Tri-Cities Scanner Frequencies
June 2010 Newsletter

Listen to the live scanner at:
http://live.scannerfood.com

  • Lightning Damage
  • VDOT CB Recordings
  • Smyth County Grid Tests
  • SNOTEL
  • Road Trip
  • Recommended Reading

 

Well Since the last newsletter, we've found new frequencies...
Here's a sample of what's new....

Frequency Tone Description State County
155.3550 d043 Watauga Medics (Amb Service) NC Watauga
155.3550 82.5 Sugar Grove LSC - Brushy Mtn VA Smyth
155.6925 79.7 Smyth County VA Smyth
159.6150 206.5 Watauga Med Center Status Alerts NC Watauga
159.8550 69.3 Crossnore VFD NC Avery
460.3375 n191 KSP - Post 10 / Region 4 CH: B-9 KY Harlan
467.7625 d072 Home Depot - Johnson City TN Washington


That's just a few, check out the Radio Phonebook (Link at the end of newsletter)

Lightning Strike?

It's possible we took a indirect lightning strike in early June to the Wide Area feed's scanner. The scanner has been replaced and a new audio patch cable installed. Ironically, the feed's scanner which appeared to have suffered damage to the audio amplifier section of the radio, began working again. Since the scanner has been online for the last 5 years its entirely possible the scanner coincidentally gave out from "old age" or just was temporarily phased by a nearby lightning discharge.

We did suffer some more permanent damage however most likely confirming a nearby strike. The left audio channel of the computer's soundcard is now non operational, with a simple adapter we moved the feed to the right channel and resolved the issue.

With the new radio installed we are seeing some more sensitivity per reception of Russell and Tazewell counties which is a good thing, on the downside we are experiencing some nasty intermodulation issues with pager interference. Several frequencies have been locked out it appears the problem has been resolved. With a backup scanner we should have less down time when mother nature eventually gets the new scanner. We can all hope the protection systems work and isolate the damage.


Here is the current frequency lineup - Spreadsheet Download

Note: To maintain Radio Reference TOS compliance, several school bus and military frequencies have been locked out. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope this policy changes in the future.
Smyth County Grid Testing

Two Way Radio Technicians out of Wytheville, VA have been working for the last few weeks range testing Smyth County's new VHF repeater on 155.6925 MHz. They have been performing what are called "Grid Tests". This is when a mobile unit canvasses the entire county checking reception in all parts of the county. From the initial conversations it appears to be working well, comments heard that the range was exceeding that of what was expected. All transmissions so far have been analog, leaving question as to whatever happened to the proposed P25 digital build out. A new repeater on 156.165 MHz has also been heard in the days past, no traffic just Morse coded station identification every thirty minutes.

Wizard CB

If you listen to CB channel 19 (27.185 MHz) often you may hear an enticing female voice warning truckers about speeding and seat belt use. Further investigation reveals the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation have recommended and made available a new system to warn truckers of road construction, incidents, etc. Per related DOT documents the system is made up of units marketed as 'Wizard CB", which plays up to a 18 second pre-recorded message when there is no activity on the citizens band channel of their choice. Others states have commented on Virginia's success in the program particularly in the Bristol and Wytheville districts.

This is a message on behalf of the Virginia State Police. As part of the Click It or Ticket program, Virginia State Police are strictly enforcing the safety belt law for commercial truckers with special emphasis on I-81 between Bristol and Wytheville. Put your safety belt on right now and keep it on. Be ready, be buckled. Click It or Ticket.

The system has been deployed in other parts of Virginia since May 2006.

Trafcon Industries "Wizard CB" Kitted Interface

Chilhowie VDOT residency office newly installed Solarcon Antron 99 CB Antenna

While the State of Maryland recommends female voices due to predominately higher voice frequencies, other states have recommend a lady on the air for the fact "it will get others' attention". I'll stop here before I make this any more political.
Snotel

If you're into DX (long distance) listening, A Ham that loves long distance 6 Meter Contacts, or just curious about what else is out there, then Snotel can not only be fun to listen for but possibly a valuable tool to queue you to changing radio conditions.

Around here we have a system called IFLOWs, that sends stream gauge and rain gauge sensor data back to the state EOC for flood warning and control. IFLOWS uses a system of mountain top repeaters; SNOTEL on the other hand covers areas over a thousand miles. Placed into operation in 1975 this system relays necessary data to be analyzed for long term and short-term weather trends as well as real-time hazard data. The cost aspect of building a cascade of repeating repeaters or getting fiber to the sites would be insane. SNOTEL also is primarily to measure snow pack depths in high mountain areas where infrastructure is minimal. Here's how it works, and how the transmitters save their battery power.

The master station is always transmitting a signal, using thousands of watts and very high gain antennas. The remote stations are listening for the polling signal, once they get a successful metor trail the master station's signal bounces off it's tail and makes contact to the remote site. The remote site then springs into action and transmits a coded signal quickly back on its frequency, assuming the radio path is still available the master station should receive the reply. The master station then sends out a signal indicating whether or not the message was received. Since the remote site is operating off battery this allows the system to operate over long distances with minimal power and without the use of satellites.

While the system does not count on troposheric ducting or other sunspot induced phenomena like Sporadic E, the presence of those very such conditions can make their signals readable to listeners in the mid-west and on the east coast. Such reception would be a prime indication the conditions are right for really long distance reception east and west.

Below are the frequencies to listen for...
And here is a sample from the internet of what it sounds like.. Snotel - Recording

Site Frequency (MHz)
Remote Sites 41.5300
Boise, ID & Ogden, UT 40.5300


Typical Remote Site

  

Road Trip

For 450 or so miles of very beautiful countryside, the 396xt was on search and store for the journey. Below are the processed frequencies with those known to the RadioPhonebook removed. There's a good chance we'll never be able to ID them all, this data could be useful as a reference to listeners in the area. I know next time im in Knoxville I can copy / paste these in and be sure to get some hard to find VHF.

Frequency Tone   155.5350 131.8
150.7875 100.0   155.5350 127.3
151.1000 d132   155.5500 d143
151.1300 d155   155.5650 100.0
151.2800 179.9   155.6100 114.8
151.8700 203.5   155.6100 162.2
153.4850 91.5   155.6400 d606
154.1000 123.0   155.6850 71.9
154.3250 d132   155.6900 127.3
154.3850 151.4   155.6950 127.3
154.4000 127.3   155.7000 203.5
154.4300 203.5   155.7150 162.2
154.4300 131.8   155.7400 d205
154.6500 167.9   155.7900 100.0
154.8000 218.1   155.8700 d311
154.8150 123.0   155.8750 d311
154.8600 100.0   155.8800 100.0
154.8600 118.8   155.9850 118.8
155.1300 d413   158.8200 d754
155.2650 d423   158.9100 d413
155.3250 97.4   159.0900 100.0
155.3850 85.4   159.1500 141.3
155.4000 d606   159.1950 d115
155.4000 146.2   159.9600 88.5
155.4900 131.8   160.2450 103.5

Recommended Reading
Two- Way Radios and Scanners
for Dummies

ISBN: 978-0764595820

Perfect for anyone new to the hobby and an excellent refresher for us that have become a little rusty. This is the most up to date publication that effectively covers multiple radio services available.

I have been mentoring someone new to the scanner hobby and provided a little reinforcement. If you're wanting to test your skills, here are some sample tests I quickly drew up to make the subject matter a little more intensive.

Chapters 1-6 Test

Answers to follow in each new newsletter
Recent FCC Licenses
These are yet to be confirmed as active, however its not a bad idea to go ahead and program them in if live near their respective service areas. They have been hand picked from hundreds of new licenses.     FB - Base
MO- Mobile / Portable Use
MOI- Interconnected Mobile
FB2 - Repeater
FB2C - Repeater with interconnect
FB6C - Shared Repeater
FX1- Link to Repeater
FXO - Fixed

You can search for FCC
licenses on the Research page.

NEW (in yellow)
  1. New repeater for NS railroad in the Maxie section of Buchanan County, VA. It looks like per license notes this will be extending the range of the existing voice microwave infastructure back to the dispatchers office in Bluefield.
  2. Facilities or security repeater for the new Franklin Woods Community Hospital.
  3. ***Many other license renewals not mentioned for area microwave links.

EXISTING

  1. Sibley Communications appears to own the Link-Tech license now we mentioned last month.
  2. Paramont coal has a new license with a repeater in Toms Creek, The MO's are licensed to be used anywhere in the state of VA.
  3. Wise County, VA Public Service Authority has new Scada sites.
  4. Bristol, TN Police Department has a partial license for a Bomb Squad robot.
  5. Hawkins County, TN has a license large enough to cover all the schools with 5 channel handheld radios, per the license the radios will be just for school site use and not inter-facility.
  6. Ashe and Yancey County, NC are finally getting VIPER sites, This is statewide system and will be interesting once operational.
  7. Finally, the NC Department of Transportation applied for a microwave link...per the license data it appears to be analog and should be monitorable.

 
State County Agency Callsign Frequency Type Notes
VA Buchanan Norfolk Southern Railroad WQLZ318 452.4375 FB2 Maxie. Microwave Voice Repeater
VA Buchanan Norfolk Southern Railroad WQLZ318 457.4375 FX1 Maxie, Microwave Voice Repeater Input
TN Washington Franklin Woods Hospital WQLZ535 452.3875 FB2  
TN Washington Franklin Woods Hospital WQLZ535 457.3875 MO, FX1  
VA Wise Sibley Comm. WPPX212   452.3 FB6 Transfer / Reseller
VA Russell Sibley Comm. WPPX212   451.45 FB6 Transfer / Reseller
VA Washington Sibley Comm. WPPX212   451.65 FB6 Transfer / Reseller
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   151.5125 MOI   Mine Site Use "
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   151.76 MOI   Interconnect
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   154.5275 MOI   Interconnect
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   158.4075 MOI   Interconnect
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   451.85 FB2   Toms Creek Repeater
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   451.85 MO   Statewide Use
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   456.85 MO   Statewide Use
VA Wise Paramont Coal WQLT700   462.525 MO   Statewide Use
VA Wise Wise Co PSA WQLU666 153.1625 FXO SCADA - Water
VA Wise Wise Co PSA WQLU667 153.1625 FXO SCADA - Water
VA Wise Wise Co PSA WQLU668 153.1625 FXO SCADA - Water
VA Wise Wise Co PSA WQLY693 153.1625 FXO SCADA - Water
VA Wise Wise Co PSA WQLY694 153.1625 FXO SCADA - Water
TN Sullivan Bristol PD WQLW940   2461 MO Bomb Robot Video
TN Sullivan Bristol PD Pending 465.05 MO Bomb Robot Audio/data
TN Sullivan Bristol PD Pending 460.05 MO Bomb Robot Audio/data
TN Hawkins Hawkins Co Schools WQLU931 461.4625 MO School Handheld Radios
TN Hawkins Hawkins Co Schools WQLU931 462.3 MO School Handheld Radios
TN Hawkins Hawkins Co Schools WQLU931 463.625 MO School Handheld Radios
TN Hawkins Hawkins Co Schools WQLU931 464.4625 MO School Handheld Radios
TN Hawkins Hawkins Co Schools WQLU931 464.925 MO School Handheld Radios
NC Ashe NC Highway Patrol WQLD762 866.325 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Ashe NC Highway Patrol WQLD762 867.05 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Ashe NC Highway Patrol WQLD762 867.4375 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Ashe NC Highway Patrol WQLD762 867.9375 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Ashe NC Highway Patrol WQLD762 868.9125 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Yancey NC Dept Transport. KIW20 955.8 FX1 Analog Microwave Link
NC Yancey NC Highway Patrol WQKG288 866.35 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Yancey NC Highway Patrol WQKG288 866.625 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Yancey NC Highway Patrol WQKG288 866.9 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Yancey NC Highway Patrol WQKG288 867.95 FB2C Statewide Viper System
NC Yancey NC Highway Patrol WQKG288 868.6125 FB2C Statewide Viper System
   


        Download the Radio Phonebook (Updated June 27 2010)

Stats / Last Months Stats

Frequency Pairs / Singles: 1761 up from 1645
Unit Numbers: 3074 - up from 3069

General Area Covered

         


Other Month's Newsletters

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Here's what we're working on...

Search and Store Tutorial
Mobile Data Solutions
Local Business Radios
Pager effects Pt2
Interference
Interoperability



That's it for now, Happy Scanning!

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