Waterside area loggings:

[n4jri]

Spent some time over Thanksgiving around Waterside/Portside. Lots of users on standard low-power freqs.


Waterside area loggings:
151.625 [97.4] – Harbor Tower Apartments
154.570 [123.0] – BAE Shipyard: crane at drydock TITAN
154.570 [167.9] – Rail traffic at PMT. Not sure whether VIT, CWRY or NPBL
154.57 [173.8] – ‘take off straps’
158.415 [173.8] – crane direction
151.5125 [d432] – noisy w/backup beepers
158.4075 [d432] – same user?
156.925 [67.0] - ??? strong at Portside/Waterside
461.2125 [d315] – approaching Pier 4
462.5875 [74.4] – Victory Rover (onboard ops & comms w/ticket office)
462.725 [d252] – restaurant or hotel
464.475 [d565] – inside security, lost & found, ICU clerk?
464.500 [71.9] – mention of grease and a turntable
464.500 [77.0] – 5600 gallons
464.500 [107.2] – crane direction – ‘bring us back to pier’
464.500 [d131] – unk…DPL would match Colonna’s Shipyard
464.500 [d315] – brief
464.500 [CSQ] – morse ID ‘SANCREP’
464.550 [d031] – scratchy
464.550 [67.0] – Spirit of Norfolk, plus someone with a ‘main lobby’
464.550 [82.5] – Juvenile detention
464.550 [94.8] – similar nomenclature to the Juvenile detention
464.550 [d116] – unknown
464.550 [123.0] – possibly 2 different users
464.550 [d125] – banquet management, place with at least 4 floors
464.550 [d265] – trash compactor room
464.550 [179.9] - malfunction #1, periscope bearing
467.850 [74.4] – crane direction
467.900 [d244] – mention of missile deck, warehouse
467.925 [d244] – unknown
467.875 [d244] – active on S. Branch around Money Point
466.0875 [97.4] – get off drydock, NNSY?
469.500 [156.7] – strong nr NNSY
452.975 [d152] - 25th floor, room 2525
464.875 [d125] - 'security to houseman'
464.875 [d532] - west lobby
464.925 [d606] - hotel, at least 15 floors
451.2875 [d703] - somewhere between Waterside & Elizabeth River Park

Most curious for me are users 467.750-467.925 with PL of 74.4 or DPL of 244. Industrial or shipyard type comms.

73/Allen (N4JRI)

 

[jkahn]

Where is Portside/Waterside ???

 

[BoxAlarm187]

Where is Portside/Waterside ???

Portsmouth/Norfolk.

 

[kc4jgc]

Isn't it amazing so many users on one freq (464.55) in such a small area? Thank goodness for CTCSS and DCS.
This convinces me even more that the freq is "channel 1" on FRS radios.

- 452.975: 25th floor is definitely Dominion Tower. I have them at 464.975 with same DCS (152). That is a "new freq" for me there.
- 464.500: You've logged that weird CW before; I believe I've heard it before. No clue.
- the two possible juvenile detention loggings seem weird to be using FRS.

Maybe I should be lurking downtown more.

Have you been able to figure out the Elizabeth River Tunnels mystery?

73, Steve.

 

[Webodisk]

464.550 [d125] – banquet management, place with at least 4 floors ...Marriott Hotel

 

[n4jri]

Isn't it amazing so many users on one freq (464.55) in such a small area? Thank goodness for CTCSS and DCS.
This convinces me even more that the freq is "channel 1" on FRS radios.

- 452.975: 25th floor is definitely Dominion Tower. I have them at 464.975 with same DCS (152). That is a "new freq" for me there.
- 464.500: You've logged that weird CW before; I believe I've heard it before. No clue.
- the two possible juvenile detention loggings seem weird to be using FRS.

Maybe I should be lurking downtown more.

Have you been able to figure out the Elizabeth River Tunnels mystery?

73, Steve.

On 464.55 - shouldn't be in FRS radios, but is Ch-1 in a number of off-the-shelf, low-power business handhelds. One model, using PL 67.0, is used for internal comms by a number of hospital emergency rooms. You can hear HIPPA flying right out the window. Interestingly, it's not a test freq in the BF888 or H777 (off Amazon) but thanks to them a lot of stuff is showing up on their Ch-1 of 462.125 [69.3]. Also hearing 462.425 [103.5] a fair amount down in that area. (Richmond is saturated with these). A lot of these finds are from monitoring the freqs that are already available in off-the-shelf radios from Motorola, Kenwood, etc., and test freqs from various Baofeng and Retrevis products.

The other thing that amazes me about 464.55 is that so many nearby users don't understand they're getting QRM from other nearby users with different squelch codes. I live right by a Kroger, Food Lion and Aldi that all use 467.85 with different tones, but are in yelling distance of each other.

Other loggings on 452.975 [d152] include a 26th floor, and 4 TV's and a fan on at the 19th floor. I think I'd like to work on that floor!

I have a tough time with downtown Norfolk myself, even on a bike. But Portsmouth has really fixed that. Water St. parking deck roof is free for visitors, and the Riverwalk Inn is fairly cheap to stay. Short bike ride from the waterfront.

No luck on the tunnels. The only way I found them before was by listening to Baofeng test freqs in Va Beach. 462.225 has no tone squelch. Last time I was where I could see a tunnel radio, it was something with integral antenna that looked like an extension of the radio body. No luck on signal-stalker, etc. But I've noticed that this feature doesn't respond to DMR simplex on my GRE & Whistler radios. If they've gone to 800, the band would be too crowded for me to catch them. Always watching, though!

73/Allen (N4JRI)

 

[kc4jgc]

464.55 pl 67.0 is used by truck stops as well.

The other thing that amazes me about 464.55 is that so many nearby users don't understand they're getting QRM from other nearby users with different squelch codes. I live right by a Kroger, Food Lion and Aldi that all use 467.85 with different tones, but are in yelling distance of each other.

As you know, with the different tones/codes they don't hear anyone else. I don't get how they can't figure out someone else is talking when a co-worker is trying to talk to them though. When I was working for VP/LS circulation, there were at least two occasions when movie production crews were in town, one of which was "Navy SEALS". Two of the freqs used nationwide were also the same freqs used by us, 173.325 & 173.375, both simplex. The crews would set up scenes, call "action" and "cut", and so on. We were apparently unheard by the movie crews as they were using a different pl than we were using. Even when they were talking, I'd thought they'd hear us break through their squelch; if we did it didn't bother them at all. The news and photo departments, infrequent users anyway, went totally phone when they were in town. The senior circulation staff was extremely upset, threatening to call the FCC for intentional interference. They never did. Maybe because I said, "hey, they are only going to be here 2 or 3 weeks; let's just deal with it." I'd also let them know my research that they had a nationwide license and doubted complaining would do any good. The local FCC office was still in Norfolk by Military Circle. Maybe JJ Freeman (W4JJ, SK) would have been able to intervene, I don't know. Each time a movie crew was in town, we survived. Definitely spent more time talking to the district managers over the telephone than over the air during those periods.

 

[n4jri]

Wow, I haven't checked on those VHF movie freqs in a while. In Richmond, Homeland was using UHF off-the-shelf freqs, and now there's a new zombie show called Monument that's using similar. Of course those are regular series, and tend to get a little more entrenched in a town.

My favorite situation with different squelch codes is the Hanover County schools. For years, they had various schools on 461.725 with same freq but different squelch code on each channel. This, in a county where all high schools and middle schools are co-located, and often other schools very close by. Worked most of the day on one channel, and then went to 2-channel for bus duty. One school tried to get away from it by going to 151.625 with two different codes. Am thinking their salesman was trying to generate a need for repeaters LOL--and it worked!

73/Allen (N4JRI)