Monitoring Middlesex County, New Jersey

For all the municipalities or groups listed above, there is a table of the frequencies and a brief description of how they are used. The first field is the channel name and/or usage, the second column is the radio frequency, the third column is the type (R=repeater, B=base, M=mobile), and the fourth column is the squelch or modulation type (CSq = carrier squelch). A two-digit number in the last field represents an LTR LCN; any known associated talkgroups will be listed further down in the same table.

It is intended for all public safety (police/fire/EMS/OEM) and government (roads dept/building dept/MUA) channels to be listed here, plus most business repeaters and other channels which may be of particular interest. Many business channels have intentionally been omitted because researching and processing them all would be impractical. If you are searching for one not listed, try the FCC database or check if they are using an undentified talkgroup on one of the SMRs. And as always, please feel free to submit additional channels to the author.

Businesses, now including hospitals (which previously had their own section) should be listed under the municipality they are principally located in. County-wide busineses may be listed under the County Other section or with the municipality in which the main transmitter is located. Major utilities are covered on the state page. An effort has been made to group the businesses under their real municipality, but in some cases they may be listed under their postal code's municipality (for example, many businesses list Princeton as their transmitter's city even though they're in Montgomery or West Windsor or Lawrence).

Good sources of additional information are:
• Frequency Lists (located at this site, includes more license data, excludes narratives).
• NJ State Channels in Mercer / Middlesex / Somerset (located at this site).
• Central-New-Jersey-Scanning Yahoo Group.
• RadioReference.com, particularly for trunked radio system information but increasingly for conventional data too.

Middlesex County Trunked Radio System

Middlesex County operates a mixed-mode EDACS-Wideband trunked radio system on the 800 MHz band. Simulcast repeater sites are located in New Brunswick, Monroe, East Brunswick, and Woodbridge. The digital modulation is not APCO P-25 compliant, you will not be able to decode the digital transmissions using any consumer-marketed radio scanners available now. The control channel has been on each of the six channels at some point in time, which really is irrelevant because all six must be programmed any for proper trunking.

Law enforcement and emergency services on the system, such as the prosecutor and sheriff and OEM, are now almost 100% digital. The transition from Aegis to Provoice, and the transition of remaining units from analog to digital, occurred late in 2005 and early in 2006. Other agencies and services, like the roads and transportation departments, remain analog and monitorable with many scanners.

Refer to the System Maps section for an Excel workbook with all the latest talkgroup and system information, including TGIDs in true AFS, Uniden AFS and decimal. Talkgroups are not listed on this page because there are many and they can be better presented in an Excel workbook (look for the tabs in the workbook); if you can not read XLS files then please refer to the ETRUNK files for this system.

Middlesex County-wide Law Enforcement

The primary channel for inter-department police communications is the UHF "Police Hotline". Most police dispatch agencies have the input to the repeater and tests are performed each day at 0100 and 1100 hours.

The Sheriff has a repeated channel for the adult facility and a simplex channel for the juvenile facility, both on Route 130 in North Brunswick. The PL on the juvenile channel is non-standard, somewhere between 79.7 and 82.5 but not confirmed as exactly 81.0.

Refer to the NJ State Agencies page for more information on state-wide and nation-wide interoperability channels.

Middlesex County-wide Fire & EMS & OEM

Unfortunately there is no centralized dispatch for Middlesex County emergency services as you find in other counties. Fire-1 used to be very common for fire company and some first aid squad paging, with either Fire-1 or other low-band channels used for operations. Almost all agencies have since moved up to VHF or UHF or 800, though some still are paged on low-band and there are probably some old radios out there still for mutual aid and chatter.

County uses their old VHF-Hi operations repeater for paging but finally moved most ops over to the trunked system. The OEM UHF repeater is now used for fire mutual aid coordination, and the old 800 MHz DOT channel has been relicensed and reassigned to OEM use; note the PL has changed from DOT days. The HazMat teams now usually use a talkgroup for their on-scene ops.

The DEP channels are utilized by the state Department of Environmental Protection for forest firefighting (abbreviated FF here). The Jamesburg tower is likely to use 8 the most, and has been heard frequently coordinating responses and chatting on the tactical channel. A reader has reported hearing B10 testing a SMR repeater channel back in the summer 2005 with some apparent complications in simulcasting two different repeaters on the channel. B10 is still using their old direct channel so it is unclear when, if ever, they will be putting the repeated channel in service.

Two 'buff network' channels are listed, one somewhat amateurish GMRS channel which may have disappeared somewhat recently, and one private repeater (respectively). Both are located in or around South River, and both are not officially related to the county but may be of interest to monitors.

Refer to individual municipalities for specific fire and EMS channels. All in-county Advanced Life Support (ALS=paramedics) is dispatched by MedCentral with paging on JEMS 1 and operations on F-5. Medics usually get physician control via landline or cellphone, but do occassionally use the med channels in duplex mode. Most medic units can communicate directly with the dispatch center they are responding into on the local channel or talkgroup.

Basic Life Support (BLS=ordinary ambulances) often use JEMS 2 to contact hospital emergency departments with in-bound patient reports. All the JEMS are used as coordination channels. JEMS 4 technically has a PL of 131.8, but MedCentral has opted to establish a channel on that frequency with a different PL. Presumably they also have ability on the real JEMS 4. EMS unit stations: MR-1 RWJUH/SPUH ALS (New Brunswick); MR-2 RWJUH/SPUH ALS (East Brunswick Pine St FH); MR-3 RWJUH/SPUH ALS (South Brunswick Mun Bldng); 651/652 RWJUH/SPUH BLS (New Brunswick EMS); 781 RWJUH/SPUH BLS (North Brunswick coverage); 782 RWJUH/SPUH BLS (Franklin coverage); 783 RWJUH/SPUH BLS (Piscataway coverage); 8## RWJUH/SPUH BLS (transport, EMS as needed); Mercy 6 & 7 JFK ALS (Muhlenburg); Mercy 9 JFK ALS (JFK); Mercy 10 JFK ALS (special assignment); Perth MIC 1 & 2 RBMC ALS (Perth Amboy); .

A new EMS mutual aid channel has been established and will probably be used for EMS mobilizations in the future, run by MedCentral and/or county OEM. While not definite, it appears that the NJSFAC 14th District doesn't routinely coordinate mobilizations except possibly especially large ones that come down through the NJSFAC state coordinator.

Middlesex County Other Services

Nearly all county services now operate on the trunked system in analog mode. A list of talkgroups is on the right side; for system information and frequencies, see the trunked radio system section.

Carteret Borough

The Carteret Police Department is dispatched on a UHF repeater. A new repeater has been heard to have traffic with speech inversion; it is probably an alternate or secure channel for the PD. With the license modification adding the second repeater, a simplex channel was also added.

The Carteret Fire Department is paged on low-band and operates on a UHF repeater.

The Carteret First Aid Squad is paged and communicates on 155.220, but with a different tone than MedCentral and Perth Amboy. The CFD has been providing daytime EMS coverage for the borough.

Carteret OEM uses a UHF repeater for their ordinary operations, and presumably has access to all the borough's other channels as well.

Cranbury Township

Most of Cranbury's services, including the police department, are dispatched by Hightstown, so you'll see a lot of similarities. Both police departments use the same UHF repeater.

Cranbury Fire, Station 48, is the only user of their UHF repeater, which is used for paging, dispatch, and operations / talk-around. Initial paging is usually done by Hightstown and follow-on dispatch is usually performed by Mercer County on this channel. Other channels licensed to CFD are for mutual aid.

Cranbury First Aid, Squad 48, moved its dispatch channel to a new high-band repeater around July or August of 2007. It appears that this is used for all communications, including paging and dispatch, and that the old channel is no longer in regular use by this squad. Additional information on the Cranbury squad, along with information on the OEM, is also available on the township's web site.

Dunellen Borough

The Dunellen Police Department is dispatched on a VHF-High repeater. A second police channel is for mutual aid to North Plainfield Borough (Somerset County; the repeater is NP's).

Dunellen Fire Department.

Dunellen Rescue Squad.

East Brunswick Township

East Brunswick Township operates a Motorola Type II UHF trunked radio system consisting of six repeater pairs in the 500 MHz area. This system has been in use since about 1998, and seems to be used by all township services plus all South River Borough services (since late 2000), Milltown Borough fire (since 2003), and Spotswood Fire and EMS (since 2005). A comprehensive listing of talkgroups is below; the base frequency is 500.300, the offset is 380, and the step is 12.5; TRUNKER files for this system are also available for advanced users (sysid is 5E30).

East Brunswick Police Department is entirely on the trunked system.

The old Emergency Services (ES) repeater is being maintained as a backup to the trunked system. For a period of time it was used by MedRescue 2, and (at that time) it appeared that EB dispatch always monitored this channel. More recently MR2 has been operating on the trunked system.

The East Brunswick Fire Department is comprised of the following districts and companies: District One (7** units, Old Bridge Volunteer Fire Company); District Two (8** units, East Brunswick Independent Fire Company); and District Three (9** units, Brookview Volunteer Fire Company). All are paged to calls in their individual primary territories on 33.82/156.7 with a taped rebroadcast immediately following on 33.72/156.7. Units generally communicate on the Fire Dispatch talkgroup, with one talkgroup per district also intended for operations and one "private" talkgroup per district. Conventional radios may be used for fireground operations on 453.1375 (simplex). The 33.72/CSq channel rebroadcasts all the above fire talkgroups and conventional channels. Not rebroadcast on 33.72/CSq are the 3 districts' "private" channel and the conventional UHF "tactical" channel. District 1 assumed the old Woodbridge Housing Authority license but has not yet revised transmitter locations (just like Milltown did with the old Old Bridge police channel). Future use of these channels is unknown.

The East Brunswick Rescue Squad is paged and operates internally on a VHF-Hi repeater. Rigs still communicate with dispatch mostly on the trunked system, but the VHF channels are to be used for scene operations and most communication between rigs on different calls. TransMed (paid daytime BLS) operates on the EMS Dispatch talkgroup, and is hailed there rather than paged.

East Brunswick's municipal services operate exclusively on the trunked system. The school system operates mostly on conventional, but has used one talkgroup for roll-call.

Edison Township

Edison Township utilizes a Motorola Type 2 UHF mixed-mode trunked radio system; system voice is analog and P-25 digital clear and P-25 digital encrypted. Refer to RadioReference.com for the latest talkgroup and system information. Two configurations are required to trunk this system: Base1=470.0000, Offset1=380, Spacing1=12.5; Base2=477.0000, Offset2=600, Step2=12.5.

With the possible exception of a few conventional backup/tactical channels, rarely used if at all, the Edison Police Department operates entirely on the trunked system. Generally speaking, the police talkgroups are digital encrypted and can not be properly decoded by any scanner.

Edison Fire Department is paged on their old UHF dispatch channel, which also carries a multicast of select fire talkgroups. Most subsequent activity is on the trunked system, though they maintained ability on a UHF simplex channel for fireground and tactical operations. Generally speaking, the fire talkgroups are digital and require an APCO digital-compliant scanner to be decoded.

Edison EMS, including Edison First Aid Squad #1, Edison First Aid Squad #2, and Clara Barton First Aid Squad, are all paged on the old police dispatch channel, which also carries a multicast of select EMS talkgroups. Most subsequent activity is on the trunked system, though they may still have ability on some of the old conventional channels. The old EMS Dispatch frequency has been rolled into the trunked system. EFAS#2 has a page on their web site which describes their frequency usage, though it's a bit outdated. Generally speaking, the EMS talkgroups are digital and require an APCO digital-compliant scanner to be decoded.

It is believed that all Edison Township services, such as public works and municipal departments, operate exclusively on the trunked system.

Edison schools have two district-wide repeaters. Each school uses one or both of the low-power, simplex channels. DCS codes vary by school.

Helmetta Borough

Helmetta Borough contracts with Spotswood Borough for dispatch services. An old East Brunswick Sentinal article outlines the arrangement.

The Helmetta Police Department is dispatched on the same old VHF-High channel; it is unknown whether they intend to migrate up to the relatively new Spotswood PD UHF channel.

The Helmetta Fire Department has recently moved their operations from low-band to UHF. Paging remains on low-band, but with a different PL. The old alternate channel should now (or soon) have retransmission of pages plus multicast of the UHF operations channel.

EMS for Helmetta is provided by Jamesburg First Aid Squad. JFAS is paged on JPD's channel, and then communicates with Spotswood/Helmetta on 155.6100.

Highland Park Borough

The Highland Park Police Department is dispatched on a UHF repeater.

The Highland Park Fire Department is paged on low-band and operates on a UHF repeater.

The Highland Park First Aid Squad is paged and operates on a UHF repeater.

DPW also uses the same repeater as fire and EMS.

Jamesburg Borough

The Jamesburg Police Department is dispatched on a VHF-High repeater. The old simplex channel (155.610/131.8) may have been kept for talk-around.

The Jamesburg Fire Department is paged on the police repeater, and operates on two simplex high-band channels.

The Jamesburg First Aid and Rescue Squad is dispatched on the police repeater. If they are responding into their primary territory in Helmetta Borough, they will switch over to talk directly with Helmetta (Spotswood).

Metuchen Borough

The Metuchen Police Department moved their primary dispatch to a UHF repeater in the middle of November, 2005.

The Metuchen Fire Department operates on a UHF repeater, with a low-power channel for fireground and tactical usage. It seems that they have designated the other tactical channel they licensed as a town-wide common channel.

The Metuchen First Aid Squad is now alerted and operates on a UHF repeater. The old low-band paging channel has been abandoned and the old high-band repeater (formerly PD & EMS dispatch) is now used by select municipal services.

It is presumed that Metuchen OEM uses the police, fire, and EMS channels for their communications, rather than the older high-band channels which would not be interoperable with the current public safety channels.

Metuchen DPW continues to operate on their high-band channel, and uses the high-band repeater to call the police dispatcher. The transportation department operates on the former (VHF) police repeater.

The Metuchen High School licenses a couple UHF channels for low-power mobile use.

Middlesex Borough

The Middlesex Borough Police Department is dispatched on a high-band repeater. Technically the frequency is licensed on the new band-split, but older scanners should be able to receive it okay on 156.050.

The Middlesex Fire Department is dispatched and operates on a high-band channel. Normal activity on low-band has ceased, but ability there may remain for mutual aid.

The Middlesex Rescue Squad is dispatched on the police channel.

Middlesex Borough OEM operates on a high-band repeater, sharing the frequency (but not PL) with Essex County and South Amboy, among others.

Milltown Borough

The Milltown Police Department began using Old Bridge's former police repeater (same callsign, different location & PL) for their own dispatch in 2001. Along with it they licensed a couple more UHF frequencies for coordination with New Brunswick. There is reportedly an unlicensed tactical channel.

The Milltown Fire Department is paged on high-band and operates on East Brunswick's trunked system. A couple conventional fireground channels may be used for major incidents.

The Milltown Rescue Squad is paged and dispatched on the same high-band channel as the fire department. They have ability on EB's TRS, but apparently for coordinating with the FD. Pager tests are done at 2200 each day.

Monroe Township

Monroe Township utilizes an analog UHF Motorola Type II trunked radio system for all services. A comprehensive listing of talkgroups is below; the base frequency is 507.0125, the offset is 380, and the step is 25.0; TRUNKER files for this system are also available for advanced users (sysid is 7017).

Monroe Township Police Department operates entirely on the trunked system.

The Monroe Fire Department is comprised of three companies: Station 51 (Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company #1) is District 1; Station 57 (Applegarth Engine Company) is District 2; Station 23 (Central Monroe Volunteer Fire Company) is District 3. All three respond to their individual primary territories. Fire alerting is done on high-band and most operations are on the trunked system. There are three conventional tactical channels available, as well as numerous channels for mutual aid to Mercer, Middlesex, and Monmouth Counties. Station 57 has a great page about their radio communications.

Monroe Township EMS does not seem to be paged via radio. New dispatches go out over the EMS Dispatch talkgroup, and possibly via phone to the squadhouse.

The Municipal Utilities Authority operates on the trunked system. The school system has three known talkgroups for: school buses, disrict-wide maintenance, and high school operations.

City of New Brunswick

The New Brunswick Police Department has four known channels, on and off two repeaters. A newly licensed channel appears to be for police use, but has not been confirmed yet.

The New Brunswick Fire Department is dispatched on a repeated VHF-high channel and has a simplex fireground channel.

New Brunswick's EMS is provided by RWJUH-SPUH EMS, and is dispatched by MedCentral. The main frequencies are listed here; for more information and frequencies see County-wide Fire & EMS for specifics.

The Housing Authority's old channel expired and a new channel has been licensed, but activity has not yet been observed on it.

The Parking Authority's channel is technically licensed to RWJUH, but is used for the authority's security and operations staff.

North Brunswick Township

The North Brunswick Police Department's switch to new digital channels appeared to take place on 12/18/06. To date all observed traffic has been APCO P-25 clear (not encrypted).

The North Brunswick Fire Department is comprised of NB Volunteer Engine Company #1 (Georges Rd), NB Volunteer Engine Company #2 (Route 130), and NB Volunteer Fire/Ladder Company #3 (Cozzens Lane). They are all paged out together, for any call, and operate on a UHF repeater. They also use a UHF simplex fireground channel.

The North Brunswick First Aid and Rescue Squad is alerted by "North Brunswick Central" on JEMS 1. Two-way dispatch, formerly on the old police channel, is now on the new F-3. RWJUH-SPUH EMS unit 781, providing daytime coverage, seems to be in the midst of switching over, as if some of the buses' radios have been reprogrammed and some haven't.

DPW has started using their new UHF channel (the old PD channel) in January of '07, however some units are still on low-band as well. DPW was apparently using 471.100/67.0 with mobiles (no repeater) in the fourth quarter of 2006, but it has not been heard since PD vacated 460.175 and EMS has switched to their new channel.

The Board of Education operates a repeater for its district-wide services; buses use a PL of 74.4 and district-wide administration uses 100.0. Channels are confirmed for the high school (repeater) and Linwood Middle School (simplex); three other simplex channels are licensed and are assumed to be used by other schools with the same PL.

There is still one channel in the township's license, 506.4000, which has not been observed to have any traffic.

Old Bridge Township