Signal 10.5?

[msingewald]

This morning Troop I was referring to the motorcycle accident near the tunnel as a Signal 10 and a half. That is a new one for me. Considering the highway was closed and it involved a motorcycle, could it mean an accident with a fatality?

 

[cg]

common term used to indicate there are very serious injuries or possibly a fatal but not official yet.
Signal 10 is a crash
Signal 11 is a fatal crash

chris

 

[msingewald]

That makes logical sense. It was odd hearing it said a few times. Hope it turned out to be a 10 rather than an 11 for the sake of the parties involved.

 

[lensam]

Maybe they use that to get the dispatcher to step up the medics possibly

 

[cg]

The context I usually hear it is to update the dispatcher and to get a supervisor (SGT) started to the scene. They are good about putting requests to expedite in plain language.

 

[msingewald]

Today they were dispatching other cars to handle traffic around the "signal 10 and a half". So it was more of the way they were referring to the incident even 45 minutes after the accident. Didn't help when another signal 10 occurred in the same stretch around an hour later.

 

[leadjammer]

Traffic was backed up for hours. At a complete standstill for at least one hour.

 

[doctordialtone]

Traffic was backed up for hours.

On fatals or near-fatals they shut down the road while the Accident Reconstruction team (CARS) does their job

 

[izzyj4]

The proper signal is "Signal 10 plus" which is used for severe accidents with trauma / near fatal. Not sure why they transmitted it as ten and a half, might be up to the trooper, I'll verify with my buddy who is based out of the troop.

I dispatched at Troop I for a little while after I left C-Med New Haven. Though not an official signal, it was utilized a lot over the air.

 

[doctordialtone]

I've heard it both ways but more often "ten and a half". I've been monitoring them since Low Band 42.04, 42.36, 42.48, 42.52, etc.

(42.18, 42.20, 42.24, 42.58...)

 

[izzyj4]

Ahhh the old Low Band!!! Many a night listening then a sudden "breaking...." of the air overnight lol.

I remember when G was down in Westport and on a good night you could pick up them when they transmitted off that tower and hear it up in the Valley, same with F and sometimes H's tower on the south end of their area.

 

[doctordialtone]

I grew up in Newington, so I could receive all the troops and some of the cars. Fun!

I'm sure I heard you on the air.

 

[csp662]

It’s always been “10 1/2”. It let the sergeant know that you would be tied up on scene taking measurements and photos “just in case”. There is a lot of “jargon” with the CSP. Like “violent 14” or “no formal” or when we were on low band you would hear, “662 contact 1161 three way”. Much of it has gone away with CAD and the “new” radios. Terms like “blue card” or “clear it type 4”. At least we don’t use the “repeaters” anymore. Those were a joke.

 

[doctordialtone]

, “662 contact 1161 three way”

Roger that, 662.

Back then, the cars transmitted on one frequency and received on another - so to talk to another car, you'd have to go "three-way"

 

[izzyj4]

It’s always been “10 1/2”. It let the sergeant know that you would be tied up on scene taking measurements and photos “just in case”. There is a lot of “jargon” with the CSP. Like “violent 14” or “no formal” or when we were on low band you would hear, “662 contact 1161 three way”. Much of it has gone away with CAD and the “new” radios. Terms like “blue card” or “clear it type 4”. At least we don’t use the “repeaters” anymore. Those were a joke.

Call me on the Bat-Phone and I'll put you in the 108.

 

[mkt853]

Roger that, 662.

Back then, the cars transmitted on one frequency and received on another - so to talk to another car, you'd have to go "three-way"

How long ago was that? When they were on low band one car would tell another to go to channel XX (e.g. channel 7 which I think was 42.20) and then they would carry on in normal simplex assuming they were close enough to hear each other.

 

[oneadam-12]

How long ago was that? When they were on low band one car would tell another to go to channel XX (e.g. channel 7 which I think was 42.20) and then they would carry on in normal simplex assuming they were close enough to hear each other.

It was the 70s, dispatch was in the 45 MHz range and the cars would transmit in the 44 MHz range so you had to have two crystal to hear them. Then later years csp moved within the 42 MHz range.

 

[doctordialtone]

When they were on low band one car would tell another to go to channel XX (e.g. channel 7 which I think was 42.20)

Yes, it was in the early 70's.

It was before that the cars needed to "go three way" to be able to talk to each other directly.

As I recall, 42.18 (Detectives) was channel 5, 42.20 (Traffic) was channel 7 and 42.24 (Truck Squad) was channel 8. 42.58 was channel 9.

 

[csp662]

Joe, you've been out of the loop for too long!! It's not the 108, it's the"107 book". Which means you are not immediately available to be ordered in. Such as a vacation or personal matter. You had to provide a location and a contact phone number. A lot of guys go out of state on their day leaves to try and avoid the order in. Doesn't always work.

We had Midland low band radios in the cars. We could scan all the channels or priority scan our troop channel and channel 7, which was our car to car channel. The "three way" term came from (so I've been told by the old time radio division guys) from when the first "Link" radio system was put in place. It had the ability to talk (1) Base to car (2), car to base (3), car to car. Hence the term "three way". I had radio division program the hotline (45.86) in my radio and I could scan that as well. I think they finally did that to most of the radios. As I've been told, there was one channel for the west side of the state and one for the east side and one for car to car that came later. Then they began adding channels for the detectives and traffic squad. Portable radios were only issued to dog handlers and ESU guys at first. When I graduated, we didn't even get portable radios for the vehicle repeaters. We had to share them until they finally got some to issue out. And they were mostly beat up junk.
The "repeaters" as the portable radios were mistakenly called, were Midland VHF portables that were set to 1/2 watt. They talked in to the 100 watt low band mobiles on the 154 freqs. But the system sucked. As soon as you got about 50 feet from your cruiser, they didn't work. Not that the low band system was much better. Sometimes you would have to back up your cruiser to try and get a good spot for the troop to hear you. Or your wingman could hear you but not the troop, so they would relay your info to the troop. And then there was the skip.... from down south or Michigan, or the fishing boats talking in Spanish. Sometimes we could hear California Highway Patrol.
There used to be a lot of fooling around on the low band radios too. Farts, burps, mic clicking, comments. That went away with the new radios and the ID showing up when you key up.
Now we have new terms like "you went digital", or "go up one" because the car to car channel is the next channel up on the radio.

But a 10 1/2 still means almost maybe a fatal.

 

[doctordialtone]

There used to be a lot of fooling around on the low band radios too.

Yes, the famous double-click went away with the new systems.

I grew up in Newington, so I could hear H, I, K, L, C, A, W and HQ

My cousin was one of the radio techs. (2114 EMU) He drove the van with tinted windows. You probably met him.

Anyway, thanks for the info. Stay safe out there. Hear you later.