NYPD low band VHF historical use

[radioman2001]

From what I can remember from around 1979-80 the HT220 units I worked on at Motorola were 4 chan, 4watt, omni frame with p/s speaker mic (ant on top), As I understand it the speaker mics were an issue and were discontinued in the second batch of radios.

I remember that in the bid requirements if any part or assembly exceeded at 10% failure Motorola was to replace until the failure percentage was less that 10%. There were 55 gallon drums filled with handsets from NYCEMS which still used them up until 1980. The reason for the handsets were so you could hear the radio traffic with the siren running. Back then the siren speakers were mounted on the roof of the cab, and I believe that is why I only have about 40% of my hearing today.

 

[vncval20164]

Perhaps this will contribute to the conversation.
Attached is something I got from RR awhile back. Not sure who to credit on this.
I do remember the VHF HT200's on the beat cops in Brooklyn in the late 60's. Cool.

View attachment 114502

FDNY Had 3 UHF Frequencies in 1969? I knew 2 frequencies were assigned to the marshalls in the 70's and one of them were used with the crossband repeater. Interesting.

 

[radioman2001]

"FDNY Had 3 UHF Frequencies in 1969? I knew 2 frequencies were assigned to the Marshalls in the 70's and one of them were used with the crossband repeater. Interesting."

Marshals did have 2 UHF citywide repeaters, but could have been 3 . I worked on some of the DVP equipped MX portables of the time, and 460.525 and 460.550 come to mind, but might not be accurate. I don't have my notes from that era as they are packed away from my move since retirement. I think East Fishkill PD was on one of them years back and we could hear DES occasionally.

 

[k2hz]

"FDNY Had 3 UHF Frequencies in 1969? I knew 2 frequencies were assigned to the Marshalls in the 70's and one of them were used with the crossband repeater. Interesting."

Marshals did have 2 UHF citywide repeaters, but could have been 3 . I worked on some of the DVP equipped MX portables of the time, and 460.525 and 460.550 come to mind, but might not be accurate. I don't have my notes from that era as they are packed away from my move since retirement. I think East Fishkill PD was on one of them years back and we could hear DES occasionally.

Info I have from around 1990 is: F1 - 460.575R Fire Investigation Primary, F2 - 460.625 Fire Investigation (High Rise building ops/Marshall Secondary) F3 - 460.575 simplex, F4 - 460.625 simplex

 

[chiefops]

1. To the best of my memory the Bronx was the last to transition to T band, 1980 or 81.
2. Even though the Bronx was last to switch to UHF, Patrol Borough Manhattan North seemed to be the last boro to cycle radios, I'm certain we were the last to replace the MXs with Sabers- IIRC early 1994, the second cycle of Sabers circa 2004.
3. As someone mentioned, there was a definitely a reduction of in-building performance from the MX to the Saber, I complained about it and the Communications Section/Radio Repair sent a radio tech to my command and we visited several buildings to field test my complaint. I seem to recall the conclusion was the reduced performance was negligible and the voting system still provided 90% coverage, case closed.

 

[K2KOH]

1. To the best of my memory the Bronx was the last to transition to T band, 1980 or 81.
2. Even though the Bronx was last to switch to UHF, Patrol Borough Manhattan North seemed to be the last boro to cycle radios, I'm certain we were the last to replace the MXs with Sabers- IIRC early 1994, the second cycle of Sabers circa 2004.
3. As someone mentioned, there was a definitely a reduction of in-building performance from the MX to the Saber, I complained about it and the Communications Section/Radio Repair sent a radio tech to my command and we visited several buildings to field test my complaint. I seem to recall the conclusion was the reduced performance was negligible and the voting system still provided 90% coverage, case closed.

I remember in 1982 radio repair had ti split the 5th Division and simulcast the 24 with the rest of the division. Radios at the projects and under the Broadway line el was horrendous. 476.8875 between 5N and we had to keep both switches on for the division

 

[radioman2001]

I remember that the Saber radios were not 4 watt radios, because the battery would not last an entire shift. They removed the 4 watt module and jumped out that section to make it a .7 or 1 watt unit. This to prevent someone turning the power back up, and this was a big problem in Manhattan with all the buildings. I can remember Officers having to go into the street for the radio to work.
I sold quite a few Icom U-16 to Officers because of this problem.

 

[Archie]

FDNY 1969 UHF list from another buff likely had from copied from CRB lists:

Transmit. Receive

460.525. 465.525
460.575. 465.575
460.625. 465.625

Staten Island Mobile channels:
453.80
458.75
465.525
465.575
465.625

And what were the Milton Sleeper Comminication Engineering lists mentioned earlier? Like CRB, they were dupes of FCC microfiche????

 

[Ishmole]

Copy of Communications Research Bureau, circa 1970.

 

[wfiedelman]

I didn't think this thread would keep going. So, back in the 1950's, Brooklyn/Richmond NYPD radio would transmit alarms for stolen cars once or twice daily. The PO dispatcher transmitted across two frequencies: Brooklyn East (KEA-744) and Brooklyn West/Richmond (KEA-745). It went something like this: "Attention all units, Brooklyn East, Brooklyn West, and Richmond. Standby for transmission of alarms. Alarm XXX. WANTED in connection with a Signal 30 in the 70-Oh precinct, be on the lookout for a blue Oldsmobile license XXX-XXX." These were repeated for a few minutes as new alarms/license plates were transmitted. The RMP recorder was supposed to write down the information. After the transition to VHF, I don't recall hearing these again.

 

[RocketNJ]

Found these up atop of City Hall. This was around 2002, not long after 9/11. A small room up in the cupola. You needed to climb a vertical ladder to get up there. They hadn't been used in a VERY long time based on the condition of the room

 

[wfiedelman]

Really historic find! The old Civil Defense decals bring back memories. We may need these again!

 

[Ishmole]

Wow! What a find. I see a Motorola Cavity there. Must have been a repeater, or a combiner. The classic GE equipment is great. Would be interesting to find out what frequencies these operated on. What does the Dymo tape on the GE stuff say?
Thanks for posting! Wonder if that stuff is still up there!

 

[Archie]

Ishmole

Check you in box please.
Thanks for posting that list.

 

[MStep]

Copy of Communications Research Bureau, circa 1970.


View attachment 118693

God Bless Tom Kneitel, who ran CRB Research from his home in Commack, Long Island, and was also editor of S9 Magazine and Popular Communications. His 4 page CRB Research papers got a lot of us started on the right foot by providing frequency information. He did a lot of typing on an IBM Selectric typewriter and his "research papers" were available from circa 1964.

Although Tom passed before Radio Reference was abound, the Internet and the availability of information on-line from great sites like this one eventually replaced the need for printed frequency directories from CRB Research, Firecom Communications and Scanner Master.

 

[MStep]

Really historic find! The old Civil Defense decals bring back memories. We may need these again!

With the way things are going in Russia/Ukraine, we may need Civil Defense again is right !!! Not too veer too far off-topic, but Civil Defense, Bert The Turtle and "Duck and Cover" all started during the age of the "Atomic Bomb", prior to the introduction of thermonuclear weapons.

Those were the good ole days, when the tunable Regency Monitoradios covered 30-50 MHz or 152-174 MHz. Very few agencies were experimenting with UHF, which was just coming into its prime for UHF television broadcasters.

 

[Alain]

God Bless Tom Kneitel, who ran CRB Research from his home in Commack, Long Island, and was also editor of S9 Magazine and Popular Communications.

MStep,

There is a new[er] and quite similar e-periodical being published, one that you may not have heard about lately. Granted, it's not going to ever replace Pop Comm, but I've been a subscriber for some years now and I find it an enjoyable and interesting read.

It's called "The Spectrum Monitor". You won't find it on any newsstand, but you can contact them and they will e-mail you a sample copy of the magazine. Subjects include: ham radio/boat anchors, am/fm/tv, scanning, satellite comms, mil-comm, shortwave, radio reviews, utes, etc., etc.

Here's the link:

The Spectrum Monitor - Powered by Network Solutions.

amateur radio, shortwave listening, vintage radio, WiFi radio, AM/FM/TV broadcasting, longwave listening, scanner listening, DXing, radios, scanners, ham radio

www.thespectrummonitor.com

P.S. BTW, I had one of those bread-box sized Regency Monitoradio's. God, the radio was so great to see, glowing in the dark, while listening to it...

I also owned 3 versions of something that was called a Tun-A-Verter radio. They were made in Refugio, Texas in the late 1960's thru the '70's.
I owned a High VHF, Lo VHF and an Air band unit. They were tunable and available with a separate squelch unit that attached to the receiver by
a motorola plug. The squelch units screwed to the bottom of the receiver. It made for a nice compact radio that worked off your car
radio. Just set it to 1600 KHz on the AM band and tune the dial!

They were one of the cheaper units available at the time and were very reliable. I had all three but gave them away when I moved to an 895 XLT in early 1995.

Wish I had them back; they'd be worth a mint on EBAY...!

This link explains: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/tompkins_tunaverter_1564.html

 

[MStep]

P.S. BTW, I had one of those bread-box sized Regency Monitoradio's. God, the radio was so great to see, glowing in the dark, while listening to it...

Yes, there was that warm glow, but those tubes also gave off a certain reassuring odor, combined with the smell of the other electronics in the unit. I had to de-tune those coils in my 152-174 megacycle Monitoradio a bit since it cut off at 152 and my police frequency was 151.37. I used to buy them at one of the radio shops on Cortlandt Street in New York City's famous "radio row", at about $70 bucks a pop.

P.S. I see from the image in your profile that you were also familiar with the Kuhn receivers; I had the infamous 353-B, which was $60 at the time.

 

[Ishmole]

Tom Kneitel was a great guy! Used to love reading is column in the old Electronics Illustrated. I used to buy a lot from CRB Research. I bought his guide to Secret US Government Frequencies and had my Bearcat 210 searching day & night! At that time, it was impossible to find a receiver for 200-400 Mhz where a lot of the frequencies were located. Tom bought some old military receiver to receive them back then.

 

[Alain]

Tom Kneitel was a great guy! Used to love reading is column in the old Electronics Illustrated. I used to buy a lot from CRB Research. I bought his guide to Secret US Government Frequencies and had my Bearcat 210 searching day & night! At that time, it was impossible to find a receiver for 200-400 Mhz where a lot of the frequencies were located. Tom bought some old military receiver to receive them back then.

Speaking of the Bearcat 210, mine still works BTW! When I bought mine [from the very old (1972) Speigel Catalog] there was a phone number to call for a frequency list. Call Betty Bearcat and get one of these...