Isp District 18

[shortbus91]

Bear with me I'm not good at typing this question


I live in a small town in Illinois called Jerseyville. I want to listen to the state police District 18. I have a pro 197 scanner and I am able to pick up dispatch A.

On the website it has dispatch B and multiple other things you should be able to hear. I can not get anything other stated above and idot yard in town.

Should I be concerned that I am not picking up those other ones listed under district 18.


Also should I program Collinsville frequencies to hear operations on district 18 since they dispatched for them.,

Also what is the purpose of the intercom frequency?

And what would be the best towers for my location to get the most out of the frequency.

Thank you.

 

[cubn]

It is not surprising that you are only hearing radio traffic on channel A. When I used to live in district 6 and district 10, the dispatch A and car-car channels were the only ones I used to hear on a regular basis. Of course not all districts are the same.
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[N9JIG]

To expound on the prior response, Downstate districts may not have the traffic volume that would cause them to use the extra channel assignments they have. Also since dispatch has been consolidated the number of dispatchers is reduced and normally a dispatcher would listen to just one talkgroup so as not to miss important traffic.

If you have a second scanner available you can set it up like the first but lockout the Dispatch A channel and other known and busy channels. On the second scanner concentrate it on the lesser used channels to see if additional traffic is heard.

Intercom is used as sort of a Point to Point channel for dispatchers in different districts to communicate. Again, with consolidation it is less used now than it was. It replaces the HF4 channel (155.460) which was used for this in the past.

As for the towers, look at their location based on your coverage area. The actual towers used is not restricted for ISP users, they can activate any tower they affiliate with. Of course you will need to program in the tower(s) in Jersey county but try also to listen to the towers in the neighboring counties, they can often carry your county's traffic.

 

[shortbus91]

To expound on the prior response, Downstate districts may not have the traffic volume that would cause them to use the extra channel assignments they have. Also since dispatch has been consolidated the number of dispatchers is reduced and normally a dispatcher would listen to just one talkgroup so as not to miss important traffic.

If you have a second scanner available you can set it up like the first but lockout the Dispatch A channel and other known and busy channels. On the second scanner concentrate it on the lesser used channels to see if additional traffic is heard.

Intercom is used as sort of a Point to Point channel for dispatchers in different districts to communicate. Again, with consolidation it is less used now than it was. It replaces the HF4 channel (155.460) which was used for this in the past.

As for the towers, look at their location based on your coverage area. The actual towers used is not restricted for ISP users, they can activate any tower they affiliate with. Of course you will need to program in the tower(s) in Jersey county but try also to listen to the towers in the neighboring counties, they can often carry your county's traffic.

there are no towers in my county. I'll have to check others around.

 

[Starcom21]

Try the Calhoun Counties towers, in addition to Beaver Dam. Dispatch B is rarely used unless there is a secure traffic stop or event on Dispatch A.

Mostly all you'll ever hear is Dispatch A, occasional car-to-car and ISPERN. Towers have to have a car near them to be carrying traffic (radio has to be affiliating with the tower). District 18 usually doesn't have a lot of units on duty. It's possible that cars could be in Macoupin and Montgomery Counties only and no radios are active near the Calhoun towers. Then you will not hear any traffic on those towers.

Sometimes the Madison County site may have some District 18 traffic, you may be able to pick up the Godfrey simulcast site of Tower 301.

Best thing, check all the frequencies (control channels) in your area, during the day and also at night. See which ones that you can actually pick up.

Also, plug in 155.505 and 151.16 as conventional and you may hear some cars that are in your area using their mobile extenders.

 

[GTO_04]

Also, plug in 155.505 and 151.16 as conventional and you may hear some cars that are in your area using their mobile extenders.

Are these the mobile extender frequencies being used statewide now? I noticed a lot of 700 MHz mobile extender frequencies on the Starcom21 page, but I read in another thread that they are not in widespread use anymore.

GTO_04

 

[N9JIG]

They are likely being rolled out as the new equipment and installation times are available. They may retain the 700 MHz. systems in some areas until they are all replaced.

 

[VASCAR2]

The 700 MHz vehicular repeater requires a monthly user fee just like a mobile or hand held radio on Starcom. Using a dual band APX VHF High Band/700-800 hand held radio with vehicular repeater is cheaper plus you can still communicate on VHF High Band frequencies. There are still quite a few smaller agencies using high band so it is a better solution for the ISP. ISP still have a few High Band Frequencies available for backup or emergencies so this gives another option for communications should StarCom go down or lack of SC coverage.

There might be a few 700 MHz vehicular repeaters in service with agencies other than ISP. I know Conservation Officers had 700 MHZz vehicular repeaters at one time. I suspect they have also moved to APX style dual band radios. Most agencies get their radios off state bid. I know SOS Police used some unique radio equipment compared to ISP as has the Department of Corrections.

I thought the three different regions of the ISP had individual assigned frequencies for vehicular repeaters.

 

[catbird]

Try the Calhoun Counties towers, in addition to Beaver Dam. Dispatch B is rarely used unless there is a secure traffic stop or event on Dispatch A.

Mostly all you'll ever hear is Dispatch A, occasional car-to-car and ISPERN. Towers have to have a car near them to be carrying traffic (radio has to be affiliating with the tower). District 18 usually doesn't have a lot of units on duty. It's possible that cars could be in Macoupin and Montgomery Counties only and no radios are active near the Calhoun towers. Then you will not hear any traffic on those towers.

Sometimes the Madison County site may have some District 18 traffic, you may be able to pick up the Godfrey simulcast site of Tower 301.

Best thing, check all the frequencies (control channels) in your area, during the day and also at night. See which ones that you can actually pick up.

Also, plug in 155.505 and 151.16 as conventional and you may hear some cars that are in your area using their mobile extenders.

Starcom21 I sent you a PM