As a ham who has programmed some PS radios I can say this... having a a front pad programmable radio on hand when having to computer program radios on the fly is a must. 99% of the GROs I know also have amateur radio licenses.
Texas Parks & Wildlife - Game Warden's
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I programmed all the Texas parks and wildlife into my scanner, and havent heard a thing, i dont guess they have there own dispatch, we have a local Warden that was featured on the new show on Animal Planet called Lone Star Law, That follows around Texas Game Wardens, just like the show North Woods Law in Maine. His name is Mike Boone, he covers Hardin County, but i only hear him on our local Sheriff dept frequency.
All of the Game Wardens have the standard vhf channels in there car radios and handhelds(some don't even carry handhelds) But most of the time unless they are assigned to a larger county like Harris, Bexar, Dallas etc..You will primarily hear them on the local Sheriff and even local PD channels, same as in the bigger city areas but may have a talk group on a trunked system for ops. They have some repeaters linked to Austin just for the Wardens but are rarely used nowadays. Faster to just use local Sheriff channels. I have heard in my area Wardens using 151.355 P25 to chat with each other but it was a simplex channel so they were close to my location.
Also remember there is usually only 1 to 2 Wardens assigned to a county.
Also remember there is usually only 1 to 2 Wardens assigned to a county.
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Perhaps someone more knowledgeable of the agency organization could chime in. Do the Texas Game Warden "State Police" (as now pained on all of their vehicles) ever report to dispatch? What is the supervision? Is there any sort of accountability to what they are up to? And, if they do report to some central office or division, do they just use telephones? I suppose reporting in to dispatch with where they are and what they are doing might spoil their fun of sneaking around on private property with their lights off at night.
A few years back when most comm's went silent, the Game Wardens went to RoIP, in addition to traditional means. They have always used County Sheriff channels, and have access to TxDPS freq's. Additionally, they are on most of the regional trunked systems along with TxDPS. The cell phone still remains a major player, and in the areas I work with is the main communication. I still hear transmissions when I'm away from the city, but not many. And when monitoring the repeaters, you should hear Morse code ID's every 30 minutes or so. These "towers" are maintained for emergency/disaster situations.
Iwasneverhere!
Iwasneverhere!
i'll chime on the topic at hand ..the game wardnen's along side the border work aongside DPS. and they also report via their dispatch with the designated call sign of PAUL WILLIAM followed by the four digit number of the unit..i suspect it's a standard set by the state.
nd5y
Member
How long as this been going on in S TX?
I haven't heard a PW callsign on the DPS system around here.
Last time I heard a game warden talk to DPS they used the same 4 digit numerical ID that they use on 151.355.
K5MPH
Member
TP&W here in Brownsville,cameron county are on 151.4150 and 159.2700 Mhz.......
its been going on for some time now , a little before the regional trunked system was in place the only diffrence was they were'nt as active as they are now i guess because of the more man power that has been imported from around the state..but i recall them calling in to the local sheriff's dpt.utilizing the Paul William call sign followed by a 4 digit number.
I'm watching Lone Star Law on Animal Planet. The East Texas officers use their cell phones often for comms with dispatch, but they do have a 2-way in the truck. The radio number used were 4 digit, no Paul William xxxx heard, so far. The boat patrols in Central Texas used radios and cell phones. So, that may be why they aren't heard very often.
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Im in Texas ,and i love that show, on the first episode, a GW from my town of Kountze was on there in Hardin County. But its nice to see how they do things. Very good show. I Hear Warden Boone on our Sheriff dept freq every so often, he has a 4 digit unit # aswell, no letters.
The unit numbers are done by Region. Hardin County is in region 4 so any radio traffic on any channel would be a four thousand series number. Special units assigned to the border or other special ops could be the Paul William call signs. Local Sheriff channels are the best bet of hearing any Wardens. Especially around lakes and rivers. But as others on here have said before they can show up just about any law enforcement system.
This is an old thread but just wanted to note that today here in the San Antonio area on 159.270 heard two Game Wardens calling Austin running names and plates. No P25 just the old analog. First time in a long time I have heard any traffic on this old frequency.
K9ROD
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The new Game Warden Trucks are now labeled at the bottom with "Texas State Police". I would assume they are using the DPS Digital Trunked System. Not sure if they have they own talk group. Occasionally you will hear DPS and GW on the County Frequencies if they work with that County Agency. Usually the smaller counties.
The new Game Warden Trucks are now labeled at the bottom with "Texas State Police". I would assume they are using the DPS Digital Trunked System. Not sure if they have they own talk group. Occasionally you will hear DPS and GW on the County Frequencies if they work with that County Agency. Usually the smaller counties.
During the filming of Wild Justice TPWD did a spotlight operation over Northern Hunt. Eastern Delta and Southern Fannin counties. They were on TPWD Channel 5 (And referred to this as Ch 5 several times). I picked them up in mixed mode digital/analog. 151.35500 DCS: 074/NAC: 111.
Recently I have heard TPWD running checks on both DPS and local public safety repeaters but as seen on their show they have a phone app which they use to run 28's and even chat with each other.
Randolph McGee is a personal friend and I've seen his radio. Zone 1 is TPWD, Zone 2 is DPS Zone 3 is local channels, Zone 15 is inter-op.
Generally when on routine patrol they stay on whatever county dispatch channel is used by area Law Enforcement. The 159.2700 repeaters still exist but are not linked to Ft. Worth, Houston or Austin anymore due to State of Texas cutbacks. I think it was cheaper just to use DPS for state dispatching.
Recently I have heard TPWD running checks on both DPS and local public safety repeaters but as seen on their show they have a phone app which they use to run 28's and even chat with each other.
Randolph McGee is a personal friend and I've seen his radio. Zone 1 is TPWD, Zone 2 is DPS Zone 3 is local channels, Zone 15 is inter-op.
Generally when on routine patrol they stay on whatever county dispatch channel is used by area Law Enforcement. The 159.2700 repeaters still exist but are not linked to Ft. Worth, Houston or Austin anymore due to State of Texas cutbacks. I think it was cheaper just to use DPS for state dispatching.
Not to get off-topic, but I didn't know DPS had a Digital Trunked System???
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