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Joined: Jul 2004
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I didn't think there was that much going on in VHF, at least in public service. All of our police and fire moved to UHF packet systems. I haven't seen a VHF whip on a vehicle in 20 years. There is still a fairly active marine band there but a lot of casual boaters are using cell phones as their main communication method. 911 has become the new "channel 16". The USCG, sheriff and the tow pirates are all carrying cell phones now.
Greg Fretwell
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Here VHF still used. Utilities, railroad, marine,smaller fire dept still use it mostly for tone paging. Most dispatching has moved to UHF or 800mhz (soon to move to 700)mostly trunking. Hams still have 2m 144-148mhz and 430-450 mhz the to most used bands here. Railroads use 460 for their ETD (caboose lol) but 160-161mhz for voice and control. Robert
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Joined: May 2005
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Here in northern California, we have a mix of services using everything including loband (30-50mhz), highband (150-174mhz), UHF (450-470mhz), T-Band UHF (470-512mhz), and 800Mhz.
Most police is on UHF and T-Band, but CHP is on loband, and some of the less densely populated cities/counties are on highband VHF.
There are also a few cities/counties using 800mhz trunked systems, both analog and digital and a couple using T-band digital trunked systems,.
Most fire is on highband VHF, with a small amount of loband, UHF, and 800. Cal Fire is on highband statewide.
In general, highband tends to be the most popular, except in the urban areas, where UHF and 800 enter the picture.
In Santa Clara county, in the heart of Silicon Valley, there is one city using 800 analog trunking, the rest have police on UHF and T-band, with a few of the outlying cities, and the sheriffs office on highband. Most of the fire departments are on highband, with the exception of the city with the 800 system, and a couple on UHF and T-band.
Also, while most DTV is on channels 7 and up, there are DTV assignments in some areas all the way down to channel 2.
Hams actually have several bands in the VHF/UHF spectrum above 30mhz, including 50-54, 144-148, 222-225, 420-450 (430-450 along the Canadian border), 902-928, 1240-1300, and a bunch of stuff at 2.4ghz and higher.
I just spent the weekend operating the ARRL June VHF contest, on all of the above bands below 2.4ghz.
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Joined: Jul 2004
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It has been a while since I played with my old Bearcat 210 but the last time I tried it the whole VHF band seemed pretty quiet, at least voice. There was a lot of "data" sounding stuff. I really don't know enough about it to say what I was hearing. I used to get cops and fire all up and down the dial.
Is there a frequency assignment deal on the web these days like the old books they sold at Radio Shack
Greg Fretwell
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Joined: Jul 2004
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I have that one. I was thinking more like the old "scanner guides" that had the individual frequencies for each agency. Back in the olden days I had a 10 channel crystal scanner in my truck and the Bearcat at home.
Greg Fretwell
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Joined: Mar 2005
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I'm having trouble finding a portable battery-powered converter box for my 1.5" portable LCD TV. Any of you seen one?
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Joined: Jul 2004
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I haven't but there are some that work off a wall wart so I suppose you could substitute a battery. I just plan on using an inverter with mine since I am tooling up a 12v emergency system. I am looking for a 2 pole 3 throw drum switch so I can exploit my golf cart for storage.
Greg Fretwell
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Joined: May 2005
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Joined: Jul 2004
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Thanks Techie. That only confirms what I thought. There are only a handful of VHF services in my county.
Greg Fretwell
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Tom
Shinnston, WV USA
Posts: 1,044
Joined: January 2001
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