Thank you so much for this informative video I received my scanner (BC125AT) today and will be loading it up with all the frequencies for Amtrak when I travel thank you so kindly.
halakahiki2, I think I understand what you are getting at..... you seem to be suggesting that instead of having the scanner constantly going through all possible frequencies for the route, that it would be better to keep track of which section of the route the train is currently on (using the Ontrack Online frequency table for the route), and change the radio scanner to only listen to the one frequency that is most likely to be active at any given time. But it seems to me that there are some drawbacks to that approach: - you have to pay more attention than I, or probably most casual listeners, care to do - my scanner rips through the 20 frequencies in a route's bank so quickly that when somebody starts talking, I don't seem to miss any of it, the 'all the time wasted' scanning unused frequencies does not seem to be a real problem - the automatic rail monitors are not on the same frequency as the engineer uses (?) so wouldn't forcing the radio to the engineer's frequency cause the radio to miss the track detectors (maybe some folks prefer to not hear them, but I like them)
+youtuuba If you want folks to see notification of your responses, you need to "reply" to their messages. If I hadn't come to the comments on this video to read a reply from someone else, I would never have seen what you said. "Where are we?" is usually a much more pressing question than, "What is the crew saying over the radio?" I bring a GPS with me (savvier folks use smartphones, now). Waypoints along the route tell me where the train is; I don't really have to pay attention. I wouldn't expect "casual listeners" to go to the effort of reprogramming their scanner for every trip. I set up my scanner once with all of the AAR channels, and I haven't changed anything on it since. Your method creates a lot of work that's repeated for every train trip. It doesn't matter how fast your scanner "rips through" frequencies. If it's on any of the 19 that aren't the road channel for your train, you don't hear what's said. Particularly, if you're in an area where different frequencies in your bank are being used by different lines, you could end up listening to something that does not pertain to your train while missing something that does. For example, if you were taking the California Zephyr through Denver, you would have the UP frequency for their line coming from the west, the BNSF frequency for their line coming from the east, and the Amtrak station frequency for Denver Union Station. At any point in your trip, only one of these frequencies is going to be of interest, but all three will be in use in the vicinity of Denver Union Station. If you're coming in form Omaha, you might end up listening to Union Pacific as you approach the station when your train is using the BNSF channel. I don't know what you mean by "automatic rail monitors." Detectors are always on the road channel, otherwise the crew can't hear it. Their radios may be nicer than yours, but they can still only listen to one at a time.
CHIRP is a free-ware radio programming that many Ham’s use to program their hand held radio’s, what we call HT’s. You might try if for programming scanners.
trainmike, as far as I know, all the frequencies used are on the ontrack online website that I show (and also have a separate video about on my RUclips channel). that website is constantly updated by fail fans. When I am on the trains, I certainly hear the conductor and engineer, some other crew that I don't know the identity of, the dispatcher, the rail fault detectors, etc. I don't know if any other crew members use the radio.....
+youtuuba In general, only the engineer and conductors aboard the train are going to be using the road channel. Unless otherwise noted, the frequencies listed in the OTOL tables are road channels. On-board service (OBS) rarely use radios.
I actual use a Vertex VX-180 VHF radio to monitor AMTRAK NEC SEPTA and New Jersey Transit. I programed a few AAR channels and 2 meter simplex channels to talked to my buddies. Some passengers think I'm a Railroad official when I hang out at station.
Thanks for the information! Very professional! By the way, can you please tell me the model of scanner that is used in the video? Thank You, and keep up the good work.
Any idea why a single agency like Amtrak uses so many frequencies? Because each of their radio sets should have all these channels programmed, and the drivers should also have to keep on changing the channels when the train moves on. In my country India; the railways use fixed frequencies across the country. Especially the frequency/channel used for communication between driver, the guard/conductor and the station masters.
Sachin Perinthalakkat, I don't know for certain, but I suspect that AMTRAK has to follow the system set up by all the freight rail companies, and the complexity of their system may stem from the highly complex and interconnected rail system that they share.
I used to have the exact same scanner but it gave out on me several years ago, about the same time that many locations in Oswego County, NY went digital. A couple of years ago I decided to get another scanner, this one is a Uniden Home Patrol. It is very difficult to program, so it's been collecting dust in my closet. I'm thinking about bringing it along on my Amtrak trip later this year and was wondering if you've had any experience with it? I got an extra antenna for it too, which is much longer than the one that came with the unit. I guess that I'll just have to re-learn how to use it.
Diana Manwaring I thought the Home Patrol was supposed to be top notch with input by zip code making it easier than manual entry ...maybe that is for stationary listening from home such as police , fire .. How much was the thing ? I know from checking around they are up there
It cost about 400 dollars. Since I posted that question I got it up and running again and am trying to figure out how to add the frequencies for Amtrak, CSX etc. It would be easier if I had my old scanner. I'm thinking about buying a different one that's easier to program just for my trip. They sell a similar scanner at our local Walmart that is less expensive than what I have now.
Diana Manwaring Thank you for responding. Would you say the Home Patrol is overpriced or worth it ? I have the Navy Base , Coast Guard , Norfolk International Airport and everything else locally for listening and wanted to upgrade but the $400-$600 range seams steep for a scanner ..especially when a lot of train buffs use a $30 one E Bay offers and several of the people that train hop use the cheaper ones.
You're welcome! I would say it's overpriced, given that programming it is a real pain in the backside. I could do an upgrade but it would cost extra. I used to have the exact same scanner as Youtuuba but it went bye-bye after my location (Oswego County NY) went digital. Our local Walmart sells a much cheaper scanner, which I am considering.
Diana Manwaring Well thank you again, from watching clips online about the Home Patrol and your input it seems like I have the wrong impression about the Uniden which was basically plug and play with the operator just choosing which public band to access . NY huh ? You should know about snow then...not like here in VA where it shuts down for 3 days when they call for flurries and the plows come out when any accumulation has melted True story every year ! Been here forever and it is embarrassing . Thanks again.
This doesn't seem like a very good way to do Amtrak train frequencies. You waste a lot of time creating special banks of frequencies for specific trains and having your scanner scan all of the frequencies in the bank while you're on the train. The railroads change road frequencies all of the time, so you end up having to reprogram your scanner every time you take a train. As well, you may miss calls while out on the road because your scanner was looking at some other channel at the time. I suggest that folks do what I do. Set up all of the AAR frequencies into your scanner and change them as you go along. The engineers and conductors always call out a frequency change (and they'll do it by AAR frequency number). Take a copy of the latest OTOL frequencies with you for whatever train in case you decide to leave the scanner at your seat during lunch ;)
I don`t know which railways you speak of, but the railways and frequencies I am familiar with haven`t changed in over 5 decades. Yes, there have been some very minor changes where the host railroad has upgraded the towers in certain areas to have more standby and utility channels, but to my knowledge the main road frequencies have been the same since day one.
You Tuba are there different frequencies for trains in different states? I bought a new Baofeng BF-FHHP I got it off Amazon for $30.00 it's a ham & a scanner I bought the programming cable but I can not find the site to do it it's a very nice radio if you would look it up for me and help and walk me through it I would really appreciate it very much I also want to get Norfolk Southern and CSX we have them here in Middle River Maryland Thank You so much Jim
+RUNNING BEAR The road frequency isn't set per train or per railroad. A particular section of track is assigned one, and all trains on that track use that frequency. There are plenty of rail fan ("foamer") sites where you may be able to find information about the channels used in your area. Or, you can just scan through all of the AAR channels and try to figure out which ones are in use in your area.
Most scanners only accept a maximum of 3 digits after the decimal point, and they are programmed at the factory to know the spacing of frequencies, so will automatically fill in the fourth digit, or simply disregard the fourth digit. So, using the example that you provided, you would only need to enter 477.787 MHz, and the scanner would already know that the next digit will be a 5. It likely won`t display it, but I don`t know what model you use. Some scanners do actually allow 4 digits after the decimal point.
Hakeem Sd70M, no, there is no permit or license required to buy radio equipment (at least in the USA), and no license required to RECEIVE radio signals. And these scanners do not transmit, they are receive only.
Does anyone know how I can listen to Amtrak Texas Eagle on the scanner? Is there an app out there on the iPhone? I go and watch Amtrak coming through my town all the time. I'm interested in becoming an Engineer for Amtrak one day.
OTC, your iPhone does not have the right antenna for picking up these radio signals. You will need a scanner, as shown in this video, but you can use any model scanner, and they are not very expensive. If you can afford an I, you can afford a scanner.
To the best of my knowledge, the typical smart phone does not have the correct radio receiver circuitry to receive the frequencies used by the railroads.
Why is it that the person who did something inappropriate always seems to think that the person who complains about it is the one in the wrong? I will have you know that while nobody would vote for me as friendliest, I am in fact a generous and helpful person, giving large amounts of my time and treasure to make other peoples' lives better, to be helpful, and to try and make the world a better place. But then YOU come along with an inappropriate question on RUclips, on MY channel, and after I respond in a polite way to let you know why I consider your comment to be inappropriate, you state that I am not a friendly person. That right there says a LOT about you as a person.
Thank you so much for this informative video I received my scanner (BC125AT) today and will be loading it up with all the frequencies for Amtrak when I travel thank you so kindly.
This is exactly the info I needed. Thank you. I am an Extra Ham so I follow all you were doing.
Awesome job youtuuba. Thank you for sharing as doing first long trip on Amtrak in 2 weeks, Los Angeles to Tampa.
Thank you for such a great video!
Thank You for helping me to set up the scanner!
halakahiki2, I think I understand what you are getting at..... you seem to be suggesting that instead of having the scanner constantly going through all possible frequencies for the route, that it would be better to keep track of which section of the route the train is currently on (using the Ontrack Online frequency table for the route), and change the radio scanner to only listen to the one frequency that is most likely to be active at any given time. But it seems to me that there are some drawbacks to that approach:
- you have to pay more attention than I, or probably most casual listeners, care to do
- my scanner rips through the 20 frequencies in a route's bank so quickly that when somebody starts talking, I don't seem to miss any of it, the 'all the time wasted' scanning unused frequencies does not seem to be a real problem
- the automatic rail monitors are not on the same frequency as the engineer uses (?) so wouldn't forcing the radio to the engineer's frequency cause the radio to miss the track detectors (maybe some folks prefer to not hear them, but I like them)
+youtuuba If you want folks to see notification of your responses, you need to "reply" to their messages. If I hadn't come to the comments on this video to read a reply from someone else, I would never have seen what you said.
"Where are we?" is usually a much more pressing question than, "What is the crew saying over the radio?" I bring a GPS with me (savvier folks use smartphones, now). Waypoints along the route tell me where the train is; I don't really have to pay attention.
I wouldn't expect "casual listeners" to go to the effort of reprogramming their scanner for every trip. I set up my scanner once with all of the AAR channels, and I haven't changed anything on it since. Your method creates a lot of work that's repeated for every train trip.
It doesn't matter how fast your scanner "rips through" frequencies. If it's on any of the 19 that aren't the road channel for your train, you don't hear what's said. Particularly, if you're in an area where different frequencies in your bank are being used by different lines, you could end up listening to something that does not pertain to your train while missing something that does.
For example, if you were taking the California Zephyr through Denver, you would have the UP frequency for their line coming from the west, the BNSF frequency for their line coming from the east, and the Amtrak station frequency for Denver Union Station. At any point in your trip, only one of these frequencies is going to be of interest, but all three will be in use in the vicinity of Denver Union Station. If you're coming in form Omaha, you might end up listening to Union Pacific as you approach the station when your train is using the BNSF channel.
I don't know what you mean by "automatic rail monitors." Detectors are always on the road channel, otherwise the crew can't hear it. Their radios may be nicer than yours, but they can still only listen to one at a time.
Mine is also an Uniden. Different model and I manually enter the frequencies. A bit time consuming, but it works for me.
CHIRP is a free-ware radio programming that many Ham’s use to program their hand held radio’s, what we call HT’s. You might try if for programming scanners.
trainmike, as far as I know, all the frequencies used are on the ontrack online website that I show (and also have a separate video about on my RUclips channel). that website is constantly updated by fail fans. When I am on the trains, I certainly hear the conductor and engineer, some other crew that I don't know the identity of, the dispatcher, the rail fault detectors, etc. I don't know if any other crew members use the radio.....
+youtuuba In general, only the engineer and conductors aboard the train are going to be using the road channel. Unless otherwise noted, the frequencies listed in the OTOL tables are road channels.
On-board service (OBS) rarely use radios.
Is the scanner program Windows only? I have an older model of that scanner, in black, so it may not be computer compatible.
Hello I love your videos have you ever tried Railmap app it shows all rail lines and works like a GPS
I actual use a Vertex VX-180 VHF radio to monitor AMTRAK NEC SEPTA and New Jersey Transit. I programed a few AAR channels and 2 meter simplex channels to talked to my buddies. Some passengers think I'm a Railroad official when I hang out at station.
Thanks for the information! Very professional! By the way, can you please tell me the model of scanner that is used in the video? Thank You, and keep up the good work.
GNminnesota, see my recent videos By Request and another one about my newer scanner.
Thank You.
Any idea why a single agency like Amtrak uses so many frequencies? Because each of their radio sets should have all these channels programmed, and the drivers should also have to keep on changing the channels when the train moves on.
In my country India; the railways use fixed frequencies across the country. Especially the frequency/channel used for communication between driver, the guard/conductor and the station masters.
Sachin Perinthalakkat, I don't know for certain, but I suspect that AMTRAK has to follow the system set up by all the freight rail companies, and the complexity of their system may stem from the highly complex and interconnected rail system that they share.
I was wondering if there was a way to use in on railroad crossings.
What's the on-board frequency that the crew uses? I don't see it in the lists. Would be handy to have for each route (space permitting)
+TrainMike2013 Generally the onboard crew uses the road channel, which is the channel that the OTOL tables show.
I used to have the exact same scanner but it gave out on me several years ago, about the same time that many locations in Oswego County, NY went digital. A couple of years ago I decided to get another scanner, this one is a Uniden Home Patrol. It is very difficult to program, so it's been collecting dust in my closet. I'm thinking about bringing it along on my Amtrak trip later this year and was wondering if you've had any experience with it? I got an extra antenna for it too, which is much longer than the one that came with the unit. I guess that I'll just have to re-learn how to use it.
Diana Manwaring I thought the Home Patrol was supposed to be top notch with input by zip code making it easier than manual entry ...maybe that is for stationary listening from home such as police , fire .. How much was the thing ? I know from checking around they are up there
It cost about 400 dollars. Since I posted that question I got it up and running again and am trying to figure out how to add the frequencies for Amtrak, CSX etc. It would be easier if I had my old scanner. I'm thinking about buying a different one that's easier to program just for my trip. They sell a similar scanner at our local Walmart that is less expensive than what I have now.
Diana Manwaring Thank you for responding. Would you say the Home Patrol is overpriced or worth it ? I have the Navy Base , Coast Guard , Norfolk International Airport and everything else locally for listening and wanted to upgrade but the $400-$600 range seams steep for a scanner ..especially when a lot of train buffs use a $30 one E Bay offers and several of the people that train hop use the cheaper ones.
You're welcome!
I would say it's overpriced, given that programming it is a real pain in the backside. I could do an upgrade but it would cost extra. I used to have the exact same scanner as Youtuuba but it went bye-bye after my location (Oswego County NY) went digital. Our local Walmart sells a much cheaper scanner, which I am considering.
Diana Manwaring Well thank you again, from watching clips online about the Home Patrol and your input it seems like I have the wrong impression about the Uniden which was basically plug and play with the operator just choosing which public band to access . NY huh ? You should know about snow then...not like here in VA where it shuts down for 3 days when they call for flurries and the plows come out when any accumulation has melted True story every year ! Been here forever and it is embarrassing . Thanks again.
This doesn't seem like a very good way to do Amtrak train frequencies. You waste a lot of time creating special banks of frequencies for specific trains and having your scanner scan all of the frequencies in the bank while you're on the train. The railroads change road frequencies all of the time, so you end up having to reprogram your scanner every time you take a train. As well, you may miss calls while out on the road because your scanner was looking at some other channel at the time.
I suggest that folks do what I do. Set up all of the AAR frequencies into your scanner and change them as you go along. The engineers and conductors always call out a frequency change (and they'll do it by AAR frequency number). Take a copy of the latest OTOL frequencies with you for whatever train in case you decide to leave the scanner at your seat during lunch ;)
I don`t know which railways you speak of, but the railways and frequencies I am familiar with haven`t changed in over 5 decades. Yes, there have been some very minor changes where the host railroad has upgraded the towers in certain areas to have more standby and utility channels, but to my knowledge the main road frequencies have been the same since day one.
Do all the amtrak employees have scanners or first responders and employees on the train
Yes
@@jospehvalles-perez2055 which ones
radio still real deal thanks for yfi
Amtrak does not have special channels assigned just for them. They use whatever channel of the railroad they are traveling on.
Amtrak has their own frequencies for maintenance and in Northeast Corridor
You Tuba are there different frequencies for trains in different states? I bought a new Baofeng BF-FHHP I got it off Amazon for $30.00 it's a ham & a scanner I bought the programming cable but I can not find the site to do it it's a very nice radio if you would look it up for me and help and walk me through it I would really appreciate it very much I also want to get Norfolk Southern and CSX we have them here in Middle River Maryland Thank You so much Jim
+RUNNING BEAR The road frequency isn't set per train or per railroad. A particular section of track is assigned one, and all trains on that track use that frequency.
There are plenty of rail fan ("foamer") sites where you may be able to find information about the channels used in your area. Or, you can just scan through all of the AAR channels and try to figure out which ones are in use in your area.
Thank you for the information
Look for Chirp software to program the radio. Once loaded, look for database frequency files in one of the drop down menu and load the AAR set
I have a hard time entering 477.7875,5 is the hardest to program.
Most scanners only accept a maximum of 3 digits after the decimal point, and they are programmed at the factory to know the spacing of frequencies, so will automatically fill in the fourth digit, or simply disregard the fourth digit. So, using the example that you provided, you would only need to enter 477.787 MHz, and the scanner would already know that the next digit will be a 5. It likely won`t display it, but I don`t know what model you use. Some scanners do actually allow 4 digits after the decimal point.
nice video
sir, what is the cost for a scanner that you'd recommend ? t y, rich
if you still don't know around 100-120 USD for a newer model
Do you have to have an amateur radio liscene to buy and use a scanner?
Hakeem Sd70M, no, there is no permit or license required to buy radio equipment (at least in the USA), and no license required to RECEIVE radio signals. And these scanners do not transmit, they are receive only.
@@youtuuba Thank you very much for your knowledge and response. The model you have seems like a really great scanner.
Does anyone know how I can listen to Amtrak Texas Eagle on the scanner? Is there an app out there on the iPhone? I go and watch Amtrak coming through my town all the time. I'm interested in becoming an Engineer for Amtrak one day.
OTC, your iPhone does not have the right antenna for picking up these radio signals. You will need a scanner, as shown in this video, but you can use any model scanner, and they are not very expensive. If you can afford an I, you can afford a scanner.
youtuuba Thanks, yes I can afford a scanner.... lol....I was just asking before I went out and bought one.
It is any app for a phone to listen a scanner?
Mati12ful scanner radio
VA Railfan its gonna work for a freight train?
Mati12ful I use it to scan multiple lines you can't input frequencies but if they have the line you want you can listen to it
To the best of my knowledge, the typical smart phone does not have the correct radio receiver circuitry to receive the frequencies used by the railroads.
What's the model number of your unit?
At 18:45 in the video, you can see that it is a Uniden BC95XLT model.
What model is that radio?
Doesn't matter, since there is nothing special about this model and it is so old that it would be hard to get another just like it.
so if I went on the coast starlight#11 and then I ride it back on #14 would I have to make two banks or will it go backwards
Rail is slowly going to DMR/MOTOTRBO :(
Traduir en français Matériel éducatif
Sorry you are not a friendly person...
Why is it that the person who did something inappropriate always seems to think that the person who complains about it is the one in the wrong? I will have you know that while nobody would vote for me as friendliest, I am in fact a generous and helpful person, giving large amounts of my time and treasure to make other peoples' lives better, to be helpful, and to try and make the world a better place. But then YOU come along with an inappropriate question on RUclips, on MY channel, and after I respond in a polite way to let you know why I consider your comment to be inappropriate, you state that I am not a friendly person. That right there says a LOT about you as a person.