W7LES
Member
Hello all, from a 1st time post-er.
I have been "tasked" to come up with a scanner solution for WyoLink system users that want to be able to hear their fleet units without having to drop $4,500 on a trunking portable. This website was suggested to me and has been very helpful - I have read every post in every thread in the WY section - and I would like to return the favor by occasionally posting interesting information about the WyoLink system.
The single largest fleet on WyoLink will be the WyDot Maintenance "Yellow Dump Truck" fleet, comprised of some 1,100 mobiles and 53 control stations. The second largest fleet, and the largest law enforcement fleet, will be the Highway Patrol fleet with some 235 mobiles, 235 portables and 45 control stations. Interestingly, WHP is an operational program within WyDotrather than a separate organizational entity.
Looks like we are going to "standardize" on the RS Pro-96 portable scanner to start out with, also as suggested by others. I have been playing with the Win96 (hello, Don S), and also trying out the Pro96Com software programs, both of which have been very helpful. The Pro-96 scanner codeplug is organized for ease of use by the operator: Bank 0 has the old/original analog channels, while Banks 1 thru 5 are each set up for the trunking towers in their respective WyDot Maintenance Districts 1 thru 5. The trunking banks are pre-loaded with the control channels for the towers in the District, along with the nearby towers in adjacent Districts for cross-District operations that may occur, as well as all of the Maintenance talkgroups with labels so that the radio display will read out correctly. The scanners should thus be ready to operate anywhere in the state as the WyoLink system rolls out.
At this time, Maintenance & Patrol in WyDot District 1 have been operating primarily on the WyoLink system since November 3rd. Full-time operations have revealed some coverage deficiencies in the Laramie city area and some apparent multipath issues in the Elk Mountain area on I-80 which are being looked into - units in these areas will occasionally revert back to the conventional analog system as needed.
All Patrol dispatching is done out of a centralized facility in Cheyenne. Maintenance dispatching has historically been done out of the District HQ offices in Laramie (1), Casper (2), Rock Springs (3), Sheridan (4) and Basin (5). A new statewide Transportation Management Center is being set up in Cheyenne, and will have the ability to dispatch for Maintenance units statewide as the rollout continues.
With regards to some previous posts I have seen, and in no particular order ...
The state Mutual Aid system had historically operated as a carrier-squelch simplex radio system on 154.8750 MHz. The 26 mountain-top base stations were connected to Patrol dispatch in Cheyenne via the state microwave system. The frequency plan for WyoLink required that the M/A base receiver frequency be shifted away from 154.8750 when the WyoLink trunking radios were co-located & installed at the existing radio towers. We took this opportunity to convert Mutual Aid to a repeater system, using the 159.1950 MHz input frequency previously listed on RR, along with incorporating the necessary PL tones to preclude accidental activation of multiple repeaters. The Mutual Aid channel plan now refers to M/A 1 as the simplex carrier-squelch car-to-car channel and M/A 2 as the repeater channel with PL tones. The repeaters do transmit PL, primarily for control stations that are within range of multiple repeaters and only want to hear 1 on a normal basis. Mobiles & portables are generally set to carrier receive on both M/A channels at all times.
The mutual aid channel function has been carried over to the trunking system, by way of the Multiple Agency Talkgroups, or MATs. There are 8 sets of MATs in the WyoLink system: 1 set for each of the 7 DHS Hazmat regions (1 thru 7), with MAT0 designated for state agency use. Each MAT set has a Calling MAT (ex: MAT4) and 3 Working MATs (ex: MAT4A, MAT4B, MAT4C). The designations on RR that refer to MACs is incorrect (possibly a carry-over from neighboring Colorado) and should be changed. MATs are intended to be used when an incident escalates to such a size that it crosses County lines.
Trunking mutual aid operations within a County and among County agencies will normally use the County Agency Talkgroups, or CATs. Each of the 23 Wyoming counties has a Calling CAT and 3 Working CATs. CATs are identified by a specific identifier that uses the county number, CAT and CAT number. Examples of CAT identifiers for Platte County (county 8) & the Wheatland area would be 08CAT1 thru 08CAT4. Wyoming county numbers are assigned in order of descending population, and are also on the Wyoming vehicle license plates as the 1 or 2 digit number to the left of the "Steamboat" bucking horse emblem on the license plates. City and county dispatch centers with WyoLink capability will normally monitor their regional Calling MAT and their county Calling CAT during routine operations. State dispatch centers will monitor the regional Calling MATs and the state Calling MAT0.
Enough for tonight, it's getting late - more later.
If a moderator is available, PM me and I can email you maps of the Maintenance Districts & Patrol Divisions to share.
Regards,
Larry W7LES
I have been "tasked" to come up with a scanner solution for WyoLink system users that want to be able to hear their fleet units without having to drop $4,500 on a trunking portable. This website was suggested to me and has been very helpful - I have read every post in every thread in the WY section - and I would like to return the favor by occasionally posting interesting information about the WyoLink system.
The single largest fleet on WyoLink will be the WyDot Maintenance "Yellow Dump Truck" fleet, comprised of some 1,100 mobiles and 53 control stations. The second largest fleet, and the largest law enforcement fleet, will be the Highway Patrol fleet with some 235 mobiles, 235 portables and 45 control stations. Interestingly, WHP is an operational program within WyDotrather than a separate organizational entity.
Looks like we are going to "standardize" on the RS Pro-96 portable scanner to start out with, also as suggested by others. I have been playing with the Win96 (hello, Don S), and also trying out the Pro96Com software programs, both of which have been very helpful. The Pro-96 scanner codeplug is organized for ease of use by the operator: Bank 0 has the old/original analog channels, while Banks 1 thru 5 are each set up for the trunking towers in their respective WyDot Maintenance Districts 1 thru 5. The trunking banks are pre-loaded with the control channels for the towers in the District, along with the nearby towers in adjacent Districts for cross-District operations that may occur, as well as all of the Maintenance talkgroups with labels so that the radio display will read out correctly. The scanners should thus be ready to operate anywhere in the state as the WyoLink system rolls out.
At this time, Maintenance & Patrol in WyDot District 1 have been operating primarily on the WyoLink system since November 3rd. Full-time operations have revealed some coverage deficiencies in the Laramie city area and some apparent multipath issues in the Elk Mountain area on I-80 which are being looked into - units in these areas will occasionally revert back to the conventional analog system as needed.
All Patrol dispatching is done out of a centralized facility in Cheyenne. Maintenance dispatching has historically been done out of the District HQ offices in Laramie (1), Casper (2), Rock Springs (3), Sheridan (4) and Basin (5). A new statewide Transportation Management Center is being set up in Cheyenne, and will have the ability to dispatch for Maintenance units statewide as the rollout continues.
With regards to some previous posts I have seen, and in no particular order ...
The state Mutual Aid system had historically operated as a carrier-squelch simplex radio system on 154.8750 MHz. The 26 mountain-top base stations were connected to Patrol dispatch in Cheyenne via the state microwave system. The frequency plan for WyoLink required that the M/A base receiver frequency be shifted away from 154.8750 when the WyoLink trunking radios were co-located & installed at the existing radio towers. We took this opportunity to convert Mutual Aid to a repeater system, using the 159.1950 MHz input frequency previously listed on RR, along with incorporating the necessary PL tones to preclude accidental activation of multiple repeaters. The Mutual Aid channel plan now refers to M/A 1 as the simplex carrier-squelch car-to-car channel and M/A 2 as the repeater channel with PL tones. The repeaters do transmit PL, primarily for control stations that are within range of multiple repeaters and only want to hear 1 on a normal basis. Mobiles & portables are generally set to carrier receive on both M/A channels at all times.
The mutual aid channel function has been carried over to the trunking system, by way of the Multiple Agency Talkgroups, or MATs. There are 8 sets of MATs in the WyoLink system: 1 set for each of the 7 DHS Hazmat regions (1 thru 7), with MAT0 designated for state agency use. Each MAT set has a Calling MAT (ex: MAT4) and 3 Working MATs (ex: MAT4A, MAT4B, MAT4C). The designations on RR that refer to MACs is incorrect (possibly a carry-over from neighboring Colorado) and should be changed. MATs are intended to be used when an incident escalates to such a size that it crosses County lines.
Trunking mutual aid operations within a County and among County agencies will normally use the County Agency Talkgroups, or CATs. Each of the 23 Wyoming counties has a Calling CAT and 3 Working CATs. CATs are identified by a specific identifier that uses the county number, CAT and CAT number. Examples of CAT identifiers for Platte County (county 8) & the Wheatland area would be 08CAT1 thru 08CAT4. Wyoming county numbers are assigned in order of descending population, and are also on the Wyoming vehicle license plates as the 1 or 2 digit number to the left of the "Steamboat" bucking horse emblem on the license plates. City and county dispatch centers with WyoLink capability will normally monitor their regional Calling MAT and their county Calling CAT during routine operations. State dispatch centers will monitor the regional Calling MATs and the state Calling MAT0.
Enough for tonight, it's getting late - more later.
If a moderator is available, PM me and I can email you maps of the Maintenance Districts & Patrol Divisions to share.
Regards,
Larry W7LES