Scanner Help

[chadmichaels]

Hey guys,

Just bought I scanner last night, programmed in my Police State Patrol and Fire channels, now im looking for the Union Pacific (Mason City, Iowa) and IC&E (Mason City, Iowa) channels. Is there a website where I can find these frequencies?

Chad

 

[Rico]

Try these for starts: 160.0350 MHz, 160.8900 MHz, 161.1750 MHz
Also you might want to join this website: http://www.radioreference.com/forums/iowa-radio-discussion-forum/

 

[UP2CSX]

Chad, what make and model of scanner did you get? RadioReference is, by far, the best site on the net for radio frequencies of every kind of entity. http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=4330 has a comprehensive list of Iowa railroad frequencies. Depending on the make and model of scanner, you get a premium membership to RadioReference for $25 and a cable for your scanner that hooks up to your computer. You can then do a direct download of all the frequencies you want. This is really helpful when you ware trying to program complex trunked systems.

 

[chadmichaels]

Jim,

model I picked up is the Radio Shack Triple Trunking Mobile/Base Radio Scanner. believe the model number is 20-163. I have my 5 Local Police Channels, 4 Fire Department Channels 5 County Sheriff's channels all in there.

Found 4 Union Pacific channels and 3 IC&E channels, although im not hearing much traffic on the UP channels yet im getting quite a bit of IC&E traffic. Alot of it Yard traffic.

Chad

 

[UP2CSX]

Chad,
Sounds like you have the Pro-163. Luckily for you, it looks like there's not any digital in your area. You should make sure you program in the EDACS trunked system system at http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=2827 if you want to hear the Sheriff and Mason City PD and Fire since it looks like this is where they have gone.

I only show 160.77 and 161.37 for IC&E. What is the third frequency you have? It looks like the UP uses 160.575 for the main road channel from Mason City east and 161.04 for westbound traffic. You should be able to hear the UP dispatcher since they have an excellent radio system and the dispatcher from Omaha can be heard almost anywhere in the west. If you're not hearing much, have your scanner seach from 160.150 to 161.565 MHz. That should pick up any railroads in your area and you should be able to quickly identify then by things like mileposts and siding names. You should hear some defect detectors as well, which will tell you what railroad you're listening to and the milepost. You'll also hear a lot more with a roof mounted antenna compared to the little telescoping one on the back of the radio.

 

[chadmichaels]

Jim,

When I bought this from Radio Shack the Police Sheriff and Fire were already programmed in for me(it was the last one on the shelf and their display model they were using) All I had to do was program in the railroads. Im hearing UP now on 160.575, Yes even picking up the Omaha dispatcher.

As for the third channel for IC&E 161.430 is their "All Yards" channel. Hearing alot of traffic on that since I only live bout 3 blocks away from the yard. Here is a website where I found the IC&E listings....http://www.illinirail.com/icerail/radio.htm

 

[UP2CSX]

Chad, that's one that RadioReference doesn't have so I'll post it to their database. Most of the frequencies for railroads are user-submitted so it's always a good idea to add it to the database there so we have one central place to grab frequencies.

It would be a good idea to read the manual and understand how to program in trunked frequencies since there will come a time when your radio will mysteriously lose all the frequencies when you get a power bump. Even better, buy a 20-047 cable from Radio Shack, spend $25 for a premium membership on RR, and download PSREdit. You can then store all your frequencies on your computer and reload them if you have a problem. It's also helpful if you travel and want to quickly download frequencies for another area with no programming.

The UP has an amazing radio system. Through a series of microwave, landline, and moutaintop links, the dispatchers in Omaha control the entire railroad. The UP frequencies can be heard almost anywhere west of the Mississippi. When I lived in California, the Omaha dispatcher was called "The Voice of the West".