I have been testing the rejuvenated McLean Relay Station for the last few days, so far so good computer-wise. The scanner simply will not provide reliable reception here, whether on the tower-mounted antenna nor with the back-of-set antenna sitting in a window. This is still a Bermuda Triangle for RF, unfortunately.
The MRS was catapulted back into the spotlight with coverage of the horrific Metro train wreck in northeast D.C. this evening. It maxed out at 10 listeners for quite some time. I only wish the radio coverage were solid, but the voice frequently breaks up. If I can stick a better 800 MHz antenna on it I will, but that is doubtful.
I put a business-grade router on it, so it should work after I turn my back on it to return home. But with computers you never know.
My thoughts go out to those affected by this train wreck.
The systems that will normally be scanned on the McLean Relay Station include Arlington County fire, MWAA (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority) fire, Fairfax County fire, and Fairfax County police district 3 (McLean, natch). Special events and incidents might require me to deviate from this list, such as this evening.
Enjoy.
Showing posts with label Arlington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arlington. Show all posts
2009-06-22
2008-12-01
McLean Relay Station up full time
Bote's McLean Relay Station is up full time with channel tags to serve you better. Please avail yourself of the links on the left. They most likely will bring up the Shoutcast server status page if you just click on them.
If you want to listen outright, just copy the link contents and paste into your favorite player, including WinAmp (preferred), iTunes, VLC (VideoLAN), or Windows Media Player (no channel tags).
The systems monitored include (and are usually limited to):
0 - The Federal District of Columbia fire trunked radio system
1 - Arlington County, Virginia public safety digital trunked system, fire
(1) - Arlington County, Virginia public safety analog trunked system (catch all)
3 - MWAA (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority) DCA and IAD trunked system, fire
4 - Fairfax County, Virginia public safety trunked system, fire
7 - Montgomery County, Maryland public safety trunked system, fire
At my option I might open up or deactivate certain groups as needed since I have remote control capability of this scanner. With the upcoming presidential inauguration fun and games I'm sure this capability will come in very handy. :-)
Because this feed monitors several trunked systems that employ duplicate talkgroup ids you might see DC fire on the channel tags when MWAA fire is talking. That's the way it goes. If you refer to the Council of Governments handy-dandy numbering chart above you can tell who you are hearing: the jurisdiction numbers are prefixed onto the unit numbers, so engine 705 is former Kensington (Montgomery) engine 5-1 and tower 401 is former McLean (Fairfax County) tower 1. Also, the damned channel tags don't seem to keep up when the scanner is rapidly stopping on different channels so you can't always believe what you read on the Internet.
More will be posted here as warranted.
If you want to listen outright, just copy the link contents and paste into your favorite player, including WinAmp (preferred), iTunes, VLC (VideoLAN), or Windows Media Player (no channel tags).
The systems monitored include (and are usually limited to):
0 - The Federal District of Columbia fire trunked radio system
1 - Arlington County, Virginia public safety digital trunked system, fire
(1) - Arlington County, Virginia public safety analog trunked system (catch all)
3 - MWAA (Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority) DCA and IAD trunked system, fire
4 - Fairfax County, Virginia public safety trunked system, fire
7 - Montgomery County, Maryland public safety trunked system, fire
At my option I might open up or deactivate certain groups as needed since I have remote control capability of this scanner. With the upcoming presidential inauguration fun and games I'm sure this capability will come in very handy. :-)
Because this feed monitors several trunked systems that employ duplicate talkgroup ids you might see DC fire on the channel tags when MWAA fire is talking. That's the way it goes. If you refer to the Council of Governments handy-dandy numbering chart above you can tell who you are hearing: the jurisdiction numbers are prefixed onto the unit numbers, so engine 705 is former Kensington (Montgomery) engine 5-1 and tower 401 is former McLean (Fairfax County) tower 1. Also, the damned channel tags don't seem to keep up when the scanner is rapidly stopping on different channels so you can't always believe what you read on the Internet.
More will be posted here as warranted.
2008-11-17
New feed demo: McLean Relay Station
Yes, the McLean Relay Station is back online for a demonstration run.
This time around the focus is not railroad radio, but public safety. [Note 1]
Arlington County's digital trunked system comes in the best, with Fairfax County's a distant second. Both of these trunked systems give occasional fits to Uniden scanners, but for the most part they get the job done.
The focus of this new feed will be fire and rescue communications. Perhaps Arlington police will sneak on there when warranted. During this demo period you never know what you'll hear. Ya been tol'
If things work out well, I will make this feed permanent. You can listen with WinAmp, iTunes, Windows Media Player, and VLC. There might be existing Teamspeak feeds with this same traffic, but this feed allows just about anyone to hear it without requiring the installation of any new software.
If I can set up the talkgroup tags to fill in the Title field on your player, that will only make it that much better to monitor.
Enjoy!
da Bote Man
Note 1: I really like rail communications because they are pure and simple: FM high band simplex, no repeaters getting in the way, clean audio (mostly), and you know when a train is nearby based on signal strength. But these days the VHF band is getting even more polluted with noise generated by computerized devices of all kinds. Plus, the many various high powered transmitters around the receive site overload all but the best receivers. So the effort to receive railroad communications in McLean does not justify the results.
This time around the focus is not railroad radio, but public safety. [Note 1]
Arlington County's digital trunked system comes in the best, with Fairfax County's a distant second. Both of these trunked systems give occasional fits to Uniden scanners, but for the most part they get the job done.
The focus of this new feed will be fire and rescue communications. Perhaps Arlington police will sneak on there when warranted. During this demo period you never know what you'll hear. Ya been tol'
If things work out well, I will make this feed permanent. You can listen with WinAmp, iTunes, Windows Media Player, and VLC. There might be existing Teamspeak feeds with this same traffic, but this feed allows just about anyone to hear it without requiring the installation of any new software.
If I can set up the talkgroup tags to fill in the Title field on your player, that will only make it that much better to monitor.
Enjoy!
da Bote Man
Note 1: I really like rail communications because they are pure and simple: FM high band simplex, no repeaters getting in the way, clean audio (mostly), and you know when a train is nearby based on signal strength. But these days the VHF band is getting even more polluted with noise generated by computerized devices of all kinds. Plus, the many various high powered transmitters around the receive site overload all but the best receivers. So the effort to receive railroad communications in McLean does not justify the results.
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