Any retired Troopers remember Troop S

[therickster]

Looking for station numbers of the old Troop S stations from back in the 80's and 90's. Hoping to hear from some retired troopers who have served in Troop S or remember anything about troop S.

 

[trentbob]

I am not a retired state trooper. I am, however a retired newspaper reporter. I'm 66 and began working as a reporter in the early to mid 70s. I do remember Troop S.

Troop S was responsible for patrol of interstate highways, however, there also was troop T that was responsible for the PA Turnpike only.

I grew up in the Philly area and the way jobs were then with newspapers I did bounce between Philly, Trenton and New York.

I don't know the mechanics of what happened to troop S but I do remember them being under the same command as troop T.

Wish I had more for you but I have so much crap in my head from all those years as a reporter I'm lucky I remembered this much.

Hope you find what you're looking for... Bob.

 

[markandjere]

I remember when PSP had a separate Interstate patrol with a separate designation as far as units went

 

[therickster]

I remember when PSP had a separate Interstate patrol with a separate designation as far as units went

You might be talking about Chambersburg. I think they were Troop S-12

 

[therickster]

I am not a retired state trooper. I am, however a retired newspaper reporter. I'm 66 and began working as a reporter in the early to mid 70s. I do remember Troop S.

Troop S was responsible for patrol of interstate highways, however, there also was troop T that was responsible for the PA Turnpike only.

I grew up in the Philly area and the way jobs were then with newspapers I did bounce between Philly, Trenton and New York.

I don't know the mechanics of what happened to troop S but I do remember them being under the same command as troop T.

Wish I had more for you but I have so much crap in my head from all those years as a reporter I'm lucky I remembered this much.

Hope you find what you're looking for... Bob.

Troop S originated on 9/1/70 for the purpose of patrolling I-79, I-80, and I-81. It was disbanded primarily because most of the Interstate
Patrol used the same barracks as the local Troops did.

 

[n3glz]

I'm not retired PSP, but I did work for a County Communication's Center in NEPA back in the late 70's and early 80's. Troop S was the troop assigned to the Interstate Highways. I don't remember the designation in other parts of the Commonwealth but Troop R Dunmore (R1) units were assigned the station designation as S7. Gibson (R5) was assigned S12.

 

[therickster]

Thanks for info about Dunmore and Gibson. The other Troop S stations from NEPA were at I -80 Mt. Pocono about 1970 to 1973, then switched to Fern Ridge, and then switched again to Swiftwater. When I-84 opened a station was put at Lords Valley and then switched to Blooming Grove.
I don't know if they kept the same station numbers or not.

 

[ekim223]

Looking for station numbers of the old Troop S stations from back in the 80's and 90's. Hoping to hear from some retired troopers who have served in Troop S or remember anything about troop S.

S-6 were the Milton Interstate units. The headquarters for the S unit was in Milesburg I believe and was S-1. Meadville was S-5.

 

[therickster]

Thanks ekim223 for the info. Meadville was a station on I-79 along with Washington, Carnegie later switched to Findlay, and Mercer.
Milton was a station on I-80 with DuBois. Belle Vernon was on I-70.

 

[mshumeyk]

I had my 10 channel Regency crystal scanner with the PSP frequencies with me when I was a student at Bucknell University from 1972-1976. During my first couple of years the non-interstate troops all operated on 42.62 base and 42.78 mobile. This system dated back to 1948, and although things were pretty quiet in central PA, the few times i was able get down the the Harrisburg area the channel was overcrowded. Troop S operated on 42.60 the entire length of Interstate 80. The Milton Troop S covered 80 from Loganton to the Columbia-Luzerne County Line and I suspect the Troop S cars at the far reaches of the patrol area would have had difficulty communicating with Milton if they used the same channel as the county troops. In 1974 there was a gas shortage and truckers kept blocking traffic on 80 in protest so there was a lot to listen to on the Troop S channel.

One troop S station not mentioned was Hazelton, responsible for I 80 between the Milton and Fern Ridge/Swiftwater zones. It also covered I 81 between the Dunmore and Harrisburg zones. (I base this info on hearing Hazelton send cars to "Meet the Harrisburg patrol at MM ***".)

Later in 1974 the troops in central PA began switching to the new high band system, and the Troop S cars were all dispatched on the same channel as the county troops. Troop F used 155.58b and 155.79m, with 154.755 Car to car. I recall one night Hazelton Troop S dispatcher saying " Hazelton to 344, return to the station, change to one of the newer vehicles with the new radio and sign on with Troop N for the rest of the night." When the switch was made to high band the dispatcher would say "F6 to S69" instead of "Milton to 242".

The PSP tried to utilize the old troop S 42.60 for station to station communication. but to me it seemed a dismal failure. Some of you of my ripe age may remember the old dial alert system in which a station or ambulance would open up the tone squelch on another receiver by entering a number on a rotary dial, which would transmit a loud and long tone interrupted by the clicking of dialing. They were testing the system while Troop S was still using the channel and I could hear the Troop S troopers complaining bitterly about the loud and very annoying noise.

One final note is that the PSP switched from the famous 2 lamp Beacon Ray "Bubble Gum" roof lights to a combination red strobe/white base electronic siren speaker at the same time they were switching to high band. They made the mistake of bringing the new vehicles into service when they were still on low band and had to put low band radios in the new vehicles. You could always tell when a Troop S trooper had his emergency strobe on by the loud sound of the capacitor charging up between each flash. One of the Milton dispatchers would often tell the trooper "turn of your sireeen, I can't hear you over the noise."

Well, maybe more than you needed to know, but I enjoyed resurrecting the memories!

 

[trentbob]

I had my 10 channel Regency crystal scanner with the PSP frequencies with me when I was a student at Bucknell University from 1972-1976. During my first couple of years the non-interstate troops all operated on 42.62 base and 42.78 mobile. This system dated back to 1948, and although things were pretty quiet in central PA, the few times i was able get down the the Harrisburg area the channel was overcrowded. Troop S operated on 42.60 the entire length of Interstate 80. The Milton Troop S covered 80 from Loganton to the Columbia-Luzerne County Line and I suspect the Troop S cars at the far reaches of the patrol area would have had difficulty communicating with Milton if they used the same channel as the county troops. In 1974 there was a gas shortage and truckers kept blocking traffic on 80 in protest so there was a lot to listen to on the Troop S channel.

One troop S station not mentioned was Hazelton, responsible for I 80 between the Milton and Fern Ridge/Swiftwater zones. It also covered I 81 between the Dunmore and Harrisburg zones. (I base this info on hearing Hazelton send cars to "Meet the Harrisburg patrol at MM ***".)

Later in 1974 the troops in central PA began switching to the new high band system, and the Troop S cars were all dispatched on the same channel as the county troops. Troop F used 155.58b and 155.79m, with 154.755 Car to car. I recall one night Hazelton Troop S dispatcher saying " Hazelton to 344, return to the station, change to one of the newer vehicles with the new radio and sign on with Troop N for the rest of the night." When the switch was made to high band the dispatcher would say "F6 to S69" instead of "Milton to 242".

The PSP tried to utilize the old troop S 42.60 for station to station communication. but to me it seemed a dismal failure. Some of you of my ripe age may remember the old dial alert system in which a station or ambulance would open up the tone squelch on another receiver by entering a number on a rotary dial, which would transmit a loud and long tone interrupted by the clicking of dialing. They were testing the system while Troop S was still using the channel and I could hear the Troop S troopers complaining bitterly about the loud and very annoying noise.

One final note is that the PSP switched from the famous 2 lamp Beacon Ray "Bubble Gum" roof lights to a combination red strobe/white base electronic siren speaker at the same time they were switching to high band. They made the mistake of bringing the new vehicles into service when they were still on low band and had to put low band radios in the new vehicles. You could always tell when a Troop S trooper had his emergency strobe on by the loud sound of the capacitor charging up between each flash. One of the Milton dispatchers would often tell the trooper "turn of your sireeen, I can't hear you over the noise."

Well, maybe more than you needed to know, but I enjoyed resurrecting the memories!

We are probably about the same age as I was in college from 71 to 75 and working then too. As I had said above I do remember troop S on the interstate highways but couldn't remember much detail, you have excellent recall and I do remember the switch over to the VHF high band, I guess you would call a split simplex system?

Believe it or not our troops are still using 155.46 Tac simplex as a car to car on I-95 Corridor. Lots of profanity and information like nobody was listening but a few of us are

 

[jiminpgh]

From Monitor America, First Edition, 1986:
S1 Milesburg
S2 Dubois
S3 Milton
S4 Meadville
S5 Mercer
S6 Washington
S7 Dunmore
S8 Hazleton
S9 Swiftwater
S11 Chambersburg
S12 Gibson
S13 Harrisburg
S14 Belle Vernon
S15 York
S16 Carnegie

I began monitoring PSP around 1986. I do not recall any special Troop S channels or radio traffic. It was all on the county channels.

The past nationwide 55MPH limit was a dreadfully slow speed. All in the name of fuel conservation. States strictly enforced that speed limit. Cab over engine trucks to reduce the overall length. Diesel smoke, if it did not smoke it was not running right. Long hair was in, what a time.

Thank you for the 42.62 / 78 frequency. I wondered about PSP before high band. Low band must have been interesting listening. Do you have anything else to share on low band? Call signs, station names, numbers, skip, transmitter sites or anything else?

I was very impressed with the high band system. Now they are gone. Life and technology move on I guess.

 

[trentbob]

From Monitor America, First Edition, 1986:
S1 Milesburg
S2 Dubois
S3 Milton
S4 Meadville
S5 Mercer
S6 Washington
S7 Dunmore
S8 Hazleton
S9 Swiftwater
S11 Chambersburg
S12 Gibson
S13 Harrisburg
S14 Belle Vernon
S15 York
S16 Carnegie

I began monitoring PSP around 1986. I do not recall any special Troop S channels or radio traffic. It was all on the county channels.

Thank you for the 42.62 / 78 frequency. I wondered about PSP before high band. Low band must have been interesting listening. Do you have anything else to share on low band? Call signs, station names, numbers transmitter sites or anything else?

I was very impressed with the high band system. Now they are gone. Life and technology move on I guess.

Of course monitor America, I have both of them including the bigger volume 2 along with all the Scanner Master guides, deep in storage.
Troop M Trevose barracks still maintains it's VHF system and often uses it as the Open Sky is terrible in this area. As I had mentioned they do use 155.46 tac simplex as a car to car on I-95. As with the old 45 megahertz low band Simplex Highway Patrol frequencies used around the country, with the base mobile Simplex nature of the PSP you could always tell if the troop car was close to you or or distant.

I imagine as the new p25 system comes to this part of the state we will lose the high band all together.

Great system.

 

[therickster]

I had my 10 channel Regency crystal scanner with the PSP frequencies with me when I was a student at Bucknell University from 1972-1976. During my first couple of years the non-interstate troops all operated on 42.62 base and 42.78 mobile. This system dated back to 1948, and although things were pretty quiet in central PA, the few times i was able get down the the Harrisburg area the channel was overcrowded. Troop S operated on 42.60 the entire length of Interstate 80. The Milton Troop S covered 80 from Loganton to the Columbia-Luzerne County Line and I suspect the Troop S cars at the far reaches of the patrol area would have had difficulty communicating with Milton if they used the same channel as the county troops. In 1974 there was a gas shortage and truckers kept blocking traffic on 80 in protest so there was a lot to listen to on the Troop S channel.

One troop S station not mentioned was Hazelton, responsible for I 80 between the Milton and Fern Ridge/Swiftwater zones. It also covered I 81 between the Dunmore and Harrisburg zones. (I base this info on hearing Hazelton send cars to "Meet the Harrisburg patrol at MM ***".)

Later in 1974 the troops in central PA began switching to the new high band system, and the Troop S cars were all dispatched on the same channel as the county troops. Troop F used 155.58b and 155.79m, with 154.755 Car to car. I recall one night Hazelton Troop S dispatcher saying " Hazelton to 344, return to the station, change to one of the newer vehicles with the new radio and sign on with Troop N for the rest of the night." When the switch was made to high band the dispatcher would say "F6 to S69" instead of "Milton to 242".

The PSP tried to utilize the old troop S 42.60 for station to station communication. but to me it seemed a dismal failure. Some of you of my ripe age may remember the old dial alert system in which a station or ambulance would open up the tone squelch on another receiver by entering a number on a rotary dial, which would transmit a loud and long tone interrupted by the clicking of dialing. They were testing the system while Troop S was still using the channel and I could hear the Troop S troopers complaining bitterly about the loud and very annoying noise.

One final note is that the PSP switched from the famous 2 lamp Beacon Ray "Bubble Gum" roof lights to a combination red strobe/white base electronic siren speaker at the same time they were switching to high band. They made the mistake of bringing the new vehicles into service when they were still on low band and had to put low band radios in the new vehicles. You could always tell when a Troop S trooper had his emergency strobe on by the loud sound of the capacitor charging up between each flash. One of the Milton dispatchers would often tell the trooper "turn of your sireeen, I can't hear you over the noise."

Well, maybe more than you needed to know, but I enjoyed resurrecting the memories!

Thanks for sharing

 

[therickster]

From Monitor America, First Edition, 1986:
S1 Milesburg
S2 Dubois
S3 Milton
S4 Meadville
S5 Mercer
S6 Washington
S7 Dunmore
S8 Hazleton
S9 Swiftwater
S11 Chambersburg
S12 Gibson
S13 Harrisburg
S14 Belle Vernon
S15 York
S16 Carnegie

I began monitoring PSP around 1986. I do not recall any special Troop S channels or radio traffic. It was all on the county channels.

The past nationwide 55MPH limit was a dreadfully slow speed. All in the name of fuel conservation. States strictly enforced that speed limit. Cab over engine trucks to reduce the overall length. Diesel smoke, if it did not smoke it was not running right. Long hair was in, what a time.

Thank you for the 42.62 / 78 frequency. I wondered about PSP before high band. Low band must have been interesting listening. Do you have anything else to share on low band? Call signs, station names, numbers, skip, transmitter sites or anything else?

I was very impressed with the high band system. Now they are gone. Life and technology move on I guess.View attachment 82334

Thanks for your info. In old newspaper articles I found the first 12 original stations were formed on 9/1/70. They would have been
S-1 Milesburg, S2 Milton, S-3 Dubois, S-4 Meadville, S-5 Mercer, S-6 Washington, S-7 Dunmore, S-8 Hazleton, S-9 Mt. Pocono (replaced
by Fern Ridge 1/1/73 in turn replaced by Swiftwater 6/1/74), S-10 Chambersburg, S-11 Harrisburg, and S-12 Gibson, S-13 York and S-14
Belle Vernon were added 7/19/73, S-15 Lords Valley was added 11/1/75 (replaced by Blooming Grove 9/23/87) and S-16 Carnegie was
added 11/23/79 (replaced by Findlay 7/31/86). I could be wrong, but judging by the dates they joined Troop S it sort of seems logical.