washington CO. 154.400

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Baker845

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Does any of the rural fire depts in washington county still use 154.400, i never hear traffic?


thanks
 

PMJ2kx

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It's rare when they do. I think I've only heard firecom simulcast on 154.4 and on WCCCA once in the last four or five months, and it was for Banks Fire.

The FCC Database shows that not only Banks, but also Cornelius and TVF&R are licensed on that frequency, among others.

My guess would be that it's nothing more than a fallback (like the RRDB says) where there are 800MHz deadspots.

EDIT: I take it back...It's 4PM...I just heard a call go out for hillsboro sta. 3....and now TVF&R Station 53...154.4 is definitely still in use...
 
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Baker845

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that all i needed to hear thank you. Is there rx tone on that freq ?

thanks
 
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pdxbofh

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I BELIEVE that it is a simulcast of Fire Tac 2 - any calls that go out in west county (HWY 6 crashes, HWY 26 out past Banks, or fires out in the west-end) usually get dispatched on Fire Tac-2.

If the units get to far out west were they can't hit the main trunked towers, they switch to a simplex patch to Fire Tac 2, there may still be a vhf link as well - I'm not sure.

This is from memory, so someone please correct me if I am incorrect.
 
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radiotweester

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Hope this is helpful to everyone.

154.4000 (F-1) is NOT simulcast to Tac 2. It's used by Banks (13 Units), Buxton (14 Units), and Timber (15 Units) when 800 MHz doesn't work. Most of the time it's between units and stations, but FireCom (WCCCA) also still has VHF up for this Frequency. You will hear them transmitting on both VHF and 800 when responding to units messages.
If you hear other traffic on 154.400 not related to Banks Fire, it means someone at the FireCom Console forgot to unselect VHF. (an oops)
As far as I know, TVF&R doesn't have VHF in the apparatus. It was removed years ago when the TRS came online. Hillsboro, Cornelius, and Forest Grove still have VHF in their apparatus intot the late 90s, but I don't know about currently as it never gets used.

There are 2 repeaters for that ARE simulcast in to the actual TRS for Tac 2.
Those freqs are 854.4375 (PL 192.8) and 858.6875 (PL 156.7). The Tac 2 fill that was on 851.6375 has been taken down.
When units are using the Tac 2 fill-in Repeaters you will hear boo-boop sounding chirp when they unkey.

Also, if anyone is interested, WCSO 1 also has a new repeater on 859.1625 (PL 156.7). The WCSO 1 fill that was on 851.7125 has been taken down.

Happy scanning!
 
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PMJ2kx

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That's good to know. Yeah, the only thing I ever hear on 154.4 is just outbound calls. There's no other traffic.

Ya know, life was so simple back in Eastern Idaho, where nobody knew what the heck trunked radio was. Two frequencies for fire and three for police/county SO. That was it. My BC92XLT was more than adequate. Oh well...time to invest in a BCD396T!

Thanks for the clarification.
 

CodeMonkey

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I know this is an old thread but I found while Googling for something else.

154.400 is the old VHF F1 that served as WCCCA dispatch for many years.

It is correct that this is most frequently used by Banks fire when they are out of range of 800. It's also used by Forest Grove and Gaston for the same reasons (somewhere way out of range) but not nearly as frequent. The stations on the west end do carry the radios but they're rarely used. TVF&R and other city based stations haven't carried these for years. The Hazmat units might though as they generally carry a ton of radios to connect with everyone they can.

If you hear anything on 154.x frequencies it's likely patched, and it will only continue until that patch is done. So if they are doing a patch for Banks you'll hear dispatch and tac channels on 154.x stations for a brief period.
 

radiotweester

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154.400 is essentially a dead frequency. It's still licensed, but sits unused. It was used along with 800 repeaters on Roundtop Mountain tied to Fire Tac 2 and WCSO 1, but all of that has been replaced with an actual trunking site since the last message in 2008.

I can confirm Hillsboro, and I believe the fire districts of Banks, Gaston, and Forest Grove, still have VHF radios with 154.400 and OR Fire mutual aid (OSFM) on 154.280.
I believe they also have the VTAC channels as well (perhaps someone can confirm).

I think only the only TVF&R's units with VHF still on board are Battalion Chief vehicles, HS66 and HAZMAT and they are there for mutual aid.

I find this kind of funny, because all of the Portland Fire units still have VHF on board as a backup.
 
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