Two Sites Number 023?

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KT7L

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KT7L,

If you track this area daily, it sounds like you are a good candidate to make the final ruling. Do you live near Park City, or do you drive through each day? Do you drive north/south or east/west? And will you please review this thread before you make a final decision? UCAN Road Trip Reports


I would also like to clarify some of my observations regarding the area and some previous posts.



I suppose the 'main' site would depend on one's perspective. If you work for Wasatch County SO or Heber PD, for example, you might consider the 'main' site to be the Wasatch County SO in Heber. For UHP it might be Jordanelle.


I agree that other UCAN sites are named according to location (mostly as per the name on FCC records), EXCEPT the other simulcast sites. The other simulcast sites are 1, 2, 3, &4. They are instead all named according to the area that they serve.



I did read those minutes, and I did drive a similar route. I concur with JR on all points.

As far as locations... I programmed the coordinates into my GPS for every UCAN transmitter site in the FCC database. Then I drove up Provo Canyon to Heber, past Jordanelle, north-east on I-80 to Echo Res, and west to Ogden. I stopped periodically to take signal strength and direction measurements.

I stopped at Vivian Park, where I could see what appeared to be the Sundance Site up on the peak just to my West. Being in the bottom of the canyon, this was the only signal that I could recieve, it was full strength, and it said site #24. There was no other control channel, and specifically no ID #17. Shall we delete Sundance#17 from the DB???

I stopped in Heber just across the street from a new building that appeared to be a new Wasatch County SO. FCC/GPS says this is a UCAN Tx site. It did have a tower full of antennas (antennae?). Again full strength (overwhelming), and site #24.

I stopped along the highway near the summit between Heber and Park City, just to the West and North of the Jordanelle Dam. Using a very directional antenna I detected peak signal strengths towards Heber, again to the north-west toward what the FCC calls 'Jordanelle', and toward the west-south-west with a much smaller strength. All of these said site #24. I could detect other CC frequencies, and they all had ID's other than 24.

Near the north end of Jordanelle I passed a small tower immediately on the west side of the highway, right where the GPS said it would be. I pulled off the next exit. It looked like there was a small new UHP office to the east of the exit. The readings here were pretty much the same as the previous stop, except I was losing Heber. I expected to pick up a signal to the north, from what the FCC calls 'Summit County SO', but still didnt get much to speak of.

Using the GPS I found and drove through the roundabout at the Summit County SO. I parked on the hill on the north side of Home Depot, <1/4 mile from the SO. I scanned every direction at least 2 times. I got pretty frustrated because I expected to be overwhelmed with a signal from the SO (same freq or maybe different), but wasn't. The peak SS seemed to be coming from the direction of Quarry Mtn, still with ID #24. Knowing that a yagi antenna also recieves quite a bit from straight behind and I was inline with the SO on one side and QM (in the distance) on the other, I didnt know what to think.

The CC signal strength for 'site #24' became weaker and weaker from that point on. I never drove to or actually saw Quarry Mtn, just it's signal.

After reading your posts, KT7L, my Summit SO readings and frustrations now make some sense!!!



My info agrees w/ Gadgetmikey, and it looks like the name probably should be 'Wasatch Simo', as per JR.
Tim will delete the Summit SO site, and perhaps Sundance #17.
Do you agree? Anyone else have final comments? I think we can put this thing to bed real soon.

Chris & gang:

1. I live halfway between Park City and Kimball Junction, on a ridgetop. I see Quarry Mtn out my radio shack window. I run (now Unitracker Alpha) 24 X 7 on Quarry CC, and have over 3/4 year worth of group data, which I have posted here as an attachment before -- It's now too large at that length, so now, I have to send to anyone who wants it as an attachment.

2. Reviewing your driving trip notes, I suspect you are hearing the Heber UCAN from Vivian. I can't comment on Sundance. I imagine the Heber UCAN is a Remote driven by the Quarry Simo -- as Heber Valley is blocked from Quarry by the Deer Valley Mtns. You didn't find a signal at Summit EOC, because there isn't one -- that place is in the flats, so they run their dispatch, landline wire, I believe, to Quarry as does PCity. They are both hardwired to back each other's dispatch if the other goes down. (I have access to both Summit and Park City EOC -- so I think I can keep up-to-date here. I should also add, both have a huge dislike for UCAN, their pricing, policies, and service. Probably no surprise there....

3. I have no opinion of what Quarry should be called as a simo. JR. is probably right, and it should be listed as Wasatch Simo. which is probably short for "wasatch back".

4. As I said before, the main Simo use is Summit, Utah, Weber, Wasatch Counties, All UHP with VHF link feed from 155.61, Air Med. There are other groups that come through, but much smaller in number of calls, so I'll have to puruse the list and see if others should be listed. Of course, I will post the results for review so we can jointly decide what Tim should carry on the DB.

Thanks for all the great input!
 

KT7L

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Tim:

Here are the Frequencies Currently in use from site 24:

LCN FREQ NOTES

159 854.9875
199 855.9875
288 858.2125
328 859.2125
637 866.9375 Control Channel
658 867.4625
695 868.3825 No activity
994 868.2500 1 hit in 2 week period
1021 868.9250

So.... 9 channels, but one not in use, and 994 with 1 hit.

Do you want me to UniTrack any of the other CC's up here? Lewis still has a CC, but little traffic. I can log Clayton from here, but not Parley's or Sundance. At least without switching to a yagi...(Which I can do - but no rotator on that)

Anyway, I am open for any suggestions!
 

theaton

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Wasatch frequency update

Thanks KT7L. I updated the frequency list for Wasatch Simulcast. Most trunked scanners need the audio frequencies, so that's important info. Interestingly not all the frequencies you logged are listed on the relevant licenses (such as 859.2125). Have you seen any evidence of an alternate control frequency?

If you get a chance to log the other sites in your area that would be a good idea. But it will all have to be done again after rebanding, so it's not worth too much effort I guess.

-Tim
 

Junior1970

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Tim:

Here are the Frequencies Currently in use from site 24:

LCN FREQ NOTES

159 854.9875
199 855.9875
288 858.2125
328 859.2125
637 866.9375 Control Channel
658 867.4625
695 868.3825 No activity
994 868.2500 1 hit in 2 week period
1021 868.9250

So.... 9 channels, but one not in use, and 994 with 1 hit.

So would we be safe to say that 994 (868.2500) is the data alternate since it a) it has had only one hit in a two week period and b) the alternate channel is usually the last in the voice channel rotation. However same could be said for 695 (868.3825) since it has had no traffic but pops up on trunker for same reason?
 

theaton

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So would we be safe to say that 994 (868.2500) is the data alternate since it a) it has had only one hit in a two week period and b) the alternate channel is usually the last in the voice channel rotation. However same could be said for 695 (868.3825) since it has had no traffic but pops up on trunker for same reason?
Many trunked systems consistently use the highest frequency as Ctrl and the 2nd highest as Alt. Often all the frequencies are 1 MHz (or 500 KHz) apart. But UCAN is frustratingly inconsistent in its frequency and contral use. So I'd be hesitant to make an assumption without hard data. It does seem common for the Alt channel to be the least used for voice, however.

-Tim
 

KT7L

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JR.

I am logging Lewis Pk currently. I'll post after a few days of activity. My first reaction is that it is currently a Remote for Quarry Mtn.

While I can hear Clayton Pk., I can't receive it well enough to run UniTracker. At some point, I need a beam to reach it. Anyone loan me one? Actually, I'll try putting my mobile 800mhz antenna up high, and see if that works later this week.

Wasatch Simo Alternates: Just to confuse everyone again, the Control and audio frequencies I listed above -- are the new ones from the UCAN maintenance a couple of months ago. If you want to consider it alternate, the old CC, 867.9375, is still operating in Simo with the new CC. Don't you love UCAN's consistant approach to everything?
 

KT7L

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JR.

Interesting to note your reference to the 868.2250 channel with no activity.... Do you remember that used to be the CC for Lewis Peak a long time ago?
 

KT7L

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Tim, JR, and other interested parties...

Turns out I can get Clayton Peak, #26 about 1/2 the time - few hours of monitoring... Here's the current set of CC and Audio Frequencies:

LCN FREQ NOTES

623 866.5875 61 hits
659 867.4875 3 hits -- Alt CC
711 868.7875 54 hits
1003 868.4750 Control Channel
 

Junior1970

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JR.

Interesting to note your reference to the 868.2250 channel with no activity.... Do you remember that used to be the CC for Lewis Peak a long time ago?

True! I only found out that it had changed when I lost reception around Wanship awhile back. I did a search and found the current CC with my handheld when I reached Coalville that day.
 

enosjones

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Tim, JR, and other interested parties...

Turns out I can get Clayton Peak, #26 about 1/2 the time - few hours of monitoring... Here's the current set of CC and Audio Frequencies:

LCN FREQ NOTES

623 866.5875 61 hits
659 867.4875 3 hits -- Alt CC
711 868.7875 54 hits
1003 868.4750 Control Channel

On Ford Ridge There are 5 Total frequencies on that system 866.3875 Main CC 866.900 Alt CC Used a couple of times 867.3875 Voice Channel 868.325 Voice Channel 868.950 Voice Channel (only used When Really Busy). Unitrunker only picks up the 867.3875 Voice channel and only 1 hit so far on 868.325 which is should be as many hits as i get for 867.3875. Because of the fact they are alternating voice channels. There are also times I dont have any activity Because i think that Salt Lake Can Turn off and on the system down here as needed.
 

theaton

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Okay KT7L, I deleted the extraneous voice frequencies from Lewis Peak. Enos, the information you provided for Ford Ridge already matches the DB exactly. Thanks for checking these. I imagine some of the other sites need checking and cleaning up as well.

-Tim
 

enosjones

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Site 23 and other sites mentioned

Ucan engineers on 4096 were just talking about Sites 17, 23, 44, 45. They mentioned about 17 being hobble creek and about not messing with it cuz it fits in the group of site #'s. They are talking right now about 23 being a simo site. Which tells me that 23 isnt being used at the moment. they talked about using site #'s that are being tentitive for other future site such as 44 and 45 one mentioned about tabby. I dont know exactly what they're doing but one is in Helper right now in the traffic. I will post further as i hear it. They also mentioned about Mt Baldy.
 
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enosjones

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Okay KT7L, I deleted the extraneous voice frequencies from Lewis Peak. Enos, the information you provided for Ford Ridge already matches the DB exactly. Thanks for checking these. I imagine some of the other sites need checking and cleaning up as well.

-Tim


It did until the other day when Unitrunker picked up 868.775 as an alternate control channel. It dont key up or nothing. Not like the others, it hasnt picked up the 868.950 extra voice channel that it should have picked up it keys up once a minute and id's.
 

KT7L

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Ucan engineers on 4096 were just talking about Sites 17, 23, 44, 45. They mentioned about 17 being hobble creek and about not messing with it cuz it fits in the group of site #'s. They are talking right now about 23 being a simo site. Which tells me that 23 isnt being used at the moment. they talked about using site #'s that are being tentitive for other future site such as 44 and 45 one mentioned about tabby. I dont know exactly what they're doing but one is in Helper right now in the traffic. I will post further as i hear it. They also mentioned about Mt Baldy.

Enos...

That all makes sense. They certainly freed up # 23 when they changed Quarry Mtn...

BTW, When UCAN talks about Mt. Baldy, they are referring to the one near Gunnison, Ctl. Utah -- not the Unitas one. That was part of their 2006 expansion plan, which is just now getting finished from what we all have logged.
 

theaton

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Great catch on the UCAN site numbers, Enos! Did you record that conversation? :)

It did until the other day when Unitrunker picked up 868.775 as an alternate control channel. It dont key up or nothing. Not like the others, it hasnt picked up the 868.950 extra voice channel that it should have picked up it keys up once a minute and id's.
Which site are you referring to here? Do I need to add something?

-Tim
 

gadgetmikey

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Some of the new freq. seem strange because I thought that all of the UCAN frequencies were supose to be in the public safety spectrum 866-868.9875. Is it just because they ran out of freq. in the public safety band. ?

Bneilsen posted a screen shot of the new trunker the other day showing the Salt Lake system and I noticed that about half of those freq. were out of band also. Is it possible that the new trunker is reading them wrong or did they just need more freq. range?
 

enosjones

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Great catch on the UCAN site numbers, Enos! Did you record that conversation? :)


Which site are you referring to here? Do I need to add something?

-Tim

Ford Ridge but i dont know what Unitrunker sees cuz as of yet have i heard anything at all on the frequency don't add anything. I dont know why it sees that one and not 868.950. And no i didnt record it. the cable i bought is already becoming loose and shorting out i bought a much shorter one but the long one is not working well. Plus Ford ridge and Questars Quality signal is all over the place the %'s wont stay high or low so I havent been picking up all the conversations to decode them.
 
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enosjones

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Anyway those Ucan Engineers one of them or 2 of them were headed to Moab. It makes me wonder why. They are going to rent a room at a hotel and i guess spend the night. I dont know if they are adding stuff to one of the NAT frequencies or fixing one or what. After Ford we lose them so I dont know what else they said.
 
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So would we be safe to say that 994 (868.2500) is the data alternate since it a) it has had only one hit in a two week period and b) the alternate channel is usually the last in the voice channel rotation. However same could be said for 695 (868.3825) since it has had no traffic but pops up on trunker for same reason?

LCNs? I know that LCNs for MOTO exist but usually are NOT mentioned within the scanning community since this is automatic within every scanner. So can these be acquired via Trunker, Procomm, Etc.?
 
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