Hawthorne PD (Passaic County)

[Alarmguy]

Looking at @GTR8000 screen shot reminds me of a recent occurrence. Set up friends new G5 recently on the locals TG. He had not listened since department left analog some years ago. He called to say perhaps I set G5 up wrong little or no activity being heard. He cried that it used to be almost non stop.

Hawthorne NJICS screenshot shows little activity over 12 hours.

I explained to the G5 user that much has changed. MDT’s are now used for large parts of the day, at times LMR is secondary for long periods. Just because you now have a TG may not mean there is much to listen to.

Exactly most of them use the chat in info cop.

 

[Alarmguy]

As of 7/2/20 PD is still operating primarily on 460.1125. Comms once in awhile on TG5137. It sounds like only mobiles are installed and HQ base.

 

[Alarmguy]

Can't edit previous post. Radio Checks being done in Ringwood on mobile and portable. Maybe checking coverage with Ramapo site?

 

[NParkNJ]

Can't edit previous post. Radio Checks being done in Ringwood on mobile and portable. Maybe checking coverage with Ramapo site?

If I was in town I’d let you know. I’m at work now, but should be headed home shortly. Didn’t get any hits that I was aware of on Ramapo last night. But will hold on their TG when I get home.

 

[N2NHL]

Hawthorne PD Dispatch is on the air right now, West Orange Simulcast.

 

[NParkNJ]

1604066 is the hq console.

I’m hearing activity on Ramapo right now.

They sounds pretty good, but the audio isn’t equal amongst all the units. Other than that, they sound good.

 

[Alarmguy]

Yes, he was complaining about the console being low. Told dispatcher to speak with higher pitch voice. Dispatcher jokingly spoke high pitched. They were going up 208 to Ringwood and then tested for dead spots. Some of the units are not intelligible at times.

 

[NParkNJ]

Late last night, about 1 am or so, there was some more activity from them on Ramapo.

I was half awake, but remember the dispatcher saying he had a hard time earlier copying a unit.

Also, after another unit was finished with his transmission, the dispatcher asked if he was using his portable or mobile. The unit was using his portable, he said the mobile only had 1 bar.

Looks like they are coming together though for their full transition.

 

[railtrailbiker]

I would think Garrett Mountain sees Hawthorne better than Skyline Drive in Ringwood does. Thus, I would guess they'd be on the West Orange Simulcast more often than Ramapo. In any case, primary dispatch still seems to be taking place on 460.1125 as of now. EMS paging likely to remain on UHF (and possibly 45.42) after the transition.

 

[NParkNJ]

Garrett Mountain sees Hawthorne better than Skyline Drive in Ringwood does.

You'd be surprised. Skyline drive's elevation is almost 1,000 ft above sea level at the highest point on the actual roadway(I verified that). I have LOS to the radio site at Willy P from Skyline Drive also.

That said, location wise, of course Garrett Mountain is closer. But Skyline drive is way up there.

 

[RadioDitch]

You'd be surprised. Skyline drive's elevation is almost 1,000 ft above sea level at the highest point on the actual roadway(I verified that). I have LOS to the radio site at Willy P from Skyline Drive also.

That said, location wise, of course Garrett Mountain is closer. But Skyline drive is way up there.

Won't matter soon enough when they build out the Passaic County Simulcast for the NJICS. They'll have the unified coverage of all three planned subsites.

 

[GTR8000]

You'd be surprised. Skyline drive's elevation is almost 1,000 ft above sea level at the highest point on the actual roadway(I verified that). I have LOS to the radio site at Willy P from Skyline Drive also.

That said, location wise, of course Garrett Mountain is closer. But Skyline drive is way up there.

Higher is not always better. You can wind up with either an umbrella effect, or a being in the shadow of the site.

 

[APX8000]

Skyline is a great site but the surrounding topography really makes for some interesting RSSI in certain areas. I could hit a repeater up there full-quieting from 287/24 with a portable in the car but have a crappy signal the other direction north into Mahwah.

 

[alanlungs2]

Years ago, 40 years that is. 45.42 was the police frequency and 45.32 was the fire/DPW frequency. 45.42 was also the frequency for the Park Police, it was also the frequency for Ridgefield Ct. and Harrisburg Pa. . The three agencies would relay back and forth for license checks. I was on the ambulance corps, at the time one of the officers had a two way unit in his POV. He happened to be in Harrisburg one on business and found a car Harrisburg was looking for and called it in.

 

[railtrailbiker]

Hearing only ambulance paging as of this morning on 460.1125. Has Hawthorne made the switch over to NJICS full time?

 

[NParkNJ]

Hearing only ambulance paging as of this morning on 460.1125. Has Hawthorne made the switch over to NJICS full time?

Haven’t heard them earlier... granted I was listening mostly to Ringwood’s huge brush fire. Will monitor when I get home

 

[railtrailbiker]

There’s a major fire related incident going on in Hawthorne right now and there is no activity at all on their UHF PD repeater. They must’ve moved to NJICS. It will be interesting to know if it’s encrypted or in the clear.

 

[N2NHL]

They were in the clear the few times I heard them last week. I heard them on West Orange Simulcast, but others have heard them on Ramapo and I think Bowling Green. I can't hear Ramapo from where I'm at, so I don't know if there's been activity exclusive there.

 

[N2NHL]

I managed to catch Hawthorne PD a couple of times today while I had some time to monitor.

 

[NParkNJ]

I managed to catch Hawthorne PD a couple of times today while I had some time to monitor.

They sound pretty good! Thanks for the clip.