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I have three different frequencies for MARS:

154.890
154.650
155.190

Which one is correct? I see 155.190 is on the West Side, but I've heard them on 154.650 here and then going through my files, I find a PD here with it as 154.890. (I also see that they are all licensed to various PD's across the state, none of them in Yakima County though.... :? )

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Interoperability is an attitude, not a technology.

154.650 (100.0) is the input to 155.190 (123.0).

Only places I've heard 154.890 are:

154.89000 Muckleshoot Casino old TGA ops
154.89000 King County Sheriff Old surveillance channel
154.89000 (110.9) Bremerton Public Works Input to 155.895
154.89000 (103.5) Grays Harbor Sheriff Input to 155.565
154.89000 Pierce Co Sheriff Input to West Admin/Tac 155.310
154.89000 (71.9) Franklin Co Sheriff Dispatch Input to 155.910

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President-in-Exile, Seattle Area Radio Communications And Scanner Traffic Intercept Crew (SARCASTIC)
Don't feel bad if you can't use your STD100/200; there are still people using Digital Frequency Search!
Bunnery definition for the under-fives

The MARS acronym is a bit misleading. There's no statewide MARS channel that I know of.

The MARS in Western Washington refers to the King County MARS system, that includes the 155.190 repeater (an old King County dispatch channel), 460.550, and a King County TRS talkgroup. They are linked together full time, to give the 800mhz users the ability to talk to VHF (read: WSP) and any UHF users in the area. King County MARS is usable by surrounding jurisdictions, but it is primarily designed for use within King County.

Snohomish County is allegedly working on a MARS-type system for their county, but it will likely be separate from the King County system.

I've also heard of a MARS channel in Eastern Washington, believe it was supposed to be the 154.890 frequency. I don't know how it's supposed to be used over there....perhaps an alternative to LERN in some areas?

So, don't think of the MARS acronym as some kind of state wide effort like LERN or OSCCR. MARS is just a local thing - for us, anyway.

Brad.

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Whatever.....

I hear OSCCR traffic over here, and occasionally LERN during a inter-agency thing.
NLEC at times.
NOAA puts out info on NLEC.

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Sounds about right on all accounts. This weekend they were running a DUI emphasis on LERN. All units county wide participating in the emphasis talked back and forth with WSP dispatch on LERN. I can almost hear the NOAA alerts in stereo with my FM radio when the interrupt broadcasts with those on NLEC.

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Interoperability is an attitude, not a technology.

Funny timing, while driving near the olympia area I heard traffic on the NLEEC interop frequency for the first time ever.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, around noon, NLEEC gets busy, either the combined Washington State EMD EAS/NOAA WX radio alert test or Pierce County will test their lahar warning system, usually with bad audio lately-- TX driven WAY too hard :shock:

EAS has been used in the past to transmit amber alerts... so 155.475 is definitley a frequency to keep "plugged in"... Especially if you are one of the fortunate few with a "rockbound" scanner. Good rock to have in there.

Eric
KB7DQH

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That is how the people at DARPA think. they take things and use them in unconventional ways, to see what happens.

Another bit of trivia... When HAMs talk about doing the "MARS/CAP" mod to their radios... they're not referring to King County MARS.

The other MARS

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I taste copper.
Comments, views, opinions - and trails of destruction - are my own.

I will add I have heard EAS (used to be called EBS) traffic on NLEC in King County area.

The first "inter-system" or "inter-agency" Police Radio Network was the use of the " Winlock Repeater " By Portland City Police, Seattle PD and Tacoma PD - back in the late 1960's. A repeater located on a tall hill on a private farm near Winlock, Washington was used to talk back and forth by radio in between those Depeatments. The repeater was on 159.03 -- which The OSP also used in the Metro Portland area to communicate to other offices. The input was 154.65. Then - the Winlock repeater was taken out of service in the late 1970's. MARS was introduced as part of the switch over from UHF to 800 Mhz in the early 1980's. It paired the 155.19 - with 154.65 and is patched into the 800 mhz system and paired with 460.55 R in the Metro Seatlle area. LERN was first used by the 6 or 7 Central Washington State Counties for inter-agency talk back in the 1970's. It pairs 460.50 R on Mission Ridge Peak with a Repeater on 155.37 (R) input 156.15. Later 155.37 became the Statewide LERN channel. The WSP used 154.89 as a " LInk " channel to control a remote station on Tunk Mountain. Later the frequency was dropped -- and picked up by Chelan and Douglas Counties -- for use as a regional "intersystem / interagency" channel -- with 154.89 as a repeater on Badger Mountain and 158.97 as the input. 154.89 is NOT known as MARS.

Ahhh...now that's interesting! There was an old timer I met somewhere who mentioned the Winlock repeater that allowed Seattle and Tacoma PD to talk to Portland. I thought he was making it up as I could not find anyone else who could back up what he was saying. If it was on 159.03, that might make sense.

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Mt Wave SAR member
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I think 159.030 stayed on in the 80's as the "Metro Net" as I saw it labeled on a console in one of the dispatch centers back then and looked it up later in a freq book.

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"I was installing un-programmed radios"

As I posted -- 159.03 was indeed used by the OSP -- in the Metro Portland area - as a station to station link between dispatch offices -- then on the 42 mhz low band system. The old "Winlock Repeater" was real -- and the two radio engineers that made the deal -- got the 3 Police Depts -- to pay for a new color TV -- for the owner of the farm -- on which it was located. A guy named Matti Kangess. How could you forget a name like that !!!!!!

I am thinking MANY radio-heads would LOVE a deal for "site rent" like that!!!!

The closest thing that I can think of that might be an early version of MARS in Eastern WA, was back in the late 60's thru the 70's during the VHF-Lo band days. The difference was that it didn't tie radio systems together but rather dispatchers with agencies in the surrounding counties of Whitman, Lincoln, Adams, Pend O'Reille and Stevens in Washington and I believe Kootenai County, Idaho who didn't have access to Want/Warrant computer systems, could call Spokane on 39.82 and check warrant and previous arrest status on individuals that officers had stopped in their jurisdiction. This was not its only use but seemed to be the primary use. As these agencies started gaining their own access to the computer systems, the use of the Lo band frequency for that purpose slowly disappeared.

As agencies who were still utilizing VHF-Lo started moving to VHF-Hi in the late 70's and early 80's and LERN came into existence across the eastern part of the state, it became the primary radio system to use for multiple agencies as MARS is in King County.

A side note: I have heard EAS broadcasts on the NLEC in both Eastern and Western Washington so, it is something I always program in my scanner multiple times since I travel back and forth alot.