Some CHP Questions

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kandrey89

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5 questions:

1. HPD stands for what exactly? (has something to do with cannabis/intoxication, specifically referred to as NOT alcohol/DUI)

2. I've been occasionally hearing CHP units saying "enroute to the RANGE," what is the range, and why would dispatch announce the range is open for a particular unit? The gun range? Weird that they'd need to be talking about it on the air, but then I don't know how their gun ranges operate, 9PM gun range?, so... is it the gun range or something else?

3. Is there a map of CHP districts that associates Lime/TAC/Color with particular map area as defined in the CHP wiki? I saw the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference but it didn't list Lime/TAC channels associated with each district, like Khaki, Aqua, Amber, etc.

4. Why do calls sometimes come out of Golden Gate division for locations in various districts and sometimes out of channels associated with the district? (at least I think that's how I noticed it)

5. Anyone know exactly what antenna model CHP units are carrying, specifically the ~1.5m antenna?

6. Anyone know why I'm hearing Johnstone Pk/LA Area broadcasts in Bay Area?

Had a lot of exciting events happen in the last 2 months, a 44 mile high speed pursuit that I trailed all the way since it was on my way home. I called in a 23103/23152 on an empty car carrier that was swerving in #2 lane (out of 4) and stayed on with dispatch for 13 miles until 2 CHP units caught up. Called in 11-25 debri this morning, 2 bumpers without associated vehicles in #1/#2 lanes W580, E of Redwood, weird debri... and a bunch of other debri that I called in. There was also a brush fire causing heavy smoke on S880 a couple of months back, thick smoke near Industrial exit.
I have a dashcam mounted, so a lot of things have been captured on video.
My 45 minute commute is best spent listening only to CHP, all other local PD/fire/ambu are too boring.
 

KK4TTR

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I counted 6, well, you did.

I enjoy talking on 2m on my daily commute, not the dispatcher. However, I can see where you're serving the community. You could do both :p

I tune in our local police/sheriff on my scanner radio app, but it's generally too cryptic, or as you put it, boring. Occasionally, it will alert me there's an unusually high number of listeners on a particular feed. Usually some sort of incident.

Happy motoring.
 
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W8RMH

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I'm going to answer #2 as this is probably generic nationwide. Most agencies go to the pistol range for re-qualifying while on duty. The dispatcher needs to know so they can show them unavailable for calls while they are out of service at the range. The dispatcher may also be tracking which units are do for re-qualifying or may be looking at a training/range schedule or passing the information on to units for a supervisor or the range itself. Range hours may vary depending on the availability of instructors/range masters.
 
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Gene

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Not sure about your part of the State, but down here in SoCal, HBD is short for "has been drinking."

Drug use is usually referred to as H and S. (Health and Safety Code violation)
 

kennyloatman

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I'm going to answer #2 as this is probably generic nationwide. Most agencies go to the pistol range for re-qualifying while on duty. The dispatcher needs to know so they can show them unavailable for calls while they are out of service at the range. The dispatcher may also be tracking which units are do for re-qualifying or may be looking at a training/range schedule or passing the information on to units for a supervisor or the range itself. Range hours may vary depending on the availability of instructors/range masters.

Just to add my 2 cents, Most police do have to re-qualify in low light or dark conditions, generally using a flash light. So 9pm training wouldn't be unusual.
 

Oakland_Tower

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#4 I have read this a number of times and I don't know what you are asking. Please rephrase. #6 You were receiving low band "skip" where signals bounce around the ionosphere. This is common in the summer months, however I haven't heard skip from L.A. in years.
 

kandrey89

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#4. When I notify CHP of some event/incident, why is it that sometimes the information I provided is broadcast from Golden Gate Law channels and sometimes from district channels like Aqua/Khaki/etc.
 

Oakland_Tower

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Re #4. Normally it would be dispatched on the color channel associated with the CHP Area Office that the incident is located. For example, 880 in Hayward is handled by the Hayward Area Office and dispatched on the Aqua. The Aqua and Khaki, as you may know, are simulcast by the dispatcher at GG Dispatch. The only other freq they may be rebroadcast on is the Blue, 42.34 or maybe the 453 Mhz UHF channels. This is rather rare tho. Are you referring to the 700 Mhz extenders? You'd have to be fairly close to a mobile unit to hear it. If this doesn't answer your question, please provide frequencies you are inquiring about and we should be able to give you an answer. Anything you call CHP about would normally be broadcast on the color coded dispatch channel (low band 42 and 44 Mhz in the Bay Area).
 

kma371

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#4. When I notify CHP of some event/incident, why is it that sometimes the information I provided is broadcast from Golden Gate Law channels and sometimes from district channels like Aqua/Khaki/etc.

I'm still not entirely sure what you mean. I think it's just your terminology. What is your definition of a Golden Gate Law channel ?
 

kandrey89

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Oakland_Tower got it right, though I need some clarification:
Aqua and Khaki are simulcast by disp. at GG Dispatch, does that mean GG Dispatch transmits on Aqua and Khaki at the same time?

Then I can also say that TAC, Lime and Color Division are simulcast.
I wonder why though, if they need a TAC channel, do they stop simulcasting and use TAC separately?
 

gmclam

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CHP

I agree that listening to CHP is among the most exciting and rewarding, whether you are mobile or not. The fact they've stayed on low band VHF when everyone else has kept moving up in frequency states a lot. California is a huge state and generally speaking low band can cover it better than UHF.

There are tons of threads, Wiki articles and the like here on RR about how to best listen to CHP and their uniqueness (receive sites that 'vote' for example). If you're reasonably high up with a proper antenna, you can pick stuff up "easily" from quite a distance. Since the CHP re-uses the frequencies they have, it is important to employ the use of CT values to "filter" or ID who you are actually receiving.

I also feel strong about monitoring mobile frequencies in addition to the base frequencies. I still monitor the old extender 154.905 in addition to 700 MHz channels, as you never know where the best signal will come in.
 

PaulNDaOC

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CHP uses simulcast at the Golden Gate, LA, San Diego, San Bernardino, centers only.

The remainder are termed "vote, sway" where dispatch replies on a single transmitter that was selected as having the best input signal, so reception will be quite variable depending on location,
 

kandrey89

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Question, so is it worth it adding GG Division frequencies to my scanning list when I want the fastest possible scan speeds so that I don't miss the beginning of transmissions?
If I'm in Khaki, if GGD transmits, it'd be simulcasted on Khaki, so I don't need to include it right?

By the remainder, do you mean TAC and Lime channels associated with each division area?
 

gmclam

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simlcast or repeat

CHP uses simulcast at the Golden Gate, LA, San Diego, San Bernardino, centers only.
I don't think the term "simulcast" has been defined in this thread. We were talking about "repeat" and certainly that function is normally enabled on far more centers that what is listed. I take simulcast to mean that CHP radio traffic is also available on other systems. Funny, there is a CHP talkgroup in Sacramento, but I've never got a hit on it. However, there are two active talkgroups on the Placer County P25 system (still in testing phase).
 

gmclam

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Scan speed vs missing stuff

Question, so is it worth it adding GG Division frequencies to my scanning list when I want the fastest possible scan speeds so that I don't miss the beginning of transmissions?
If I'm in Khaki, if GGD transmits, it'd be simulcasted on Khaki, so I don't need to include it right?
If you want to hear traffic on Khaki, then monitor it. If you want to hear traffic on another GG channel, then monitor that as well. Traffic from one channel is not typically "simulcast" on another. Don't forget to add Blue channel for when there is an incident. Sometimes main traffic moves to Blue and sometimes incident is on Blue.

Fastest scanning is a lot trickier. Fewer channels to scan will mean faster scanning, but not necessarily mean you'll get what you want to hear. I find that because CHP is on low band, which can have lots of atmospheric noise, I need to use CT tones to filter the noise. But by using those tones, signals are detected and the possibility of a desired tone must be decoded, and that slows down overall scan time. The alternative is a higher squelch setting to keep the noise from breaking the squelch, but that means missing many weak signals. It's a trade-off. My solution is separate scanners to monitor different things.
 

K6CDO

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I don't think the term "simulcast" has been defined in this thread. We were talking about "repeat" and certainly that function is normally enabled on far more centers that what is listed. I take simulcast to mean that CHP radio traffic is also available on other systems. Funny, there is a CHP talkgroup in Sacramento, but I've never got a hit on it. However, there are two active talkgroups on the Placer County P25 system (still in testing phase).

"Simulcast" (as originally posted by PaulNDaOC) means Simulcast - the simultaneous keying of phased multiple transmitters on the same frequency. As Paul stated, CHP uses simulcast at the Golden Gate, LA, San Diego, and San Bernardino centers.

The other mode often (erroneously) called 'simulcast' is Multicast - where the same transmission is made simultaneously on multiple RF frequencies. CHP also does that when appropriate.
 

Oakland_Tower

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Question, so is it worth it adding GG Division frequencies to my scanning list when I want the fastest possible scan speeds so that I don't miss the beginning of transmissions?
If I'm in Khaki, if GGD transmits, it'd be simulcasted on Khaki, so I don't need to include it right?

By the remainder, do you mean TAC and Lime channels associated with each division area?

I think you are confused as to where the dispatchers are located here in the Bay Area. If you want to know what is going on on the road you are driving on, listen to the color coded freq. If on 680 in Pleasanton, listen to the Khaki. The dispatcher at Golden Gate who gets the 911 call will relay it in house to the Khaki dispatcher. No other channel will get the info to you sooner. All the Bay Area CHP dispatchers are in the same building in Benicia. I would not listen to any TAC or 450 mhz freqs if you just want to hear what's going on on your route of travel.
 
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