vintage ambulance radio pulse dial

[jruta]

"SECODE" is most likely what you're looking for. A lot of us old dinosaur techs are very familiar with those units on MotherMoto and GE installations. They were very reliable and gave us few if any problems unless they were subject to half-assed installation and/or lack of maintenance issues. The name comes from SEquential COding DEvice, or something close to that from the documentation I remember. Most were set up for one tone operation only, but they could be set up with an optional tone selector panel with 5 or 6 tones selectable one at a time for different encoding purposes.

Very interesting information

 

[jruta]

I used to maintain several hospitals and dispatch centers who has rotary dialers on T1605 remotes. As noted by xmo, the systems were designed to contact individual locations, while RF shared same freq/PL. (That way ER nurses didn't have to hear conversations with other hospitals) User had to know the site location "digital dial code". User would dial individual location and that was the only site/hospital that unmuted. (Digital Dial Decoder was typically in base station) Hospitals could "dial" other hospitals also. (IE The reason the dialers were installed on remote eq)

Loving this info. Thank you

 

[jruta]

Rampart, Squad 51, sending you an EKG and standing by...

Lol I think that was Apcor but that’s great stuff!

 

[jruta]

In the late 60's & early 70's there was a push to make it possible for the rescue squads to talk directly to the ERs rather than through dispatch.

The H.E.A.R. system was developed to meet that need.

Typically, there were one or more 'Med' repeaters installed in an area with wireline connections to remote units in the hospitals. Because there were often several hospitals in an area, it was necessary to implement a selective calling system so the ER staff didn't have to monitor the channel.

Hence, the encoders in the squads and decoders in the remote units at the hospitals.

Here is the Motorola rotary encoder for use with Motrac radios:

View attachment 96636

I vaguely remember those from the early eighties (ambulance) but have always found them interesting. Yep, I remember the red/tan? Hospital end too. Thanks for more info

 

[xmo]

Coronary Observation Radio

 

[jruta]

View attachment 96687Coronary Observation Radio

Very neat. I had the high power version at one time

 

[LowderK]

Midian electronics make a HEAR Encoder that fits modern radios

 

[jruta]

Midian electronics make a HEAR Encoder that fits modern radios

Thanks, I totally forgot about Midian. But honestly I’m not looking to use a radio for amb-hosp. Communication (do they still use that?) I’m just looking at the old stuff for the sake of nostalgia lol.

 

[LowderK]

They do here in Oklahoma .... and there are some hospitals that still use the HEAR encoding in the rural areas

 

[a417]

Thanks, I totally forgot about Midian. But honestly I’m not looking to use a radio for amb-hosp. Communication (do they still use that?) I’m just looking at the old stuff for the sake of nostalgia lol.

They still do. Regions may have had it fall out of favor for cellphones, some places do it on UHF as opposed to VHF (H.E.A.R), but it's still out there.

 

[mikegilbert]

Here are some super high-res images of an LAFD ambulance with a HEAR encoder and disapatch. Enjoy!

 

[jruta]

Here are some super high-res images of an LAFD ambulance with a HEAR encoder and disapatch. Enjoy!

That’s the good stuff! Great pics thank you

 

[wowologist]

Here are some super high-res images of an LAFD ambulance with a HEAR encoder and disapatch. Enjoy!

LOL - I like how the Credit Union has a direct dial hotline # encoded

O man and that custom metal fab on the rigs center console...super seczy...today it would be black powder coated and modular... : (

 

[ai8o]

In the 60s 70s and 8os North Carolina had these on 155.19 MHz.
Today this would be called the Interzone frequency.
Every PSAP had these Secode units, and a handbook listing of all the codes for all the PSAPs.

 

[kb4mdz]

Awesome sheetmetal work on that console in the ambulance!!

 

[jruta]

Awesome sheetmetal work on that console in the ambulance!!

Lol purely function over form 😂

 

[mikegilbert]

Thanks, everyone! Here's some more. These are all 3000 pixel images, so make sure to download, or open them in new windows to see the full resolution. Here's some more dispatch, ambulance, APCOR and mobile command rig.

 

[mikegilbert]

 

[mikegilbert]

 

[jruta]

Absolutely incredible stuff Mike! Thanks for sharing. I don’t know why, but as a paramedic I find the original stuff so much more interesting than the new things we have.