GUIDE
TO THE ACTION
BANDS
With
the
right
frequencies
pro-
grammed
into
your
scanner,
you
can
monitor
exciting events.
With
a
little
investigation,
you
can
find
active
fre-
quencies
in
your
community.
We can
give you
some
general
pointers,
and
you
can take
it lrom there.
Please
use
caution and common
sense
when
you
hear an emergency
call.
Never
go
to
the
scene of an emergency
-
it
could
be the
most dangerous thing
you
could
ever do.
Find
out
if
there
is
a
local club that
monitors
your
community's
frequen-
cies.
Perhaps
a
local
electronics
re-
pair
shop
that
works
on
equipment
similar
to
your
scanner
can
give
you
channel
frequencies used by
local
radio
services.
A
volunteer
police
or
fire employee can also
be a
good
source
for this
information.
As
a
general
rule
on
VHF,
most
activ-
ity is
concentrated
between
153.785
and
'155.98
MHz
and then
again
from
158.73
to
159.46 MHz.
Here
you
find
local
government,
police,
Iire, and
most
emergency services.
lf
you
are
near a
railroad
or
major railroad
tracks,
look
around
160.0
to
161.9 for
signals.
ln
some
large cities, there
has
been a
move
to the
UHF bands
for
emer-
gency
services.
Here,
most
of
the ac-
tivity
is
between
453.025 and
453.95
MHz
and
between
456.025 and
467.925MH2.
ln
the
UHF band,
frequencies be-
tween
456.025 and
459.95 MHz and
20
between
465.025 and
469.975
MHz
are used by
mobile
units and
control
stations associated
with
base and
re-
peater
units that
operate 5
MHz
lower
(that
is,
451.025
to
454.95
MHz
and
460.025
to
464.975
MHz).
This
means
that
if
you
find
an active
fre-
quency
inside one of these spreads,
you
can
look 5
MHz lower
(or
higher)
to
find
the
base station/repeater
for
that
service.
A newer technology
is now
available
that
uses the 800
MHz
band
for many
services.
Trunked radio,
introduced to
business
systems
in 1979,
is now
used by some
public
safety agencies.
With
up
to twenty channels
available,
the
transmitter automalically
selects
an
unused
frequency each time
it is
activated.
Several
agencies
can
share
such a system
without interfer-
ing,
and
the system
can
provide
se-
cure
communications
for
selected
units,
with
unselected
units unable
to
hear the
message.
Frequencies
in different bands
are ac-
cessible only
at specific
intervals.
ln
the
VHF-Lo,
HAM, Government,
and
VHF-Hi bands,
frequencies are
avail-
able
in
5
kHz steps, and
in
the aircraft
band,
frequencies are
available
in
25
kHz steps.
ln
all
other bands,
fre-
quencies
are available
in 12.5 kHz
steps.
Your
scanner
rounds the en-
tered
frequency down
to the
nearest
valid frequency.
For
example,
if
you
try to enter
151.473, the scanner
ac-
cepts
this as
151 .470
MHz.
Typical
Band
Usage
The
following is a brief listing
of the
typical services using the bands
your
scanner can
receive. This listing
can
help
you
decide
which ranges
you
would like
to scan.
Abbreviations:
BA ................... Remote Broadcast
(Radio
&
TV)
CA................................. General
Mobile
(Radio)
CAP...............
......Civil Air Patrol
18.................... .............Business
1F.....................
..Forest Products
I M...................................Motion Picture lndustry
lP.................... Petroleum lndustry
IS Special lndustrial
(Construction,farming,
etc.)
1T.................................. Telephone Maintenance
lW .............................. Power and Water Utilities
|X.................... .... Manufacturers
lY ................. Relay Press
(newpaper
reporters)
LA ..............Automotive Emergency
(tow
trucks)
LJ......................................Motor Carrier, Trucks
LR .................. ............... Rai|road
LU.................. Motor Carrier, Buses
LX .................. ......................Taxi
MC.....
Maritime
Limited
Coast
(private
stations)
MG........... Maritime Government
(Coast
Guard)
MP ... Maritime Public Coast
(marine
telephone)
MS ......................................
Maritime
Shipboard
PF .................. ...................... Fire
PH ................................... Highway
Maintenance
PL .........................................
Local
Government
PM................. .Medical Services
PO................................... Forestry Conservation
PP..................
.................. Police
PS..................
Special Emergency
RA............................Mobi|e Telephone
(aircraft)
RC.....
Mobile Telephone
(radio
common
carrier)
RT........ Mobile Telephone
(landline
companies)
Bl
FC.................... Boise lnteragency Fire Cache
Government
Agencies:
UAF................ ..............Air
Force
UAR................ ...................Army
UBW
...........................1nternationa| Boundary &
Water Commission
UCE ....... Environmental Besearch
Laboratories
UCF ......................... Maritime
Fisheries Service
UCG...............
........Coast Guard
UCM........,..................... Maritime Administration
These frequencies
are
subject to
change, and
might vary some
from
area to area.
For a more complete
listing, refer to
the
Police Call
Radio
Guide
lncluding Fire
and
Emergency
Seruice and
for
aircraft, Official
Aero-
nautical
Frequency Directory
avail-
able at
your
local
Fladio
Shack store.
UCO................
.....Ocean Survey
UCP................ National Capitol Police
UCW..........................Nationa|
Weather Service
UCX .......................... Department of Commerce
U
EP ............... Environmental Protection Agency
UER................
Department
of
Energy
UFA................... Federal Aviation Administration
UFC .......Federal Communications Commission
UGC.......................... Soil Conservation
Service
UGF................
.... Foresl Service
UGS................ General Services Administration
UGX...........................Department ol
Agriculture
UHW........ Dept. of Health and
Human
Services
U 1B.................. Bonneville Power Administration
U1F.........
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife
UIG
....................................... Geological Survey
U11................... BureauoflndianAffairs
U|L....................... Bureau of
Land
Management
U|M................. .
Bureau
of
Mines
U I P................................... National Park Service
U I R ................................ Bureau of Reclamalion
U 1S............. Southwestern
Power Administration
U|X............................ Department of the
lnterior
UNO................
....United
Nations
uNS................ ..................NASA
UPO................
.... Postal Service
USA................
Federal Govt. Misc.
USD .......................................
State Department
USN ................
................... Navy
UTC .....................................
Bureau
of
Customs
UTM......................................
Bureau of the Mint
UTR
..................... Department of Transportalion
UTV .........................Tennessee Valley
Authority
UTX ..................................Treasury
Department
UVA ..............................Veterans Administration
UXX
................ ............ Classified
Abbreviations
used by
permission
of
the
publishers
of
Police Call
Radio
Guide, Copyright
Hollins
Radio Data.
21
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