How to listen in on National Park Service radios??

[jhmoore]

I'm interested in installing a radio to be able to listen in on National Park Service radio transmissions--anyone have any knowledge on how to do this?

Background: I want to hear when the rangers and/or volunteers are talking about the location of things like bears--so I can get on site to photograph and short-circuit some of the random driving around...

I am not a ham radio operator and have no interest in being able to transmit... just want to listen... (I have no objection to options which would allow me to transmit & I'd need to get a license and then maybe have another way to communicate in emergencies.)

Thanks!

 

[BlackCloud]

All law enforcement frequencies are encrypted, so all you will hear is gibberish. Depending on the park, even volunteer radios may be encrypted b/c they are talking on law enforcement channels to the main dispatch center. Next time you're in the park in question, take a scanner & figure out what channels they're using by listening in. There are radio groups that publish frequencies. The FCC actually keeps federal gov't frequencies in a fairly narrow band so you won't be searching all over the spectrum.

Real radio geeks can chime in w/ better intel for sure.

 

[BackOff]

National Parks Cali
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=4513

This site probably has all the info you need if you dig around some.

 

[Jarheadoo7]

All law enforcement frequencies are encrypted, so all you will hear is gibberish.

Mostly true, not completely true. My area is regionalized mostly and they have private channels but the main radio channel is not encrypted. There is a website you can access you can search for regions and listen in on the dramas.

Broadcastify.com

Maybe they will have the parks in your area. Also some iPhone apps are pretty good and scan pretty well but I’ve noticed they suck the battery like you wouldn’t believe.

 

[tb-av]

Your easiest bet would be to find the repeaters in the park and listen to those. Repeater directories are printed every year but highly unlikely a park would changing it's freqs.

Otherwise start a notebook for each park, because there are lots possibilities.

Most likely any large area will have a repeater or multiple repeaters to take the signals long distances and cover large areas

You are probably going to want to go ahead and at least get your technicians license as that will explain a lot of what's going on. BTW, if you were in an emergency... you could talk on your radio... license or not. If you knew how to.

You would need the freqs. for each park. Then store them in your radio or scanner.

 

[jhmoore]

Thanks all! I think that I've found the repeater frequencies for the national parks that I will be visiting this fall. Anyone have suggestions on a radio to purchase?

Also, are there any circumstances under which the possession or use (listening, not broadcasting) of such a radio would be illegal? (including driving through many jurisdictions on the way to & from)

Thanks!

 

[tb-av]

Nope, not illegal.

One of those Boafeng UV-5R radios for $30 would be fine to learn with.

There is no sense in spending a lot of money until you learn more about what's going on.

Once you go past that $ you will be spending $$$ to $$$$. But that little radio can do a lot.

One thing it's not great at is actually being a scanner. It's not fast enough to pick up all the freqs. that might go active in scan mode. BUT... if you are set to a repeater, then it will pick up that talk.

 

[visualfxengineer]

Thanks all! I think that I've found the repeater frequencies for the national parks that I will be visiting this fall. Anyone have suggestions on a radio to purchase?



Also, are there any circumstances under which the possession or use (listening, not broadcasting) of such a radio would be illegal? (including driving through many jurisdictions on the way to & from)



Thanks!

Not illegal to listen. The baofengs have a cult following, are cheap and can take a decent beating. The 8watt model with a battery delete is a cheap intro. They are slow at scanning though so it’s best to only flag a few to scan.

In addition to the ones posted earlier:
https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/US_Forest_Service_-_Angeles_National_Forest_(CA)

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=4301

www.scancal.org/usfs/

I like to have the local fire authority scanning too. If a bunch of chatter breaks out, it’s good to know if there is trouble or a Bigfoot.

 

[Quiero]

I just wanted to chime in and say as a recent Tech licensee, the test is really very easy. I studied maybe 30 mins to an hour a day (two subsections each day) for a week and passed with a 100%

If you are interested, theres no good reason not to do it. While its true that you can broadcast without a license (or on a frequency spectrum not allowed by your license level) in an emergency, the only way to LEARN how to really do that is with practice. When shit has already hit the fan, that would be a hell of a time to learn how repeater offset works or how to build a makeshift antenna.

I used hamstudy.org which is free and tracks your progress. Read the question pool through at least once, and then start grinding flash cards.

When I took my test last week I sat next to 2 12 year old boys who also aced it.

 

[Nautical_T4R]

I just wanted to chime in and say as a recent Tech licensee, the test is really very easy. I studied maybe 30 mins to an hour a day (two subsections each day) for a week and passed with a 100%



If you are interested, theres no good reason not to do it. While its true that you can broadcast without a license (or on a frequency spectrum not allowed by your license level) in an emergency, the only way to LEARN how to really do that is with practice. When shit has already hit the fan, that would be a hell of a time to learn how repeater offset works or how to build a makeshift antenna.



I used hamstudy.org which is free and tracks your progress. Read the question pool through at least once, and then start grinding flash cards.



When I took my test last week I sat next to 2 12 year old boys who also aced it.

Thank you. This is something I have been interested in doing for a while but tests always freak me out.


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[tb-av]

I agree and if you have any basic electronics training, study for your General as well. Then go take both tests.

What they do is test you for Technician... Grade.. if you pass they ask do you want to take your General... you say yes and take that one. If you pass, you have a General License if not, you at least get a feel for the test.

If you do pass the General they will ask if you wan to take the Extra. That's kinda tough though.

Also hamtestonline.com is good but it cost a little.

... and if you do decide to get your license, you still can't broadcast. You can transmit to other hams. If you want to broadcast you need a different type license.

Broadcasting as it relates to HAMS is really emergency oriented.

You can't simply jump on a frequency and start playing music or having a State Park Photography podcast. That is Broadcasting.

 

[tb-av]

Thank you. This is something I have been interested in doing for a while but tests always freak me out.


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You get the answers. There is a pool of questions with answers. Any of the study guides will have you at 90% in short order and when you go to take the test you will see those same questions.

Unlike say a UAS pilot license where the FAA says we are going to test you on "X". they may think the answer is 123. Many may think the answer is 1234. So you never really know until someone takes the test and says yeah I put 123 and got it correct. The HAM test questions and answers are carved in stone.

Here are all the new July1 2018 to 2022 Technician questions....
http://ncvec.orgdownloads2018-2022 Tech Pool 2nd Errata 02122018.pdf

You can take your hi-liter and mark all the correct answers right there. Many study guides teach you by rote but you would be better off to actually try to learn what's going on.

These books are good...
ARRL :: Licensing, Education & Training :: ARRL Ham Radio License Manual 4th Edition (Softcover)

Just be sure what ever you do, study the new pool as it just started this month. So a lot of books are now not up to date. If you get a book be sure it is for 2018 - 2022

It's just one of those things you have to decide to do. If you start this weekend, by Sept. 1 you will have a license.

 

[jhmoore]

Thanks all! I bought a BaoFeng BF-F8HP and am learning how to use it. Not sure whether I'll try for the license before or after my upcoming trip, but... my only goal for this trip is using it to listen...

 

[Anand]

Resurrecting a dead thread, but many (most?) areas do not have encrypted law enforcement communications; many are on digitally trunked systems, so a conventional scanner will give you nothing, however an appropriate scanner will give you most. Here in Central MD the only encrypted channels you will find are some of the CID/Tactical channels, and here in AA County, the "talkaround" channels are encrypted, but all the normal dispatch and communications are not.

Most (maybe all?) NP's use VHF/UHF frequencies instead of a 700-800Mhz trunked system (probably due to cost and terrain), all of these frequencies can be easily found at radioreference.com (as visualfxengineer stated), as well as TONS of info about how to listen (scanners/radios, antennas, etc, etc).

I have a Uniden 396XT, and while considered to be somewhat old and out of date (can't scan all the latest radio systems, and not the greatest at decoding some P25 systems), has handled most of what I'd like to listen to. Usually I'll add in all the state/local law enforcement and fire/ems systems for an area we are travelling to/through as well as any parks/forests we will be in. If you are using a handheld scanner/radio, especially for VHF/UHF, a vehicle mounted antenna will do wonders