[TheList] Wellington frequencies

Mon Nov 23 18:31:33 AEDT 2009

So, Greg, I presume you have never listened to digital transmissions on a scanner.

UHF frequencies in the ESC Band have been in use for over a year in Christchurch and having both an analogue and a digital scanner I have "listened" to these extensively in that time. With an analogue scanner, digital transmissions make a hissing (like white noise) sound but it is still easy to determine what frequencies are active, whether in the scan or manual mode, but obviously you can't hear what is being transmitted.

With a digital scanner, the digital transmissions obviously can't be listened to if they are encrypted but can be heard perfectly if they are unencrypted. Virtually all the radio traffic is encrypted but the scanner still locks on to them in the scan mode, they are heard as a series of "gurgling" noises and you can see "ENC" on the scanner display. If the scanner is in the hold mode you hear very little but still see the "ENC" when the frequency is active.

The reason I still scan these frequencies, and wanted to know what the ESB Band ones already in use in the Wellington area were, is that occasionally, on all of the channels in use in Christchurch, I have heard a portable in use with the encryption (probably inadvertently) turned off. You can then hear that side of the conversation perfectly and this makes it possible to detemine what that frequency is being used for.

So you see, whether using an analogue scanner or a digital scanner, it is still possible to determine what frequencies are in use and that is what I was asking. It is not all "The Sound of Silence" as some believe.

Cheers.

Grunter1.
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