ALEA Troopers portables

Irishfireguy3622

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Birmingham, Alabama
I have been working with Birmingham Fire for about 9 years. I have NEVER seen an ALEA Trooper with a portable radio once. I realize they have MDT's that take up most of the workload, but what about foot chases, vehicle chases, interoperability? What's the deal and why aren't they with the program yet? Don't get me wrong? I enjoy them on VHF-hi for as long as it lasts!
 

mike36507

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Sep 7, 2005
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Robertsdale, AL
That's a good question. I see troopers all the time when they bring someone in the jail I work at and I can't say I've ever notice a radio on them. I know years ago they did have portables and repeaters in their cars. But unsure now.
 

KV4PM

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Fairhope, AL USA & Nambour, Queensland Australia
Do they have a Bluetooth mic/speaker that connects back to their car? I looked at a DMR system with that feature for the power company for which I work and thought that would be great for linemen when up in the bucket; convenience of a portable but the power of a mobile.
 

Avery93

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The last handhelds I saw Troopers carry were 800 MHz MA-COM/Harris P7100s, which operated off of Pyramid vehicle repeaters installed in some of the cars. Over the last 10 years I've seen fewer and fewer Troopers with the vehicle repeater/handheld combo, to the point that now I can't remember the last time I saw one.

They are now mainly using PTT-over-Cellular, either AT&T Enhanced PTT or SouthernLinc, for handheld communication. Some, but not all of the ALEA repeaters have gateways in place to bridge the PTToC talkgroup into the LMR system.
 

RadioJonD

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At the hairdresser's, past the liquor store.
I still hear extender traffic on 854.6875 MHz when a trooper is near. Of course being in a state office with a state gas pump nearby helps. So does siting close to a major intersection.

My contacts at ALEA are dwindling but the latest Motor Carrier trooper assigned to NW Alabama was getting to, then, DPS as I was leaving. I'll ask him about the portables next time I see him. He occasionally comes into our office with the AL-DOT Weight Crew.
 

wwhitby

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Autauga County, Alabama
FWIW, I saw one of the newer trooper cars last night. It had the 5/8 wave VHF whip on top, but I did not see a black Phantom style 800 MHz antenna.

I'm not out on the roads as much as I used to be, but its been a while since I heard traffic on the mobile extender frequency.
 

KV4PM

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Fairhope, AL USA & Nambour, Queensland Australia
A trooper brought me a customer in to our jail tonight.

I hope to never be one of your customers ;). But truth be known, I usually lock out the AIRS TG for this agency, 28111. The audio sounds strange on the dispatch side. But I also can hear them on the Mobile County system (MCCD) on 2007. Guess there is some sort of patch?
 

weaverra

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Jun 10, 2006
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Huntsville, AL
Yes, they have portables now. The ones I have seen look like cell phones. Many troopers also have portables programmed to other local agencies.
 

medic9351301

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Yes, they have portables now. The ones I have seen look like cell phones. Many troopers also have portables programmed to other local agencies.

that could be first net or what used to be southern linc . very doubtful they have the new apx next radios that look like cell phones
 

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SmithRJ

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Alabama
I think I can clarify some of this. All ALEA road troopers have Sonim XP8 LTE devices running the SouthernLINC MCPTT app currently. This is their primary portable as it's tied to their current repeater network. If they're carrying a Motorola, Harris, or Kenwood, it's because they were issued one by the sheriff or entity that controls the radio system in the county that they're assigned to. For example: Mobile County Troopers have Harris portables on the Mobile system. Baldwin Troopers have Motorola portables on their system. It's really more for mutual aid than anything.

Also, the Morotola system in Baldwin and the Harris system in Mobile are linked via an ISSI bridge connection so there's some interoperability built in between the existing VHF system, the trunked systems in Mobile and Baldwin Counties, and SouthernLINC.
 

Julian1

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Feb 13, 2002
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Birmingham, AL
So far, I’ve only heard Jacksonville patched over to this TG. No B’ham dispatch heard yet.

Since it’s analog patched over, it sounds like analog.
Also heard a trooper in Oxford advise Jacksonville post that he had a radio and was monitoring Oxford PD traffic regarding a suspect Active BOLO search.

ALEA now on 800 Simulcast of JEFFCO
TG 40400 BHAM
TG 40401 JACKSONVILLE
I entered 40402 and 40403 just to see if I get a hit.
 

sadave

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Feb 3, 2013
Messages
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Location
Foley, AL
Good morning!

For the past couple of weeks, I've been hearing some squelch breaks (but no voice) on an ALEA portable frequency on an SDS200 with all the screen details turned on. I'm also receiving the same squelch breaks on a BCD436HP, but without all the screen details below. I wonder if anyone can add to what is being displayed.

Frequency: 854.6875
P25 NAC: 0E1H
Sys ID: Ah (Is this possibly the AIRS Sys ID 00A for the sites in Mobile County?)
RFSS ID: 225
Site ID: 225
WACN: 92463h

Shep
 

eddiemax

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Oct 22, 2002
Messages
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Location
Jefferson County, Alabama
Good morning!

For the past couple of weeks, I've been hearing some squelch breaks (but no voice) on an ALEA portable frequency on an SDS200 with all the screen details turned on. I'm also receiving the same squelch breaks on a BCD436HP, but without all the screen details below. I wonder if anyone can add to what is being displayed.

Frequency: 854.6875
P25 NAC: 0E1H
Sys ID: Ah (Is this possibly the AIRS Sys ID 00A for the sites in Mobile County?)
RFSS ID: 225
Site ID: 225
WACN: 92463h

Shep
 

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morganAL

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Somerville, AL
Frequency: 854.6875
P25 NAC: 0E1H
Sys ID: Ah (Is this possibly the AIRS Sys ID 00A for the sites in Mobile County?)
RFSS ID: 225
Site ID: 225
WACN: 92463h

Shep
Mobile is NOT a part of AIRS. Mobile is a standalone system. Mobile is using Harris. AIRS is Motorola. There might be an ISSI gateway between the two systems now but since I have retired from the County, I am out of the loop now. Same with Montgomery/Auburn. They are Harris. Mobile and Montgomery are not the same system either. Every Harris site I have looked at/monitored broadcasts a SysID of 00A.
 

wsp44

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I think I can clarify some of this. All ALEA road troopers have Sonim XP8 LTE devices running the SouthernLINC MCPTT app currently. This is their primary portable as it's tied to their current repeater network. If they're carrying a Motorola, Harris, or Kenwood, it's because they were issued one by the sheriff or entity that controls the radio system in the county that they're assigned to. For example: Mobile County Troopers have Harris portables on the Mobile system. Baldwin Troopers have Motorola portables on their system. It's really more for mutual aid than anything.

Also, the Morotola system in Baldwin and the Harris system in Mobile are linked via an ISSI bridge connection so there's some interoperability built in between the existing VHF system, the trunked systems in Mobile and Baldwin Counties, and SouthernLINC.
I bet if they haven't already, they will be demoing the Harris Southern Linc MCPTT soon.
 

sadave

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Feb 3, 2013
Messages
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Location
Foley, AL
Mobile is NOT a part of AIRS. Mobile is a standalone system. Mobile is using Harris. AIRS is Motorola. There might be an ISSI gateway between the two systems now but since I have retired from the County, I am out of the loop now. Same with Montgomery/Auburn. They are Harris. Mobile and Montgomery are not the same system either. Every Harris site I have looked at/monitored broadcasts a SysID of 00A.
Good morning!

Thanks for information. The MCCD has a robust Harris system which is utilized by just about every agency in Mobile County so I was curious about the AIRS Page which has six sites listed in Mobile County. I can personally confirm these sites are essentially dead having driven to each one in an effort analyze any usage. There was none. Notably, even the SysID shows 00A on the AIRS page but without any knowledge as to the source of the RRDB submission, I was unable to contact the original submitter for details. And, without contacting the submitter or input from an enthusiast in the area, it is unclear if these sites exist for interoperability, expansion, or AIRS users transiting the area. If none of the above, I wonder if the data should be deprecated or left in place. I may try rewording this and submit it to AIRS page on the Alabama Forum.
Ironically, it appears the data from my original post was likely attributable to a previously unidentified site for Florida Power and Light.

Shep
 
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