Question for Troop or whoever knows

[mpg0515]

What does it mean when Denver dispatch say "3 Charlie 24 in the blind."? I always thought that this meant they did not have a "pacset" and are hearing their clearance over the loud speaker??

 

[jimmnn]

What does it mean when Denver dispatch say "3 Charlie 24 in the blind."? I always thought that this meant they did not have a "pacset" and are hearing their clearance over the loud speaker??

Correct they are out of there cars, like on a traffic stop and dispatch just hopes the trooper can hear them.

Jim<

 

[Troop]

anymore at least on the East Slope it's just done out of tradition, but they air it with the intention that we wont have to acknowledge....I still use my speaker on I-25 when it's loud and I leave my earpiece at home. Some Troops up in the mountains and down southwest still use the speaker all the time hince things are aired in the blind so you dont have to run back and forth to your car...over and over...been there done that..over and over

 

[mpg0515]

anymore at least on the East Slope it's just done out of tradition, but they air it with the intention that we wont have to acknowledge....I still use my speaker on I-25 when it's loud and I leave my earpiece at home. Some Troops up in the mountains and down southwest still use the speaker all the time hince things are aired in the blind so you dont have to run back and forth to your car...over and over...been there done that..over and over

Thank you both for the info. I guess I just kind of assumed that almost all CSP cars on the eastern slope now had pacsets and didn't need to do that anymore, but that makes sense

 

[ErikB]

Some Troops up in the mountains and down southwest still use the speaker all the time hince things are aired in the blind so you dont have to run back and forth to your car...over and over...been there done that..over and over

I hear that all the time around Gunnison coming out of the Montrose dispatch, I always wondered what that meant, thanks for the info!

 

[jimmnn]

I hear that all the time around Gunnison coming out of the Montrose dispatch, I always wondered what that meant, thanks for the info!

Hey Erik, If you always wonder about things why not post a question here we not only have local knowledge but appears a good deal of national and international viewing of the active Colorado forum recently as well.

Jim<

 

[ErikB]

Hey Erik, If you always wonder about things why not post a question here we not only have local knowledge but appears a good deal of national and international viewing of the active Colorado forum recently as well.

Jim<

Don't worry Jim, I am sure I will have more questions for everyone in the future. When ever I have posted in the Co forum, I always get quick responses (Thanks Guys.........)

 

[poltergeisty]

This is a little off topic, but I have to ask. Why do they call it a pack set? I hear that a lot.

Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

 

[skipshark773]

Its just like calling a vehicular repeater a "Pack Rat" (PAC-RT after its Motorola name). No idea though, I had never heard portables called PAC sets before I came out here.

 

[rfburns]

Packset History

The original portable radios like the Motorola P23 used one volt tubes and used a lot of current just in receive, hence the batteries were rather large. The radios were carried in canvas like packs with a zipper and one or two fabric handles. The antenna was a quarter wavelength solid piece of wire with a PL259 connector. Some of the Forest Service historical sites might have pictures of the old radios. The military had similar radios carried in canvas packs. Lots of military men went into law enforcement after coming out of the military and I think they were the ones who really propagated the packset name.

The GE Voice Commander came along around 1964. The radio was around 6 inches wide and 12 inches high with a telescoping antenna. The bottom half was the snap on battery. I can't remember a canvas pack for it (at least I never had one). Gregory Electronics in New Jersey use to sell the used radio for around $5 after a lot of agencies switched to the HT-200. It had a fold up handle to carry it or you could fold the handle down to set it upright on your desk. GE marketed them at the fire service conventions and would have a drawing for a Dalmatian. GE was thinking CDROM way back then. Their marketing material was on a flexible vinyl disk like a 45 record which you played on your record player. The P23 and the VC were both good radios in their day. The biggest problem was the expensive non-rechargeable batteries that they used. The Motorola low band version was the P21 and there may have been a P24 for UHF

After the P23, Motorola came out with the P300 & P400 which had a canvas pack accessory or you could just carry it by the handle. Then came the HT-200, HT-220, MT-500, MX-3X0 and so on. Somewhere along the time of the 200 and 220 the chest packs came out although they were rather crude compared to what's available today.

What was really confusing was when Aurora called their VHF HT-220's "mobile".

 

[skipshark773]

ah well theres a bit of good history to know....I have seen the giant old PT400s and so forth, infact i still have about 5 MT500s that i keep in working order...thanks for providing some insight!

 

[tracker1]

Early Motorola Pictures

This site has a pictures of early Motorola gear. In the section titled "Specials" you can see the first portables were really backpacks. I'm not old enough to remember them, but I did purchase several of the used GE Voice Commanders from Gregory Electronics a long time ago

http://www.mbay.net/~wb6nvh/Motadata.htm

 

[rick521]

This site has a pictures of early Motorola gear. In the section titled "Specials" you can see the first portables were really backpacks. I'm not old enough to remember them, but I did purchase several of the used GE Voice Commanders from Gregory Electronics a long time ago

http://www.mbay.net/~wb6nvh/Motadata.htm

OK - No complaints from me about the size of my hand held!!!!

 

[skipshark773]

ha, thats great "Weighs only 7 1/2 lbs!" makes the XTS sound like a toy.

 

[poltergeisty]

Thanks for the information. Much appreciated.

I always hear this and could not understand why they would want to say "pack set".Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

 

[scanlist]

I always hear this and could not understand why they would want to say "pack set".

"Brick ****house" was already taken? :lol:

Saber series portables are the last of the moto brick radios. They come in handy if you need to smack someone.

Phil.

 

[Thayne]

We always use the term "Brick s***house to denote noticeable overkill in how something is constructed--Like the guy I worked with that constructed "Sheds" to put lawnmowers in at schools.

They had prestressed concrete roofs and full foundations with rebar through the bricks. They finally fired him after doing about 10 of them

 

[N0GTG]

About Aurora's 'mobiles' - that dates from the fifties when they had ONE portable radio; one of the old 7-pound wonders. They called that radio 'Mobile One', as differentiated from the car radios. As you might guess, it didn't go out very often. But the 'mobile' name stuck to this day. I remember when Denver FD had similar radios for the District Chiefs, and they had a Chief's Aide (firefighter). It was his job to drive the chief around, carry that machine around, and relay communications to and from that chief. Ah, the good old days!