CT State Police

Hi everyone. I am programming my scanner for CT State Police. In the Database is a talk-group called: "Emergency Restoration Vehicle Talk-Groups". Alpha Tag: 91ERV-1A. Emergency Restoration Vehicle 1 / Special Events A.

When does the State Police use these Talkgroups ? Special Events I'm guessing ? Why would they label it Emergency Restoration Vehicle ? Don't understand. Does anyone hear them on this talk group ?

Thanks for you replies.

AH

Those TGs are used when the communications trucks (ERVs) are set up at events. The most regular use is at Rentschler Field events when the CSP is involved. They set up the comm truck and run a trmporary site at the field. They then use the ERV TGs for the event so the main system is not overloaded.

chris

Thanks Chris for the reply. So then they are used only for special events. Are they low power seeing that they are for just special events ? Unless they have something going on locally then, I won't really hear much from these talk goups then, correct ?

You can program them as a separate system and then turn it on if you ever need to. The power is whatever they have for the truck repeaters/antennas but I wouldn't be surprised if they can change the output power.

chris

ERV (Emergency Reatoration Vehicles

As a uniformed Prorective Services Officer for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, I was fortunate to get the Nicole tour of one of the ERV's at Rentschler Field. The door was open and they caught me with my butt hanging out while I took a peek inside. The tech who was inside asked me if I would like the tour and of course I said yes! I don't remember all of what he told me but the general jist of it was the vehicle's primary purpose is to replace a trunked site during times of malfunction and scheduled down times that arise. It made sense as a "go pack" (a complation of necessary gear pre-packaged that could be transported on a moments notice.) but the secondary purpose of utilizing the vehicles at special events has done more to justify the vehicles for the reasons stated in the previous reply to your questions. He told me the idea of these ERV's are nothing new, that they were in use by others before CSP's trunked system came along. So the concept had been well thought out. And CSP included them in the initial requests for proposals. The vehicles also can patch just about any comms system together, including cell phones. It can cross patch... from one band to another, using different modes of transmissions (conventional to trunked both analogue and digital), etc. By the time the tech was finished, he had me believing if need be, the vehicle could bounce signals off the moon if necessary! Of course, I wanted an ERV to take home with me! I had thought the added expense of these vehicles was a frivolous expense until that day. I thought in the case of a site needing repair it only needed a repairman's visit, not an entire self contained site replacement. How very wrong I was to think that. The vehicles have paid for themselves many times over.

Does anyone have a pic of the ERVs we are talking about here? Would like to see what we are talking about so if I see it around I know what it is.
On a side note:I have seen a pickup with a cap on the bed in my area with numerous antennas of different styles on it. State marked plates. Not uniformed personnel driving it either. Looks like radio Maintenance / repair maybe.


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This is from a few years ago. Not sure if the State Police have their own.

http://forums.radioreference.com/co...3159-demhs-mobile-communication-vehicles.html

Not sure how current these are
CSP ERV 1 http://www.firenews.org/police/CTStatePDCP.jpg
DEP ERV http://www.firenews.org/police/CTDEPCom.jpg

Lots more from all of the Northeast:
http://www.firenews.org/police/police.html

chris

The ERV radio trucks are typically DEMHS not CSP, although CSP has one, and function as a sort of radio clearing house at events. They have extensive capabilities for patching, cross-banding, you name it for interagency operations.

They appear at not just major planned events, but at emergency scenes as well, such as the massive three day fire operations in Essex this past winter, haz-mats, confirmed bomb removal.

I do not know if DEEP (formerly D.E.P still has a truck. Every since Hurricane Sandy I have only seen the DEMHS vehicles on scene.

Thank you all for the info and pics.


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DEMHS trucks are MCV 1-5
CSP runs the ERV 1 & 2
CSP also has the CTS tech's vehicles. That is what the pickup truck with the cap is. They used to have Explorers (RDVs) with a fair bit of comm equipment (http://www.ct.gov/cfpc/lib/cfpc/RDV.pdf)

chris

Yup. That's what I have seen in my area quite a bit, the CTS tech vehicle.
Some good info in those last 3 hyperlinks.

Thank you


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chris, that CSP chassis looks a lot like what was parked under Rocky Hill Veteran's Hospital water tower for the better part of the last decade...

cg said:

DEMHS trucks are MCV 1-5
CSP runs the ERV 1 & 2
CSP also has the CTS tech's vehicles. That is what the pickup truck with the cap is. They used to have Explorers (RDVs) with a fair bit of comm equipment (http://www.ct.gov/cfpc/lib/cfpc/RDV.pdf)

Click to expand...

I had only seen one CSP ERV over the past few years, always the same one, so I asked the DEMHS R4 guys about it, while at a railroad rescue training session, and was told they believed only one remained in service, Maybe they had that wrong.

There are a few older DEMHS Ford Expeditions that have more radios packed in them that you would ever think is possible as well. They are slowly being replaced with other vehicles. They are hard to miss, they look like CSP Expeditions, except with more antennas than you would reasonably think could be mounted to a vehicle's roof.

Anyone see the truck the CSP were using at the Woodstock fair? Looked like a1970's model Ford pickup. Hard to believe it's still in use.

Good Old Days

When I worked for the CSP Hartford, 1986-1990 we had a Van with a VHF Repeater and probably lots more stuff, can't remember... We would go to presidential details and other special details supplying the SP with On Site radio coverage.
Later days they bought a big truck to replace it. Had to get CDL license to drive it.

OTR

The ERV's (Emergency Restoration Vehicles) are indeed CSP vehicles and not DHMES (or whatever they are called this month). Initally they were to have three when the radio system was built out but the taxpayers started making noise on why Connecticut needed three when Alaska had just one (or something like that).

Primary purpose is for site fill in/restoration should a catastrophic failure occur at a site that affects coverage. One was stationed at BDL for quite awhile until Troop W got their own site. You'll see it at the Durham fair or anywhere else where there is a large CSP/public presence. All have full control stations, CEB, console and anything else a Troop site would have - just on wheels.

And these are small compared to some of the other states/counties in the country that have the bus sized ones.

PJH said:

The ERV's (Emergency Restoration Vehicles) are indeed CSP vehicles and not DHMES (or whatever they are called this month). Initally they were to have three when the radio system was built out but the taxpayers started making noise on why Connecticut needed three when Alaska had just one (or something like that).

Primary purpose is for site fill in/restoration should a catastrophic failure occur at a site that affects coverage. One was stationed at BDL for quite awhile until Troop W got their own site. You'll see it at the Durham fair or anywhere else where there is a large CSP/public presence. All have full control stations, CEB, console and anything else a Troop site would have - just on wheels.

And these are small compared to some of the other states/counties in the country that have the bus sized ones.

Click to expand...

Funny you say that i remeber not to long ago a picture was posted on twitter of basically a very large vehicle almost the sizr of a tractor trailer truck in new jersey state at a incident scene and i believe it was identified as a mobile command center, i dont know if thats the same thing as these vehicles in are classified as in ct

Dave520 said:

This is from a few years ago. Not sure if the State Police have their own.

http://forums.radioreference.com/co...3159-demhs-mobile-communication-vehicles.html

Click to expand...

If my memory serves me right, I believe those trucks in the link posted are housed at the Durham Fair grounds.I remember a few years ago when I was involved with a local city OEM, a few of us got to see those housed there. Not sure where the others are housed!

Manny

There are also the small communications trucks each troop has. and some of them are very old