I spent many happy hours in the 1970's listening to local police, Manchester airport, ambulance services etc. The radios were plentiful and sold at markets and cheap electrical stores. The units themselves were large, but light in weight. I opened the back of mine once to find most of it was empty except for the tiny amount of electronics and the speaker. It had a brushed stainless steel speaker grille with hundreds of tiny holes in it, and the ariel was about four feet long. Great fun.
I used to get GMP’s CK traffic on a normal radio on 101.00mhz with the pips between transmissions I remember. I can still here the deep calm voice of the operator.
Way back in the mid 80's our fireground communication was to throw furniture or other objects out of a window if you ran into a problem. If you threw your helmet that meant it was a life or death situation. We did not have enough radios to go around.
@@doublewhopper67 Our 'life and death' situations in the fire service aren't just "something might fall on my head". Throwing a helmet (which is high visibility and likely to get someone's attention as it drops down) could be an indicator that two people in breathing apparatus are trapped and running out of air - a far more pressing concern than protecting one's head
@@nathansvlog You weren't in the UK fire service then! We had systems in place to make sure no one EVER had to throw their helmet out of a window to get some attention! Or that they maybe trapped and running out of air! Had you never heard of the hand held radio? They've been around for years! That's the most ridiculous, stupid action I've ever heard of. I did the job for 32 years and NEVER was that suggested s a means of communication on the fireground. Well done to you for surviving it!
Yeah, I mean maybe. Its illegal under a recent UK law (forget its exact name, but passed in 2020) to even mention what you are mentioning. Hence I'm not mentioning it, but know what you mean 🙂
I came here to mention, did the UK actually ever stop ALL it's use of "Legacy" technology? 🤐 Well at least if nobody is allowed to talk about it then it must be secure and and not trivial to intercept.
@@nikovzeweb569 in this case these ones are not secure because the whole point is they won’t find the cruise to be able to listen in without any hassle
Years ago when pretty much everyone was using FM I dealt with an interference problem at an LFB site that was affecting their AM system, it was actually the heating thermostat in the radio site causing the interference and the LFB engineer made a note to inspect and replace all radio site thermostats with solid state ones rather than standard bimetal strip thermostats. There was great reluctance to even change to FM let alone digital back then. SCR based thermostats back then would likely have been quite expensive industrial units.
My friend had a scanner in the 90s. Sometimes We would go to a high point and listen into the local emergency services. Very rarely we would go along for a look. We were never the only ones there when we did 😂
London buses often speak with the Police on open frequencies, especially during football days. In cities like Brighton which heavily supplements the Police with police-like private security firms you can listen into responses to petty crime and usual night-scene chaos
wow here in Slovenia, the First responders’ freqs are a couple MHZ away from amateur and are not encrypted, Police and Military are tho ( as expected )
As most everyone knows, here in the States some public safety comms are open to monitoring and others not... it all depends on the local, county, and state regulations. Federal comms have all gone to encrypted P25. In my area all police comms, except the State Troopers went to encrypted P25 by 2015. Until 2020 you could still monitor all Fire comms, then those "went", but dispatch was still "open". Last year dispatch "went" and now all that's left is "tone out".
@RCAvhstape in Louisiana the State Sheriff's Association pressured the Fire Services into P25 under the guise of "interagency operability"... horse manure. The Sheriff's figured out that on appx half of all calls the FD was dispatched and by listening to their radio traffic one could get a very good idea of what was going on... Many people here have commented that they listen to Broadcastify. To be honest that's what I do my serious listening with.
I remember, back in the late 60s, a report in RadCom (or whatever the RSGB monthly journal was called in those days) about a group of people who made it all too obvious that they were illegally listening into fire service communications by repeatedly turning up at the scenes of fires in their cars, thus resulting in their prosecution. As the radios that they were using to listen were fitted into their cars, as well as fining the offenders, the court ordered the seizure and destruction of all their cars too!
In the 60's it would be dangerous to listen and not keep a low profile... In Portugal I listened to everything and also used forbiden CB radios. I had the Army and Political Police after me, but they never were able to get me....😂😂😂😂 (they were fierce at the time...) Fixed Police comms were HF AM/CW (80m, 120m, 60m, etc. later USB), mobile ones were 80m AM with kind of an Hustler antenna (big one with coil in the midle...). After that they went for nation wide instalation of CB radios in military frequencies (yes, frequencies nearby CB were military in most Countries in the world, including USA). The frequency was 27.265 MHz AM, using PONY CB-71 for base stations (5/8 antenna), and mobiles (ASP CB antenna similar to those low band ones in USA). Range was enough for local small towns. Portable units were not that good performance as needed: PONY CB-36 (2 to 3W, 12V) with original telescopic antenna, and TOKAY TC-512 (0,3W, 9V) with a short laminar mil type antenna (low range because it should have a charging coil at the base). Of course that major cities like Lisbon had UHF Motorola and GE radios with retransmiters all over the place (later Simulcast UHF) Some military traditional towns were directly supported by the Army that got them 70 MHz band, mil style, side transportable units with a Base at the Headquarters. National Guard type permanent militarized Police, was also 80m AM, and mid-band VHF FM (76/86 MHz). They've also used some 5W portable CB radios for comunications between the radar car and the place where they would stop the speeders.... Also some fixed CB radios for special purposes (on out of the CB frequencies). Later they complemented with 146-150 MHz FM network with retransmiters and simplex all over the Country. Firemen: Voluntary units (without money) used CB channel 9 AM (regular 23 or 40 channel USA standard radios), both Base and mobile (also some portable CB radios like GE , Handic, etc). Municipal units had VHF low band (33/40 MHz FM) . Also they monitored CB emergency channel 9 AM for citizens asking for help and also for coordination with voluntary firemen stations. Later they evolved for a 168 MHz VHF FM with remote simplex base stations with some simplex tactical channels and later even duplex retransmiters. Even the Military used CB style radios on AM (they were much better than the old BC, PRC, etc mil radios) Main use was artilery fire correction. Mil Scouts used litle green zamac boxes ONKYO mono channel CB portable radios with laminar mil style antenna, on frequencies above 23 channel CB (at the time in the 60's/70's) like 27.345 or 27.365 MHz and similar (mil controled frequencies at the time). Those litle 9V radios (6 X 1.5V AA bateries) were used in the Colonial 60's decade War in Africa (THC-736 and 756, and latter better banana type portables wouldn't cope, and those litle ones would do the job...😅) Portuguese Red Cross Fixed comms used YAESU FT-77 and Marconi radios on UIT assigned HF frequencies (like 3700, 6998.5, etc. MHz USB 100W, etc) Base and mobiles were (and are) VHF low band 33/40 MHz and CB emergency channel 9 AM for taking calls from citizens and coordinating with local voluntary firemen. Also tactical mil radios for catastrophe field comms. Also TOKAY TC-512 CB portable radios (with laminar mil style antennas) for local incident tac comms (27.475 MHz and 27.065 MHz AM) Now, all those services use TETRA TEA2 (380/390 MHz ) wich can be monitored by 3 letter Agencies we know...😂😂😂 Still in use (monitorable): Public Security Police using pmr446 radios (😂😂😂) to avoid the horrible perfomance of TETRA DMO) National Guard (militarized Police): VHF NFM simplex to avoid horrible perfomance of TETRA that fails all the time and with big TETRA coverage failures. Firemen: VHF NFM 152-153 MHz simplex tac channels (FireGround style). 148-174 MHz wide area tac comms via retransmiters (nationwide coverage and overlap). Civil Defense: Same as Firemen (frequencies side by side) Red Cross: Low Band VHF (33/40 MHz) semi-duplex and simplex (also some remote base stations via UHF link). All the network is linked nationwide via UHF, and can work with regional or nationwide comms at the same time. In practice, most are GSM/UMTS/LTE for all services (including the Military.... 😂😂) If the gsm/umts/lte would go down, the comms would colapse because the TETRA sistem wouldnt cope and the military use cellphones all the time (shame on you if you consider yourself a military man and carry a cellphone with you...)
I've heard police search and rescue boats on the Marine channels and also police helicopters on the air band frequencies when they liaise with civilian personnel on the ground.
Ahh good one Lewis i was unaware you could still hear the old Fire ground Radios. Im an ex Firefighter for Bucks(M2HK) did 7 years back in the 80's & 90's. Last channel used i recall was 70.787.5 MHZ the TX was 80MHZ area when i joined they had just gone off the old Broadcast band 101.050MHZ AM to 71.137.5 AM. Fire ground radio were Burndepts and then Phillips PF85 451 MHZ area then the 457 MHZ slot 3 channels. Ch1 general ch2 BA Ch3 was a repeater ch used with Control unit or Command unit. The retained Alerter frequency was 148.875?? and we used Multi Tone PR 79 units before VODA tone call dont know what they use now. The Turnout system before printers was voice down the wire and retained picked up the Solent phone and wrote the incident address down before riding the pump. Happy turnouts and being on the Run as we use to say. Marc in Bletchley G6XEG EX Bucks Fire & Rescue.
My little story about scanners dates back to around 1992 if I remember rightly I was returning home late one night (driving around 2am) , across the road I noticed a glow and a lot of smoke, drove around and could see the building was clearly well alight so called 999, it ended up being a huge fire and was the main story on the front page of the local paper the following day. Around 2 months later I had an early knock on the door and the police with a search warrant arrested me claiming I'd broken in to the factory and then set it on fire to cover my tracks - for clarification I HADN'T. I was arrested and they actually wanted to remand me pending further investigations, they seized my scanner, petrol can from car and a number of pairs of shoes. After 1 court appearance and bailed to stay away from my home address (so not close to the factory) , new court dates came and went and eventually I a court date arrived - I attended to find the police not in attendance as they had dropped all charges (because i'd done nothing) but they had requested the court seize my scanner because following examination of it there were numerous frequencies programmed in including police channels - so two weeks later I bought another and sadly anything to do with the police I simply look away,
Yes, sadly and maybe surprising police often ignore common sense. Who in their right mind would break into a building, set it on fire "to cover his tracks" for so go on to call 999 about it?! Maybe the police think this would be a good idea...
Very interesting. Where I live in the USA, the police channels are encrypted, but the fire channels are not. It's fairly easy to access some fire channels through Internet scanner sites. If I hear a lot of sirens in the distance, I'll click the link and find out what's happening. I live in a large seaside resort community, so fire/rescue can be very entertaining during the summer, as drunk people tend to exercise poor judgement.
Coastguard/RNLI still use Analogue marine band. Mountain Rescue use a mixture of Analogue and DMR depending where you are but also use Airwave when working with Police.
in the UK back in the early 80's the cops used the lower broadcast FM radio frequencies, always was tuning into this on my 4 band radio.. then they moved to the higher frequencies..
You seem to have forgotten all about the fourth emergency service, Lewis. HM Coastguard. They are still on analogue FM, at 156.000MHz (Channel 0) and 156.375MHz (Channel 67) working channel.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency still use standard Marine band VHF radios for local comms and still monitor CH16 VHF (156.8 MHz FM) and 2182Khz USB long wave distress channel , they normally have to have local cops with them for co-ordination if police choppers or beach search teams are in use ( well up here in NE Scotland that is )
Thanks for this. I am an Ex RNLI crew member, who are controlled by the HM Coastguard working channel 0 (Zero).This channel is strictly controlled and, in order to transmit on zero you need to be either an RNLI lifeboat or a Coastguard Auxiliary, and the radio needed can't be bought without an official order from HMCG. I suspect that the use of the normal VHF maritime network is due to the fact that there are a huge number of Auxiliary Coastguards st sea at any one time. most of the commercial fishermen I knew were auxiliary, and to go dmr or encrypted would place heavy financial burden on these essential lifesavers Although it is a while since I served, the system worked well with no range problems, certainly for the inshore fleet where I was. We could hear the French rescue services in Normandy on VHF, some 60 odd miles without problems from the boathouse station.
I'm in Glasgow and get Belfast Coastguard on the repeaters and even Belfast VTS on Marine frequencies. Coastguard Mobiles also heard locally as I live on the River Clyde.
I remember the stories of my uncle who deove a tow truck and was a mechanic, he woupd listen in and when he heard a road accident, hed "Mysteriously" be passing by and tow the cars out of the way😂
It is not true that fire is the ONLY emergency service using unscrambled comms. RNLI / coastguard / VTS still use good old analog devices when working in emergency together.
Fantastic that you've covered this. I should have expected it really. Here in Mansfield they are still on analogue. Very handy when I see fire engine out near where I live. Always on channel 1.
@@winstonchurchill6506probably using the dmr more simple get a dnr hand held or a dmr capable scanner load in all the channels dmr and analogue, we had a big fire here recently and 5 chs used some dmr and some the analogue
@wisteela that’s interesting to hear. I’m Mansfield based never knew this, I thought they had all moved over. Might have to get the radio back out and start searching. Thanks
@@samsalloway7412 it's dmr and analogue it's a national set up every brigade has same set up, sone use dmr exclusively some analogue and dmr as needed but for interops it's a standard set up so every one can say go to ch8 or ch14 and be able to communicate
Channel one is a dmr 457.0375, ch9 is 457.0375 analogue so if analogue it's now ch9, befire the national dmr plan ch1 was 457.0375 analogue but as said that's now ch9
In the 60's it would be dangerous to listen and not keep a low profile... In Portugal I listened to everything and also used forbiden CB radios. I had the Army and Political Police after me, but they never were able to get me....😂😂😂😂 (they were fierce at the time...) Fixed Police comms were HF AM/CW (80m, 120m, 60m, etc. later USB), mobile ones were 80m AM with kind of an Hustler antenna (big one with coil in the midle...). After that they went for nation wide instalation of CB radios in military frequencies (yes, frequencies nearby CB were military in most Countries in the world, including USA). The frequency was 27.265 MHz AM, using PONY CB-71 for base stations (5/8 antenna), and mobiles (ASP CB antenna similar to those low band ones in USA). Range was enough for local small towns. Portable units were not that good performance as needed: PONY CB-36 (2 to 3W, 12V) with original telescopic antenna, and TOKAY TC-512 (0,3W, 9V) with a short laminar mil type antenna (low range because it should have a charging coil at the base). Of course that major cities like Lisbon had UHF Motorola and GE radios with retransmiters all over the place (later Simulcast UHF) Some military traditional towns were directly supported by the Army that got them 70 MHz band, mil style, side transportable units with a Base at the Headquarters. National Guard type permanent militarized Police, was also 80m AM, and mid-band VHF FM (76/86 MHz). They've also used some 5W portable CB radios for comunications between the radar car and the place where they would stop the speeders.... Also some fixed CB radios for special purposes (on out of the CB frequencies). Later they complemented with 146-150 MHz FM network with retransmiters and simplex all over the Country. Firemen: Voluntary units (without money) used CB channel 9 AM (regular 23 or 40 channel USA standard radios), both Base and mobile (also some portable CB radios like GE , Handic, etc). Municipal units had VHF low band (33/40 MHz FM) . Also they monitored CB emergency channel 9 AM for citizens asking for help and also for coordination with voluntary firemen stations. Later they evolved for a 168 MHz VHF FM with remote simplex base stations with some simplex tactical channels and later even duplex retransmiters. Even the Military used CB style radios on AM (they were much better than the old BC, PRC, etc mil radios) Main use was artilery fire correction. Mil Scouts used litle green zamac boxes ONKYO mono channel CB portable radios with laminar mil style antenna, on frequencies above 23 channel CB (at the time in the 60's/70's) like 27.345 or 27.365 MHz and similar (mil controled frequencies at the time). Those litle 9V radios (6 X 1.5V AA bateries) were used in the Colonial 60's decade War in Africa (THC-736 and 756, and latter better banana type portables wouldn't cope, and those litle ones would do the job...😅) Portuguese Red Cross Fixed comms used YAESU FT-77 and Marconi radios on UIT assigned HF frequencies (like 3700, 6998.5, etc. MHz USB 100W, etc) Base and mobiles were (and are) VHF low band 33/40 MHz and CB emergency channel 9 AM for taking calls from citizens and coordinating with local voluntary firemen. Also tactical mil radios for catastrophe field comms. Also TOKAY TC-512 CB portable radios (with laminar mil style antennas) for local incident tac comms (27.475 MHz and 27.065 MHz AM) Now, all those services use TETRA TEA2 (380/390 MHz ) wich can be monitored by 3 letter Agencies we know...😂😂😂 Still in use (monitorable): Public Security Police using pmr446 radios (😂😂😂) to avoid the horrible perfomance of TETRA DMO) National Guard (militarized Police): VHF NFM simplex to avoid horrible perfomance of TETRA that fails all the time and with big TETRA coverage failures. Firemen: VHF NFM 152-153 MHz simplex tac channels (FireGround style). 148-174 MHz wide area tac comms via retransmiters (nationwide coverage and overlap). Civil Defense: Same as Firemen (frequencies side by side) Red Cross: Low Band VHF (33/40 MHz) semi-duplex and simplex (also some remote base stations via UHF link). All the network is linked nation via UHF, and can work with regional or nationwide comms at the same time. In practice, most are GSM/UMTS/LTE for all services (including the Military.... 😂😂) If the gsm/umts/lte would go down, the comms would colapse because the TETRA sistem would cope and the military use cellphones all the time (shame on you if you consider yourself a military man and carry a cellphone with you...)
Here in Germany they seem to use the 4m band. At least there are a couple of repeaters where I live. One is right under the commercial broadcast band at 87,195 MHz.
Montreal FD is on a Motorola P25 phase 2 system. Fireground comms are P25 simplex with a vehicular repeater broadcasting the incident to be recorded by dispatch and listened in by stations not at the scene (we run 68 full time stations). Most of our comms are unencrypted except for special channels for HazMat and Technical Rescue teams, and some upper management channels. This allows for listening in with a P25-II scanner or an SDR dongle and OP25 software. The system is shared with the police (encrypted) and the city's public works dept (unencrypted).
You must be in southern Ontario... Up here in northern Ontario, the only encrypted comes I've ever heard were OPP surveillance coms, the city police and city services.... Mostly everything else is in the clear around here..
My county aka province police in North Carolina is encrypted. I do get joy listening to fire and EMS and i listen to my hometown police and fire in Massachusetts as the director is anti encryption
I remember listening to the police in the 90's and there was a report of a UFO crash in a field just a few miles from us. I asked my Dad if he could drive us down to the field, he was tempted but ultimately declined. The next week in the local newspaper, several people who showed up at the field were arrested and charged for listening to the police communications.
I also think one of the problems was criminals were also listening to the police and knew if they were safe to carry on or scarper coz the police were on the way. I used to listen too and as already said below in other comments it was very interesting, I even got used to certain controllers at the base station, some were better than others. Sometimes it was a chase and the helicopter (India 99) was called in to assist, what made it all interesting was you knew the roads/area so you kind of buld a picture in your mind.
The comparable radio system in the Netherlands is called "objectportofoon" or "object radio", meaning the radio communication on-site related directly to the object (building) you're firefighting on. It differs per region what tech or frequency is being used though.
@@erwin3113 Well, "it depends", as always. Regions use DMR or TETRA DMO. The former can be encrypted, while the latter is definitely encrypted. I'm not sure whether they encrypt the DMR radios, but I would assume they do as a matter of routine. So, in practice, no.
@@erwin3113I don't think any of the objectportofoons anywhere in the country use encryption. Most regions use analog, some use DMR or TETRA DMO, neither of which employs encryption. Decoding DMR or DMO obviously requires a radio, a digital scanner (very few support DMO/TETRA), or an SDR + software. The frequencies are pretty easy to find and there's a small group of hobbyists that monitor these comms.
Always keep the Fire Channels on RX only, not much on Analogue around me but travelling around gives a bit now and again. Fire engine that responded to my building one, I heard the MotoTrbo TPT before I saw the truck haha
Over here 154.600 is murs 5. Murs is an fcc sanctioned radio service for license free use by the general public and is limited to 2 watts with no limit on the use of different antenna types so long as you don’t get above 60 feet off the ground and 20 feet off of whatever structure it was mounted on. See fcc rules part 95 for details.
Essex along with most use both dmr and analogue there's a uk wide set up where all ch1to 8 are dmr, 9 up are analogues also ch1 colour code 1 ch2 colour code 2 and so on, same in Essex, same in Hertfordshire, same everywhere, 457 mhs plus 450.1 and 464.1 and the dual chs in at 462
So just get a dmr set scanner like a uniden ubc3600 or sds100 sds200 or similar whistler scanners and load up tag with ch numbers,and dmr colour codes and then again same freqs analogue then u can switch between any dmr or analogue use or scan of course
Great Vid, Staffordshire Fire use digital and are also voice encrypted, we had a incident very close to home and could pick them up on the anytone 868.. West Midlands still use analog..
Encryption on fitecthate unusual and isn't recommended, fire have to do mutual aids no good if one is using encrypted, sureky yiu just mean dmr, use my anytone and my capable scanners on those they all have 16 channels uk plan 8 dmr, 8 analogue sane freqs
Seems again that in The Netherlands the situation is pretty similair. Main communications to the control room are via C2000 (TETRA encrypted). Fireground radio is analog / DMR or TETRA DMO and TMO. The fire brigade in my howntown uses DMO in the 380/390mhz (with an onboard repeater) and the neighbouring firebrigade uses analog in de 458/468mhz, so there isnt much of a system in it. Both DMO and analog/DMR use a set of 16 channels with every firestation having their own channel to operate on.
In the Brigade I work for the analog radio is only used at an incident and we've disabled the cross band repeater system's due to relyabilty issues so unable to talk to control on analog hand sets. So unless there's a big job kicking off there won't be much to listen to.
But the dmr is still active so that's easy to listen to the fire ground and can be busy even when shopping in tesco, or small or large incidents or airshows, big events with fire there
u can also (not legally) listen into the coast guard radio (nothing much happens on it) i remember listening out for when a lifeboat got launched and the coms were on the coast guard radio
In Australia the government went to APCO 25 phase 1 , now using phase 2, while ambulance and a few other users can be heard, police though are fully encrypted, as a result, you wont even hear the tones or handshakes from the channels.
In 2022, my area implemented a new radio system, which I in turn spent $1,800 dollars in scanners to receive, only for them 11 months later go encrypted. And now I use swear words
Nice video. I do see DMR signals in some of those freqs. in London, but haven't tried decoding them. I'll give it a try. Did you know that London buses are all on DMR around 140-141 mHz? I'm guessing buses in Manchester and maybe trams have some radio network.
When I drove buses in Birmingham, we used MPT1327 on 200-206 MHz or thereabouts. Not lived there for a while though so don't know if they're still using it or not.
I often listen to the firemen on their handheld devices around the city here in Cork IE, on anologue probably only 2 or 5 watts power. Tetra has virtually killed the hobby😏
All the Los Angeles emergency services must be public channels because they have all those "Stringer" journalists who chase emergency calls across the city looking to film dramatic incidents. The more affluent stringers have stacks of equipment in their vehicles with live channels for Police, Fire, EMS etc so they know where to deploy to. Personally, I do agree with emergency services being encrypted and not just Police. Anyone nefarious could still use EMS channels to pick up on plans and movements in response to terrorist or marauding attacker scenarios.
Down here in the south I can hear something along the lines of: JSO are blocking the roads again. Right oh, Sarge, I'll get the flasks of tea and biscuits ready for them and make sure they are comfortable while we "engage" with them.
I’ve managed to intercept trunked tetra signals but only unencrypted ones. This is a good thing though. If I could get the encryption key, I could then listen into police etc.
@@RingwayManchester Because technology and the overall jumpiness of the British government. They detain you for things like taking a picture outside of a police station citing the s43 Terrorism Act 2002
If you bothered to do your own research, you’d know that numerous fire services have published a document with all frequencies and a downloadable codeplug for other services which is available on google for all to see. So read up before posting uneducated drivel
I’m fascinated by all this and a few years ago I got myself a bofang with better antenna but could never work it I sat there for hours and gave up watching this and all those numbers is just a blur lol if anyone out there can explain it in extremely simplified way please do lol I have a bofang radio and would like to listen to the fire service in Luton or Dunstable Bedfordshire
London Ambulance Service was the last to go encrypted, maybe 2015? The only thing analogue now is TfL bus controllers, although I haven't listened out for a while - they could be pretty entertaining in forms of exasperation
I’m new to this, can someone tell me what equipment (scanner) I would need to listen to my local West Midlands fire service? I’ve just brought a drone and would like to arrive at a fire location asap to capture footage.
I had ofcom onto me telling me I cannot listen in to any licenced or pmr transmission after I visited the big brother house and my scanner picked up security comms. I presume there is a loophole I can use?
The law is, you can’t listen to anything that’s not intended for you. However scanners are widely sold, and it can’t really be actively enforced, except in hindsight sort of thing
When we publish it, it makes it easy for ofcom to take further action as we self incriminate ourself. I am wondering if I should stop using my scanner to expose security weaknesses in my audit videos or do I continue with the full intent of listening to a transmission which is not intended for me.@@RingwayManchester
The problem is, is millions of people monitor radio transmissions that are not for them. People listen to planes, marine, shopwatch, security, all sorts. The radios are available. So if they went after you they’d have to go after everyone
This was one of the emails to me - That’s correct you can own and use a scanner without a license and I’m in no way asking you to get a license.
I was just establishing if you did hold a licence or had permission from the license holder to intercept the transmissions before telling you that you may have committed an offence. Once I state you’ve committed an offence without gathering facts id be making a grave error should it turn out you are legally allowed to do what you were doing.
I’m in no way saying the use of a scanner is the issue I’m dealing with. I’m dealing with the interception of a transmission on a licensed frequency. As you’ve highlighted below in yellow that Generally the use of a scanner is exempt from needing a licence. But as you can also see on the text above anyone who intentionally and without the necessary authorisation intercepts communications may be committing a criminal offence.
You only need a licence normally to transmit so me asking you if you had a licence was to check if you had reasonable grounds to be using that frequency. Also again proportionality if someone buys a scanner and it turns on to a frequency and they hear something then they didn’t seek that frequency but they should cease monitoring once they know that the transmission is not for themselves.
The offence if any here is the fact you sought out the frequency , listened in and then continued to monitor . With regards to rebroadcasting I’m currently taking advice on that as you broadcasted it on the internet.
With regards to Big Brother , Its their call how they apply for their licence and use their spectrum , if they were to complain about interference we would remind them that there is encryption or codes they can use .I’m sure they took your concern on board.
An offence has been committed but my prime aim at the moment is to inform you of the framework and rules so you’re aware and understand the legalities around the wireless telegraphy act. One of the factors we consider in any case we look at is men rea , which means was someone aware that this is an offence . That’s why in the first instance I intended to call and just have a discussion.
But again should you need anything else clarifying I’m here to help as well as enforce the Wireless telegraphy act so please feel free to ask. @@RingwayManchester
While we are on emergency communication, what happened to the Emergency Alerts. We have just had a deadly storm, but I could not find any mention of the service being activated in some of those deadly areas.
I spent many happy hours in the 1970's listening to local police, Manchester airport, ambulance services etc. The radios were plentiful and sold at markets and cheap electrical stores. The units themselves were large, but light in weight. I opened the back of mine once to find most of it was empty except for the tiny amount of electronics and the speaker. It had a brushed stainless steel speaker grille with hundreds of tiny holes in it, and the ariel was about four feet long. Great fun.
I did the same. I had a Grundig Yatch Boy and me and my did used to listen in to our local police.
Grundig were a godsend to young radio snoopers
I used to get GMP’s CK traffic on a normal radio on 101.00mhz with the pips between transmissions I remember. I can still here the deep calm voice of the operator.
@@andc5457still are. My son found a grundig fr200 and is now obsessed with finding things like time stations or random chatter
I had a scanner in the 90s listening all emergency services, absolutely great times knowing what's going on around you
@@jamiemoo2000 oh yes that was great to hear about anuty Doris and her piles I loved it
Way back in the mid 80's our fireground communication was to throw furniture or other objects out of a window if you ran into a problem. If you threw your helmet that meant it was a life or death situation. We did not have enough radios to go around.
@@doublewhopper67 Our 'life and death' situations in the fire service aren't just "something might fall on my head". Throwing a helmet (which is high visibility and likely to get someone's attention as it drops down) could be an indicator that two people in breathing apparatus are trapped and running out of air - a far more pressing concern than protecting one's head
@@nathansvlog You weren't in the UK fire service then! We had systems in place to make sure no one EVER had to throw their helmet out of a window to get some attention! Or that they maybe trapped and running out of air! Had you never heard of the hand held radio? They've been around for years! That's the most ridiculous, stupid action I've ever heard of. I did the job for 32 years and NEVER was that suggested s a means of communication on the fireground. Well done to you for surviving it!
@@stetomlinson3146 You must have worked in the exact same place as him then to make this statement?
@@TeddyBen Than whom?
As a young scallywag in the 60s , I always had a police wavelength receiver near to hand. Always good to know where they were.
🤭
You can also decode POCSAG and can pick out some aimed at paramedics in the UK.
Yeah, I mean maybe. Its illegal under a recent UK law (forget its exact name, but passed in 2020) to even mention what you are mentioning. Hence I'm not mentioning it, but know what you mean 🙂
I came here to mention, did the UK actually ever stop ALL it's use of "Legacy" technology? 🤐
Well at least if nobody is allowed to talk about it then it must be secure and and not trivial to intercept.
@@nikovzeweb569 in this case these ones are not secure because the whole point is they won’t find the cruise to be able to listen in without any hassle
I used to love listening to a good car-chase when I lived in London, much more exciting than anything else at the time.
Years ago when pretty much everyone was using FM I dealt with an interference problem at an LFB site that was affecting their AM system, it was actually the heating thermostat in the radio site causing the interference and the LFB engineer made a note to inspect and replace all radio site thermostats with solid state ones rather than standard bimetal strip thermostats. There was great reluctance to even change to FM let alone digital back then. SCR based thermostats back then would likely have been quite expensive industrial units.
My friend had a scanner in the 90s. Sometimes We would go to a high point and listen into the local emergency services. Very rarely we would go along for a look. We were never the only ones there when we did 😂
And that's why all the radio networks went encrypted because guys like you turning up to emergency jobs idiots
Roder that.... 😂
London buses often speak with the Police on open frequencies, especially during football days. In cities like Brighton which heavily supplements the Police with police-like private security firms you can listen into responses to petty crime and usual night-scene chaos
wow here in Slovenia, the First responders’ freqs are a couple MHZ away from amateur and are not encrypted, Police and Military are tho ( as expected )
As most everyone knows, here in the States some public safety comms are open to monitoring and others not... it all depends on the local, county, and state regulations. Federal comms have all gone to encrypted P25. In my area all police comms, except the State Troopers went to encrypted P25 by 2015. Until 2020 you could still monitor all Fire comms, then those "went", but dispatch was still "open". Last year dispatch "went" and now all that's left is "tone out".
what i like about the US Emergency services they broadcast live transmissions on the internet via broadcastify..
Only if it's not encrypted and only if there is someone to provide the stream @@AndrewSvonja
I wonder what all the secrecy is for. For a century police and fire service worked just fine in the clear.
that's true but lets be honest, the cops never wanted their radio traffic in the clear. @@attribute-4677
@RCAvhstape in Louisiana the State Sheriff's Association pressured the Fire Services into P25 under the guise of "interagency operability"... horse manure. The Sheriff's figured out that on appx half of all calls the FD was dispatched and by listening to their radio traffic one could get a very good idea of what was going on... Many people here have commented that they listen to Broadcastify. To be honest that's what I do my serious listening with.
I remember, back in the late 60s, a report in RadCom (or whatever the RSGB monthly journal was called in those days) about a group of people who made it all too obvious that they were illegally listening into fire service communications by repeatedly turning up at the scenes of fires in their cars, thus resulting in their prosecution. As the radios that they were using to listen were fitted into their cars, as well as fining the offenders, the court ordered the seizure and destruction of all their cars too!
In the 60's it would be dangerous to listen and not keep a low profile...
In Portugal I listened to everything and also used forbiden CB radios. I had the Army and Political Police after me, but they never were able to get me....😂😂😂😂 (they were fierce at the time...)
Fixed Police comms were HF AM/CW (80m, 120m, 60m, etc. later USB), mobile ones were 80m AM with kind of an Hustler antenna (big one with coil in the midle...).
After that they went for nation wide instalation of CB radios in military frequencies (yes, frequencies nearby CB were military in most Countries in the world, including USA). The frequency was 27.265 MHz AM, using PONY CB-71 for base stations (5/8 antenna), and mobiles (ASP CB antenna similar to those low band ones in USA). Range was enough for local small towns. Portable units were not that good performance as needed:
PONY CB-36 (2 to 3W, 12V) with original telescopic antenna, and TOKAY TC-512 (0,3W, 9V) with a short laminar mil type antenna (low range because it should have a charging coil at the base).
Of course that major cities like Lisbon had UHF Motorola and GE radios with retransmiters all over the place (later Simulcast UHF)
Some military traditional towns were directly supported by the Army that got them 70 MHz band, mil style, side transportable units with a Base at the Headquarters.
National Guard type permanent militarized Police, was also 80m AM, and mid-band VHF FM (76/86 MHz).
They've also used some 5W portable CB radios for comunications between the radar car and the place where they would stop the speeders....
Also some fixed CB radios for special purposes (on out of the CB frequencies).
Later they complemented with 146-150 MHz FM network with retransmiters and simplex all over the Country.
Firemen:
Voluntary units (without money) used CB channel 9 AM (regular 23 or 40 channel USA standard radios), both Base and mobile (also some portable CB radios like GE , Handic, etc).
Municipal units had VHF low band (33/40 MHz FM) . Also they monitored CB emergency channel 9 AM for citizens asking for help and also for coordination with voluntary firemen stations.
Later they evolved for a 168 MHz VHF FM with remote simplex base stations with some simplex tactical channels and later even duplex retransmiters.
Even the Military used CB style radios on AM (they were much better than the old BC, PRC, etc mil radios)
Main use was artilery fire correction. Mil Scouts used litle green zamac boxes ONKYO mono channel CB portable radios with laminar mil style antenna, on frequencies above 23 channel CB (at the time in the 60's/70's) like 27.345 or 27.365 MHz and similar (mil controled frequencies at the time).
Those litle 9V radios (6 X 1.5V AA bateries) were used in the Colonial 60's decade War in Africa (THC-736 and 756, and latter better banana type portables wouldn't cope, and those litle ones would do the job...😅)
Portuguese Red Cross Fixed comms used YAESU FT-77 and Marconi radios on UIT assigned HF frequencies (like 3700, 6998.5, etc. MHz USB 100W, etc)
Base and mobiles were (and are) VHF low band 33/40 MHz and CB emergency channel 9 AM for taking calls from citizens and coordinating with local voluntary firemen.
Also tactical mil radios for catastrophe field comms.
Also TOKAY TC-512 CB portable radios (with laminar mil style antennas) for local incident tac comms (27.475 MHz and 27.065 MHz AM)
Now, all those services use TETRA TEA2 (380/390 MHz ) wich can be monitored by 3 letter Agencies we know...😂😂😂
Still in use (monitorable):
Public Security Police using pmr446 radios (😂😂😂) to avoid the horrible perfomance of TETRA DMO)
National Guard (militarized Police):
VHF NFM simplex to avoid horrible perfomance of TETRA that fails all the time and with big TETRA coverage failures.
Firemen:
VHF NFM 152-153 MHz simplex tac channels (FireGround style).
148-174 MHz wide area tac comms via retransmiters (nationwide coverage and overlap).
Civil Defense:
Same as Firemen (frequencies side by side)
Red Cross:
Low Band VHF (33/40 MHz) semi-duplex and simplex (also some remote base stations via UHF link).
All the network is linked nationwide via UHF, and can work with regional or nationwide comms at the same time.
In practice, most are GSM/UMTS/LTE for all services (including the Military.... 😂😂)
If the gsm/umts/lte would go down, the comms would colapse because the TETRA sistem wouldnt cope and the military use cellphones all the time
(shame on you if you consider yourself a military man and carry a cellphone with you...)
I've heard police search and rescue boats on the Marine channels and also police helicopters on the air band frequencies when they liaise with civilian personnel on the ground.
Got my scanner in 1995, those were the good old days 😢
Ahh good one Lewis i was unaware you could still hear the old Fire ground Radios.
Im an ex Firefighter for Bucks(M2HK) did 7 years back in the 80's & 90's.
Last channel used i recall was 70.787.5 MHZ the TX was 80MHZ area when i joined they had just gone off the old Broadcast band 101.050MHZ AM to 71.137.5 AM.
Fire ground radio were Burndepts and then Phillips PF85 451 MHZ area then the 457 MHZ slot 3 channels.
Ch1 general
ch2 BA
Ch3 was a repeater ch used with Control unit or Command unit.
The retained Alerter frequency was 148.875?? and we used Multi Tone PR 79 units before VODA tone call dont know what they use now.
The Turnout system before printers was voice down the wire and retained picked up the Solent phone and wrote the incident address down before riding the pump.
Happy turnouts and being on the Run as we use to say.
Marc in Bletchley G6XEG EX Bucks Fire & Rescue.
@Ringway Manchester Lewis you should make a video on that 100MHz allocation, how it came to be and how it was still a thing in the 1980s.
I’ll have a look
@@RingwayManchesterIs it legal to listen to the fire service on a Reciever in the UK.
My little story about scanners dates back to around 1992 if I remember rightly I was returning home late one night (driving around 2am) , across the road I noticed a glow and a lot of smoke, drove around and could see the building was clearly well alight so called 999, it ended up being a huge fire and was the main story on the front page of the local paper the following day. Around 2 months later I had an early knock on the door and the police with a search warrant arrested me claiming I'd broken in to the factory and then set it on fire to cover my tracks - for clarification I HADN'T. I was arrested and they actually wanted to remand me pending further investigations, they seized my scanner, petrol can from car and a number of pairs of shoes. After 1 court appearance and bailed to stay away from my home address (so not close to the factory) , new court dates came and went and eventually I a court date arrived - I attended to find the police not in attendance as they had dropped all charges (because i'd done nothing) but they had requested the court seize my scanner because following examination of it there were numerous frequencies programmed in including police channels - so two weeks later I bought another and sadly anything to do with the police I simply look away,
wow, so sorry. i would be the same. i am.
Yes, sadly and maybe surprising police often ignore common sense. Who in their right mind would break into a building, set it on fire "to cover his tracks" for so go on to call 999 about it?! Maybe the police think this would be a good idea...
Very interesting. Where I live in the USA, the police channels are encrypted, but the fire channels are not. It's fairly easy to access some fire channels through Internet scanner sites. If I hear a lot of sirens in the distance, I'll click the link and find out what's happening. I live in a large seaside resort community, so fire/rescue can be very entertaining during the summer, as drunk people tend to exercise poor judgement.
Lots of US Police radios are on Broadcastify too Mike.. I like listening in on my Hamshack Hotline Phone ;)
in trunk radio to
Are you sure it's actually encrypted though? Our city went to P25, but RadioReference states it's not encrypted.
Coastguard/RNLI still use Analogue marine band.
Mountain Rescue use a mixture of Analogue and DMR depending where you are but also use Airwave when working with Police.
in the UK back in the early 80's the cops used the lower broadcast FM radio frequencies, always was tuning into this on my 4 band radio.. then they moved to the higher frequencies..
Yes indeed around 100 Mhz I think but using AM mode
You seem to have forgotten all about the fourth emergency service, Lewis. HM Coastguard. They are still on analogue FM, at 156.000MHz (Channel 0) and 156.375MHz (Channel 67) working channel.
It's worth just checking random frequencies.
You never know when they might use some other type of radio or band.
Maritime and Coastguard Agency still use standard Marine band VHF radios for local comms and still monitor CH16 VHF (156.8 MHz FM) and 2182Khz USB long wave distress channel , they normally have to have local cops with them for co-ordination if police choppers or beach search teams are in use ( well up here in NE Scotland that is )
Thanks for this. I am an Ex RNLI crew member, who are controlled by the HM Coastguard working channel 0 (Zero).This channel is strictly controlled and, in order to transmit on zero you need to be either an RNLI lifeboat or a Coastguard Auxiliary, and the radio needed can't be bought without an official order from HMCG. I suspect that the use of the normal VHF maritime network is due to the fact that there are a huge number of Auxiliary Coastguards st sea at any one time. most of the commercial fishermen I knew were auxiliary, and to go dmr or encrypted would place heavy financial burden on these essential lifesavers Although it is a while since I served, the system worked well with no range problems, certainly for the inshore fleet where I was. We could hear the French rescue services in Normandy on VHF, some 60 odd miles without problems from the boathouse station.
Fit like Davie, fellow NE Scotsman. 👍🏼
I'm in Glasgow and get Belfast Coastguard on the repeaters and even Belfast VTS on Marine frequencies. Coastguard Mobiles also heard locally as I live on the River Clyde.
@@EzeePosseTV Hey, fit like from Aberdeen 🤪
(Don't be fooled, I'm an ex-pat Londoner, but I've been here long enough to pick up a few essentials)😋
@@TestGearJunkie. Aahh fit like fellow Aberdonian, lol. It's all good, born in New-Market Suffolk and raised here in the Deen. Hehe 👍🏼
I remember the stories of my uncle who deove a tow truck and was a mechanic, he woupd listen in and when he heard a road accident, hed "Mysteriously" be passing by and tow the cars out of the way😂
It is not true that fire is the ONLY emergency service using unscrambled comms. RNLI / coastguard / VTS still use good old analog devices when working in emergency together.
Fantastic that you've covered this. I should have expected it really.
Here in Mansfield they are still on analogue. Very handy when I see fire engine out near where I live. Always on channel 1.
Here in derby it’s all dmr !
@@winstonchurchill6506probably using the dmr more simple get a dnr hand held or a dmr capable scanner load in all the channels dmr and analogue, we had a big fire here recently and 5 chs used some dmr and some the analogue
@wisteela that’s interesting to hear. I’m Mansfield based never knew this, I thought they had all moved over. Might have to get the radio back out and start searching. Thanks
@@samsalloway7412 it's dmr and analogue it's a national set up every brigade has same set up, sone use dmr exclusively some analogue and dmr as needed but for interops it's a standard set up so every one can say go to ch8 or ch14 and be able to communicate
Channel one is a dmr 457.0375, ch9 is 457.0375 analogue so if analogue it's now ch9, befire the national dmr plan ch1 was 457.0375 analogue but as said that's now ch9
In the 60's it would be dangerous to listen and not keep a low profile...
In Portugal I listened to everything and also used forbiden CB radios. I had the Army and Political Police after me, but they never were able to get me....😂😂😂😂 (they were fierce at the time...)
Fixed Police comms were HF AM/CW (80m, 120m, 60m, etc. later USB), mobile ones were 80m AM with kind of an Hustler antenna (big one with coil in the midle...).
After that they went for nation wide instalation of CB radios in military frequencies (yes, frequencies nearby CB were military in most Countries in the world, including USA). The frequency was 27.265 MHz AM, using PONY CB-71 for base stations (5/8 antenna), and mobiles (ASP CB antenna similar to those low band ones in USA). Range was enough for local small towns. Portable units were not that good performance as needed:
PONY CB-36 (2 to 3W, 12V) with original telescopic antenna, and TOKAY TC-512 (0,3W, 9V) with a short laminar mil type antenna (low range because it should have a charging coil at the base).
Of course that major cities like Lisbon had UHF Motorola and GE radios with retransmiters all over the place (later Simulcast UHF)
Some military traditional towns were directly supported by the Army that got them 70 MHz band, mil style, side transportable units with a Base at the Headquarters.
National Guard type permanent militarized Police, was also 80m AM, and mid-band VHF FM (76/86 MHz).
They've also used some 5W portable CB radios for comunications between the radar car and the place where they would stop the speeders....
Also some fixed CB radios for special purposes (on out of the CB frequencies).
Later they complemented with 146-150 MHz FM network with retransmiters and simplex all over the Country.
Firemen:
Voluntary units (without money) used CB channel 9 AM (regular 23 or 40 channel USA standard radios), both Base and mobile (also some portable CB radios like GE , Handic, etc).
Municipal units had VHF low band (33/40 MHz FM) . Also they monitored CB emergency channel 9 AM for citizens asking for help and also for coordination with voluntary firemen stations.
Later they evolved for a 168 MHz VHF FM with remote simplex base stations with some simplex tactical channels and later even duplex retransmiters.
Even the Military used CB style radios on AM (they were much better than the old BC, PRC, etc mil radios)
Main use was artilery fire correction. Mil Scouts used litle green zamac boxes ONKYO mono channel CB portable radios with laminar mil style antenna, on frequencies above 23 channel CB (at the time in the 60's/70's) like 27.345 or 27.365 MHz and similar (mil controled frequencies at the time).
Those litle 9V radios (6 X 1.5V AA bateries) were used in the Colonial 60's decade War in Africa (THC-736 and 756, and latter better banana type portables wouldn't cope, and those litle ones would do the job...😅)
Portuguese Red Cross Fixed comms used YAESU FT-77 and Marconi radios on UIT assigned HF frequencies (like 3700, 6998.5, etc. MHz USB 100W, etc)
Base and mobiles were (and are) VHF low band 33/40 MHz and CB emergency channel 9 AM for taking calls from citizens and coordinating with local voluntary firemen.
Also tactical mil radios for catastrophe field comms.
Also TOKAY TC-512 CB portable radios (with laminar mil style antennas) for local incident tac comms (27.475 MHz and 27.065 MHz AM)
Now, all those services use TETRA TEA2 (380/390 MHz ) wich can be monitored by 3 letter Agencies we know...😂😂😂
Still in use (monitorable):
Public Security Police using pmr446 radios (😂😂😂) to avoid the horrible perfomance of TETRA DMO)
National Guard (militarized Police):
VHF NFM simplex to avoid horrible perfomance of TETRA that fails all the time and with big TETRA coverage failures.
Firemen:
VHF NFM 152-153 MHz simplex tac channels (FireGround style).
148-174 MHz wide area tac comms via retransmiters (nationwide coverage and overlap).
Civil Defense:
Same as Firemen (frequencies side by side)
Red Cross:
Low Band VHF (33/40 MHz) semi-duplex and simplex (also some remote base stations via UHF link).
All the network is linked nation via UHF, and can work with regional or nationwide comms at the same time.
In practice, most are GSM/UMTS/LTE for all services (including the Military.... 😂😂)
If the gsm/umts/lte would go down, the comms would colapse because the TETRA sistem would cope and the military use cellphones all the time (shame on you if you consider yourself a military man and carry a cellphone with you...)
Here in Germany they seem to use the 4m band. At least there are a couple of repeaters where I live. One is right under the commercial broadcast band at 87,195 MHz.
Montreal FD is on a Motorola P25 phase 2 system. Fireground comms are P25 simplex with a vehicular repeater broadcasting the incident to be recorded by dispatch and listened in by stations not at the scene (we run 68 full time stations). Most of our comms are unencrypted except for special channels for HazMat and Technical Rescue teams, and some upper management channels. This allows for listening in with a P25-II scanner or an SDR dongle and OP25 software.
The system is shared with the police (encrypted) and the city's public works dept (unencrypted).
P0LICE the zero on that lamp bothers me.
Interesting, Here in Ontario Canada most Police forces are encrypted so we listen to the Ambulances and Utilities :)
😂😂😂 explore the possibility my friend.... There is a decryption for every encryption
You must be in southern Ontario... Up here in northern Ontario, the only encrypted comes I've ever heard were OPP surveillance coms, the city police and city services.... Mostly everything else is in the clear around here..
My county aka province police in North Carolina is encrypted. I do get joy listening to fire and EMS and i listen to my hometown police and fire in Massachusetts as the director is anti encryption
Some of the SdQ is in analog and I was listening to them from Plattsburgh last year.
I’m still jealous!
I remember listening to the police in the 90's and there was a report of a UFO crash in a field just a few miles from us. I asked my Dad if he could drive us down to the field, he was tempted but ultimately declined.
The next week in the local newspaper, several people who showed up at the field were arrested and charged for listening to the police communications.
Was this in Cheshire by any chance?
@RingwayManchester it was Lanark, the field was in the Clyde Valley near Crossford. It was around 1994 I think.
What happened if someone was going to run an event there so people turned up and so basically all turn up with only one listen to radio
It was a trap to catch earwiggers.
@robertthomson9808 yes, the press report called it a sting operation.
I also think one of the problems was criminals were also listening to the police and knew if they were safe to carry on or scarper coz the police were on the way.
I used to listen too and as already said below in other comments it was very interesting, I even got used to certain controllers at the base station, some were better than others.
Sometimes it was a chase and the helicopter (India 99) was called in to assist, what made it all interesting was you knew the roads/area so you kind of buld a picture in your mind.
Some US states are not allowed to use encryption on their blue light radio communications because the citizens demand transparency
FYI The UK ambulance service has already, for several years, had an Airwave replacement project for when/if the comtract is ended.
I used to listen to the police on VHF years ago all good harmless fun being the son of a police officer I never passed on information.Happy days 😂
The comparable radio system in the Netherlands is called "objectportofoon" or "object radio", meaning the radio communication on-site related directly to the object (building) you're firefighting on. It differs per region what tech or frequency is being used though.
So it is possible to listen in to the dutch portofoons the firefighters use?
@@erwin3113 Well, "it depends", as always. Regions use DMR or TETRA DMO. The former can be encrypted, while the latter is definitely encrypted. I'm not sure whether they encrypt the DMR radios, but I would assume they do as a matter of routine.
So, in practice, no.
@@erwin3113I don't think any of the objectportofoons anywhere in the country use encryption. Most regions use analog, some use DMR or TETRA DMO, neither of which employs encryption. Decoding DMR or DMO obviously requires a radio, a digital scanner (very few support DMO/TETRA), or an SDR + software.
The frequencies are pretty easy to find and there's a small group of hobbyists that monitor these comms.
Great footage - I literally live around the corner from Cheadle Community Fire Station
Always keep the Fire Channels on RX only, not much on Analogue around me but travelling around gives a bit now and again. Fire engine that responded to my building one, I heard the MotoTrbo TPT before I saw the truck haha
Often have my radio tuned to listen to fire ground crews when down in London. Always something going on
I listened during a recent trip and got nothing unfortunately. Maybe next time
Over here 154.600 is murs 5. Murs is an fcc sanctioned radio service for license free use by the general public and is limited to 2 watts with no limit on the use of different antenna types so long as you don’t get above 60 feet off the ground and 20 feet off of whatever structure it was mounted on. See fcc rules part 95 for details.
I had an industrial accident in 1987 and the metal plate they put in my head picked up Tony Blackburn for a while.
Had a scanner pre-04 before the digital switchover. Hours of fun listening to my local plod.
LFB still use analogue and also test the local repeater twice a day
Can still hear Essex fire service on the analogue channel now and again now very often
Essex along with most use both dmr and analogue there's a uk wide set up where all ch1to 8 are dmr, 9 up are analogues also ch1 colour code 1 ch2 colour code 2 and so on, same in Essex, same in Hertfordshire, same everywhere, 457 mhs plus 450.1 and 464.1 and the dual chs in at 462
So just get a dmr set scanner like a uniden ubc3600 or sds100 sds200 or similar whistler scanners and load up tag with ch numbers,and dmr colour codes and then again same freqs analogue then u can switch between any dmr or analogue use or scan of course
As a kid in the 80's when I went to bed I would listen in on my little radio.
I remember Police & Emergency on 100 MHz back in the 1980's around 1982-1985 in London on the FM commercial band.
Yes using AM mode
I remember it well too with its beeps between talking.
Great Vid, Staffordshire Fire use digital and are also voice encrypted, we had a incident very close to home and could pick them up on the anytone 868.. West Midlands still use analog..
Encryption on fitecthate unusual and isn't recommended, fire have to do mutual aids no good if one is using encrypted, sureky yiu just mean dmr, use my anytone and my capable scanners on those they all have 16 channels uk plan 8 dmr, 8 analogue sane freqs
Seems again that in The Netherlands the situation is pretty similair.
Main communications to the control room are via C2000 (TETRA encrypted). Fireground radio is analog / DMR or TETRA DMO and TMO.
The fire brigade in my howntown uses DMO in the 380/390mhz (with an onboard repeater) and the neighbouring firebrigade uses analog in de 458/468mhz, so there isnt much of a system in it.
Both DMO and analog/DMR use a set of 16 channels with every firestation having their own channel to operate on.
I remember certain businesses men who always kept the police scanner on 😂
Hi Lewis, I'm a Coastguard and you can definitely listen to us.
Some MRT teams still use Analogue, as does the RNLI and the coastguard too.... Blackpool lifeguards can be interesting listening on busy summers day!
In the Brigade I work for the analog radio is only used at an incident and we've disabled the cross band repeater system's due to relyabilty issues so unable to talk to control on analog hand sets. So unless there's a big job kicking off there won't be much to listen to.
But the dmr is still active so that's easy to listen to the fire ground and can be busy even when shopping in tesco, or small or large incidents or airshows, big events with fire there
Excellent viewing as usual, thanks
u can also (not legally) listen into the coast guard radio (nothing much happens on it) i remember listening out for when a lifeboat got launched and the coms were on the coast guard radio
Aren't the coastguard agency an emergency service they still use analogue radio
Another magic video.. thanks again
In Australia the government went to APCO 25 phase 1 , now using phase 2, while ambulance and a few other users can be heard, police though are fully encrypted, as a result, you wont even hear the tones or handshakes from the channels.
Can still monitor Rockhampton, Cairns Police though on some of their analogue Talk groups.
@@jamiemoo2000 cheers mate, good to know that analogue is still used.
Hello from Corona,Ca
In 2022, my area implemented a new radio system, which I in turn spent $1,800 dollars in scanners to receive, only for them 11 months later go encrypted. And now I use swear words
Nice video. I do see DMR signals in some of those freqs. in London, but haven't tried decoding them. I'll give it a try. Did you know that London buses are all on DMR around 140-141 mHz? I'm guessing buses in Manchester and maybe trams have some radio network.
When I drove buses in Birmingham, we used MPT1327 on 200-206 MHz or thereabouts. Not lived there for a while though so don't know if they're still using it or not.
Had hold of a cid radio once the special channels that normal scanners never had
I often listen to the firemen on their handheld devices around the city here in Cork IE, on anologue probably only 2 or 5 watts power. Tetra has virtually killed the hobby😏
Yep the days of monitoring the EMS in the UK has long gone. Since 2001 in my area.
Analogue is dead & buried.
What about RN,I/coast guard and also MRT/SART you can also pick them up
Where the emergency services about 100.00 FM in the 1980s
VHF AM around 145-155MHz and UHF 450-466MHz in the days of analogue.
Coastguard?
All we need now are accent translators.
Nice, NFM Long Eaton is there, my local one, as well as Eastwood, Nottingham
@RingwayManchester >>> Great video...👍
All the Los Angeles emergency services must be public channels because they have all those "Stringer" journalists who chase emergency calls across the city looking to film dramatic incidents. The more affluent stringers have stacks of equipment in their vehicles with live channels for Police, Fire, EMS etc so they know where to deploy to.
Personally, I do agree with emergency services being encrypted and not just Police. Anyone nefarious could still use EMS channels to pick up on plans and movements in response to terrorist or marauding attacker scenarios.
Hmm 🤔 Are we forgetting about one of the Catagory 1 responders. The Coastguard. Which can be listened to. Maybe you could make a video ?
Down here in the south I can hear something along the lines of: JSO are blocking the roads again. Right oh, Sarge, I'll get the flasks of tea and biscuits ready for them and make sure they are comfortable while we "engage" with them.
Who ever breaks the police radios, to listen in will be worth millions.
It will never happen as the TEA2 encryption algorithm used by the UK EMS is very secure with all of its authentication protocols in place.
Thanks RM. Always Great Videos*****
I’ve managed to intercept trunked tetra signals but only unencrypted ones. This is a good thing though.
If I could get the encryption key, I could then listen into police etc.
I just realised how ludicrous this sounds. “If only” hahaaaa… 😂😂😂😂
If only I could get the key 😂😂😂😂😂
I can hear 144 vhf dispatch and firengines on tac 2. I can also hear most police coms on 866mhz P25
Is in Uk digital or analouge? In germany is everything digital
Lovely to see so much solar in use
Handy if you need to know whether they are still coming to decorate your house tomorrow, I jest.
Enjoy fireground while you can.
Why
@@RingwayManchester Because technology and the overall jumpiness of the British government. They detain you for things like taking a picture outside of a police station citing the s43 Terrorism Act 2002
Because people like you are posting things like this for every Tom dick and Harry. Just ruins it for everyone else…
If you bothered to do your own research, you’d know that numerous fire services have published a document with all frequencies and a downloadable codeplug for other services which is available on google for all to see. So read up before posting uneducated drivel
I’m fascinated by all this and a few years ago I got myself a bofang with better antenna but could never work it I sat there for hours and gave up watching this and all those numbers is just a blur lol if anyone out there can explain it in extremely simplified way please do lol I have a bofang radio and would like to listen to the fire service in Luton or Dunstable Bedfordshire
I offen hear them putting out fires of burnt out cars - also i noticed that some kiddies with some beofengs that seem to be on the same frequencies
My local fire and ambulance stations have a CB antenna on the station. However, I know I can’t listen to them.
London Ambulance Service was the last to go encrypted, maybe 2015? The only thing analogue now is TfL bus controllers, although I haven't listened out for a while - they could be pretty entertaining in forms of exasperation
So weird. We can hear everything. I don’t think they are aloud to encrypt it in the US
I’m new to this, can someone tell me what equipment (scanner) I would need to listen to my local West Midlands fire service? I’ve just brought a drone and would like to arrive at a fire location asap to capture footage.
In Germany we got digital radio and no analog anymore.
I used to really enjoy listening to the emergency’s I have a scanner now but it’s definitely not as good as it used to be
I had ofcom onto me telling me I cannot listen in to any licenced or pmr transmission after I visited the big brother house and my scanner picked up security comms. I presume there is a loophole I can use?
The law is, you can’t listen to anything that’s not intended for you. However scanners are widely sold, and it can’t really be actively enforced, except in hindsight sort of thing
When we publish it, it makes it easy for ofcom to take further action as we self incriminate ourself. I am wondering if I should stop using my scanner to expose security weaknesses in my audit videos or do I continue with the full intent of listening to a transmission which is not intended for me.@@RingwayManchester
The problem is, is millions of people monitor radio transmissions that are not for them. People listen to planes, marine, shopwatch, security, all sorts. The radios are available. So if they went after you they’d have to go after everyone
This was one of the emails to me -
That’s correct you can own and use a scanner without a license and I’m in no way asking you to get a license.
I was just establishing if you did hold a licence or had permission from the license holder to intercept the transmissions before telling you that you may have committed an offence. Once I state you’ve committed an offence without gathering facts id be making a grave error should it turn out you are legally allowed to do what you were doing.
I’m in no way saying the use of a scanner is the issue I’m dealing with. I’m dealing with the interception of a transmission on a licensed frequency. As you’ve highlighted below in yellow that Generally the use of a scanner is exempt from needing a licence. But as you can also see on the text above anyone who intentionally and without the necessary authorisation intercepts communications may be committing a criminal offence.
You only need a licence normally to transmit so me asking you if you had a licence was to check if you had reasonable grounds to be using that frequency. Also again proportionality if someone buys a scanner and it turns on to a frequency and they hear something then they didn’t seek that frequency but they should cease monitoring once they know that the transmission is not for themselves.
The offence if any here is the fact you sought out the frequency , listened in and then continued to monitor . With regards to rebroadcasting I’m currently taking advice on that as you broadcasted it on the internet.
With regards to Big Brother , Its their call how they apply for their licence and use their spectrum , if they were to complain about interference we would remind them that there is encryption or codes they can use .I’m sure they took your concern on board.
An offence has been committed but my prime aim at the moment is to inform you of the framework and rules so you’re aware and understand the legalities around the wireless telegraphy act. One of the factors we consider in any case we look at is men rea , which means was someone aware that this is an offence . That’s why in the first instance I intended to call and just have a discussion.
But again should you need anything else clarifying I’m here to help as well as enforce the Wireless telegraphy act so please feel free to ask.
@@RingwayManchester
That’s interesting.
How do I listen on a boafeng uv 5rIII I’ve literally got a fire station over the road and dont hear nothing
Found an esync. Do you have to program the police frequency?
Or can it scan?
here where I live I no for sure they are encrypted I live Florida
Has anyone picked them up in analogue recently ate they still using it nowadays in the uk ?
Awesome
i can decode all kind of things with sdr play and some very cool plugins SDR-UNO.
encrypted is not possible by anyone, AES 256 is inviolable, listening to open digital is easy
While we are on emergency communication, what happened to the Emergency Alerts. We have just had a deadly storm, but I could not find any mention of the service being activated in some of those deadly areas.
it was a fail thats why! Customers of at least 2 networks never received the messages! including me!
I don't know why but when i hear the radio talk i just think of family guy with stewie and Brian with the over.
Hi do you know what the jersey ci would be . To listen to, thanks.
is there any website you can go to listing to them ?
speedy question mate - I`m using a Uniden UBCD3600XLT hand held - what is the "Code plug" you talk about....? - cheers keep up the great videos.
It’s basically a file uploaded to dmr radios with the channels in
Here in the us he have use trunk system to listen to police know
Any links the the ones you can use. I have a old gre get something on them channels but be nice to be able to hear on a budget