listening to Alaska State Troopers

[wb6khp]

I enjoy watching "Alaska State Troopers" on National Geographic Channel but have a few questions about some of the things I have seen regarding their radios, coverage areas and jurisdictional boundaries. Would this forum be a good place to find someone who is familiar with AST and their systems?

Dave Schultheis
San Jose

 

[ko6jw_2]

Check the RR database. AST are on the Alaska Land Mobile Radio trunked system. To the best of my knowledge it is all encrypted P25. In the Nat Geo series you occasionally see talk group ID's on the radio displays. Law enforcement in Alaska is organized differently than most states. There are no counties in Alaska. There are municipalities like Anchorage and boroughs like Mat-Su. There are no sheriffs or highway patrols. State troopers are the law enforcement outside municipal limits. Unfortunately due to encryption, you can't monitor the AST.

 

[wb6khp]

Thank you for the reply, that answered some of my questions and helps explain why AST must respond with lights and sirens for long periods of time and many miles.

Dave

 

[ko6jw_2]

I think the code 3 action is mainly for the benefit of Nat Geo. A couple of years ago I rode with one of the Ice Road Truckers from Fairbanks to Dead Horse up the Dalton Highway. It's a 16+ hour trip. He told me several funny stories about the pseudo drama in the series for the benefit of the show's producers. A lot of Alaska based "reality" shows are anything but real. Alaskans laugh at most of them.

 

[aps_ak]

The code 3 responses on that show are exaggerated definitely. Day to day action is a bit different without the cameras. As far as radio system - they mainly rely on the ALMR system where available. Each detachment has a dispatch channel along with a few side channels. Because of the system capabilities, most of the dispatching is done from the three centers on the kenai, mat-su and Fairbanks. These dispatch channels are also used by other state/local/federal agencies that operate in the area. And, these are all encrypted (though the encryption is selectable). Rural areas out of the ALMR footprint use analog/simplex VHF for comms, though not many of those areas have dispatches.

You can pm me any other questions you have.