Issue 23 - Scanner Digest Newsletter

LORAIN-GRAFTON866.9375 867.3625 867.8125868.3125 868.9750854.3875 The Grafton Correctional Institution is currentlyoperating in conventional mode ASTROLORAIN-ELYRIA SITE 25866.7875-cw id 867.2000d 867.7000d867.9875dSUMMMIT-RICHFIELD SITE 46866.9875d 867.9375d 868.6000d868.3500dThat’s it for this issue, stay warm and remember to send infrequencies and or ideas for the column.MikeMAINELoren Fieldsc/o Scanner DigestPOB 207Jamison PA 18929hornsmoke@prexar.comIn lieu of a column Loren has provided us some photos of themobile installation of scanners and transceiver radios in hisvehicle. They are shown on page 13.OREGONJeff Newtonc/o Scanner DigestPOB 207 Jamison PA 18929newton@efn.orgWell time flew by fast since, the last issue and its first adobeformatted e-zine of the SD.Some good news this month from the central valley area! DigitalScanners have been making its rounds in the Eugene andSpringfield area and the pricing isn't all that bad from a RadioShack, perspective, $701.99, which includes the scanner, APCOcard and the shipping of the unit, a BC-250D handheld digitalcapable scanner.I had a chance to trot on down to my local RS store and chat withthe local Senior Manager, Peter Wood, KB9MTL on this store'sdisplay unit.Wood has the store unit, programmed to the digital system ofEugene Police and Springfield Police Department's. To myamazement, I was hearing both Eugene Police and SpringfieldPolice in their APCO 25 digital systems."Geez", I thought this couldn't be and it couldn't be possible -nope I was really hearing the real thing, gang! A analog scannernut's dream come true!!Unfortunately, I need to compare the audio from a friend’s AstroSabre. More likely, the Uniden 250D will beat out the Astro bymargin points. Once I get my hands on my own unit, I'll startcomparing the merit points with my buddy's Astro Sabre fromwork.Other news from the region! Oakridge Police have started usingtheir UHF repeater which is simulcast to their 155.955 frequencyin the Dexter/Lowell area. Only problem is, the repeater is onlyten feet in the air and in the back yard of a Lowell resident...OPD has said, they will move the repeater to higher ground soon,than those in the far reaches of the valley west toward Eugenewill be able to hear them on 453.800 simulcast from their mainrepeater in Oakridge on 155.955.Jim Hanahran wrote recently, to tell me that a bunch of listmembers from the NWSCAN Mailing list have their own UHF talkgroup on a E.F Johnson trunking system in the Albany area andcoverage does reach up north to the Portland Metro area.However, he say's it will not reach south of Albany towardEugeneMeanwhile, Oregon Firepage based in Eugene/Springfield areahas recently utilized a UHF trunking radio system of their own inthe Willamette Valley. OFP say's their coverage is in the Eugene -Springfield area, north toward Albany, west toward the OregonCoast and the I-5 corridor south toward Cottage Grove.OFP is utilizing their system among incident dispatchers andnews photographers from a local television station to coordinatelocal incident coverage as well as incident coverage from itsdispatchers in Eugene/Springfield, Albany/Salem and Portlandareas via its page relays from dispatchers outside the Eugenearea.Members are using their own radio equipment, Kenwood TK-380HT's with a 250 conventional channel capacity and a 600 channeltrunking capacity built into the radio.A rumor has been circulating around the amateur radiocommunity in the Eugene area that "Up the Crick radio club" isfolding. Many of its members have been reported to have jumpedship and gone to their local radio clubs serving the area, such asValley Radio Club of Oregon, a long-standing ARRL member clubsince 1932, Lane County Sheriff Amateur Radio Operators andvarious other local amateur radio clubs.Up the Crick Radio Club has been known to put on a local hamfair each spring, but local's say they've not seen one since 2001.Hopefully local hams from the other radio clubs will band togetherand have their own once again in the Eugene area??Now, on a more serious note! Local hams have been reportingrecently in the Willamette Valley, that there has been a rash ofStolen Radio equipment from repeater sites in the valley area.Most recently from the Florence area's Herman repeater site.The following is a list of items stolen recently from the Florence,OR area Herman Peak site;Kenwood TM 241A S/N 20801649Kenwood TM 331A S/N 30500110Questions regarding this theft should be directed to Hal Lock(N7HL) N7HL@arrl.net The above information was posted toseveral local mailing lists, including the W7PXL mailing for ValleyRadio Club of Oregon. If anyone has information about the abovestolen equipment, please contact Hal at the email address above.SCANNER DIGEST NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 23 PAGE 11