PRO-46 (200-0305) A General Guide to Scanning Faxback Doc. # 3595
BIRDIES
Birdies are frequencies your scanner uses when it operates. These
operating frequencies might interfere with broadcasts on the same
frequencies. If you program one of these frequencies, you hear only noise
on that frequency.
Birdie Frequencies
31.05 MHz 124.20 MHz
41.40 MHz 134.55 MHz
51.75 MHz 144.90 MHz
113.85 MHz 155.25 MHz
RECEPTION NOTES
Reception of the frequencies covered by your scanner is mainly "line of
sight." That means you usually cannot hear stations that are beyond the
horizon.
During the summer months, you might be able to hear stations in the 30-50
MHz range located several hundred or even thousands of miles away. This
is because of summer atmospheric conditions. This type of reception is
unpredictable but often very interesting.
A GUIDE TO THE ACTION BANDS
With a little investigation, you can find the active frequencies in your
community. We can give you some general pointers on finding these
frequencies and you can take it from there. Please use caution and common
sense when you hear an emergency call. Never go to the scene of an
emergency. It could be very dangerous.
Find out if there is a local club that monitors your community's
frequencies. Perhaps a local electronics repair shop that works on
equipment similar to your scanner can give you frequencies used by local
services. A volunteer police department or fire department employee can
also be a good source for this information.
As a general rule on VHF, most activity concentrates between 153.785 and
155.98 MHz and between 153.73 and 159.46 MHz. Here you find local
government, police, fire, and most other emergency services. If you are
near major railroad tracks, listen between 160.0 and 161.9 for signals.
In some larger cities, there has been a move to the UHF bands for
emergency services. Here, most of the activity is between 453.025 and
453.95 MHz and between 456.025 and 459.95 MHz.
In the UHF band, mobile units operate between 456.025 and 459.95 MHz and
between 465.025 and 469.975 MHz. A repeater picks up the mobile units'
transmissions on one frequency, then rebroadcasts (or repeats) the
transmission 5 MHz lower, but at a higher power level, than the mobile
units (that is, 451.025 - 454.95 MHz and 460.025 - 464.975 MHz.) This
means that if you find an active frequency inside one of the mobile unit's
frequency spreads, you can look 5 MHz lower to find the repeater
frequency.
A system called trunked radio lets several services use the same set of
frequencies in the 800 MHz band without interference. Several frequencies
are allocated to two or more services (like fire, police, and water
departments). As each service transmits, a separate control signal
activates other radios in the same service, so that only that service
hears the transmission. The frequency is selected as soon as the unit
begins to transmit, and could be any one of the allocated frequencies.
One very useful service is the National Weather Service's continuous
weather broadcasts. These broadcasts contain weather forecasts and data
for the area around the station, plug bulletins on any threatening weather
conditions. These stations use three frequencies: 162.40, 162.475, or
162.55 MHz. In most areas of the country, you can receive on of these
frequencies.
TYPICAL BAND USAGE
The following is a brief listing of the services typical of the bands
received by your scanner. This listing can help you decide which ranges
you would like to scan.
Abbreviations
Affiliate Radio System............MARS
Amateur............................Ham
Automobile Emergency........Auto Emer.
Broadcast Remote................BC. R.
Bureau of Reclamation.......Bur. Recl.
Civil Air Patrol...................CAP
Department of Agriculture
and Forestry.............Agr. and For.
Fire Department...................F.D.
Forest Products.............For. Prod.
Forestry Conservation......Fors. Cons.
Government.......................Govt.
Highway Maintenance...............Hwy.
Land Transportation...........Land Tr.
Local Government..............L. Govt.
Manufacturers.....................Mfg.
Military...........................MIL
Mobile Telephone.............Mob. Tel.
Motion Picture.................Mot. P.
Motor Carrier............Buses. Trucks
National Parks...............Nat. Park
Petroleum.........................Pet.
Police............................P.D.
Power Utilities..................Power
Radio Paging......................Page
Railroad..........................R.R.
Relay Press......................Press
State Police..................St. P.D.
Special Emergency.............Sp. Emer
Special Industry..............Sp. Ind.
Taxicab Radio.....................Taxi
Telephone Maintenance......Tel. Maint.
U.S. Costal and
Geodetic Survey.............U.S.C.G.S.
U.S. Navy..........................USN
U.S. Weather Bureau...........U.S.W.B.
29-53 MHz
29.00 - 29.70....................10HAM
29.70 - 29.80...............For. Prod.
29.80 - 30.00....................Aero.
30.01 - 30.56....................Govt.
30.56 - 30.62.................Sp. Ind.
30.66 - 31.24...Ind.(Pet., For. Cons.,
Bus., For. Prod.)
31.26 - 31.98.....Sp. Ind., For. Cons.
32.00 - 33.00....................Govt.
33.02 - 33.16....Hwy., Sp. Emer., Bus.
33.18 - 33.38.....................Pet.
33.42 - 33.98.....................F.D.
34.00 - 35.00....................Govt.
35.02 - 35.18.....................Bus.
35.22 - 35.66.........Mob. Tel. & Page
35.70 - 35.72.....................Bus.
35.74 - 35.98..........Sp. Ind. & Bus.
36.00 - 37.00....................Govt.
37.02 - 37.44............P.D., L.Govt.
37.46 - 37.86....................Power
37.90 - 37.98.........Hwy. & Sp. Emer.
38.00 - 39.00....................Govt.
39.02 - 39.98...........P.D., L. Govt.
40.00 - 42.00....................Govt.
42.02 - 42.94.................St. P.D.
42.96 - 43.18..........Sp. Ind. & Bus.
43.22 - 43.68...........Mob. Tel. Page
43.70 - 44.60.............Trucks. Bus.
44.62 - 45.06.....St. P.D., For. Cons.
45.08 - 45.66.....................P.D.
45.68 - 46.04.....P.D. Hwy., Sp. Emer.
46.06 - 46.50.....................F.D.
46.52 - 46.58.................L. Govt.
46.60 - 47.00....................Govt.
47.02 - 47.40.................St. Hwy.
47.42........................Red Cross
47.44 - 47.68.......Sp. Ind. Sp. Emer.
47.70 - 48.54....................Power
48.56 - 49.58.........For. Prod., Pet.
49.60 - 50.00....................Govt.
50.00 - 54.00....6 Meter Amateur (Ham)
Band
108 - 136.975 MHz BAND
108.000 - 118.000.......Air Navigation
118.000 - 136.975.............Aircraft
137 - 174 MHz BAND
137.000 - 144.000 ...............Govt.
144.000 - 148.000 HAM
148.010...........................MARS
148.155 - 148.250..................MIL
148.290 - 150.750..................USN
150.815 - 150.995.................Bus.
151.010 - 151.130..................HWY
151.145 - 151.475...........For. Cons.
151.505 - 151.595.............Sp. Ind.
151.625 - 151.955.................Bus.
151.985 - 152.240......Mob. Tel. (RCC)
152.270 - 152.450.................Taxi
152.480 - 152.840.......Mob. Tel. Page
152.870 - 153.020.....Sp. Ind. Mot. P.
153.050 - 153.440.....Pet., For. Prod.
153.470 - 153.710................Power
153.740 - 154.115.............L. Govt.
154.450 - 154.600.Sp. Ind., Pet., Bus.
154.655 - 155.145...P.D., L. Govt.,St.
P.D.
155.160 - 155.400.......Sp. Emer. P.D.
155.415 - 156.030.......P.D., L. Govt.
156.045 - 156.240...........Hwy., P.D.
156.275 - 157.425...............Marine
157.456 - 157.500...........Auto Emer.
157.530 - 157.710.................Taxi
157.740 - 158.100......Mob. Tel., Page
158.130 - 158.460.Power,For.Prod.,Pet.
158.490 - 158.700......Mob. Tel. (RCC)
158.730 - 158.970.......P.D., L. Govt.
158.985 - 159.210............P.D. Hwy.
159.225 - 159.465...........For. Cons.
159.510 - 160.200...............Trucks
160.215 - 161.565.................R.R.
161.600 - 162.000...............Marine
162.026 - 162.175...........Bur. Recl.
162.400.......................U.S.W.B.
162.550.......................U.S.W.B.
163.125.................Indian Affairs
163.175.....................Bur. Recl.
163.275.......................U.S.W.B.
163.388 - 163.538..................MIL
163.825 - 163.975................Govt.
164.025 - 164.075...........U.S.C.G.S.
164.175 - 165.188..Bur. Recl. Nat. Pk.
Govt., Agr. & For.
169.300.........................F.A.A.
169.450 - 169.725...........Ind., Data
170.150...................F.D., BC. R.
170.200 - 170.220...........U.S.C.G.S.
170.225 - 170.325.......Ind., Land Tr.
170.425 - 170.575...........For. Cons.
170.975 - 171.250.Govt. Ind., Land Tr.
171.388 - 172.725.....Bur. Recl., For.
Cons., Ind., Dept.
Ag. & For., Govt.
172.775......................Nat. Park
173.025.......................U.S.W.B.
173.075.....................U.S.C.G.S.
173.204.....Mot. P., Pet., Bur. Recl.,
Press Relay
406 - 512 MHz BAND
406.000 - 420.000................Govt.
420.000 - 450.000..................HAM
450.050 - 450.950...........Remote Br.
451.000 - 451.150................Util.
451.175 - 451.750....For. Prod., Pet.,
Power, Tel. Maint.
451.775 - 451.975.............Sp. Ind.
452.000 - 452.500..Taxi, Mot. Carrier,
R.R.
452.525 - 452.600............Auto Club
452.625 - 452.975....Motor Carr., R.R.
453.000 - 453.975..L. Govt, P.D., F.D.
454.000 - 454.975............Mob. Tel.
455.000 - 455.975...........Remote Br.
456.000 - 458.975....P.D., F.D., Ind.,
Lan. Tr.
459.000 - 459.975......Domestic Public
460.000 - 460.625...........P.D., F.D.
460.650 - 462.175.................Bus.
462.200 - 462.450.................Taxi
462.750 - 462.975.................Bus.
463.000 - 463.175..............Medical
463.200 - 464.975.................Bus.
465.000 - 467.500....P.D., F.D., Ind.,
Land Tr.
467.750 - 467.925.................Bus.
467.7375 - 469.975...Pub. Safety Ind.,
Land Tr.
TV Bands for Special Communications
470 - 476 T.V. Channel 14
476 - 482 T.V. Channel 15
482 - 488 T.V. Channel 16
488 - 494 T.V. Channel 17
494 - 500 T.V. Channel 18
500 - 506 T.V. Channel 19
506 - 512 T.V. Channel 20
6 MHz Segment is allocated for
Channel 14
470.0125 - 470.2875...Domestic Public,
(Base, Mob.)
470.3125 - 471.1375......Public Safety
471.1625 - 471.2875.....Reserve Pool A
471.3125 - 471.4125..Pwr., Tel. Maint.
471.4375 - 471.6375...........Sp. Ind.
471.6625 - 471.7875.....Reserve Pool B
471.8125 - 472.3375...............Bus.
472.3625 - 472.4375...............Taxi
472.4675 - 472.7875........R.R., Motor
Carrier, Auto Emer.
472.8125 - 472.9875..Pet., For. Prod.,
Mfg.
473.0125 - 473.2875....Domestic Public
473.3125 - 474.1375......Public Safety
474.1625 - 474.2875.....Reserve Pool A
474.3125 - 474.4125..Pwr., Tel. Maint.
474.4375 - 474.6375..Spec.Ind.(Mobile)
474.6625 - 474.7875.....Reserve Pool B
474.8125 - 475.3375...............Bus.
475.3625 - 475.4375...............Taxi
475.4625 - 475.7875........R.R., Motor
Carrier, Auto Emer.
475.8125 - 475.9876...Pet., For. Prod.
Mfg.
These frequencies are subject to change and might vary some from area to
area. For a more complete listing, refer to Radio Shack "Police Call
Radio guide Including Fire and Emergency Services" available at your local
Radio Shack.
You might discover one of your regular stations on a frequency that is not
listed. this could be what is known as an image. For example, if you
suddenly find you hear the same broadcats on 453.2750 as you hear on
474.9750, do a little math to see if it is an image. Take this unit's
intermediate frequency of 10.7 MHz and double it. Then, subtract it from
the new frequency. If the answer is the regular frequency, you have tuned
to an image. Occasionally, you might get interference on a weak or
distant channel from a strong broadcast 21.7 MHz (10.85 MHz x 2) below the
tuned frequency. This is rare and the image signal is usually cleared
whenever a broadcast on the actual frequency is in progress.
(ALL-12/13/94)
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