UHF UTILITY DX FEBRUARY 1973 KAA 893 35 + St. Louis, MO * KME 438 35.22 Orange, CA * KAI 927 35.34 Denver, CO KOG 634 33.82 Kent, WA-f KCA 410 33.9 Wareham, MA-f KOK 418 35 + (west) * mp KCA 695 33.78 Manchester, NH-f KOP 303 35.46 Langley, WA-mp * KCC 482 35.22 Concord, NH KQC 877 35 + Cincinnati, OH * KCF 308 33.66 N Reading, MA-f KQC 884 35 + Highland Pk, MI * KDN 402 35.54 Omaha, NE * KQD 313 35.50 Dayton, OH * KFJ 891 35 + Columbus, OH * KQD 607 35.50 Grand Rapids, MI * KFL 936 35 + (west) * KQD 609 35.22 Lansing, MI * KFL 943 35.58 Las Vegas, NM KSB 230 42 + Joliet, IL-sp KGL 704 30.74 New York, NY-t KSC 644 43.58 Chicago, IL KIF 651 35.58 Ft Lauderdale, FL KSC 645 35.58 Chicago, IL * KIN 645 35.22 Miami, FL * KSD 326 35.58 Indianapolis, IN * KIQ 999 35.34 Mobile, AL * KSJ 815 35.22 Fort Wayne, IN * KIY 508 35.22 Orlando, FL - 35.26 Eugene, OR-mp KJR 534 33.90 Seattle, WA-f - 35.58 Long Beach, CA KLD 863 33.70 Rockland, ME-f - 35.26 Portland, OR-mp KLF 527 35.22 Honolulu, HI - 35.26 Salem, OR-mp KLR 503 33.02 Boston, MA-h - 35.46 San Diego, CA-mp KMA 829 35 + San Diego, CA * (* A2 Morse tone ID's) f-fire; h-hospital; mp-mobile phone; sp-state police; t-transit; rest are pagers ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For new members (as well as some old ones), a few words are in order concerning paging stations. There are two main groups (voice and tone) with a goodly number of hybrids as well. Considering the 35-MHz region first, the variety there is the more simple. Voice-only pagers (e.g., Long Beach; KIY 508) run a continuous tape loop with either a 'no message' announcement or a number/letter (or even color!) code for the subscriber whose message then follows. The ID on these may be complete with the call and town or just simply the town with a slogan (e.g., 'Air Call'; 'Radio Paging ...'). Subscri- bers carry pocket-sized receivers which are fixed-tuned to the pager. Average service area is around 20 miles or so. With a little practice a DXer can come to recognize these stations by the voices (usually female) on the tape as well as the style of message code used. Also on 35-MHz, to the distress of some, tone-only pagers are in growing numbers, many having changed from voice type operation. These use a set of two, three, or four tones which will activate only a partic- ular subscriber's receiver so that he can then telephone in and get the message waiting. The big 'advantage' is privacy. The big problem can come in IDing these,as most use rapid A2 Morse code (up to 20-25 wpm) at intervals of a few minutes to 30 minutes or more. Some are in slow code but the faster ones might need a tape recorder used with slow playback to decipher calls. Up until very recently there was at least one example of a tone pager with voice ID (KOA 796, Portland). With enough practice at it, one can recognize the tone system used and make a good guess with- out an ID (though many sound alike, e.g., KAI 927 and KIQ 999). Other types of pagers in the 30-31 and 33 MHz (and likely many other spots) use short tone bursts (some coded to a particular receiver) with or without a voice message following. Station identifications are rare (except for KLR 503) and likely only in voice. This type of pager seems limited to institutions (schools, hospitals, plants). Mobile-phones in the 35-MHz may be mistaken for tone pagers when they use the set of tones to activate the mobile unit ringing system. A few of these use A2 Morse code ID's instead of the more common '-- mobile' with the town. 73,
WA5IYX