MetroFire Boston - radio channel usage

[agent yo'range]

we might have posted this before - but lets try it 1 more time

Metro Fire Boston has several radio channels - lets try to outline
what they are and how they are used

MetroFire White - 483.2875 R - dispatcher to dispatcher radio traffic
- used several times every day

MetroFire Red - 483.3125 R - this channel seems to work in the red
line subway tunnels - maybe in other subway tunnels also - over the
last 10 years this channel seems to be used very very very rarely -
maybe they try to keep it clear for any subway incidents - and as a
spare FG channel for Boston

MetroFire Admin - not sure if this channel really exists - it might be
an encrypted channel only available to one chief from each FD

MetroFire North - this channel has radio tests run by Belmont FD - the
FDs called are on the west and north sides of Boston - the channel
does not seem to be used for anything else even though the SOPs show
it used as cover channels for multi FDs - maybe this is intended as a
backup dispatchers net during a mega disaster

MetroFire Central - this channel has radio tests by Cambridge FD for
FDs that border Boston (part of the UASI district / urban homeland
security whatever district) - the channel does not seem to be used for
anything else

MetroFire South - not sure if this channel still exists or not -
nominally is a regional channel for FDs to the south of Boston

MetroFire Fireground channels - there are now 6 short range channels
that can be used for FG ops - apparently these simplex channels are
used quite commonly by Revere / Everett / Malden etc - not sure if
anyone else uses them or not - they might not get heavily used because
maybe emergency buttons wont really work on these short range channels
- whatever

MetroFirre ?gold? or ?orange? - there might be 1 repeater pair that
can be used with transportable repeater / MO3 / FB2T whatever - have
never heard this used in 30 years

Bottom line - of these 13 channel - we can only really swear that 1 of
them is used regularly - [we are not located real close to Everett or
Malden etc so it is hard to confirm that they actually use those short
range channels] - Everett, Chelsea, and Revere all have 2 or 3 local
repeater pairs each - but Everett and Revere use simplex channels as
FG - Chelsea might use a repeater channel for FG - all of these
channels are at least 20 years old - you would think they would have
tons of remote receivers on these channels by now to give great
portable coverage in their cities

One other note - several of the FDs have multi local repeater channels
licensed now - Waltham + Newton + Watertown + Belmont + Cambridge +
Somerville + Quincy + Weston + Burlington - but there is also a dozen
or more FDs that just have 1 repeater pair licensed - Arlington +
Lexington + Winchester + Woburn + Stoneham + Wakefield + Reading +
Wellesley + Needham + Milton etc

Another note - many of the MetroFire FDs that are in Norfolk County
make use of the Norfolk County FG channels - such as Braintree +
Milton + Randolph + Norwood + Canton etc

so yeh - its a huge ball of yarn