Difference between revisions of "Ka3jjz"
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happen, that plan will most likely require radios to be digital. It's this second new plan due in 2018 that has railroads experimenting with digital and trying to decide how exactly they will go about the change. Most radios being purchased now are capable of both analog and digital, or they're at least capable of being modified to digital. | happen, that plan will most likely require radios to be digital. It's this second new plan due in 2018 that has railroads experimenting with digital and trying to decide how exactly they will go about the change. Most radios being purchased now are capable of both analog and digital, or they're at least capable of being modified to digital. | ||
− | So what will digital mean? For now it's hard to say exactly how it will all work. The most important thing to emphasize though, is that this will be a very slow change, and it will most likely NOT include any encryption on normal voice channels. For now, two digital protocols seem to be getting tested by the railroads and evaluated. The earliest one is [[APCO 25]] or 'P25'. This protocol is already widely in use around the US on various civil and private radio systems. However, Motorola has indicated that they don't seem to have much interest in the railroad industry at this point, due to the fact that they've discontinued both the railroad Spectra and Astro Spectra radio models. Also in the running for the new digital protocol for railroad radio is the Kenwood / Icom format called NXDN. This protocol is newer and proprietary to | + | So what will digital mean? For now it's hard to say exactly how it will all work. The most important thing to emphasize though, is that this will be a very slow change, and it will most likely NOT include any encryption on normal voice channels. For now, two digital protocols seem to be getting tested by the railroads and evaluated. The earliest one is [[APCO-25]] or 'P25'. This protocol is already widely in use around the US on various civil and private radio systems. However, Motorola has indicated that they don't seem to have much interest in the railroad industry at this point, due to the fact that they've discontinued both the railroad Spectra and Astro Spectra radio models. Also in the running for the new digital protocol for railroad radio is the Kenwood / Icom format called NXDN. This protocol is newer and proprietary to |
Kenwood and Icom equipment. It's also cheaper to implement than P25. Having a proprietary digital protocol for the rail industry wouldn't be that much of a problem, because unlike civil services, the rail industry is fairly self contained. They don't need their system to be compatible with other services. It's been reported that the big roads have been testing not only P25 but also the NXDN protocol. Which one will be the winner is still up in the air; perhaps neither in the end. As of late 2008, some of the new radio equipment being fielded by the large roads is: | Kenwood and Icom equipment. It's also cheaper to implement than P25. Having a proprietary digital protocol for the rail industry wouldn't be that much of a problem, because unlike civil services, the rail industry is fairly self contained. They don't need their system to be compatible with other services. It's been reported that the big roads have been testing not only P25 but also the NXDN protocol. Which one will be the winner is still up in the air; perhaps neither in the end. As of late 2008, some of the new radio equipment being fielded by the large roads is: | ||
Revision as of 18:10, 21 August 2008
Contents
Finding Specific Railroad Frequencies
A great place to start is the RRDB for your particular area. Sometimes, there is not any information to be had and this is where it can be fun!
If you live in the USA you can find all the railroad licenses in your area with a visit to the FCC's website
Next, select one of the Frequency (Range) queries and then enter M160.215 and M161.565 for the begin and end search frequencies.
For Service select Land Mobile - Private [LP]
For Radio Service select Industrial/Business Pool - Conventional [IG]
You can then download the results or search them and make a custom spreadsheet with only the fields you want and download it.
As always, be sure to submit any new information for inclusion in the RRDB!
If you don't find it here or in the database, feel free to post a message in the Railroad forum on RadioReference
Amtrak routes and frequencies can be found on the On Line On Track Amtrak page
VHF Frequencies
Railroad radios display the transmit and receive frequency as AAR channel numbers. For example, these numbers will be referred to over-the-air as "1616" for AAR channel 16 (160.350) or "1180" for AAR channels 11 and 80 in full duplex use (Dispatch transmits on one channel and the train transmits on the other channel).
AAR Ch Frequency 02 159.810 Canada Only 03 159.930 Canada Only (Used by Trucking Companies in the US) 04 160.050 Canada Only (Used by Trucking Companies in the US) 05 160.185 Canada Only (Used by Trucking Companies in the US) 06 160.200 Canada Only (Used by Trucking Companies in the US) 07 160.215 08 160.230 09 160.245 10 160.260 11 160.275 12 160.290 13 160.305 14 160.320 15 160.335 16 160.350 17 160.365 18 160.380 19 160.395 20 160.410 21 160.425 22 160.440 23 160.455 24 160.470 25 160.485 26 160.500 27 160.515 28 160.530 29 160.545 30 160.560 31 160.575 32 160.590 33 160.605 34 160.620 35 160.635 36 160.650 37 160.665 38 160.680 39 160.695 40 160.710 41 160.725 42 160.740 43 160.755 44 160.770 45 160.785 46 160.800 47 160.815 48 160.830 49 160.845 50 160.860 51 160.875 52 160.890 53 160.905 54 160.920 55 160.935 56 160.950 57 160.965 58 160.980 59 160.995 60 161.010 61 161.025 62 161.040 63 161.055 64 161.070 65 161.085 66 161.100 67 161.115 68 161.130 69 161.145 70 161.160 71 161.175 72 161.190 73 161.205 74 161.220 75 161.235 76 161.250 77 161.265 78 161.280 79 161.295 80 161.310 81 161.325 82 161.340 83 161.355 84 161.370 85 161.385 86 161.400 87 161.415 88 161.430 89 161.445 90 161.460 91 161.475 92 161.490 93 161.505 94 161.520 95 161.535 96 161.550 97 161.565 -- 161.610 Shared with Marine (Existing railroad users are grandfathered)
New VHF narrowband splinter frequencies
AAR Ch Frequency 98 160.2225 99 160.2375 100 160.2525 101 160.2675 102 160.2825 103 160.2975 104 160.3125 105 160.3275 106 160.3425 107 160.3575 108 160.3725 109 160.3875 110 160.4025 111 160.4175 112 160.4325 113 160.4475 114 160.4625 115 160.4775 116 160.4925 117 160.5075 118 160.5225 119 160.5375 120 160.5525 121 160.5675 122 160.5825 123 160.5975 124 160.6125 125 160.6275 126 160.6425 127 160.6575 128 160.6725 129 160.6875 130 160.7025 131 160.7175 132 160.7325 133 160.7475 134 160.7625 135 160.7775 136 160.7925 137 160.8075 138 160.8225 139 160.8375 140 160.8525 141 160.8675 142 160.8825 143 160.8975 144 160.9125 145 160.9275 146 160.9425 147 160.9575 148 160.9725 149 160.9875 150 161.0025 151 161.0175 152 161.0325 153 161.0475 154 161.0625 155 161.0775 156 161.0925 157 161.1075 158 161.1225 159 161.1375 160 161.1525 161 161.1675 162 161.1825 163 161.1975 164 161.2125 165 161.2275 166 161.2425 167 161.2575 168 161.2725 169 161.2875 170 161.3025 171 161.3175 172 161.3325 173 161.3475 174 161.3625 175 161.3775 176 161.3925 177 161.4075 178 161.4225 179 161.4375 180 161.4525 181 161.4675 182 161.4825 183 161.4975 184 161.5125 185 161.5275 186 161.5425 187 161.5575
UHF Frequencies
Frequencies on the same line can be paired for possible full duplex or repeater use. 452.9375 is a common EOT device frequency in Canada. 457.9375 is a common EOT device frequency in the USA.
452.3250 / 457.3250 452.3750 / 457.3750 452.4250 / 457.4250 452.4750 / 457.4750 452.7750 / 457.7750 452.8250 / 457.8250 452.8750 / 457.8750 452.9000 / 457.9000 452.9125 / 457.9125 Telemetry 452.9250 / 457.9250 Remote Control/Remote Indicator 452.9375 / 457.9375 Telemetry/Remote Control/Remote Indicator 452.9500 / 457.9500 Remote Control/Remote Indicator 452.9625 / 457.9625 Telemetry/Remote Control/Remote Indicator
Narrowbanding (Refarming) the Railroad Service
Many rumors have circulated regarding the refarming of the railroad radio band and whether or not people will be able to monitor it once the changes are made. First of all, don't worry... These changes will progress very slowly. There isn't going to be a point where everything changes in a day, or even a month. It will take years before the whole rail system adopts a totally new standard. Once it does, you will still be able to monitor it. The way you monitor it may change, but it will still be open.
The basis for these changes are the various mandates that the FCC has imposed for radio systems... Their overall goal is to reorganize the radio spectrum so there's more room for all of the wireless equipment being put into use today, and also to try and create more interoperability between various services. One of the ways they're creating more space, is by narrowing the channel spacing in different service bands by splitting them.
The original AAR railroad radio band has a 15 kHz spacing between each channel. Modern technology allows channels to be spaced much closer together now, which creates more channels in a much smaller amount of radio spectrum. The FCC mandates that new radio systems use a smaller 12.5 kHz spacing by 2013. They also want new radio systems to eventually be capable of an even smaller channel spacing, mandating that manufacturers make all new equipment capable of a 6.25 kHz spacing by 2011, and that end users of new systems use a 6.25 kHz spacing by 2018. The new railroad band plan shown below is the one that would be adopted for the first 12.5 kHz mandate by 2013. This plan does not require radios to be digital. However, due to technical limitations for the much tighter 6.25 kHz channel spacing that will eventually happen, that plan will most likely require radios to be digital. It's this second new plan due in 2018 that has railroads experimenting with digital and trying to decide how exactly they will go about the change. Most radios being purchased now are capable of both analog and digital, or they're at least capable of being modified to digital.
So what will digital mean? For now it's hard to say exactly how it will all work. The most important thing to emphasize though, is that this will be a very slow change, and it will most likely NOT include any encryption on normal voice channels. For now, two digital protocols seem to be getting tested by the railroads and evaluated. The earliest one is APCO-25 or 'P25'. This protocol is already widely in use around the US on various civil and private radio systems. However, Motorola has indicated that they don't seem to have much interest in the railroad industry at this point, due to the fact that they've discontinued both the railroad Spectra and Astro Spectra radio models. Also in the running for the new digital protocol for railroad radio is the Kenwood / Icom format called NXDN. This protocol is newer and proprietary to Kenwood and Icom equipment. It's also cheaper to implement than P25. Having a proprietary digital protocol for the rail industry wouldn't be that much of a problem, because unlike civil services, the rail industry is fairly self contained. They don't need their system to be compatible with other services. It's been reported that the big roads have been testing not only P25 but also the NXDN protocol. Which one will be the winner is still up in the air; perhaps neither in the end. As of late 2008, some of the new radio equipment being fielded by the large roads is:
- Norfolk Southern: Kenwood TK-290 portables, unknown mobiles.
- CSX: Icom portables, Motorola mobiles and Kenwood portables.
- BNSF: Kenwood TK-290 & TK-2180 portables, some Motorolas, Kenwood TK-790 and 740 mobiles.
- UPRR: Kenwood TK-290 & TK-2180 portables.
Motorola no longer produces a dedicated 'clean cab' railroad radio, such as the Spectra or Astro Spectra. Motorola does have the P25 capable XTL2500 and XTL5000 mobiles, but these are not dedicated 'clean cab' style radios. There's basically three known 'clean cab' style radios other than the old Motorolas. They're produced by JEM, Wabtec (refurbished Motorolas), and GE (formerly Harmon).
Proceed to Narrowbanded Railroad Frequency Chart