Scanners
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Scanner Information
Not really part of ham radio on it's own - but many hams are also Scanner Enthusiasts.
Casper Frequencies
Here's an old list (late 1990s) of VHF frequencies of interest in the Casper area.
- At the time this list was made, frequencies indicated with an asterisk (*) were known active.
2012 update
2011 will go down as the, "year of WyoLink". Many, many agencies have made the transition and are not looking back. I'm sure 2012 will be a continuation of this trend. Sadly, this means the end of public safety scanning with a standard ham radio. I will continue to update the few remaining analog frequencies found in this area, but there will come a time when there is nothing to update.
The good news is that there are scanners available to the public which are able to receive WyoLink. The majority of WyoLink is non encrypted and very easy to receive. All law enforcement in Natrona county is encrypted, but there is still plenty to listen to.
Since this is a ham radio website, I'm not going to go into the intricacies of WyoLink or trunking in general. There are plenty of websites with more than enough information. Perhaps the best is www.radioreference.com
Happy scanning.
Public Safety
- 155.445 - WHP statewide repeater output. This frequency WAS the main Wyoming Highway Patrol repeater output for many years. With the Wyolink project gearing up, most WHP traffic has switched. A majority of the state is now covered by Wyolink and WHP now uses the 155.445 in places where the digital system does not have coverage. Due to multipath issues around Elk mountain on I-80, this frequency is still used around Carbon county. The Casper area WHP have switched to the Wyolink system 100%, as have Cheyenne, Rock Springs and Laramie WHP troops.UPDATE 12-13-11 Currently, Wyolink is being simulcast over the analog WHP frequency in the Elk Mountain area of Carbon County. WHP had tried to go to WyoLink on a permanent basis, but the multipath around Elk Mountain and Fort Steele continues. My latest travels have shown about 50/50 for which is better in this area, analog or digital. So most ham rigs should be able to listen here.
- 155.745 - This is the former Natrona county fire dispatch. And as of now, only 2 departments in the county receive their pages over this frequency. Everybody else is on a private 900mhz paging system. Other users of this frequency have been the county road and bridge. But technology is taking over and R&B is preparing for a WyoLink switch. For now, scanner listeners can still listen to all 911 callouts in the county, but not much else on this frequency. It remains a backup frequency for wildland fire season.
- 155.295 - This is the primary frequency used for Wyoming Lifeflight based in Casper. Often called "local med". They do all of the patient reports and routine position communications here. It is used state wide for both the helicopter and airplane. Very interesting to listen to sometimes. And due to limitations of the Wyolink, the aircraft are not able to use the state system when in flight. Many of the sites use identical repeater pairs. With ground based users, the sites are geographically isolated enough and there is no problem. With an aircraft at altitude, they have the ability to access many sites and can cause complications. I predict that they will be using this analog frequency for some time to come. If you are in a decent area of Natrona county, You may also hear the ambulance communications out of Campbell county as they are on this same frequency.
- 154.875 - Wyoming mutual aid hangs out here. This frequency is used statewide by all law enforcement, EMS, and fire agencies as a way to talk to each other. Communications can be heard all over the state. With Wyolink being used more and more, this frequency has been deemed "backup" by the Wyolink folks. In years past it has been exclusively simplex with dispatch centers around the state monitoring it. Since it is now being used as a backup, many of the dispatch sites are now converted over to a repeater system using mutual aid as the output. You may now hear both simplex vehicle to vehicle traffic, as well as repeated signals from other agencies.
- 155.970 - This was formerly the Natrona county S.O. repeater. The repeater still exists but the majority of communications have been moved to the 800mhz encrypted system. However, the coverage of the 800 system is a little sparse in places of the county so you will occasionally still hear some traffic. This is also the repeater where the county emergency warning sirens are controlled from. *UPDATE 12-13-11 Now that the Natrona county 800MHz system is tied in with WyoLink, I have not heard any traffic on this analog repeater. With WyoLink, there are practically no dead spots in the county.
- 168.300 - This is the Casper Field Office, of the BLM, frequency that is used for firefighting efforts. It is a simplex frequency so many times you cannot hear the mobile units unless you have a decent receive setup. It is also the output of several of the BLM repeaters around the state. From Casper it is possible to receive chatter from all over Natrona, Carbon, and Campbell county. I have noticed that while many modern ham rigs receive this frequency, some are deaf as a stone. *UPDATE 12-13-11. All BLM traffic I heard this summer was on WyoLink. This frequency remains in the pool of those available for BLM use, but unless something big happens, don't expect much activity.
Other Government
- 155.280 - This is the primary frequency of the school district. It is nothing but school buses talking about frivolous school activities. Sometimes good for a laugh (as in when one of the students throws up on a bus). If you like LOTS of traffic this is the frequency. On a weekday during the school year this frequency is almost NEVER quiet. It is also only simplex which makes it useful for checking antennas in the receive category.
- 155.220 - Another frequency that I had requested of me this winter was the Hogadon ski area. Here it is in all of its glory. Depending on where the patrol is on the slopes, you can hear most of the units from down in Casper. Obviously this is much busier during ski season. They have been attempting to switch to the Natrona County 800MHZ system but they are in the shadow of the repeater and handhelds do not work very well. I foresee them using this VHF frequency for awhile at least.*UPDATE 12-13-11, Coverage issues have been resolved. Hogadon will be 100% digital WyoLink this winter. I doubt they use this analog frequency any more. We will see.
- 155.415 - Converse county uses this frequency for their Sheriff department. Is is a great system that has excellent coverage into Casper with a moderate antenna (handheld with rubber duckie does not work well).
- 155.520- This is the Carbon County dispatch frequency out of Rawlins. It is used for all of the Sheriff and ambulance communications. It is a 3 repeater system with the outputs all being the same. You will occasionally hear ONLY the dispatch if they are using a distant repeater. All medical calls are dispatched on this same system. You will hear a long audio tone followed by a description of the call. The tone sets off the paramedic's voice pagers. They will then check in route on the same frequency. This can be heard in Casper but will require a substantial antenna. *UPDATE 12-13-11, Carbon county is still using this as their primary repeater. Due to some budget problems and the multipath issues on Elk mountain WyoLink, they have stuck with the "old reliable" for now. My understanding is that they are worried about coverage issues and my not EVER transition to WyoLink.
- 154.430- An interesting frequency INDEED!!! A look on the FCC database will show this frequency belonging to Natrona county. It is officially designated as a tactical channel for wildland fires (called "fire tac"). There is almost NO traffic on it anywhere in Natrona county unless there is a very large fire. It comes into play out of Johnson county. It is the primary dispatch for Johnson medical and fire services in Kaycee and their main communications repeater. This is easily heard in Casper with even a modest external antenna and will allow you to hear the goings on in the county. Really revs up when a winter storm hits.
Business
- 153.515- Rocky Mountain Power. Not much to listen to until your power is out. You will hear standard repeater traffic between service workers. But you will also hear DTMF tones and other "squawks and squeaks". This is their telephone interconnect system so they can communicate with a central dispatch point. You will hear the ringing of a telephone and a dispatcher come on frequency. This gives them the ability to receive and transmit to the field units. Multiple repeater sites have his option so the dispatch can get on any of the repeaters without having to have a bulky radio setup at their location where geography or distance may prevent them from an actual RF path. Frequency gets hopping busy when there is a power outage.
Aeronautics
- 118.3 - The main approach and control frequency for the airport. Of course it is AM but it is still pretty active from time to time.
- 126.150 - The automated flight control. Just a recording that constantly streams traffic to the pilots. Cannot be in a scan list as it literally never stops transmitting.
Casper Digital System - scannable?
Many Casper area Public Service departments are now using an 800Mhz digital system. See this article on Project 25 for background. However, Law Enforcement, and others, are also encrypted. Radios/scanners are on the market that will allow you to listen to 800mhz digital systems. But, to date, we know of no way to decrypt transmissions in real time.
NOTE: Attempts to defeat or "break" any 'over the air' encryption could be a violation of the DMCA and subject to prosecution.
WyoLink
State web site
You'll find several references on these pages to WyoLink.
The official, state website for Wyolink describes the system and provides good, general information.
From the state site:
WyoLink is a statewide digital trunked VHF P-25 compliant public safety communications system designed to coordinate and integrate communications between state, local, and federal public safety agencies.
WyoLink Status
The state of Wyoming provides a service that publishes system status information via email. By subscribing to this service, you can receive near real time updates on outages, planned maintenance and other events affecting the WyoLink system.
Technical info
For some technical information, see the pages here (note: that site is not affiliated with WyoLink or CARC.)
Winter Driving Information
The frequency listed in the following link is no longer in use. All TMC (Traffic management center) traffic comes out of Cheyenne and is now handled on WyoLink. HOWEVER, they still use the road condition grading chart listed below.
