InterceptRadio.com Forums

Thanks - Had to ask twice until I got it. Whats the freq of the wireless for the Tri-City cars?

-m

Cars in Moses Lake and Lind areas use 2 VHF antennas. That is used for the dual MA/COM transceivers in the trunk. Is this the norm statewide? I know the cars still using Kenwood do not have 2 transceivers. I got a chance a few months ago to see the MA/COM when our local WSP tech (X31) was doing some reprogramming. Troopers were also using Kenwood VHF portables.

_________________
Spectrum Communications, Inc.
526 S Locust Lane
Moses Lake, WA 98837

- - - - -
Kenwood/Relm-BK/Vertex-Standard/David Clark/USAlert/Swissphone. Serving You Since 1978!
- - - - -
http://www.scml.us
http://www.insp.com
- - - - -

170.150 was one hit I got

Guys over here have Ma-Com portables. Never saw any Kenwood mobiles here (R8

Yes the dual Ma-Com mobiles are in use here. The guys hate em!

Being that I'm the WSP radio shop tech for D2... :wink:

The UHF frequencies are all for various MCN sites. None of them are used for voice communications. The MCN is used for vehicle and drivers's license checks, car-to-car text messages, and CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) data sent to the patrol cars.

Yes, a great number of the "legacy" computers are old IBM ThinkPads, mostly running Windows 3.1.

New computers are slowly being issued by Fleet. Their primary use is the SECTOR E-ticketing system, but they have the capability to run an MCN interface application as well.

Most patrol vehicles will not have a separate UHF whip for the MCN data radio. The antenna lead from said radio goes to a combiner box, not unlike those used for dual-band 2m/440 amateur operations, and from there into a dual-band antenna. Notable exceptions would be the ADAT (unmarked) vehicles. If they're MCN equipped, they'll have a small six-inch 'spike,' usually on a trunk-lip mount.

MCN is not used east of Snoqualmie Pass. This is why eastern Washington cruisers only have 5/8 wave VHF antennas. The dual-banders are easily spotted by the presence of the loading coil in mid-whip.

The frequency 161.610 is designated 'ISB-1' in our lists. It will occasionally see simplex action, but it is not a typical dispatch frequency. My understanding is that it is often used when communicating to other agencies.

As for the M/A-Com mobiles: Yes, two VHF 5/8 wave antennas is the norm. Once again, we've got a dual-radio setup with one radio and antenna being designated as an area receiver, and the other a normal transceiver.

The reason for two antennas is because M/A-Com was unable to pull a trick similar to the resistive splitter in the early Syntor X9000's, a splitter which allowed the receive side of the X9000's antenna to be shared with the area receiver.

Happy listening.

_________________

Bruce Lane, KC7GR
Owner, Blue Feather Technologies
Motorola programming and conversion service available. See http://www.bluefeathertech.com/rf.html
"Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..."

The WSP radio system is a basic VHF High Band - base / mobile system. The UHF channels are for "Non-voice" MCN / MDT mobile data stations. The 453.475 / 453.925 channels are allocated statewide and can and are used as "mobile extenders" -- as well as for MDT use. When a trooper is out of the car -- he can use a UHF portable to "hook-up" to the car High Band mobile radio -- with full high power -- to talk to dispatch. The mobile radio -- repeaters the base dispatch -- through the 2.5 watt "mobile extender" to the troopers UHF portable. There are also 4 frequencies in the 460 Mhz area that CAN be used for "mobile extenders" and are shared with the WA DOT. The new 45 Mhz band channels will be added to the Statewide Emergency Managent low band radio system -- possibly as Repeaters. ( "Interoperability" ) The additional 460 Mhz channels in King County and Clark county are for Mobile Data use.

FWIW: WSP stopped using UHF portables for the mobile extenders years ago. This was to get rid of the hassle of carrying two portables.

Everything's VHF now.

Keep the peace(es).

_________________

Bruce Lane, KC7GR
Owner, Blue Feather Technologies
Motorola programming and conversion service available. See http://www.bluefeathertech.com/rf.html
"Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..."