mobile extenders in various states

[waynesewell]

According to a review of the BCT-8 I read a while back, two thirds of the states have mobile extenders in their highway patrol cars, allowing the beartracker alert system to work. Unfortunately, the reviewer didn't say which states had mobile extenders, and I didn't find out until after buying the scanner that Texas isn't one of them.

But in case I go on the road, it would be useful to know which states have mobile extenders and which don't. Does anybody know where a list can be found?

 

[ECPD279]

No, but maybe we can make one.

California Highway Patrol (CHP) has extenders on 154.905

 

[ericcarlson]

155.73 for Maryland State Police.

-Eric

 

[Voyager]

PA does, but they only turn them on when actually using them (which is rare), so you may as well count PA out for your purposes. (I'm sure Uniden counted them in, however).

I think OH still has them on UHF, but both states are changing systems, so both may be going 'bye-bye' in the future.

Did you try a google serch for 'mobile extenders'?

Joe M.

 

[bill71]

Arkansas State Police:154.785 P.L. 123.0

 

[CZ]

Does 154.905 (California) use PL? I seldom hear anything on it here in the Central part of the state, & what I do hear isn't very strong.

 

[harf]

Virginia has them. I dont remember all of the frequencies but their WT's are on UHF. I too have a beartracker and it works great in Va.

 

[INDY72]

Mississippi:
MHP:
154.9350
158.9700
MBN/MBI:
158.9775
Copiah County SO:
154.8300
Also for many AMR Units:
150.7900
150.7750

 

[ECPD279]

Does 154.905 (California) use PL? I seldom hear anything on it here in the Central part of the state, & what I do hear isn't very strong.

They do use PL but that won't make a difference. The reason you don't hear them is because they only put out about 5 watts, just enough to work with a portable within say 200 yards. That's the idea behind the BearTracker, it only alerts when they're close, like less than a mile.

PA does, but they only turn them on when actually using them (which is rare), so you may as well count PA out for your purposes. (I'm sure Uniden counted them in, however).

This is also part of the idea of extenders, if Officers are in the car and not on portable there is no need to have the extender turned on.

 

[INDY72]

Not to mentions say a magor incident occurs: Multiple extender equipped vehicles may be on scene but to keep the interference down, they have iether a voter attached to only recieve say certian HT's, or only certian units (supervisors) may have them on.... And yep the few scanners equipped with the RHWS/MEAS only give you 1 to 3 mile warning depending on the conditions,... It can come in handy sometimes, but just remember that the primary freq's usually give you a much better warning most times. The only exception to the only a few units using extenders I know of are in MS,... Lincoln County Sheriff and MHP's units are almost all using them constantly, but only LCSO me's actually are on the same freq as the mobile radio, and every time they key up the shoulder mic's,... you hear the double cricket data burst of the me, then main radio, whereas with the main radio only you hear only the single cricket burst. Of course when the encryption is on its annoying to hear that encrypted sizzle with the cricket bursts. LOL.

 

[nmfire10]

What in god's name are you talking about?? None of that makes any sense at all nor is it how a vehicle repeater system works. And what prey-tell is a "cricket burst"????

 

[waynesewell]

Did you try a google serch for 'mobile extenders'?

Yes, and nothing worthwhile came up. It was a couple of months ago, when I first got the bct-8. Maybe I'll try again.

Of course, this thread will show up now. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[INDY72]

The "cricket burst" is the sound made by the radios when the ptt is released or in some radios when the ptt is pressed. The sound made resemble the chirps of a cricket. And what doesn't make sense?

 

[nmfire10]

....And what doesn't make sense?

Your entire post :?:

The "cricket chirp" your refering to is a PTT Identifier. Never heard them compared to insects before.

 

[SCPD]

I've observed the Georgia State Patrol using 458.4875mhz with a PL tone of 100.0hz. Not sure if the PL tone is unique to the individual trooper's radio or not. I'm not sure if all their cars are equipped with an extender, sometimes I hear the extender when I'm within range and sometimes I don't.

 

[nmfire10]

A mobile extender in a group of vehicles will all operate on the SAME frequency with the SAME PL as all the other vehicles. When a second car arrives on a scene and turns their extender on, the action of a second extender turning on puts the other one into standby. This way, there is only ONE extender trying to transmit at a time. When the one that is "active" is turnd off or leaves, another extender will come out of standby and go active in it's place. There are no voters, no multiple PL's, etc etc. It is difficult to decribe using a keyboard, I hope that all made some sense.

If your hearing two PTT-ID's, it is probably the portable and the mobile radio both ID'ing. When he keys his portable, it sends it's ID. The extender keys the mobile which also has an ID and that gets transmitted as well.

 

[PanJurekMrJerry]

PA does, but they only turn them on when actually using them (which is rare), so you may as well count PA out for your purposes. (I'm sure Uniden counted them in, however).

I think OH still has them on UHF, but both states are changing systems, so both may be going 'bye-bye' in the future.

Did you try a google serch for 'mobile extenders'?

Joe M.

Well I do NOT know for sure if all of Ohio's Mobile Extenders are on U.H.F. but I do know that District 3 and District 10 ( The Turnpike, I-80 ) are
on U.H.F..

 

[Voyager]

What in god's name are you talking about?? None of that makes any sense at all nor is it how a vehicle repeater system works. And what prey-tell is a "cricket burst"????

Yes, it is how some MREs work. The cricket burst, I suspect, is MDC-1200 or something similar.

Some MREs DO have circuits that ensure that if multiple MREs are turned on, and on the same frequency, they will only allow one to 'work' at a time.

The 'same frequency' MREs are a little puzzling. Maybe he is talking about simplex repeaters. Most PS agencies hate those. In fact, one local PD had one, and the County ordered them to turn it off. It repeated everything it heard - including the county. Of course, a half-duplex repeater will do the same job, but only repeats the portable unit to the base.

Joe M.

 

[ECPD279]

A little background on Mobile Extenders for those who are unenlightened:

Mobile extenders use a separate frequency (In CHP's case this is 154.905) usually in a different band than the mobile radios to allow an officer to talk to dispatch from outside his or her vehicle. Whereas most of us can just go to portable, State Police and Highway Patrol are usually much further from the repeater and a portable would not work as well if at all, not to mention the long antenna that would poke into your armpit on a VHF-Lo portable. So, the portable talks to the extender on 154.905 and the extender outputs the audio to the mobile radio which is tuned to the dispatch channel (42.920 around here). When dispatch talks back the car radio takes what it hears on the dispatch channel and outputs it to the extender at very low power (usually 1/2 - 5 watts depending on manufacturer). The intent is to make it possible for officers to communicate on portable in any area where the mobile will work. As such, you will only be able to hear the extender when it is A) Turned on, and B) Within a mile or so. Generally the difference between an extender and a vehicle repeater is that the vehicle repeater puts out more power, however the terms are usually used interchageably. The Beartrackers look for activity on the Highway Patrol extenders frequency to let you know when you are within a mile or so of a PARKED patrol car. The extender is turned off when officers are in the car because A) There is no need for it then, and B) It sounds an annoying tone in the car every 5 seconds or so when it's on.

In short, don't try to use a Beartracker as a radar detector or a cop detector because if the cop car is moving it won't trigger the alert. And if the cop is any good, he's probably already got you! However, it can be a useful tool to let you know that you may be approaching stopped traffic, an accident, or some other hazard. Ain't technology great?!

 

[Voyager]

The Beartrackers look for activity on the Highway Patrol extenders frequency to let you know when you are within a mile or so of a PARKED patrol car. The extender is turned off when officers are in the car because A) There is no need for it then, and B) It sounds an annoying tone in the car every 5 seconds or so when it's on.

Sometimes true about if the car is parked, but it depends on how it was installed. I've seen many cases where they are on anytime the car ignition is on. (and even a few when it was on 24/7/365) Why? Because too many times users were found outside the car with the portable, and the MRE repeater not turned on! You don't always have time to remember to turn it on when you're trying to get to someone.

In fact, that's one drawback of the Motorola PAC unit. IF you shut the radio off, and not the PAC, it will stay in transmit as long as the receiver is 'quieted', and to it, off is 'quieted', or receiving.

A frequent practice is to hook up the MRE to a portable charger. When you pull the MRE portable out of the charger, it automatically turns on the MRE repeater.

As for the tone every 5-seconds or so, I've never seen that, and I've dealt with at least half a dozen manufacturers who make (or made) MREs. I've seen one or two that sent a beep just before the sample window, but that's 'eliminated' by shutting off the portable or the repeater - either one. It's usually better to shut off the portable to conserve the battery. Of course, shutting off the portable doesn't eliminate it, but you won't hear it if the portable is off.

Joe M.