Scannerboy32
Member
My viewpoint I think analog has been working soo much better then digital
My viewpoint I think analog has been working soo much better then digital
Yeah, compared to most provinces, California is small. You got me there.
California has some "Statewide" VHF networks, but they don't cover the whole state. Just too many deep valleys for it to work well enough. Add in there are too many silos that agencies don't want to share systems. Maybe some day that'll change, but I don't see it happening any time soon. CalFire has their system. Department of Fish and Game has their system, etc…..
VHF Low band works.
And then getting enough clear VHF pairs would be difficult. I'm trying to get a few pairs for a system upgrade, and it's difficult. Not impossible, but a lot of the pairs we are finding are very close to existing systems where we'll have to share sites.
Budget is an issue, too. That's a lot of money for new sites, new repeaters, etc. Would take a lot of years to roll out a system that big. Simply replacing the existing CHP radios is being spread out over 3 years. Building a new statewide multi-channel VHF High network would take a very long time.
Since when does noise only affect digital signals?
.Let me make a prediction. This is the ONLY change you'll POSSIBLY see happen with CHP in the future (notice that this isn't certain)...
When the California C.R.I.S. system is complete, CHP can simply subscribe (and spend millions purchasing equipment).
Ahh, ok thanks for that. I knew they had replaced the junk with APX portables but didn't think the mobiles were as "upgraded"..
No need to purchase equipment. CHP already has the equipment needed (mobiles and portables).
And there are not enuf VHF channels available for CHP to cover the state. Try to get even a couple freqs in a populated area. Good luck with that... There are WAY more people than BC. Many thousands of miles of paved roads more than BC. To cover CA in anything other than Low Band they would have to add hundreds of sites. "Someday" they might do it. But I think that is more like 20 years away. Just my opinion.
And there is no requirement for them to change. No narrow banding requirements. What they have works in most places.
CalTrans is using a lot of 800MHz now, but all their trucks I see around me, even the brand new ones, all have low band whips and Kenwood TK-690's installed.
Leviathan should cover the east side of Carson Pass pretty well.
Peddler should do well on the West side. I can imagine some issues around Kirkwood, but maybe Peddler gets in there OK.
88 is our preferred east/west route since it avoids bay area/Sacramento traffic. 80 is usually a big mess with unprepared people and accidents.
50 is usually a mess with all the people going to Tahoe and the ski resorts. Last time I took 50, it took 18 hours to get to Carson City from the Monterey area. Usually 88 gets us across pretty quickly, even in the worst storms.
With 108 and 120 closed in the winter, there are not a lot of options.
In a jam once, I did go up to 70 and across. Feather River is mighty pretty in the winter.
Apparently Peddler Hill isn't providing full coverage, otherwise they wouldn't have applied for licenses for 3 roadside repeaters.
Hubby always said, "if 88 isn't open, we are not going." He didn't like the potential circus of I-80 and didn't like U.S. 50 on any day of the year.
EDIT, sometimes our best bet was to go over CA4, Ebbetts Pass, depending on where on the eastside we were bound for. Now, in Arizona, I'm memorizing the "Beeline Highway."
I was referring to VHF low, not 800. While I'm sure VHF low won't cover anything, it's probably still a decent site.
As for CalTrans and 800, I'm sure there is some logic to it, but I'd have loved to see them leverage low band, add more sites. Not an issue getting frequencies. I've got an 800 trunked system and an 800 conventional repeater at work, and It wouldn't be my choice for wide area communications.
Yeah, some of what I've seen on 80 and 50 scares me. If some of it wasn't so reckless, it would be entertaining. Sort of like watching the antics at the launch ramp. Good cheap entertainment.
88 is pretty nice with a few inches of fresh snow. When the plows have cleared it, drivers tend to get a bit cocky. Drivers in their fancy Suv's with summer tires and all wheel drive forget that it won't help them stop. Or worse, some kid in a lifted truck with mud tires. Watched a kid with a brand new Toyota pickup truck, with no plates yet, plow into the rail trying to rush out of Kirkwood and get in front of me coming west on 88. Felt sort of bad for him, but he floored it in the snow and didn't realize he wouldn't be able to stop on the packed snow/ice.
yeah 4 and 108 are my favorites. Some day I'm going to spend a few days camping up there.