|
SAR Radio Frequencies
If you're using a scanner or a personal radio to monitor SAR activity, here are the radio frequencies for West Slope SAR:
|
Channel
|
Freq.
|
Comments
|
|
1
|
159.690
|
EDSO Freq 2, Zone 1 - Placerville Area |
|
2
|
159.690
|
EDSO Freq 2, Zone 2 - Cameron Park/El Dorado Hills Area |
|
3
|
159.690
|
EDSO Freq 2, Zone 3 - Grizzly Flat/Somerset Area |
|
4
|
159.690
|
EDSO Freq 2, Zone 4 - Georgetown/Cool Area |
|
5
|
159.690
|
EDSO Freq 2, Zone 5 - Ice House/Wright's Lake Area |
|
6
|
154.920
|
CLEMARS 1 |
|
7
|
154.935
|
CLEMARS 2 |
|
|
160.695
|
EDSO Tac 3 |
|
|
146.805
|
"805" Amateur Repeater |
|
|
159.555
|
EDSO West Slope (receive only) |
|
|
155.160
|
NASAR |
|
|
154.280
|
White Fire |
|
|
159.600
|
EDSO Tahoe (Genoa) |
|
|
156.075
|
Calcord |
|
|
156.625
|
Marine Channel 72 (for Swiftwater Rescues) |
16-channel radios (ICOM H-16s) have all or most of the above. 8-channel radios (Motorola GP-300s) have the first eight.
If you need to program a personal radio, see Paul Duer for the tones and codes.
EDSO Frequency 2 (159.690, repeater): The main channel for most west slope searches. It’s assigned to channels 1 through 5, corresponding to the repeaters in Sheriff’s zones 1 through 5. Each channel uses a different subaudible (PL) tone to trigger only the desired repeater.
CLEMARS 1 (154.920, simplex): A California state wide law enforcement tactical frequency. SAR uses this as a tactical frequency sometimes, and many mutual aid teams come equipped with it. However, there’s often interference from agencies in the Sacramento Valley, especially at higher elevations,. Also, it’s the Nevada Highway Patrol’s secondary frequency.
CLEMARS 2 (154.935, simplex): Another statewide law frequency. Occasionally used as SAR tactical frequency.
EDSO Tac 3 (160.695, simplex): One of the SAR tactical (person to person) frequencies. It’s often the main SAR channel at public events such as the County Fair.
“805” (146.805, repeater or simplex): a local ham repeater often used on searches. The owner has been closely associated with SAR for years. Excellent coverage; in the boondocks it often has better performance than the Sheriff’s system. If a search is cancelled while you’re en route, you’ll probably hear it here first.
EDSO West Slope (159.555, repeater): EDSO’s main frequency on the west slope. SAR almost never uses it, but we get first word of a search here when EDSO dispatches a patrol unit. On SAR radios this channel is programmed to receive only to prevent accidental interference with west slope dispatching operations.
White Fire 1 (154.280, simplex): A state wide fire tactical frequency. We occasionally use it when we’re working with local fire departments.
EDSO Tahoe (159.600, repeater): The main frequency for EDSO units on the Lake Tahoe side of the County. Tahoe SAR missions are often run on this frequency.
“NASAR” (155.160, simplex): a common SAR frequency throughout the U.S. Often used by Tahoe SAR, and by CARDA. Despite the name, it’s not actually assigned to NASAR. On the west slope, we rarely use it because there is considerable interference from ambulance companies down in the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay area.
Calcord (156.075, simplex): A statewide fire/law coordination frequency. We don’t use it much, but we keep it in some of our radios just in case.
Marine Channel 72 (156.625, simplex): the Swiftwater Rescue team uses commercial marine-band radios because they’re waterproof. So for swiftwater operations we use this channel which is assigned to non-commercial uses. |