Amateur, Aviation, Business and Public Safety Frequency Chart
Manhattan, Kansas Area

35.1600 United Telephone Co.
36.9000 Lifestar helicopter (Fort Riley helicopter boomer operations)
37.9000 Riley County Public Works
39.2200KSG628Morris County Sheriff
39.4000KAA904Riley County Police Dept. dispatch
39.4400 Osage County Sheriff
39.4600KSG628Morris County Sheriff
39.5000 Westmoreland Fire Dept.
39.5400 Pottawatomie County Sheriff (simulcast on 460.425)
39.5600 Wabaunsee County Sheriff
39.5800 Wamego Police dispatch (Kansas police mutual aid freq.)
39.7000KSG628Morris County Sheriff (mobile units)
39.7800 State Park Rangers (statewide/Tuttle/Milford)
43.1400 Bayer Construction
45.2800 Junction City Public Works
47.4200 Red Cross
47.4600 Red Cross
47.5400 Kansas Red Cross
47.6200KAH959Public Safety Services - Council Grove
52.5250 nationwide 6m FM simplex frequency
110.2000 Manhattan Airport VOR
118.5500KLS3Manhattan Airport tower / CTAF
121.5000 aviation emergency frequency nationwide (also ELTs)
121.8500KLS3Manhattan Airport ground control
122.6500 Wichita FSS (Manhattan area calling frequency)
122.8000 Junction City Airport / Lifestar helicopters / Civil Air Patrol
122.8500 Manhattan UNICOM (planes to Kansas Air Center)
122.9000K63Council Grove Municipal Airport
126.2000 Fort Riley Marshall Field tower / Lifestar helicopters
127.3500 Manhattan link to Kansas City Center
(Pilots establish contact with controllers and move to another frequency).
145.4100WØQQQKSUARC 2m amateur radio repeater, Manhattan
145.8000 International Space Station astronauts
146.5200 nationwide 2m FM amateur radio simplex frequency
146.6700WAØVRSTopeka 2m amateur radio repeater
146.8800NØUZTJunction City 2m amateur radio repeater
146.9550KØHAMNortheast Kansas ARC 2m amateur radio repeater, St. Mary's
147.2250 K-Link Repeater System, Manhattan Repeater (North Central KS storm spotters, Linked Repeaters)
147.2550KSØMANMAARS 2m amateur radio repeater, Manhattan
147.5000 WARN spotters (simplex)
148.1250 Junction City Civil Air Patrol - ch. 2
148.1400 Civil Air Patrol - aircraft tactical
148.1500 Junction City Civil Air Patrol repeater / ch. 1
149.4000 Civil Air Patrol - air to base
149.5400 Civil Air Patrol - air to ground
151.8050 USD 383 Manhattan buses
151.9850KJE534Tri-County Telephone Association
152.2300 KSDB remote broadcasts
152.3900KNAN816Bell Taxi
153.1700KBS311KMAN / KMKF remote broadcasts
154.1600KBG810Manhattan Fire Department
154.4450KAA904Riley County Police Department
154.6000 McDonald's drive-through (not verified)
154.6800 Kansas Turnpike Police
154.7250KAA904Riley County Police Dept. Investigations
154.7400 Dickinson County Sheriff
154.8300 Kansas Turnpike Police
154.8750KAA904Riley County Police Dept. dispatch
154.9200 Kansas Highway Patrol vehicle extenders
154.9650KFO985Dickinson County Civil Defense
155.2200 Riley County Red Cross
155.2800 Rock Creek school buses
155.2950 Onaga School Buses
155.3100 Kansas Highway Patrol vehicle extenders
155.3400KEC398Morris County Hospital
155.3400 HEAR System (ambulance dispatch in some areas)
155.5650 Dickinson County Ambulance
155.6100 Abilene Police
155.7300 Crossband between Riley, Geary, Pott. Counties, KSU PD and KHP
155.8050WPNR235Riley County Emergency Medical Service
155.8200 Wamego Police
155.8800 Wamego Police
155.9250 Riley County Fire District #1
156.2250 Pottawatomie County Shops
158.3400KJE534Tri-County Telephone Association (mobile unit)
158.8050 Ogden Public Works
162.0750 National Weather Service - Kansas City Ch. 3
162.1500 National Weather Service - Kansas City Ch. 2
162.4250KZZ67National Weather Service - Blue Rapids
162.4750WXK91National Weather Service - Topeka (via the WIBW tower near Maple Hill)
162.5250WXL71National Weather Service - Abilene
162.5500KID77National Weather Service - Independence, Mo.
162.5500WXK94National Weather Service - Concordia
163.2750 National Weather Service - Kansas City Ch. 1
163.4350 U. S. Army Corps of Engineers / Riley County Police can use this frequency.
165.5875 National Weather Service - Kansas City
166.0250 National Weather Service - Kansas City (assigned)
166.2500 KJCK remote broadcasts
172.1000 National Weather Service - Kansas City (assigned)
173.3963WPDH708Morris County Rural Water District
203.7500KTWUKTWU - 11 audio carrier
215.7500WIBWWIBW - 13 audio carrier
410.7625 Fort Riley field exercises
442.7500 K-Link Repeater System, Clay Center Repeater (North Central KS storm spotters)
444.1750WØQQQKSUARC 440 MHz amateur radio repeater
444.8500 K-Link Repeater System, Minneapolis Repeater (North Central KS storm spotters)
451.3000 AT&T
451.4500KLB260Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
451.5000 Sprint Telephone Co.
453.1750 Geary County Rural Fire
453.2000 Pottawatomie County Ambulance dispatch
453.3000 Pottawatomie County Fire Comm
453.5000 Pottawatomie County Sheriff (ch. 2 - 7)
(Each repeater has a different CTCSS tone - - same input and output freqs).
453.6000KUZ802Manhattan Public Works
453.7250 Manhattan Sunset Zoo / Milford State Lake Park Rangers
453.7750 Wamego City Hospital / Pottawatomie County Ambulance
453.9500 Clay County Emergency Services
457.1525 McDonald's drive-through - Junction City
458.5000 Pottawatomie County Sheriff
458.9000WNUA287Fire District #9 mobile units (Council Grove)
460.0250 Salina Police Dept.
460.1000 Junction City Police
460.1250 Grandview Plaza Police
460.2250 Milford Fire Department
460.4250 Pottawatomie County Sheriff (ch. 1)
460.5000 Geary County Sheriff
460.5500 Saline County Fire Districts
460.5750 Salina Fire Department
460.6250 Junction City Fire Dept.
461.4250 Wamego school buses
462.9750WXJ378Riley County Ambulance Service   MED-10
462.9750 Irwin Army Hospital base   MED-10   Lifestar helicopter   Junction City Ambulance
463.0000 Dickinson County Ambulance to Abilene Hospital
463.1500WXJ380inter-city ambulance service   MED-7
463.9000WNUA287Fire District #9 (Council Grove)
464.4250 Manhattan Wrecker Service
467.9750 Irwin Army Hospital Mobile
822.9375 Kansas Highway Patrol - car to tower
   One of the next seven KSU frequencies carries data,
and will lock up your scanner unless you have a trunk tracker.
Work around this by locking out the data channel. If you do have a
trunk tracking scanner, you can use the codes in the chart below to
make your scanner follow the talk groups you're interested in.
  
854.9625WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
855.7125WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
856.7125WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
857.7125WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
858.7125WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
859.7125WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
860.7125WPFQ566KSU Police, Facilities, Housing, etc. (trunked)
866.3750 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
866.4000 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
866.7875 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
867.2000 Kansas Department of Transportation - Wamego
867.2875 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
867.9375 Kansas Highway Patrol - Topeka (trunked) - Pott. County tower in St. George
868.0500 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
868.2750 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
868.3000 Riley County Ambulance Service (trunked)
937.4250 Westar
937.4500 Westar
937.4625 Westar

Click here for a 10 codes list.

Acronyms:

  • CTAF = Common Traffic Advisory Freq., used by pilots to advise others of intentions (when tower is closed)
  • ELT = Emergency Locator Transmitter (onboard aircraft, activated by impact, downward sweeping audio tone)
  • FSS = Flight Service Station, a government weather and flight plan filing service for general aviation
  • HIWAS = Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (recordings of forecasts over selected VORs)
  • MAARS = Manhattan Area Amateur Radio Society
  • MARTI = brand name of a common low-power broadcast industry remote transmitter
  • MAST = Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic
  • PAWS = Pottawatomie (County) Amateur Weather Spotters
  • UNICOM = a local freq. for advisories on fuel availability, weather, or calling other aircraft (small airports)
  • VFR = Visual Flight Rules, which means the generally clear skies required for pilots not instrument rated (IFR)
  • VOR = VHF Omni Range, a localized aviation navigation system with CW id and sometimes weather info (HIWAS)
  • WARN = Weather Amateur Radio Network

Notes:

  • The KSU 800 MHz frequencies are for a Motorola trunked system. Four freqs. must be scanned for full coverage.
  • 800 MHz frequencies assigned to the Riley County Ambulance Service are for GE trunked mobile units that have phone patch capability. These radios are used infrequently.
  • Please email additions or corrections.

Cool Scanner Links

Radio Reference.com Links for the Manhattan, Kansas Area

These people contributed to this page:

  • John Skare, NØPVT, Professional Scanner Operator   (major contributor)
  • Myron Calhoun, WØPBV   (major contributor)
  • Jay Holmes, KCØNER   (major contributor)
  • David Yoder, KAØJPM
  • Bob Bartholic, KBØZWK
  • Paul Schliffke, NØUZN
  • Tracy Tipping, NØOEY
  • John Best, NØTOK
  • George Moore, KD7KXH
  • Thomas Lussen, WA4ILH
  • Scott Kamla
  • Dave Geist
  • Eric Ward
  • Randy Harrison
  • Derek Nester
  • Michael Kraft


HOSPITAL - AMBULANCE FREQUENCIES
Hospital
Designation
Vehicle
462.9500
Dispatch 1
467.9500
462.9750
Dispatch 2
467.9750
463.0000
MED 1
468.0000
463.0250
MED 2
468.0250
463.0500
MED 3
468.0500
463.0750
MED 4
468.0750
463.1000
MED 5
468.1000
463.1250
MED 6
468.1250
463.1500
MED 7
468.1500
463.1750
MED 8
468.1750
462.9500
MED 9
467.9500
462.9750
MED 10
467.9750


A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TRUNKED RADIO SYSTEMS

The installation of trunked systems has brought a great deal of change to radio listening in the last few years. We recommend that you first hear from the experts, Uniden®, in their page Deciphering Trunked Systems. They're the current owners of the line of scanners known through the years as Electra Bearcat®.

An 800 MHz trunk system has multiple frequency pairs (input/output; the input side always exactly 45 MHz below the output) (minimum three pairs / maximum 29 pairs) used to service several units/stations. There may be as many as 1000 users broken into several groups which use the five frequency pairs. The central controller keeps up with all the users and the status of the five frequencies. When a user keys up a radio, the radio sends out a digital burst which identifies which radio it is and what group it is in. The controller then sends out a "wake up" signal to all the other radios in that group and the transmission is heard by all the radios in that group. It's basically a digital tone-encoded squelch system with a central computer which keeps up with which frequencies are in use, and automatically changes groups to open frequencies when a transmission is made.

On Motorola systems, one of the frequencies will be used for the control channel. Voice traffic may be assigned to the "closest" frequency first, and then to increasingly distant frequencies if the closer ones are busy, etc.

Currently, KSU has multiple groups (including KSUPD, Parking Services, Bramlage Coliseum, Facilities, Housing, and Rec Complex) in its system.


AVIATION COMMUNICATIONS IN THE MANHATTAN AREA

Those who would like to monitor aviation communications will need a scanner which receives AM signals in the 118 - 136 MHz range. Around Manhattan, a fair amount of activity can be heard with an indoor antenna.

The Manhattan airport has a cute little tower which is in service from about 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. Its frequency is 118.55 MHz (AM). Pilots of all approaching planes must call in from 10 nautical miles out to announce their presence in our class D airspace. The tower will advise the runway in use, altimeter reading and winds info. Pilots must again contact the tower when entering the runway traffic pattern (downwind leg), and will be given any further instructions. When the tower is open, Manhattan is in controlled airspace.

When the tower is closed, pilots still use the tower frequency (CTAF), announcing their intentions and progression through the runway traffic pattern, even controlling the runway lights intensity with their PTT buttons on the CTAF.

The ground control frequency of 121.85 is of much less interest, and much more difficult to receive, because planes only use it while taxiing. Clearance to take off is requested on the tower frequency.

General aviation pilots around Manhattan, for the most part, keep their radio tuned to the CTAF of the closest airport (if there's a tower), or the UNICOM frequency for that airport if there is no tower. UNICOM at the Manhattan airport is used primarily for a pilot who wishes to contact the Kansas Air Center, a commercial fixed base operator (FBO), for weather info, fuel info, or other needs. The Kansas Air Center is open longer hours than the tower, but does not do air traffic control.

Pilots who are destined for the class B airspace of Kansas City International (Kansas City Center on the radio) call through a remote link which in the Manhattan area is on 127.35 MHz. To keep this frequency clear, the controller who answers will immediately assign each pilot a different frequency for further communications.

Filing flight plans is required for commercial pilots and general aviation pilots flying by instrument (IFR). Most details of the flight plan are often filed by telephone in advance, then "opened" or "activated" by radio promptly after take-off. (The flight plan tells the FAA what route will be taken as well as estimated time enroute, so "opening" it basically starts the FAA "clock" ticking). In this area, flight plans are filed or updated with a federal Flight Service Station (FSS) in Wichita (Wichita Radio) on 122.65, which is easily contacted by a plane aloft. The FSS also gives and receives weather info for the region.

Many airports have a VOR, which is basically a homing signal that onboard instruments can use to see if they are on course. VOR signals are unmanned and not very interesting, and identify in Morse Code (Manhattan's is "MHK"). The local VOR is on 110.2 MHz.


Radio Frequency Spectrum

There are many lists and charts of radio services, and frequency ranges they may use.




ksuarc@ksu.edu



modified 7/04/08