Which radio to bring to the Cape? Advice Please

Status
Not open for further replies.

kny2xb

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
278
Location
North Clearwater, FL
I apologize for the request on such short notice.

My family and I will be in Cape Cod from the 16th to the 23rd. Is there enough MilAir and/or UHF Coast Guard activity to justify bringing my PRO-97? Or should I just bring my non-MilAir PRO-93?

Thank you in advance for time taken, and advice given.

Greg
Palm Harbor, FL
 

kennyblues

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2003
Messages
656
Location
Randolph, MA
Well there's no longer any military aircraft stationed on the cape. However there can be alot of refueling going on off of the Cape with aircraft headed overseas. The F-15's from the western part of the state have started to fly with some trips to one of the warning areas again off of the cape. The Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod is still very active. Most of the comms are on VHF-AM Air band 122.9750 and VHF-FM 164.550 some UHF-AM on 345.0 and the VHF marine channels.
And bring a jacket it's still COLD around here ,nowhere near the 90's like in FLA. If your very luck you might see 70.
If you go to http://www.scancapecod.us/index.php you can find every thing you'll want about radio monitring on the Cape, perhaps even a program file for your radios.
 

N1BHH

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Messages
1,845
Location
Jackson Square, East Weymouth, MA.
To be more specific, the place to look for Cape Cod stuff is: http://www.scancapecod.us/wiki/index.php/Cape_Cod_&_Islands_Portal You will find that handy.

Yes there is military UHF activity, but it's not very close, but it is there. You can find some of the frequencies here: http://www.scancapecod.us/wiki/index.php/Mass.Military
Another source I found is here: http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/NorthEast_AAR_Tracks
There has been activity on the Air Refueling frequencies. It may be best to have something like a mag mount on the roof of your car to hear some of it, they do fly above 8000 feet for refueling.

But the best and most active stuff is in that first link that I posted. If you have WIN97 then you can load up all the information there into a new file and put it in your scanner. I thought I saw a WIN97 file there, but maybe not.
 

jcop225

Radio Zoomer
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
143
Location
Boston, MA
For which area of the Cape are you bound?

Unless your really into the milair I would advise the PRO-93. In my opinion the most interesting listening on the Cape is vhf marine and the FDs all of which have a 33.xxx simulcast so you don't have to bother with the trunking system.

http://www.rfwiz.com/Frequencies/Massachusetts/MassBarnstable.htm

The above has all Public Saftey freqs. along with the regional uses of the vhf-marine band.
 

Junior08

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
864
Location
Cape Cod
jcop225 said:
For which area of the Cape are you bound?

Unless your really into the milair I would advise the PRO-93. In my opinion the most interesting listening on the Cape is vhf marine and the FDs all of which have a 33.xxx simulcast so you don't have to bother with the trunking system.
I have to disagree. The Cape Cod Fire Department's all simulcast the 800MHz trunk on their 33.xx lowband frequencies, but if you rely on only scanning the lowband you will miss a LOT! Bring either scanner and ensure you have 860.2375 for the control channel and 860.2125 as the secondary control channel for Zone 4. You may also want to program 857.2125 primary control channel and 856.2125 secondary control channel for Zone 6, which covers the outer part of Cape Cod. The majority of Police on Cape Cod are on the trunk system as well. The links provided will give you all the information you need.
 

Junior08

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 12, 2003
Messages
864
Location
Cape Cod
Furthermore,

That link for rfwiz.com has some seriously outdated information for Barnstable County/Cape Cod. www.scancapecod.us and the radioreference database have much more up to date information.
 

kny2xb

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
278
Location
North Clearwater, FL
Thank You Everyone for the quick replies :)

I'm going to bring the PRO-93 with my Diamond RH519.

I've created a vacation .p93 file for the Cape and my hometown of Rochester, NY.

kennyblues: I've programmed the CG UHF-AM freqs and I'm hoping for the best that the PRO-93 will pick something up on the custom freqs. Thanks for the warning on the jacket, I already planned ahead. I'm originally from the North East, so anything under 70 makes me homesick. I'm looking forward to the cool :)

Clyde: I forgot how, but I did find a Cape .p93 file that I edited. I added the AAR tracks. The win9X software will let me program custom freqs, but it's up to the radio to cooperate.

Jeremy & Mark: We're staying in Dennis (Dennisport?). I've got the room in the radio, so I programmed the trunked systems & talkgroups. I love MilAir, but I'm looking forward to monitoring mainly FD, marine and aero comms, both at home and at the Cape.

I had hoped to have my GMRS license and an ICOM h-t by now, but $$$ has been an issue. I'm also going to take my Cobra h-t. If anyone is in the area at that time, hail me on 462.5625 FRS-1. I'll scan FRS/GMRS/MURS, but without a license, I'll have to chat only on FRS :(

Thank You All

Greg
Palm Harbor, FL
 

UFEMTFF

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
May 24, 2005
Messages
461
kny2xb said:
Jeremy & Mark: We're staying in Dennis (Dennisport?). I've got the room in the radio, so I programmed the trunked systems & talkgroups. I love MilAir, but I'm looking forward to monitoring mainly FD, marine and aero comms, both at home and at the Cape.
I was just in Dennisport this summer and mostly listened to Fire/EMS/Dennis PD on the TRS. Dennis PD gets kinda busy with traffic stops so I locked them out occasionally, but I did like hearing FD. It's awfully different than in Florida!

Have fun!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top