OHP--Turner TPK

[spot2112]

Just thought i would start a topic to for observations i make while commuting everyday between TUL and OKC. Don't know who might be interested, but that's okay.

observation -- even though tulsa is where the OHP trunking system originates, OHP on the turner tpk never talk to TUL, even if they are troop YB. The talk groups listed for tulsa as relating to the turnpikes must be for those to the east, though i have never tried to figure out who uses them.

observation -- of all the cities along turner tpk with trunking repeaters on the tulsa system, tulsa seems to be the only one that switches their control channel on a regular basis. Every few days they swap between 859.9375 and 860.9375. I have one bank on my BCT-8 set up in CC only mode, with both channels on. since only one channel is designated as the control at a time, i dont get any trunking errors, and i dont have to manually switch frequencies every time they switch.

 

[crayon]

uggh. That drive gets old, I did it for about 10 months.

OHP on the turner tpk never talk to TUL

I dont know if I would go so far as to say that. I have heard Turner units talking to both Tulsa and OKC.

of all the cities along turner tpk with trunking repeaters on the tulsa system ..

Splitting hairs here .. switch the word cities out and put the word locations in instead. If you look at the list in the RRDB, there are alternate control channels listed for each location, it could be that they are rotated when your not there to monitor it.

 

[spot2112]

for item one, okay, i suppose "never" is a little much. Put it this way, in the couple of months of commuting _with_ a scanner, i have never heard a conversation between troop A/YB and anyone except OKC. Further, i have heard only a very few transmissions on the tulsa tpk talkgroups at all, and i live sw tulsa/jenks. From that location, even on weekends, i just dont hear any traffic on those talkgroups, though i still hear plenty of traffic on the OKC talkgroup channels. So i dont know what's going on.

As for the hair-splitting, sure, i guess locations is better since the towers may not be in the actual township of the city listed. fair enough.

As for the RRDB, yes, i have noticed that there are alternates for tuls, bristow, muskogee, carney, tecumseh, lexington, geary, crescent, okmulgee, norman, and oklahoma city. but in the previously mentioned months of commute with a scanner, i have never noticed them switching over. so if they do it, they do it between about 7pm and 6am monday thru friday or on the weekends, and always switch back to the main channel by the time i hit the road again. That seems kinda weird for them to do, dont you think? Anyway, i believe i said "seems to be" the only [location] that switches...

Oh, and i also noticed on the RRDB that Stillwater, Woodward, Buffalo, Slapout, Boyd, Guymon, and Boise City dont seem to have any designated control stations. Any ideas about this?

Anyway -- not being argumentative in my reply. I just like to be at least reasonably precise in my communications. Typed/written comms are easy to get screwed up if you arent careful, so i tend to go overboard when relating something via text. The old shotgun approach.

thanks for the comments. and if anyone can explain any observations i may make here, please do so.

 

[foster_006]

If I remember right, the locations in the RRDB for OHP Smartzone starting with 9XX, means the frequenices are in the FCC DB but not on air as of yet. For instance, 903 is Stillwater, but they are not online yet.

You might also check out the low band operations for the turnpike units. I don't listen very often, esp on the turnpike, but they might communicate with either TUL or OKC if they are aways off.


foster_006

 

[K5MAR]

Oh, and i also noticed on the RRDB that Stillwater, Woodward, Buffalo, Slapout, Boyd, Guymon, and Boise City dont seem to have any designated control stations. Any ideas about this?

Foster is correct, these sites are not active. In the ordinary couse of things, the FCC would have voided these frequency allocations due to non-use, but the licences involved are multi-site, so the allocations remain active at this time.

FYI, the Stillwater site was supposed to be funded and on the air this year, but nothing so far. The tower site listed on the FCC website has changed hands, and I suspect the new owners have made things difficult. They certainly did when the NWS tried to negotiate a lease for a NOAA WX radio transmitter.

Mark S.

 

[spot2112]

good tip about the 9XX designator for smart zone frequencies. Thanks!

observation -- in over 20 years of driving oklahomas highways, and in nearly 5 years of driving turner tpk -- sometimes more frequently, sometimes less -- and having seen lots of those "watch your speed -- we are" signs with the little patrol car and aircraft on them (though not many recently) -- and knowing there is a troop for air patrols and frequencies for air patrol, i have never heard troopers talking to ohp aircraft.

I did get pulled over once because an aircraft signaled ahead to a line of waiting patrol cars that i had been speeding, but i didnt have a scanner then. I know they have several aircraft and have seen the frequencies they are reported to use. But why dont we hear them? Do they rotate throughout the state?

 

[K5MAR]

In my area, they use the local lowband freq, 44.70 MHz for Pawnee units. Monitor 44.70 and 45.22 MHz. I understand they use 800 MHz when the units are so-equipped, but I haven't heard that, so I don't know if they are using the trunked systems or the NASPAC freqs.

I love listening to the aircraft, they generally get humorous. Particularly when the trooper on the ground is telling about some motorist trying to challange the validity of the ticket 'cause his radar detector didn't go off.

Mark S.

 

[spot2112]

cool! i'll try it. do you hear them regularly?

 

[K5MAR]

Well, I wouldn't say regularly, they cover the whole state and at any given time may be out of my range of hearing. But I hear them often enough, living close to I-35. And weather will limit their operations. For obvious reasons, they prefer CAVU conditions for traffic enforcement. FWIW, the aviation arm of the OHP uses the callsign OCEAN, so listen for them, especially in the mornings and late afternoons flying in and out of OKC. But these troopers also have conventional marked units, and use their OCEAN callsign when driving them.

Mark S.

 

[fast2okc]

Spot2112--

The OHP troopers that are assigned to the turnpikes are actually employed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority instead of DPS. In effect, they are their own troop.

Troopers in Troop A are designated "Adam" and then their designated number. In Tulsa, Trooprs are assigned the designation "Baker" and their three digit assigned number. The number stays with the trooper and the prefix designates their troop assignment.

That said, the turnpike units are assigned the name of the turnpike to which they are assigned. Trooper 123 becomes Turner123 while assigned to the Turner Turnpike. He would be Adam123 if he worked Troop A.

The reason for this dissertation, is to explain that the control point for the Troopers on the Turner Turnpike is at the Comm Center in Oklahoma City. There is a base radio at the Turnpike Maintenance Center at Stroud, and the Troop B dispatchers have a separate radio to talk to troopers on the Turner, but the control is mainly through Oklahoma City.

Of course, the troopers have the ability to switch to other talkgroups to talk with other troopers or troop headquarters. Most of them have county radios for the counties along the turnpike.

--FAST 2

 

[spot2112]

That is what I suspected. I do have talk groups programmed for tulsa (troop b) dispatchers, but never have heard any traffic from any turner units. I have, however, noticed the naming convention. Very convenient and makes good sense.

As for the county radios, I had always heard that they communicated with the other counties (namely, lincoln and creek) but had never picked up such transmissions...until the other day. I heard a report to OKC at the beginning of a contact, then heard nothing else with OKC except very infrequently. When I actually came to the location of the contact, I saw that several officers from a local PD were assisting one Trooper. I switched to the appropriat local channels, and voila. He was almost exclusively talking with the local dispatcher. Neat.

I must say, since I have had a scanner, I have been totally impressed with the amount of work troopers do on the turnpikes. I had never noticed before, flying by the occasional unit on traffic duty. But with a scanner I know they have a lot more to deal with -- more than just traffic enforcement. It seems that they protect us from quite a bit of stuff that goes on along the turnpikes the public never hears about...Hats off to OHP and I dont hold the speeding tickets against you. ( I speed less with a scanner, by the way!!)

 

[spot2112]

Observation...don't know if its the current solar storm or what, but there are some severe gaps in tower coverage along the turner the last couple of days. Even though the control channels for the various locations are generally strong enough for the scanner to lock on, transmissions on these channels are weaker than usual. Anyone have any explanations for this?

 

[GlacierClipper]

The solar conditions play alot with the radio waves! During my last visit to Tennessee, I was listening to Nashville/Davidson County Trunked while in Monteagle which is 90 miles from Nashville. Being 45 miles from Chattanooga, their trunked system was barely heard. Nearly 50% of the time, the Chattanooga system can be heard in Monteagle.

 

[oklameatman]

Spot2112--

The OHP troopers that are assigned to the turnpikes are actually employed by the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority instead of DPS. In effect, they are their own troop.

Are you saying then that these turnpike units have no affiliation with the DPS? What do you mean by "employed by the OTA"? It was my understanding that turnpike troopers were simply assigned to that location (turnpike), rather than a particular county/troop - and assigned by the 'chief'. Along this school of thought, I've heard references to troopers working a "D.O.T." shift. What is that?

 

[GlacierClipper]

http://www.pikepass.com/Why Turnpikes.htm


Oklahoma's turnpikes also pay approximately $11 million per year for salaries and cars for the Highway Patrol Officers assigned to these roads. Without toll revenues, Oklahoma would have to pay for these troopers out of tax dollars. In addition, the Oklahoma Transportation Authority does not receive any funds as a result of trooper issued tickets

 

[fast2okc]

Well, It's a little complicated (meaning I don't entirely understand it either :?). The troopers all work for the State of Oklahoma and are trained at the Highway Patrol Academy. They are all considered Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers.

As I understand it, when a trooper is assigned to the turnpikes, he is paid through the Oklahoma Transportation Authority (formerly the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority). His equipment is provided by the OTA. In fact, the turnpike troopers get new cars more often and have beter equipment in the cars.

This is not to say that the turnpike troopers will not work incidents off the turnpike, or other troopers can't assist on the turnpike, but that is not their primary assignment.

I'm sure there is a fascinating history behind this system.

--FAST 2

 

[foster_006]

I'm pretty sure that "D.O.T. Shift" is speed enforcement in construction zones. I know throughout const. zones in OKC they'll have a trooper sit in the const. zone, out of the way...and run radar for speeders. Either that or just making a prescence known for the safety of highway construction workers. That is to my best recollection....correct me if i'm wrong!

 

[fast2okc]

Oh, I almost forgot....DOT shifts...........

Sometimes when you pass a constuction site, you'll see a trooper set up just before the work zone with his flashing lights going. Often, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (DOT) pays the trooper to slow drivers down around the construction area.

These are off-duty troopers and their salary for that shift is paid by the DOT or by the construction contractor.

There are also federal programs like seat belt enforcement that pay a trooper to work an extra shift just to enforce seat belt laws.

--FAST 2

 

[okla-lawman]

Ohp has a contract with the turnpike authority to provide policeing for the turnpikes. Technically the turnpikes are "private property". It is much like Tulsa use to have with the airport authority, Tulsa co has a contract with the votechs etc. It is fairly common. Dot could be also referring to okla dept of highway safety grant monies as well as Federal dot grant monies.
Currenty I am aware of seatbelt enforcement grant, dui grants, and speeding/aggrivated driving grants. All of theese pay officers time and and half to work outside of their normal duty. Most depts. have different names for what trhey call them....

 

[oklameatman]

Ohp has a contract with the turnpike authority to provide policeing for the turnpikes. Technically the turnpikes are "private property".

Does this mean that no tax dollars (normally routed through the DPS) are used for the policing of turnpikes in Oklahoma? (I don't mean to sound like an auditor!) Also, what are the implications for county law enforcement? Are sherrifs and deputies never involved with the policing of oklahoma turnpikes?