mobile extenders in various states

[mdulrich]

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.

Joe M.

Another option is where the MRE repeater is turned on by a door switch when the LEO opens the door. It is then turned off manually by another switch when the officer returns to the car.

Mike

 

[nmfire10]

You can't leave vehicle reapeaters tuned on all the time if you are using a system where they are all on the same frequency, They need to be turned on when you arrive on scene to allow the "last unit in takeover" that I described to function properly. If you just roll in with it already on, they will go nuts with multiple repeaters and mobiles trying to TX and RX at the same time. Eventually, they will sort themselves out but you are not supposed to do that. Every vehicle repeater out there (Pyramid, Vertex, Motorola, Etc) works exactly the same way.

 

[waynesewell]

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.

But what if he's about to laser your ass? Doesn't he have to be out of the car for that? Laser is a greater danger anyway, because even the good detectors have trouble seeing it, especially if mounted high on the windshield.

While some states turn on extenders only while outside the car, it appears many others do not, as described above. In the beartracker review I read, the guy went on a trip of a couple of thousand miles, through several states. He had 13 encounters with patrol cars, and only once did the trooper get within radar range without triggering an altert first. And that was in Illinois, which apparently turns off the extender when in the car as you describe.

So beartracker utility varies wildly from state to state, ranging from useless (Texas, with no extrenders at all) to partially useful (Illinois) to completely effective (always-on extenders).

Which is why I was interested in a list.

 

[kc4jgc]

In Virginia the freq. is 458.35 ....

This also seems to be used on towers at State Police area offices,
perhaps as linking between repeater sites. :?:

Steve KC4JGC
Norfolk VA

 

[fmon]

As Harf mentioned above, VA (State PD) uses them. I don't know the freq used for the extenders (could be 458.350) but the comm freqs statewide are
158.985
159.000
159.135
159.165

The city of VA Beach used them prior to switching to Mot I trunking several years ago.

For nmfire10

Never heard them compared to insects before

You won't be able to say that again. Over time, in various boards, I've seen "cricket chirp" used describing this noise.

 

[waynesewell]

I too have a beartracker and it works great in Va.

And a good thing too. Isn't this the one state where radar detectors are illegal?

 

[nmfire10]

But what if he's about to laser your ass? Doesn't he have to be out of the car for that?

Umm, no.

 

[INDY72]

As to Lasers and basic radar bands in use in lev's, the ants/beams can be used while inside and are mounted in front areas, and in rear areas of the vehicles,... some even mount them in both front and rear. And even though someone may call me inexperienced,.. (20+ years in scanning, at least 10 years using PS Mobile Radios, and HT's, yes only 3 years in Trunking usage, but monitored far longer) I do know that many agencies leave the mre's on at all times, and that they do have some kind of "voter" system to decide which is broadcasting at a scene. I will not get into an arguement over this as its not worth wasting your, or my time. The endless variation of the mre can be astounding, take for example ambulance placed mre's,... some not only are designed to rebroadcast just over the primary mobile freq, but have a capability to be switched to send over say MED 8 for paramedics to talk vias thier HT directly to a MED Control (Physician). Eneough on this from me have fun fighting it out.

 

[K5MAR]

Learned a lot about mobile extenders, thanks to all. Back to the original topic: to the best of my knowledge, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol does not use mobile extenders. In Oklahoma City, and possibly the other troops that use 800 MHz trunking, at least some troopers have 800 MHz portables. But out here in the boonies (<grin!>), where the troopers still use VHF-Low, the ones I know or have seen are not carrying HTs. Now, if somebody has better information about Oklahoma, I hope they post it.

Mark S.

 

[nmfire10]

As to Lasers and basic radar bands in use in lev's, the ants/beams can be used while inside and are mounted in front areas, and in rear areas of the vehicles,... some even mount them in both front and rear. And even though someone may call me inexperienced,.. (20+ years in scanning, at least 10 years using PS Mobile Radios, and HT's, yes only 3 years in Trunking usage, but monitored far longer) I do know that many agencies leave the mre's on at all times, and that they do have some kind of "voter" system to decide which is broadcasting at a scene. I will not get into an arguement over this as its not worth wasting your, or my time. The endless variation of the mre can be astounding, take for example ambulance placed mre's,... some not only are designed to rebroadcast just over the primary mobile freq, but have a capability to be switched to send over say MED 8 for paramedics to talk vias thier HT directly to a MED Control (Physician). Eneough on this from me have fun fighting it out.

Yea, case and point. Thank you for once again reinforcing my previous statements.

1. You can't shoot laser through glass. Try again.

2. Do you know what a voter is? Obviously not if you think they put them in cars as part of a vehicle repeater system. Try again... Again.

3. It's called "Channel Steering". Using PL tones or DTMF, you can change the channel on the mobile radio via your portable. Not widely used but it can be done. The Motorola VRS does it and Pyramid makes a system to do it as well. Not very common but they are out there. They can cause a lot more havoc than anything else too.

4. Would you care to elaborate on your official capacity in using "public safety mobile radios and HT's"? I'm sorry but 20 years listening to a scanner qualifies you for nothing but someone who *thinks* they know everything, talks like they know everything, and in reality knows little to nothing.

 

[mdulrich]

But what if he's about to laser your ass? Doesn't he have to be out of the car for that? Laser is a greater danger anyway, because even the good detectors have trouble seeing it, especially if mounted high on the windshield.

Laser (actually LIDAR) can not be shot through glass so they simply roll down the window and get ya.

Mike

 

[waynesewell]

I guess I'm behind the times. I was thinking of those big bulky units that had to be set up on a stand.

 

[waynesewell]

By the way, I did that google search and here's the list of states that came up for mobile extender use (in addition to those mentioned earlier in the thread, such as california and virginia):

Minnesota
New Mexico
South Dakota
Michigan
Wisconsin
Ohio
Nevada
Maryland
West Virginia
Delaware
Nebraska
Indiana
Kentucky
Arkansas
Georgia
Missouri
North Carolina
Massachusetts
Tennessee

Note that this list does not differentiate between good (always on) and bad (only when out of car) extender use. Also, I did not bother with frequencies, because the beartracker scanners have them preprogrammed.

Also, there may be other states, but nobody had them listed in a web page known to google.

 

[ECPD279]

Let me elaborate a bit here. I am speaking from experience ONLY of CHP extenders. These units are always POWERED when the vehicle is on but the only TRANSMIT when activated. When an officer turns on a portable it sends a signal to the extender bringing out of a sort of STANDBY mode. While the extender is on it beeps every five seconds or so and it must be put back into standby manually by the press of a button. Hope this clarifies things a bit.

Now for another issue. NMFire, could you POSSIBLY cut the condescending crap that you are so fond of throwing at people who don't agree with you. I mean I know you are the end all / be all of everything electronic but just because someone doesn't agree with you it doesn't mean you have to throw down on them. We are not all complete idiots here, so please don't talk to everyone like they are. It makes it much less enjoyable to read these posts when one has to wade through all of your "expert opinion". This goes for all of you who do this (you know who you are), I'm just picking on nmfire because he does it in this particular thread. I believe Blanton says something along the lines of "Keep it civil".

 

[emtLarmy15]

I am a LEO, so I do know what I am talking about...

1. Some Lasers (newer) CAN be used through vehicle windows...

2. Don't rely on these Police Officer Detecting Scanners... I personally think they are junk and don't work real well...

3. In MD extender use and activation is selected by the trooper operating the car. Each MSP car has a toggle switch that can be turned on or off. In theory, and what they are told to do, they are supposed to turn the switch on when they get out and off when they get in...most don't though, because they are the only trooper working for many many miles...so they just turn it on at the beginning of the shift and off at the end...

I have a lil experiance with MD's extenders, and they work ok, until you get two troopers together with both on. If they both did what they are supposed to do, and turn it on when they get out, it would work

Sorry if alot of this don't make sense, but I was rambling and listening to a MVC at the same time I was typing this.

Chris

 

[waynesewell]

2. Don't rely on these Police Officer Detecting Scanners... I personally think they are junk and don't work real well...

I absolutely agree that it is to your benefit to make people believe this. I've heard cops say that radar detectors don't work either.

Unfortunately, I can't dispute it because the Texas DPS doesn't use extenders and I haven't yet been to a state that does.

 

[nmfire10]

OK. I won't post facts anymore. Go back to playing with your voter controlled vehicle repeaters and laser "antennas" mounted on the dash or rear deck of police cars. I will sit by and laugh. I am not the end-all knowlege base nor do I claim to be. I just correct those who post on here like they know all there is to know because they listen to a scanner.

 

[emtLarmy15]

Actually wayne its not to my benifit at all because I don't use an extender, nor do the troopers I work with...we are all on our Counties 800 mhz system...so if they were to detect us working on our freq's, they would also detect everyone else on our system....

And I never said anything about dash mounted laser antennas...I said some of the newer lasers will work through windows....

And yes radar detectors do work...unless its 2am, and you are the only vehicle for a mile or 2...then the hold button defeats the radar detector

 

[waynesewell]

The hold button, this is how "instant-on" is implemented? True, if it is dark and there are no faint pings indicating cars up the line have been hit, then yes, it is virtually impossible to detect instant-on before it is too late. Unless the car has an active mobile extender, i.e. a radio beacon saying "hi, there, I am a cop and I'm about to be in your face", in which case the beartracker would alert before reaching radar range. So the instant-on "sneak attack" would record the speed limit or below.

Which, of course, was the point of this thread. True, it works only with Highway Patrol, and only in some states, and in some cases only with certain troopers (the ones who don't turn the extender off like they are supposed to), but hey, that's better than nothing.

 

[nmfire10]

Actually wayne its not to my benifit at all because I don't use an extender, nor do the troopers I work with...we are all on our Counties 800 mhz system...so if they were to detect us working on our freq's, they would also detect everyone else on our system....

And I never said anything about dash mounted laser antennas...I said some of the newer lasers will work through windows....

And yes radar detectors do work...unless its 2am, and you are the only vehicle for a mile or 2...then the hold button defeats the radar detector

Sorry, I wasn't refering to you on the laser thing. Someone else was saying that you can have the "laser antenna" mounted in the front and back. I guess they have the new "auto-aim / auto-fire" model... :lol:

They actually do make vehicle repeaters for interfacing with a trunking system. I guess that is the bandaid for a trunk system with inadequate portable coverage (typical).