Elko County Nevada Hwy Patrol C/S

[NORCAL]

Can you determine the approximate area that a Nevada Hwy Patrol Unit is operating in by their call sign? Traveling across Nevada along I-80, I cannot determine if I'm hearing a unit in the immediate area or a remote unt in another county. Does anyone have an answer to this question?

[TOUGHLIFE]

No, their assigned callsign is a personal callsign.* After the letter or letters come four numbers.* The first number deals with the rank (2xxx Captain, 3xxx Lt, 4xxx Sgt, 5-6xxx DPS Officer I or II).* The next three numbers were assigned a year or two ago and were issued in order of the officer's last name.Thus one can promote and the last three numbers stay the same with only the first number changing.This holds true even if the officer is transferred to a different division of the NV Dept of Public Safety.This does happen.* The three divisions that generate most of the DPS radio traffic are the Divison of Highway Patrol, the Division of Parole & Probation (Yes they are sworn officers, some with uniforms, and armed.), and the Division of Investigations (much smaller than the first two divisions).In Nevada the NHP operates only three dispatch centers which cover the entire state.Hope this answers your question and provides some additional information.

[NORCAL]

I appreciate the response. I never realized that this is how Nevada's C/S's worked. Thanks again for this information. At least, this will make listening to Hwy Patrol communications a little more interesting.

[spanner]

I go by what mile marker on I-80 they report they are at.

Here in Winnemucca, we get Elko units making stops here, Winnemucca units making stops.

When a unit from another area comes into range of Winnemucca Mountain, we hear the traffic from their home area......Does get pretty interesting sometimes.