Mobile setups in Ford Crown Vics

[Ch1ronTL34]

Anyone have pictures of their setups in their Crown Vic or Grand Marquis? I've got a 2000 CVPI and I'm interested in installing an antenna to compensate for my 800 Mhz Radio Shack attatchment on my Pro 97. I have no qualms whatsoever with drilling/cutting/modifying it at all. Thanks!

 

[Ch1ronTL34]

Oops I just found a post with this exact question. Feel free to delete.

 

[JohnnyGalaga]

Another CVPI.

 

[Dubbin]

Just search for whackers and you will find the ex cop cars...

 

[Ch1ronTL34]

Just search for whackers and you will find the ex cop cars...

Don't be a hater

 

[radiogirl]

Enlighten us!!

Exactly why do police agencies and S.O.'s sell old police vehicles if they(they being the cops on the beat or on patrol) are just going to call everybody that owns an old police vehicle a whacker?? Whats the purpose?? I get tired of LEO or ex-LEO calling everybody names. Not all people who have ex-police vehicles are whackers. Are Taxi drivers whackers if they drive an old police vehicle??? Afterall, they have antenna's and lights all over them. Some of them even have the shield inbetween the front and back. Obviously a whacker, huh?

 

[Ch1ronTL34]

Thanks radiogirl. You wouldnt believe how much I've gotten hassled because of my car. "The reason I pulled you over is because of your tinted windows and spotlights, they're illegal." I've never once received a ticket because the cops know my car is legal and there isn't anything they can do about it.

 

[JohnnyGalaga]

So what do you do with the spotlight ?

 

[Ch1ronTL34]

I've got the original spotlights on either side view mirror. They are always pointed down. I've turned em on a few times in my garage just for the hell of it.

 

[Dubbin]

Don't be a hater

I'm not a hater at all. I just find it funny when people that are into radio's feel the need that they have to have an old cop car and fill it full of equipment to make them look important. If thats you thing then fine, more power to ya but just don't get offended when someone says whacker

 

[njt462]

I live in Missouri and own a CVPI 2004 White which was retired from the Missouri Highway Patrol. I got it with only 50,000 miles on it, and got it for a steal at an auction. It is very nice not once scratch or dent on it. They left the spotlight and center consule in the car. I put my scanner and cb in the consule and have two trunk mount antennas to run each respectfully. The car also came with the nice ball whip antenna still mounted in the side of the car which was super nice for monitoring the Missouri Highway Patrol since they use the 42MHZ. and the ballwhip antenna was tuned just right. However I was harassed by the local police for having the car with the antennas. They would just make something up to pull me over and each time search the car to see inside of it to make sure there was no blue/red lights or 2way radios in it. Finally after getting tired of it I went to the head sheriff of the county i live in and the counties i travel through and showed them the car and said i am a scanner hobbiest all that is in the car is a scanner and a cb radio with each antenna after they looked at the car and saw that they said just becareful with the spotlight and take the ballwhip antenna off the side of your car so it does not look like a trooper supervisior car and you will have no more problems. I guess the head sheriff talked to their deputies in each county because now i have no problems. So for members that own a CVPI that are having trouble by local cops all i can say is go to your head sheriff for your county after all he/she is elected so you will get results if they want to stay in office. lol or your respected police commissioner for the city and show them your CVPI and say here is what is in it and nothing more and this is what is used for but make sure your state has no scanner laws like some do, because if your state does not have any scanner laws and the top cop tries to give you trouble then you can stand ground and say there is no law against scanners.

 

[KB8UYC]

I'm not a hater at all. I just find it funny when people that are into radio's feel the need that they have to have an old cop car and fill it full of equipment to make them look important. If thats you thing then fine, more power to ya but just don't get offended when someone says whacker

Dubbin,

I have noticed that over the last few weeks you have done your best to make people feel stupid. Your rude comments are not for this board and you need to stop trying to make people feel stupid.

Why do people use ex-police vehicles? Well let me just tell you. 1) The Crown Victoria has a lot of space in it. 2) Most of them already have the hole in it. 3) EQUIPMENT- ie consoles are already made for that specific vehicle!

So why not? Not to mention that you can pick up one of these cars for a steal of a price from county/city auctions. I am 32 years old and I am a dispatcher and have not one intention of looking like the police or anything like that, so just because I buy a CV it makes me a "whacker"??? I have been a ham radio operator now for 13 years, and space is needed. I dont have a CV, but I do have a Tahoe...I wish I could get one of Michigan State Police's old tahoes but the money is just not there right now. As for the tear drop on the vehicles....1 teardrop is allowed at least according to Michigan Law and does not have to be taken off of the vehicle.

Just because someone is using an ex-police vehicle does not make them a "Whacker" Dubbin you are putting a lot of people in this category and to be honest, I dont appreciate it. You dont know most of thes people and you need to be more respectable toward people. Know why they want the vehicle before you go plastering someone with the title "whacker"

Just my 2 cents and I am not trying to humiliate you or anything, but I just think the way that you have been to folks on here needs to be stopped by you or the Admin team, and the ones like you and there have been a few of you guys doing this.

 

[Dubbin]

Dubbin,

I have noticed that over the last few weeks you have done your best to make people feel stupid. Your rude comments are not for this board and you need to stop trying to make people feel stupid.

Hey I wasn't trying to make anyone feel stupid. Like I said if thats their thing then fine. I'm still entitled to my opinion like you are to yours. I don't know what makes you think I have been trying to make people feel stupid the last few weeks. Just because I don't agree with someone does not mean that I am trying to make them look or feel stupid. You do know that its posts like yours above is that cause most of the problems and you posted it knowing that it could cause a problem but I wont let it. Let the mods do the moderating. If you don't like what was said then take it to PM or leave it alone.

With that said lets just let it go so Ch1ronTL34's thread can remain open.

 

[oilmillcharlie]

Hey I wasn't trying to make anyone feel stupid. Like I said if thats their thing then fine. I'm still entitled to my opinion like you are to yours. I don't know what makes you think I have been trying to make people feel stupid the last few weeks. Just because I don't agree with someone does not mean that I am trying to make them look or feel stupid. You do know that its posts like yours above is that cause most of the problems and you posted it knowing that it could cause a problem but I wont let it. Let the mods do the moderating. If you don't like what was said then take it to PM or leave it alone.

With that said lets just let it go so Ch1ronTL34's thread can remain open.

I think you started it!!!!

 

[Ch1ronTL34]

I just ordered a UHF antenna for my car that I hope to receive by the end of this week. I'll put some pictures on when I finish the installation. I've never installed one before but apparently I just mount it to my trunk, run the coax through the trunk into the interior to my scanner. Does that sound about right?

 

[Dubbin]

I just ordered a UHF antenna for my car that I hope to receive by the end of this week. I'll put some pictures on when I finish the installation. I've never installed one before but apparently I just mount it to my trunk, run the coax through the trunk into the interior to my scanner. Does that sound about right?

That sounds like a plan. Just be careful not to scratch the paint when mounting the antenna.

 

[scannerman5000]

Crown Vic's installation

you may have to remove the seat (which im sure is easy to do with that vehicle) no big deal, just a pain. I own a 96 Lumina, and everytime i do something, out comes the crap in the trunk, and the back seat.

 

[n4jri]

whackermobile pros & cons

I have to say that I can respect the defense given to so-called wackermobiles by SEMTTP.

I'm a ham and scanner nut, and for years have wished that I could have a van with my radio stuff in it. I love to hit the mountaintops, or even just visit an unknown area to soak up some new signals. It had not occurred to me that police cars would still have mounting hardware in them at resale--VERY expensive stuff if bought new. Kinda makes me long for my own bluesmobile.

Also, consider how the climate has changed for users of multiple radios. Even 10 years ago, it was difficult and often impractical to have but so many radios in close proximity due to problems with mutual interference, and possibly to difficulty tracking all the lockouts that you'd have to do in order to quell it. Way too much button-pushing.

But today's better radios have both trunking and coded squelch, allowing fairly hot receivers to resist QRM from neighboring oscillators and vehicle electronics. They also have alpha tagging, clonability, and resetability that make them much easier and safer to use. In terms of hunting new stuff, I can do more today with a couple of PRO-96's than two of us could do 10 years ago with a car full of radios.

I'm not saying that whackers don't exist--I've had negative experiences with several--but I think that the case for old police vehicles as radio platforms is legit. I'd LOVE to have something that I could keep my HF rig mounted in all the time. A crown vic would be a nice mountaintopping machine, and probably more fuel-efficient than a van or pickup.

73/Allen (N4JRI)

 

[Ch1ronTL34]

It might be more fuel efficient than a van or pickup, but it's still a gas guzzler. I get about 16 city/20 hwy.

 

[OpSec]

Anyone that thinks a Crown Vis will get good gas mileage hasn't driven one.

As for the whacker end of it, it's a gray area. While Ford, Chevy and DCX sell civilian versions of their current police package cars (Crown Vic, Impala and Magnum/Charger) it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here that if you own one of the above cars and equip it, the public will think it's an official car based solely on their memory and perception of what a police car looks like. If you buy a retired CVPI or 9C1 that has spotlights, pushbars etc then it really shouldn't surprise you that people still think it's a cop car.

Anyone who buys a retired late-model squad and leaves all the stuff in/on it is generally being a whacker to some extent, because they know in the back of their head that an average person will think they are a cop. I don't know about the rest of you, but the last thing I want people to think is I'm driving a cop car.

Long story short: If you want to blend in and install your equipment without drawing unwanted attention to yourself, do yourself a favor and don't buy a retired late-model police car. They stick out like sore thumbs, as the poster "njt462" can attest to. The cops know it's not an in-service car, so they are harassing him. In his case, it still looked like an in-service MSHP upper mangement car (Lt. and above drive unmarked CVPI's) and every cop in the state knows it. Is it right for the cops to be harassing him? No, it isn't because -legally- there isn't anything wrong with the car (at least from what's been posted in this thread). However, it looks like an in-service MSHP car and the general public in the state of Missouri would think he's a trooper. That creates a safety issue for njt462 and the public, because if a member of the public comes running up to him stopped at a stoplight with a bonafide emergency thinking he's a trooper, that is a big problem.

I've seen very nice installs on civvie versions of the cars listed above that included a lot of equipment and didn't look a bit like a cop car. It's doable, but it takes $$ and effort to stand out from the whacker crowd.