this might be interesting

[kc9cra]

If nothing else, I am compulsively curious. After some focused googling, I have stumbled upon the frequency used by ankle monitors used for house arrest. It's 314.2 wide am.

The actual frequency might be a few khz in either direction, but this is pretty much it. If your scanner is capable of picking this up, it's good to program in. Hearing this sound means there is an ankle monitor near you, and it is active. If you have a neighbor who is currently confined to his/her home, hearing this signal at home means the offender is home, not hearing means they aren't and therefore, they are going directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

the signal will be regularly periodic data buzzing. It is positioned right in the middle of the band used byother devices using the same bursts but not at timed intervals.

 

[OsloViking1975]

If nothing else, I am compulsively curious. After some focused googling, I have stumbled upon the frequency used by ankle monitors used for house arrest. It's 314.2 wide am.

The actual frequency might be a few khz in either direction, but this is pretty much it. If your scanner is capable of picking this up, it's good to program in. Hearing this sound means there is an ankle monitor near you, and it is active. If you have a neighbor who is currently confined to his/her home, hearing this signal at home means the offender is home, not hearing means they aren't and therefore, they are going directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

the signal will be regularly periodic data buzzing. It is positioned right in the middle of the band used byother devices using the same bursts but not at timed intervals.

I get nothing. I put it in my Pro 106

 

[KI4VBR]

In The Loop (pun intended)

Please keep us posted on what you hear around your home and if you decide to pursue this mobile....I am very curious to hear what you come up with.

Thanks for the tip.

Vince

 

[kc9cra]

It's very short range. The base unit is at the offender's house. It receives the signal from the monitor and reports when it doesn't. The base unit is set to alert the police/perole officer if the signal isn't received at certain times of day.

You won't hear the signal if you don't have any offenders near you, maybe a hundred feet or so, but if you carry a handheld scanner, you might hear it in a public place, because my reading tells me that the base unit has no way to communicate with the monitor, so it continuously transmits every thirty or so seconds even when not near the receiver.

 

[methusaleh]

What make/model uses that freq? If you could see one, you could probably copy down the FCC ID from it, and check online.

FWIW, the agency I work for uses satellite-based monitoring devices.

 

[ScannerWayne]

LOL....

Thanks for that KC9CRA! I had never thought to look for that. I'll have to program that into the scanner I have in the truck and see what, if anything, I get while riding around.

I wonder... Has anyone any idea what freq/freqs are used by the little transmitters the banks slip into the money that is being stolen by the bad guys? I did a google search on the subject last year but my google-fu is weak and didn't find any indication of where they might be located.

Around this time of year several banks are usually robbed around here and I love to listen to the police track them down via those transmitters. Would be interessting to be able to listen up for the signal while I'm out making my deliveries. Never know...<grin>

Wayne...

 

[kc9cra]

Well, the device is called a cue logger. Most likely, it uses the same frequency used by the satellite based monitors that that were mentioned earlier in this thread. I actually would like to know what frequency that is. I doubt it is the 314.2 freq.

I'll have to do some research on that one.

 

[scannerboy01]

This could allow scanner users to listen to where people with ankle bracelets are, people could help the police find people who have breached their house arrest and then when the scanner user lets police where the person is, the police would see another reason why people using scanners are helpful to law enforcement.

 

[nd5y]

I wonder... Has anyone any idea what freq/freqs are used by the little transmitters the banks slip into the money that is being stolen by the bad guys?

Some of those operate in the 216-220 MHz band.

 

[W8RMH]

Hearing this sound means there is an ankle monitor near you, and it is active. If you have a neighbor who is currently confined to his/her home, hearing this signal at home means the offender is home, not hearing means they aren't and therefore, they are going directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

This statement is not entirely true. I have supervised over 500 persons at one time on this program and each case is different.

Some people are permitted to be away at certain pre-approved times, for work, shopping, doctor visits, treatment, etc, thereby NOT in violation. Trying to monitor these signals and work with monitoring agencies, as Scannerboy01 advised, could result in a false-arrest suit or criminal charges for obstructing justice. I have tried to monitor these signals with a scanner and it is not effective. Leave law enforcement to the experts.

Also just because you receive a signal doesn't mean it is active and on an offender. People have cut off the device and disposed of it. It will transmit until the battery dies.

They are designed to be received by a short range, interior receiver, and do not work well when outdoors. We had a mobile receiver to use in the field but it had a very, very short range. It was good to tell us if a transmitter was in the residence, and/or removed, but if the offender ran it was only good for a short distance, less than half a block, and had no direction finding capability. It did display the serial number which came in handy at times.

It is not a fool-proof system, but a very valuable supervision tool for probation and parole officers monitoring non-violent offenders. This was all back in the 1990's. I believe most systems are satellite based now.

 

[BillyFred]

I wonder... Has anyone any idea what freq/freqs are used by the little transmitters the banks slip into the money that is being stolen by the bad guys? I did a google search on the subject last year but my google-fu is weak and didn't find any indication of where they might be located.


219.96
Usually best to use AM mode. Good for about a block if the battery is good. It's a intense buzzing sound.

I believe some of these are not high-tech with GPS/aircard type arrangement. If you city has the 3 antennas in a triangle it's likely they're still on the 219 freq.

 

[ScannerSK]

Some AM mode type transmissions (ex: radar pulses, some car remotes, etc.) do not break the squelch on normal scanners. I wonder if the transmissions under discussion would break the squelch or if a person would have to manually turn down the squelch to monitor the frequencies?

Shawn

 

[kc9cra]

I'm not an expert, but you'd probably have to open your squelch.

Ohi063, I'm not trying to be mean, but the idea of simply assuming that only the government is compitent to govern and we should simply trust and follow without a second thought is quite dangerous. I'm not trying to bash you. There's a lot of people who get the wrong idea and think they know how to do police work. The emt's and firefighters deal with it too when people think they can do cpr but haven't been trained, or they think they know the best way to put out a housefire. It's good to let people do what they've been trained to do. Let's just not get to where they govern and we just do nothing. We're supposed to govern our own country here. Simply saying, "Well, they're experts, they know what they're doing," makes you stop questioning the authorities and opens you up to letting certain people do whatever they want while the rest of us have to follow the rules. This is very dangerous. It's been done before with very bad results. Noone should simply trust their government blindly without questioning them.

You're right about the monitors though. I was trying to make it short. I kind of figured that was already understood by most people. When an offender is on house arrest, they can go to work. I probably should've pointed it out. In the past, when having conversations with people, I've been told that I take too long to explain things, so now sometimes, I try too hard to shorten explanations.

 

[ScannerWayne]

I wonder... Has anyone any idea what freq/freqs are used by the little transmitters the banks slip into the money that is being stolen by the bad guys? I did a google search on the subject last year but my google-fu is weak and didn't find any indication of where they might be located.


219.96
Usually best to use AM mode. Good for about a block if the battery is good. It's a intense buzzing sound.

I believe some of these are not high-tech with GPS/aircard type arrangement. If you city has the 3 antennas in a triangle it's likely they're still on the 219 freq.

This would appear to be the type of system in use by the banks in my city. Thanks BillyFred.

When this system came into use here I figured out what police units had the receiving equipment and which channel they would switch to when tracking the transmitters down. Over the years I have listened to many of these searches; most ended with an apprehension, a few ended when the bad guys found and tossed or destroyed the transmitters.

The best one though was when they tracked the signal to a restuarant<sp> during the lunch hour at a local mall. They switched over to hand held trackers and I listened to them go into the place and walk right up to the bank robber. Busted him while seated at the table with several of his co-workers. It appears that he left work early to take care of some personal business and then met his co-workers for lunch. I wish I had been able to get all of it on tape; would have made for interesting listening over the years.

This weekend I'll try and take another look on hte internet and see what I can find out about those little transmitters.

Wayne...

 

[Squad10]

This would appear to be the type of system in use by the banks in my city. Thanks BillyFred.

When this system came into use here I figured out what police units had the receiving equipment and which channel they would switch to when tracking the transmitters down. Over the years I have listened to many of these searches; most ended with an apprehension, a few ended when the bad guys found and tossed or destroyed the transmitters.

The best one though was when they tracked the signal to a restuarant<sp> during the lunch hour at a local mall. They switched over to hand held trackers and I listened to them go into the place and walk right up to the bank robber. Busted him while seated at the table with several of his co-workers. It appears that he left work early to take care of some personal business and then met his co-workers for lunch. I wish I had been able to get all of it on tape; would have made for interesting listening over the years.

This weekend I'll try and take another look on hte internet and see what I can find out about those little transmitters.

Wayne...

Your experience is similar to mine. 219.6 and 219.605 have been used in my area.

Cellular GPS is used for initial tracking. When GPS can't report good data, agents are often close enough to use portable RDF equipment.

Transmitter modules I've seen used for money packs utilize Integrated Device Technology ICS525 and a microcontroller for pulsed TX duty cycle.

 

[ScannerWayne]

Ets

You know, the internet is amazing. When I last did a search on this topic none of the search terms I used turned up anything usefull and I moved onto other projects. Then KC9CRA started this thread about ankle transmitters and out of curiosity I asked about tagging transmitters used by banks and others. Then BillyFred dropped in and gave us a possible freq of 219.96 Mhz. Ahhhh.. Now theres a good starting point. I googled it. History lesson in the making.

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view.action?id=6005544560

The above link will take you to a document that shows Pronet Inc. requested from the FCC in 1991, a Grant of Pioneer's Preference in the allocation of 3 channels to be used by "Electronic Tagging Systems" (ETS) they had developed. As I read further Pronet went on to ask for a specific allocation in the 216-220 Mhz band for thier system. Reading further I saw a letter from the FBI that indicated that the number of channels requested be bumped up to 10. Which when you think about it makes sense. The system they were promoting has so many varied uses that 3 channels wouldn't be enough. Interesting.

The three channels being proposed are: 218.0 218.5 219.5

Also. Near the end of the document is a series of pictures. The ones that caught my immediate attention were the antenna configuration on the police cars. This matches exactly with what I see here in my area. It appears that the pictures were originaly color and scanned with a black and white scanner: So the rendering is not all that great.

Next I did a search on Pronet Inc and discovered that sometime after 1998 they changed thier name to Spectrum Management, L.L.C. They have branched out into other protective services but ETS remains a major part of thier operation.

I am writing this as I am doing the research. Lets see what else I can find.

In several of the letters submitted to the FCC in support of the creation of an area for these types of transmissions there were references to PR DK NO. 89-552. A Google search turned up the creation of the 220-222 Mhz band. Not just for these operations of course, but an area where they could take place relativly protected. Further study of this band plan is needed, but my suggestion at this point would be to search this area for any odd transmissions. It's getting late but I do plan on taking a closer look at the band plan for this band.

Wayne...

PS. Before posting this I went back and reread the thread. 219.6 is in a portion of the band allocated for amature use. Squad10 seems to indicate recent reception on this and 219.605. I was wondering if he could confirm that perception? Later...

 

[Squad10]

PS. Before posting this I went back and reread the thread. 219.6 is in a portion of the band allocated for amature use. Squad10 seems to indicate recent reception on this and 219.605. I was wondering if he could confirm that perception? Later...

Here's my thread on the use of the 219.6 and 219.605 frequencies.

http://forums.radioreference.com/federal-monitoring-forum/129984-219-6-219-605-mhz-transmitters.html

219-220 applies to FCC Rule Part(s) Maritime (80) Private Land Mobile (90) Amateur Radio (97)

http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf


Part 90:

217 to 220 ....... Base, mobile, or operational, limitation 55

(55) This band is available to stations
operating in this service subject to the
provisions of § 90.259.

§ 90.259 Assignment and use of frequencies
in the bands 216–220 MHz
and 1427–1432 MHz.
(a) 216–220 MHz band. (1) Frequencies
in the 216–220 MHz band may be assigned
to applicants that establish eligibility
in the Industrial/Business Pool.
(2) All operation is secondary to the
fixed and mobile services, including the
Low Power Radio Service.
(3) In the 216–217 MHz band, no new
assignments will be made after January
1, 2002.
(4) In the 217–220 MHz band, the maximum
transmitter output power is 2
watts. The maximum antenna height
above average terrain (HAAT) is 152 m
(500 feet).
(5) In the 217–220 MHz band, base, mobile,
and operational fixed is permitted.
(6) Wide area operations will not be
authorized. The area of normal day-today
operations will be described in the
application in terms of maximum distance
from a geographical center (latitude
and longitude).
(7) Frequencies will be assigned with
a 6.25 kHz, 12.5 kHz, 25 kHz or 50 kHz
channel bandwidth. Frequencies may
be assigned with a channel bandwidth
exceeding 50 kHz only upon a showing
of adequate justification.
(8) Assignable 6.25 kHz channels will
occur in increments of 6.25 kHz from
217.00625 MHz to 219.99375 MHz. Assignable
12.5 kHz channels will occur in increments
of 12.5 kHz from 217.0125 MHz
to 219.9875 MHz. Assignable 25 kHz
channels will occur in increments of 25
kHz from 217.025 MHz to 219.975 MHz.
Assignable 50 kHz channels will occur
in increments of 50 kHz from 217.025
MHz to 219.975 MHz.

 

[BillyFred]

Some AM mode type transmissions (ex: radar pulses, some car remotes, etc.) do not break the squelch on normal scanners. I wonder if the transmissions under discussion would break the squelch or if a person would have to manually turn down the squelch to monitor the frequencies?

Shawn

You are correct and if you open the squelch you can here it on FM. AM will usually get it regardless and seems to be better if you're trying to find the device. I found one that was discarded in a brush pile this way. Police were driving all around me but unable to narrow it down.

Before I here all the whining about getting into a PD investigation I was in communication with the PD helo on our interop (2M simplex). I beat feet and he really impressed the troops by telling them to go to X address and check the brush pile!

In the early days these were jokingly referred to TITS, Tx Instruments Tracking System. My understanding is they did a lot of the early development when the Dallas area was getting hit hard by robbers. I believe the fist major bust for the area was the Dapper Bandit that was wanted for many robberies.

Back then these were top secret however the police brass were smart. They made the media aware of the new system and the importance of keeping it quiet. For years the media reports said something like "police spotted a car matching the description" rather than mentioning the device. It's still pretty much that way but the criminals all know about the tags.

These devices have been used in things other than money packs. I've seen the in radar detectors, lawn mowers, construction trailers etc. Area departments have base receivers that show signal strength from various receivers and map it on a display.

 

[ScannerWayne]

Thanks Squad10. That thread is 2 years old. Will definately add 219.6 and 219.605 to my Fun And Odd system of freqs.

BillyFred, from the reading I did last night about ETS and ProNet, you are correct. ProNet was located in Dallas and I beleive Dallas was the first place they used their system. From one of the letters contained in the FCC application it is clear that the Dapper Bandit robbed at least 28 times for a take of over 750,000 dollars before he was captured with the help of ProNets ETS system.

Thanks guys for help in learning more about the ETS system.

Wayne...