WV Interoperability System

[mike_s104]

Berkeley Co. - Testing TG 1153

Testing TG 1153. Mentioned holding cell again.

EDIT: I think this is at the new Judicial Center. heard later mention of a court room.

 

[mike_s104]

TG1 Traffic

just heard techs talking on TG1. one was heading to the North Mountain site (Berkeley Co) and the other was going over Rich Mountain (not exactly sure where that is) on his way to Clarksburg (Harrison Co).

 

[ai4uk]

Has anybody heard when or if Mingo County is going to this system?

 

[me714]

I-79 Corridor Update:

I was in Marion County last week on business, and this was a perfect opportunity to try out my new BC996. I stayed at the Red Roof Inn at White Hall, which I know from past experience is a radio hot spot. (get a second floor room, though...).

I was able to recieve five of the six M/M/H County sites (the exception being Salem), and the reception was great! I used both my BC 396 and BC 996, with the 396 doing the trunking, and the 996 handling the conventional channels (I discovered the 996 has slightly better vhf sensitivity - plus, the Uniden software for the 996 allows conventional channel logging). I used extendable rod antennas on both units, and I had no complaints whatsoever!

I was able to monitor the simulcast using both radios (the 1/2 second delay between the two transmissions is interesting!), and was able to add to the RR WVINT database most of my findings, which included Morgantown Police, WVU Police, and a couple of Private channels. The most interesting find was Marion County TG 241. I was listening to TG 207 (Marion Sheriff) and heard one deputy ask another to go to "VTac 1". I immediately hit the scan button, and, lo and behold, there they were, on 241. (This is what makes this hobby fun!!!)

I also logged transmissions on the following TGs, but were unable to identify the user: 136 and 141. (I know 136 is not a normal TG, but that's what came up several times on the BC396). I also heard Med TGs 9821, 9825, and 9827 - which, evidently were being linked from North Mountain! I picked up a bunch of folks laughing and having a good time on TG 10137, but, other than the fact someone was half in the bag and happy about it, I couldn't determine anything else.

BTW, I live in Charleston, and, in spite of all the hoopla the other day with the govrenor, the Charleston site is still pretty much dead, with only radio techs and an occasional Metro transmission on TG 9771 being logged.

Hope you guys can make use of this info!

 

[mtindor]

From Ohio I'm hearing periodic (but routine) data transmission on 453.475 - I'm trying to figure out if this is indeed something from the Boone County Simulcast or if what I'm hearing has nothing to do with WVIRS. Any ideas?

I"m in East Ohio (across the river from Weirton). Pretty high elevation, external ant. I don't know if I could be hearing this or not.

On this system, are the control channels transmitting data 100% of the time? data that can be decoded using something like unitrunker or packets.exe with a discriminator tap?

I'm just wondering what parts of this system are actually verified to have activity on them - i.e. which sites actively are up and functioning.

Thanks

Mike

 

[me714]

I'd be inclined to say that the 453.475 you are hearing in the Weirton area has nothing to do with the Boone County TRS... I live in Charleston, Boone County is just about five ridgelines south of me - and, I can't even pick up the Boone site from here! (Not that I haven't tried!!!)

FWIW - THe Charleston Garfield site has been hopping today and yesterday with testing, mainly with 6000 series ID's. Also, the Med channels have just been linked, because I now hear EMS transports to hospitals in Martinsburg. Getting interesting!

As far as systems up and running? I'm not sure if the Ohio County site is on line yet. Marion, Monongalia, and Harrison Counties in the North Central part of the state are in full use, as is Berkeley County area in the east. There are a few Southern sites, Charleston, Boone, and Huntington, that are up and physically on, but are not in official use.

Rick

 

[mtindor]

Thanks Rick. Glad you gave me some perspective. Maybe I should have looked at a map first ROFL!

I do appreciate the info on the systems as I am sure others do. I read elsewhere on the site about the stagnation of the Ohio County site so I won't anticipate hearing anything out of the WVIRS system for a few years it seems... unless i decide to travel downstate WV.

- Mike

 

[mtindor]

RE: Ohio County

When doing a Google search about WVIRS and Ohio County, I found a thread on centralpafire.com where a guy stated something interesting.

jdeppthe09-21-2006, 23:06
It's almost like apples and oranges, but West Virginia is implementing their Interoperability Radio Network in the 400 MHz UHF. It is digital and trunked. Berkeley County (Martinsburg) just south of y'all on I-81 just switched over all ems, oes, fire and police. The only problems (other than operator errors) have been in the new county courthouse. It was an old mill in another era with very thick walls and quite large. The signals do not penetrate inside but a local repeater is being installed to correct this. We have not found any dead spots in a county that had been plagued with them on both low and UHF bands. I'm sure there will be some found. WVSP is currently in the process of coming on line. I can talk to our Wheeling office from my desk in Martinsburg on a 5 watt handheld and it is crystal clear. It is much better than any analog system that I have used. So that is a long way of saying the technology is there and it can be done to acceptable standards. Sounds like open sky screwed y'all. just an observation

If he is in Wheeling and can talk to Martinsburg on a 5 watt handheld, he's got to be hitting a site in Ohio County to do it. Hmm.

mike

 

[Mylan]

the ohio county site is active-- just not with nothern panhandle stuff I hear harrison county all the time and also people calling mecca whatever that is?

 

[me714]

ATTENTION ALL INTEROP LISTENERS!!!!

TG 1, (Radio Techs) were extremely active in Charleston today (183 hits). What was really interesting were two techs bemoaning the fact that there are not enough frequencies available for the system. One tech stated that they were trying to get counties who are licensed on UHF to give up their freqs. The other tech replied, "Yeah, and if they don't, we're just gonna be flat out of luck, and it'll get real ugly."

Hmmm......

For Mike and Mylan:

"Mecca" is the radio identifier for the 911 dispatch center in the I-79 North County area. In Kanawha County, for instance, the 911 center is "Metro", in Boone County, interestingly enough, it is "County".... (So much for originality!)

The tower sites that are up and running are all linked, so, indeed, one can probably talk to Wheeling DPS from Martinsburg or Charleston. For instance, TG 9827 has suddenly become active in the Charleston area - this is "Med D". What is interesting, is that it is transmitting EMS to hospital calls in Martinsburg! So, bottom line, you're right - If a site is on line, a user CAN talk to any other active site on the system.

 

[wm8s]

Is there a MEDIC-614 in Harrison County? Medic 614 just marked out at CAMC Charleston with its 911 center, and I thought he said "Harrison 911," but it was TG-927, which wouldn't be in the regular Harrison Co. series.

Sounds like a Morgan County site at High Knob might be online sometime this year...

...R

 

[mike_s104]

TG 927 Activity Today

I attached audio from the traffic I logged today on TG 927. Harrison Co. Headquarters calling for Jefferson Co. 300 (Harper's Ferry). interesting... I guess the Harper's Ferry units are using more then their regular TG.

 

[wvufan]

Does anyone know the control channel for Boone County?

 

[me714]

The site is supposedly up, but during several trips down Corridor G the past couple of weeks, I haven't heard a control channel on any of the licensed frequencies.

 

[mtindor]

Picked up and was able to monitor the CC for both sites 106 and 108 last night from up here in Toronto OH / Jefferson County. Once I have the new antenna in hand I'll be monitoring those as best I can. Too bad they aren't the sites generating the most interesting traffic!

Mike

 

[Thunderbolt]

The site is supposedly up, but during several trips down Corridor G the past couple of weeks, I haven't heard a control channel on any of the licensed frequencies.

Sounds like someone in Boone County needs to do some searching around for the control channel, and confirm it.

 

[wm8s]

The site is supposedly up . . . .

Out of curiosity, where did that info come from? I routinely search all of UHF, and I haven't heard anything new (just a couple of miles from Boone County). At least one of the licensed freqs (453.075) for this multi-location site is still in use as the County's EMS remote base, so I know they aren't using it as part of this system (yet!).

...R

 

[Thunderbolt]

ATTENTION ALL INTEROP LISTENERS!!!!

TG 1, (Radio Techs) were extremely active in Charleston today (183 hits). What was really interesting were two techs bemoaning the fact that there are not enough frequencies available for the system. One tech stated that they were trying to get counties who are licensed on UHF to give up their freqs. The other tech replied, "Yeah, and if they don't, we're just gonna be flat out of luck, and it'll get real ugly."

I have been wondering about this fact for the past several months. With all the users in the 450-465 MHz area that are located in West Virginia, finding available frequencies is not going to be easy at all, especially in the traditional Public Safety frequency pools. Therefore, some of these departments around the state are going to have give up their frequencies and share them with the system, or state will have to petition the FCC to add bandwidth above 470 MHz.

I understand that the mobile radio of choice is the Motorola XTL-5000, which allows them to operate from 450-520 MHz. If this is true, then I would suspect they will need a lot more frequency pairs to make this system function properly, and not become overloaded. However, if they bought the model that covers from 380-470 MHz, we're looking a whole different approach.

73's

Ron

 

[me714]

Sorry about the Boone County Confusion!!

Actually, what I should have said, was, "The only control channels I've heard in Boone county are from AEP's Edacs system". Since the BC freqs had been posted on RR for a while, I assumed that somebody out there had heard the site on the air, so I just figgered....

As I've traveled to some of the mines in BC, I've been using the 396 (connected to my BC780 permanently mounted antenna - I haven't had time to swap the 780 out with the 996 yet), and performed a custom scan of the 450-455 and 460-465 band spread. (I scanned the 800's to make sure it was recieving properly, hence the AEP channels).

I permanently lose the Charleston Garfield CC On Corridor G at about McCorkle road (Not to be confused with McCorkle Street in Charleston). Other than AEP, there are no other trunking sites I can pick up heading south.
------------------------
Ron, I was very surprised when I heard the techs discussing the lack of available freqs. One would assume that this would have been taken care of at the get-go. More and more, the construction of this system appears to be turning into a typical WV government project!

FWIW - I've enjoyed reading all of the posts here for the past few years, but due to job and family loads, I haven't been able to be an active participant in the forums, though I have on occasion submitted frequency information. Now that my situation has changed a little, I can now give back to all of you folks who have been working so diligently on this Interop project! Bear with me if I commit the occasional "Foo Pah" or excitedly announce some breaking news that you all discovered last year...

I promise I will be diligently perusing (always liked that word, though I'm not sure what it means) things from my neck of the woods, and will keep everyone on top of any developments I come across. ( I just wish my scanners worked underground...)

Rick

 

[moochie]

Yes, Wm8s, Medic 614 is from Harrison County. All Harrison EMS equipment starts with either a 61 or a 67. And me714, I believe that 'Mecca' is the com center for the Morgantown area or the Mon. county area. Mon. Sheriff is quite active on the Clarksburg site. Also, you are correct about Whitehall being a radio hotspot. It is right in the middle of the 3 areas. I have also been hearing traffic on the Clarksburg site on TG 193, which from the sound of it is the Harrison County Dog Warden.