Allegheny County (PA) Pittsburgh City Radio Channels

This post will cover the 12 basic City of Pittsburgh Police channels. While there are other talk-around or specialty channels, these are the basic lineup. For instance, if a unit is switching to Channel 8, you will be able to follow the action:

 Channel 1 (453.1000, CTCSS 186.2) – Dispatch for Zones 1 and 2. 

 Channel 2 (453.2500, CTCSS 186.2) – Dispatch for Zones 3 and 6. 

 Channel 3 (453.4000, CTCSS 186.2) – Dispatch for Zones 4 and 5. 

 Channel 4 (453.5500, CTCSS 186.2) – Index. This channel is monitored by the Index desk and Warrant Office.
 It is used to run vehicle registration checks, warrants, Operator License Numbers “OLN”, and tow requests. 

 Channel 5 (453.7000, CTCSS 186.2) – Fire Dispatch, all zones. 

 Channel 6 (453.8500, CTCSS 186.2) – Fire Ground, all zones. 

 Channel 7 (453.4500, CTCSS 186.2) – Tactical Channel.  Primarily used for SWAT tactical operations, search
 warrant coordination, Penguins/Pirates parking details, City of Pittsburgh Marathon or other similar events. 

 Channel 8 (453.9500, CTCSS 186.2) – Detective or Administrative Channel.  Primarily used for brief
 conversations regarding calls or details. Unit-to-unit radio traffic is thereby kept off the primary
 dispatch channels.  Communications normally handled on Channel 7 may be moved to Channel 8 if SWAT
 is running an operation, i.e. lower priority communications can be moved to Channel 8 as necessary.

 Channel 9 (462.9500, CTCSS 100.0) – EMS Dispatch 1. 

 Channel 10 (462.9750, CTCSS 100.0) – EMS Dispatch 2. 

 Channel 11 (453.5250, CTCSS 210.7) – Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency ("PEMA").  Due to its infrequent
 use for PEMA matters, this channel has been used for other purposes, e.g. tactical operations. 

 Channel 12 (458.3625, CTCSS 186.2) – Police simplex. This is the only channel that is NOT patched through a
 mobile repeater. Transmissions are direct, unit to unit; with the same frequency used for transmit/receive.
 This channel is used when units are traveling together outside the range of the mobile repeaters. More
 importantly, this channel is used for surveillance, narcotics, speed traps, and tactical activities. The
 output wattage is set at 2 watts per the FCC database.  This limits the signal range.  You won’t be able
 to pick up these communications unless you are in close proximity to the operations.  

So there’s your basic Pittsburgh Police lineup. The transmit frequencies are available in the RR database.