talking about campsites on 2684 & 2686.
-Colorado City, Rye and San Isabel: CSP 2A Dispatch and TAC (Pueblo Dispatch) &
2651 CDOT Dispatch Trinidad
2652 CDOT Trinidad (Ch2)
2653 CDOT Trinidad (Ch3)
2684 Lathrop Lake State Park (Trinidad)
-Beulah on Hwy 78 (Cheyene Mnt. Site); 1033 Douglas CO SO, 1930 Weld CO SO and 1053 Centennial (S. Metro) FD.
-New Talkgroups:
8073 Montrose PD Dispatch
8074 Montrose PD Ch2 (Animal Control Officers dispatched on this group)
8075 Montrose PD Ch3
8076 Montrose PD TAC
*Montrose PD talkgroups are simulcast on both the City system on Sunset Mesa and the state system on Waterdog Mnt. The only other traffic I heard was a momentary transmission on TG 8001 & 8016, which is the western slope radio techs and prisoner transport.
*I heard no traffic at all on the Gunnison site as we were driving through. The only traffic I heard on the Grand Junction site was a conversation on one of the State Telecom talkgroups.
*All of the sites below were received and verified by me with the PRO-96.
System ID: D1C - Connect Tone: BEE07
Site Numbers in Hex, Name and Control Channel:
T011F Trinidad 868.6125
T012B Walsenburg 866.5500
T0123 Colorado City 868.2750
T0138 Las Animas County 868.7250
T0120 Laveta 868.925
T0122 Fowler 867.8750
T0127 Pueblo 868.9875
T0133 Deer Peak 867.6875
T0116 Buena Vista 868.2125
T0235 Coaldale 867.9375
T0132 Methodist Mnt. 867.8125
T0214 Monarch Pass 867.1250
T022C Gunnison 868.7500
T012D Lake George 867.7250
T0130 Cheyene Mnt. 868.0500
T012A LaJunta (Hwy 50) 868.2625
T0205 Montrose City (Sunset Mesa) 868.8875
T020A Montrose (Waterdog Peak) 868.2625
T020B Glenwood Springs 868.9000
T020C Whitewater 868.8500
T0201 Grand Junction 868.3125
T020D Eagle 868.1500
T0231 Meeker 868.9125
Sites verified but not listed on Radio Reference (info. submitted):
Las Animas County (Trinidad) WPWK921 - T0138
867.2500, 867.7750, 868.0875, 868.3250, 868.7250*
Colorado City WPVW563 - T0123
866.5875, 867.3750, 867.6500, 867.8625, 868.2750*
Deer Peak (southwest of San Isabel) WPUP364 – T0133
866.2500, 866.7125, 866.9125, 867.6875*, 867.9125
Methodist Mnt. (south of Salida) WPUU423 – T0132
866.1125, 866.4375, 867.2875, 867.5625, 867.8125*
Monarch Pass (Chafee County) WPUP350 – T0214
866.1875, 866.3625, 866.5625, 866.8875, 867.1250*
Gunnison WPYS800 – T022C
866.6875, 867.2250, 868.3000, 868.5375, 868.7500*
Montrose City WPYI943 – T0205
867.4125, 868.0625, 868.4250, 868.7000, 868.8875*
Meeker WPZR732 - T0231
866.4750, 867.1750, 868.3375, 868.5875, 868.9125*
***Additional sites not listed on Radio Reference but in FCC database:
Lamar WPVW559
866.0375, 866.4000, 867.2000, 867.4125, 868.0625
Sterling WPSG917
866.0625, 866.3125, 866.7625, 867.0625, 867.3250
Elbert County WPSQ525
866.2625, 866.4125, 867.1875, 868.2250, 868.5750
Bethone – Kit Carson County WPTL723
866.2500, 866.7125, 866.9125, 867.6875, 867.9125
Springfield (Bent County) WPUP357
866.1875, 866.3625, 866.5625,866.8875, 867.1250
Pueblo Downtown WPVU791
866.6625, 866.9375, 867.5375, 867.8375, 868.1500
Maybell (Moffat County) WPZR719
866.6250, 867.0875, 867.2375, 867.6625, 868.5500
Steamboat Springs WPZR730
866.2750, 866.4500, 866.9750, 867.4750, 868.6250
Craig WPZS494
867.4500, 867.9500, 868.1625, 868.4500, 868.9750
Del Norte (Rio Grande County) Pending 0001718127
866.2000, 866.4750, 867.1750, 868.3375, 868.5875, 868.9125
Alamosa Pending 0001731357
866.3000, 866.8250, 867.3875, 867.6750, 867.9250, 868.5250
Saguache Pending 0001721335
866.3500, 866.6000, 866.9250, 867.5875, 867.7375, 868.8375
Tres Peidras, Taos County, New Mexico (right across the border!)
Pending 0001719089
866.1250, 866.6375, 866.8000, 867.0750, 868.4125, 868.7750
Mark
