Pager decoding

[Analoguesat]

No satellite passes due atm so Ive started playing with pager decoding. Exactly the same setup as for the wxsats but with one different bit of software -- PDW 3.12

Late at night the pager system isnt very exciting to say the least! a few test messages and one marginally more exciting one that says words to the effect "fill in the tick box"!!!!!

Screengrab of the test messages

PDW isnt difficult to set up - in the recording options set your vb cable in the soundcard option. The tricky bit is finding active pager datas in amongst all the other electromagnetic shash the antenna picks up! Have a look around 153MHz - that seems quite active

 

[Analoguesat]

Just as I posted this a message popped up about a White Spotted Bluethroat being spotted just south of Felixstowe!

 

[Archive-8]

Wait until you see the ambulance calls

 

[Analoguesat]

Yes Ive seen a couple plus a fire brigade one - not nice. Think I prefer the bird alerts!

 

[Archive-8]

147.800 MHz is the national fire brigade retained pagers.

The Sherborne lot test theirs once a week on Wednesday night (drill night) otherwise it’s a call.

Nothing to exciting as it just sets the pagers off to tell them to turn out, it was much better in the “old” days of 70mhz am, as they would read back the message to confirm the teletype had printed it correctly.

The hand held radios are still Analogue, but very short range.

 

[Archive-8]

In pdw you can edit the cap code so it will filter the message and email you (if you have that setup)

 

[RustySpoons]

My friend decided to decode some pagers from a tower nearby.
He wishes he hadn't and was quite upsetting what he read, messages such as "14 year old child had just died, organs available" etc.

 

[Archive-8]

My friend decided to decode some pagers from a tower nearby.
He wishes he hadn't and was quite upsetting what he read, messages such as "14 year old child had just died, organs available" etc.

Yes it’s a fact of life, at least the organs can be used to possibly save a life.

 

[RustySpoons]

Yes it’s a fact of life, at least the organs can be used to possibly save a life.

Absolutely, not disputing that and I think organ donation is a good thing.
But not something either of us expected, kind of puts things in to perspective.

 

[Archive-8]

Absolutely, not disputing that and I think organ donation is a good thing.
But not something either of us expected, kind of puts things in to perspective.

Personally I think the ambulance data should be encrypted.

To protect the identity of the patient.

 

[RustySpoons]

Personally I think the ambulance data should be encrypted.

Yeah we didn't expect to see things like that, I agree mate.

 

[Analoguesat]

Interesting - the pagers around 153mhz are inactive tonight. Not even the "this is sequential test message number #####" stuff. Pagers are a dying breed - Vodaphone shut their system down at the end of March. Shame they disdnt use the 137/8mhz frequencies that blight the wxsat reception!

 

[Adam792]

Just had a go at this. Getting loads of messages come through on 153.025MHz. Lots of birdwatcher-type ones as well as the not-so-nice emergency service ones that seem to be for the ambulances.

 

[Channel Hopper]

The era of the pager could soon be at an end.

NHS told to ditch 'outdated' pagers

The emphasis in the report alludes to a lack of security in the information transmitted.

 

[Archive9]

The era of the pager could soon be at an end.

NHS told to ditch 'outdated' pagers

The emphasis in the report alludes to a lack of security in the information transmitted.

It's about time we change the way we think about data being sent over the air and unencrypted this has to change!

IMHO.

 

[PaulR]

The era of the pager could soon be at an end.

NHS told to ditch 'outdated' pagers

The emphasis in the report alludes to a lack of security in the information transmitted.

I hope they can improve the signal strength of all the networks inside the buildings then. I lose my signal fairly quickly when I go into the depths of our local hospital. Modern hospitals are pretty effective Faraday cages and have many rooms buried deep inside.

 

[Channel Hopper]

The paging system had a specific purpose when it was implemented, to notify staff of an emergency in the shortest time. There wasn't a requirement for security. By using the word 'alluding', I doubt this, nor the cost is the core reason for relegating pagers to the scrapheap.

 

[PaulR]

The paging system has a long history within the NHS, or at least as portrayed on the screen. I remember that on Emergency Ward 10 they had these pagers that looked like slim ball-point pens. I believe that the real system ran an inductive loop around the entire establishment of wherever it was to be used.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Still being sold and very cheap to buy, unless you order one with additional features or part of a garage opener/ car start kit

pager | eBay

 

[Archive9]

The paging system had a specific purpose when it was implemented, to notify staff of an emergency in the shortest time

This story is quite a few years old and should have been phased out by the NHS now.

The information was leaked into the public domain as soon as they sent the message.

Somone somewhere must have an once of common sense then they get fired for the monkeys to take over!