PSP Antenna

[Bandre88]

I have been noticing what looks like a 5/8 VHF antenna mounted in the middle of the trunk lids on almost all cars here at the dunmore barraks. i was wondering if this has to do with anything of something new with there old freq's. On the roof top the still have the 1/4 vhf/ 800 antenna for opensky and a phanton/gps antenna. i have been noticing that these are being seen on more and more cars, they look to be about 49" with a small base at the bottom smack dab in the middle of the trunk.

 

[GTR8000]

PSP has decided to keep and narrowband their VHF system as a backup, due to the well documented OpenSky issues. They're replacing all radios with narrowband capable equipment. Installing new antennas wouldn't be unusual as part of replacing the mobile radio, especially if they were in rough shape or could be upgraded to ones that give better performance.

Statewide radio system's dead air continues to cost Pennsylvania money | PennLive.com

Pennsylvania State Police spending $11.5 million on backup radio system | lehighvalleylive.com

 

[Bandre88]

that makes sense, glad to hear that they are going to be using there vhf system, give us something to listen to altough i have been hearing some decent activity on the base/mobile channels although i have not logged any dunmore barraks 155.445. they must have good service with the 800 system, i had seen a motorcycle patrol for all the construction on 81 and he was standing near the off ramp and i noticed his portable was the ma/com with the blue face on it with full key pad and the patrol car at the bottom of the ramp had the trunk mounted antenna and the three roof tops.

thanks for the links.

 

[popnokick]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Might be related to the 155.475 testing that's been heard around the Commomwealth. (Separate thread here on RR PA forum).

 

[ocguard]

Troop H (Harrisburg area) is installing Motorola APX mobile radios in all vehicles -- dual-band -- VHF and 800mhz.

 

[vinzep491]

Troop H (Harrisburg area) is installing Motorola APX mobile radios in all vehicles -- dual-band -- VHF and 800mhz.

Can this be confirmed?

 

[One13Truck]

Now all they need to do is scrap the 800 equipment and go back to using the VHF full time and they'd be set. Oh, wait. This is Pa. The smart thing will get pushed aside as they funnel more and more wasted money at the Open Sky instead.

 

[ocguard]

Can this be confirmed?

Yes. Reliable, first-hand source.

 

[Bandre88]

saw an unmarked today at dunkin donuts with only the long whip in the middle of the trunk and the 800 antenna on the roof no 1/4 vhf and BUT what was stange is that they had a 1/4 base line nothing special UHF with a truck side mount.

 

[lostinstaines]

The radio swap-out is confirmed; I just bought the whole lot that came out of H Troop.

 

[druhe]

Confused

Troop H (Harrisburg area) is installing Motorola APX mobile radios in all vehicles -- dual-band -- VHF and 800mhz.

I understand these will be used on the legacy and new VHF frequencies, but are they compatible with the StarNet system ? If they will not work on StarNet, then what is the idea for having 800 mhz ?

 

[HM1529]

I understand these will be used on the legacy and new VHF frequencies, but are they compatible with the StarNet system ? If they will not work on StarNet, then what is the idea for having 800 mhz ?

I thought someone mentioned in another thread that the APX radios were for PSP VHF freqs and county interop. So, each PSP station might get different splits. For instance, down here, PSP Philly and Skippack would get VHF/800 while out in Cambria, PSP cars would get VHF/UHF radios. The STARNET radio would stay and then the APX would allow comms on the PSP VHF freqs and then county frequencies or trunked systems (if compatible).

Perhaps I misunderstood the earlier post, but that's the impression I got.

Of course, if all of Troop H is getting VHF/800 APX radios, then my interpretation is incorrect since no county in Troop H is on 800 other than Cumberland and they use OpenSky which is already programmed into their STARNET radios.

 

[vinzep491]

The vast majority of troop h would need a vhf/400 split. Dauphin, york, lebanon are all uhf.

I find it hard to believe the states outfitting all vehicles with a 5000+ radio just for interop, on top of the opensky radio already costing thousands.

We need to get some pictures

 

[mattl3320]

why cant psp just use the 800mhz i tac channels and the uhf channels instead of spending more of our tax money on a new system.

 

[druhe]

I thought someone mentioned in another thread that the APX radios were for PSP VHF freqs and county interop. So, each PSP station might get different splits. For instance, down here, PSP Philly and Skippack would get VHF/800 while out in Cambria, PSP cars would get VHF/UHF radios. The STARNET radio would stay and then the APX would allow comms on the PSP VHF freqs and then county frequencies or trunked systems (if compatible).

Perhaps I misunderstood the earlier post, but that's the impression I got.

Of course, if all of Troop H is getting VHF/800 APX radios, then my interpretation is incorrect since no county in Troop H is on 800 other than Cumberland and they use OpenSky which is already programmed into their STARNET radios.

An APX in the VHF/UHF configuration makes more sense to me than a VHF/800 does. Now another question comes to mind, are the StarNet / OpenSky radios compatible with P25 and Motorola Smartnet system ? If they are, why not reprogram them to be compatible with the locals, such as Fayette and Westmoreland here in the west ? This would allow the VHF/UHF APX's to be used for PSP, DCNR, locals and VTAC / UTAC in those two counties.

 

[HM1529]

An APX in the VHF/UHF configuration makes more sense to me than a VHF/800 does. Now another question comes to mind, are the StarNet / OpenSky radios compatible with P25 and Motorola Smartnet system ? If they are, why not reprogram them to be compatible with the locals, such as Fayette and Westmoreland here in the west ? This would allow the VHF/UHF APX's to be used for PSP, DCNR, locals and VTAC / UTAC in those two counties.

The OpenSky portables/mobiles are capable of EDACS, ProVoice, OpenSky, P25 Phase II, and P25 IP trunking. They also do analog conventional and P25 conventional.

 

[n3obl]

Though I think it can either do Opensky or other. Not both at the same time.

Frank

 

[jeatock]

The real reason firefighters wear red suspenders and a belt: BOTH have to fail before your pants fall down.

This is a $700 solution to a multi-million dollar officer safety and interoperability problem. High tech systems absolutely have their place and provide many operational, administrative and wide coverage area advantages. They also have an unacceptable failure rate due to their inherent complexity. Initial and continuing costs are high; in some localities beyond budgetary means. Their acquisition, implementation and administration are often politically motivated and the expectations of performance are not realistic, more often based on sales pressure and campaign contributions than solid radio engineering and real-world needs.

Plain Vanilla Analog Simplex VHF is a low tech, cheap, static-prone, insecure, imperfect short-range communications platform that will always work in the immediate area to an acceptable degree. It is also interoperable with the Podunk Fire Department and the Hick Village Police. Look for 5/8 wave VHF antennas to start re-appearing on Illinois State Police cars for that very reason.

Kudos to PSP for having a backup plan. In the radio world, Mr. Murphy is considered an optimist.

-----

Note: I live in "Hick Village" entirely by choice, and volunteer on a very well-trained and well-equipped "Podunk Fire Department."

 

[FFPM571]

ISP cars never had 5/8 VHF antennas.. 1/4 VHF and Ball mount 42 mhz the occasional base loaded lowband NMO Mount or CB antenna

 

[jeatock]

ISP cars never had 5/8 VHF antennas.. 1/4 VHF and Ball mount 42 mhz the occasional base loaded lowband NMO Mount or CB antenna

My bad. The ISP's 110W VHF Syntors were connected to unity gain 16" 1/4 wave whips with slightly lower ERP due to line and tuning losses. The new VHF radios are 50 watts and are to be installed with gain antennas; 50 watts into a 3db 5/8 wave has an effective radiated power of slightly less than 100 watts, and double the inbound signal delivered to the receivers. Roughly the same transmitter performance than the old Syntors, and way better reception.