Washoe - Fox Mtn

[JoeyC]

One would have to be half out of their mind, (and I think I am) to drive 150 miles into northern Washoe Co. in search of the Fox Mtn. site only to find there IS NO SITE, at least on the frequencies listed in this database. In fact, I could not copy a single control channel, or voice channel in 800 mHz from 33 miles north of Gerlach, the point at which I turned around. Why in the WORLD would there be a need for a trunking site in such a remote back country area such as this anyway?? The trip was not a complete failure, at least I got to see the beautiful Pyramid Lake for the first time. And for what its worth, Storey, Lyon and Churchill Counties come in nice a clear from portions of the 447!

 

[Pro-95]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

You should have got a room at Bruno's!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have to agree that there really is nothing north of Gerlach but the site was probably active during burning man. If there was ever a case for an as needed site Fox would be it.

So did you go more prepared this time?

 

[JoeyC]

Brunos didn't look like my kind of place. Maybe next time though. :wink:

Half prepared. When I got home, I realized I didn't program in the Empire site. That would probably explain why I lost coverage up north there... DUH... :? :? :?

 

[northzone]

Your a sick puppy Joey, and I feel partly responsible for this. :lol: The Empire Site will take you well past Gerlach, but that is where I turned around also. I will try to find it next year by maybe coming in from Modoc county. There has to be a site as they need county-wide coverage, even if it is just for the one incident a year.

By the way, you drove right past the Empire site going up. You can see it on the left side of the highway on the side of the mountain. I doubled checked with my GPS and the radio worked for miles without an antenna.

 

[JoeyC]

Your a sick puppy Joey, and I feel partly responsible for this. :lol:

Well I know that! I was practically at the Modoc Co. line when I turned around. I'll be happy to leave the project to you. Perhaps the other site is farther north than Fox, or is it possible it powers down when there is nothing out there and can be activated by dispatch when need be, like during an event like Michael said? I dunno. Too bad I didn't put in the Empire site. I guess I was beyond its reach when I decided to do a scan from 854-869 as I turned around.

By the way, passing thru Nixon, I saw the Pyramid Lake PD vehicle and station. They have licenses on 153.86 & 158.73. Do they use these freqs or do they have 800mHz radios and work off of the SO talkgroup as well? I also see there is a Pyramid Lake Ranger (154.785 & 155.79) supposedly for the west shore. Are these freqs used? I didn't catch anything on them. Then again, I should have hung out at Brunos and listened a while longer, cause it looked like the PLPD was going to have a LONG DAY.

 

[northzone]

I have heard PLPD on 158.730 in the past from Reno. A few months ago when I was up there I looked at a Patrol car. It had a vhf highband antenna but no 800 antenna. But of course things can change.

 

[BJ_NORTON]

Why in the WORLD would there be a need for a trunking site in such a remote back country area such as this anyway??

I see they added a site for Racheal. I heard 1 time last summer where an officer was trying to find an accident out that way, ( he had some serious radio problems) but it was the only time I have ever heard mention of Racheal. Have you been there? it really is in the middle of no where!

 

[com501]

Fox Mountain

There is an (in)active (ie: hardly used) ham repeater on 440 on Fox as well is NDI and BLM there. The 800 EDACS system is not in yet as they are waiting for the microwave hop from Poito to Fox to be completed.

Poito (Gerlach) is active, but it did not cover the BurningMan site in 2004 as it was just on the fringe of the coverage area. My MACOM portable would work if I held it up in the air and used the speaker mike. Mobiles were spotty.

There is a proposal to put some fill in at the NDOT maintenance yard in Gerlach, but not sure what that will entail.

Poito covers a good stretch of 34 out to about the 8 mile Playa entrance. Up 447 it covers a long way. When you stand on top of the site at Poito you can see a VERY large patch of earth for that region.

Poito (Empire) also starts to work between Wadsworth and Nixon, and is solid HT coverage from north of Pyramid Lake (the big sand dune hill) all the way into Gerlach.