The Maritimes Scanning Site
Amateur Radio Frequency Page
Last updated May 17, 2004
Even though I am an amateur radio operator (ham) myself, this IS a scanning site and therefore I am presenting this section for the benefit of scanner listeners. The world of ham radio is a very very wide one, with many areas of interest. But since "scanning" commonly refers to listening to voice communications in the VHF and UHF bands that is the aspect I will concentrate on here.
Ham radio is alive and well in the Maritimes! Some scanning enthusiasts do enjoy listening to amateur radio, even if they can't join in, and of course many scannists are also hams. I don't intend to duplicate the amateur radio websites out there so I will confine myself to links to some of the ham-oriented sites here in the Maritimes plus the one for Canada's national amateur radio organization:
Radio
Amateurs of Canada
(RAC)
This club publishes a "callbook" or list, of all current hams in the Maritimes. The book also includes maps and lists of repeaters as well as other information that may be of interest to scannists, and certainly interesting to prospective hams. The latest edition was published in May 2004, and generally is updated every 2 or 3 years.
The Dartmouth club operates repeaters on VHF and UHF. The VHF repeater features an autopatch, which is a device that allows mobile hams to connect to the telephone system.
Nova Scotia Amateur Radio Association
(Hams please e-mail me links to other provincial and individual sites that would be of interest to scannists and prospective hams)
Scannists are most interested in lists of frequencies and, of course, maps to go with them when available. Just keep in mind that individual hams can operate on many different frequencies but most often in the VHF and UHF bands their FM voice communications are through repeaters which ARE on specific frequencies. For specific frequencies for repeater stations and for maps check the links mentioned following these charts.
Hams operate in several bands of frequencies in the VHF and UHF parts of the spectrum. Some of these bands are more popular than others, and in most of the bands there are specific sections set aside for various different ways of communicating such as CW ("morse code"), SSB voice, packet radio and FM voice. Most scanning listeners are almost entirely interested in the FM voice mode and that is the only mode and sets of frequencies that I will deal with here.
Here are the bands receivable on many modern scanners:
| Common Designation | Frequency range (may include some segments not using FM) |
| 6 metres | 50 - 54 MHz |
| 2 metres | 144-148 MHz |
| 220 (1.35 metres) | 220-225 MHz (very little use) |
| 440 (70 cm) | 430-450 MHz (secondary to other services) |
| 902-928 MHz (shared with other services) | |
| 1296 | 1240-1300 MHz (secondary to other services) |
One of the great mysteries of life is the lack of use of 220. It has never caught on even though equipment has been manufactured to suit it. At present there are no repeaters in the Maritimes and hardly any elsewhere in Canada on this band.
6 metres is more of a simplex band, i.e. communications directly between stations rather than through repeaters but there is one repeater in the Maritimes, at Gore, NS and another going into operation in Halifax in mid-2004.
440 (70 cm) does have some activity, with several repeaters in the Maritimes. A number of 2m repeaters are linked together via 440 dedicated link frequencies.
The 902 and 1296 bands are mostly experimental at this time in the Maritimes.
Overwhelmingly most activity is on 2 metres. Most activity is via repeaters and there are many throughout the region. These links will give you information about the individual repeaters in the Maritimes:
There are current Nova Scotia and PEI amateur repeater maps on Paul's (VE1DY) website. Paul, who lives only a couple of minutes away from me, does a great job on these maps!
Ron, VE1AIC, in PEI has current lists of repeater frequencies throughout the Maritimes. This is another example of a great individual ham's website and his info on repeaters is reliable as he is a frequency coordinator for the Maritimes.
When you listen for a specific repeater keep in mind that in many cases amateur radio repeaters are often linked together so that, for example, when you listen to a Halifax frequency you might hear communications originating through a repeater in Charlottetown.
In fact, a few repeaters, such as the 147.27 machine in Halifax can be linked via satellite to repeaters as far away as British Columbia. Others, such as 146.94, can be linked via the Internet and therefore you could hear hams from practically anywhere in