CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL MOBILE RADIO EQUIPMENT 2001

CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL MOBILE RADIO EQUIPMENT 21st CENTURY

This page is a summary of the radio equipment currently found in CHP patrol cars, as of August, 2007. It is best read after reading the main CHP Patrol Car Radio History page at http://www.mbay.net/~wb6nvh/chpradio.htm

As of August, 2007 the CHP is still using the same equipment as detailed here, although the radio fleet is currently transitioning statewide to use a new mobile radio system, the Visteon Tac-Net, which uses a touch-screen computer to control all radio and emergency lighting functions, and which is interfaced to up to five Kenwood mobile radios mounted in the trunk. This new system is being funded in stages and contract awards are being made on a piece-meal basis over the next several years.

The new radio system will continue to use the existing low band analog infrastructure, however a number of new frequencies are being added in that spectrum as well as on the VHF high band. There will be more than one mobile radio "drawer" installed to allow multiple band operation. The portable radios and the associated "extender" mobile repeater will be changed to a 700 MHz system. So far, to my knowledge, at least one contract has been awarded to E.F. Johnson for the portable radios. I do not have information yet on how they plan to equip the motorcycles, since the Visteon equipment is intended for the cars. I will update these pages with new information when I get it.

GE RANGR Main Mobile Radio:

In 1987, the CHP began to replace their existing Motorola MICOR mobile radio equipment (placed in service beginning in 1977) with GE RANGR radios, featuring the S810 control head. This replacement program presumably took several years to complete. Unlike the Motorola CHP product of the 1970's, the GE RANGR incorporates siren and lighting control within the control head itself, at least in the automobile version, which interfaces with a special Federal Signal siren and lighting controller box in the vehicle trunk. The S815 motorcycle version uses a scaled down control head, without that feature. The S800 series control head design was originally developed by GE solely for the CHP, although GE found that they soon became popular with many law enforcement agencies and today are widely used throughout the USA, but in different version numbers than the "made for CHP" control heads.

As always, all equipment is low band, and operates in the 42-43 MHz range, except for a number of "new" channels in the 39 and 45 MHz range. Each region typically uses two channels; a primary and a secondary channel. The primary channel is the local channel, used for routine dispatches and so forth. The secondary channel is the "Blue" channel, and is the same frequency statewide. It is used for tactical coordination, and by the spotting airplane in some areas. The Blue channel was originally conceived to allow units to have a means of contacting a base station regardless of what area they traveled into, but since the GE equipment is capable of storing all frequencies used by the CHP, statewide, in memory, the importance of the Blue channel has been diminished. It appears that the "single tone" tone burst on transmit feature, last seen on the MICOR radios, was finally eliminated with the GE contract, since it was rarely used since the 1970's.

As in the previous MICOR equipment, there is an "S" and a "C" button on the microphone. One button places the mobile transmitter on the car-to-station frequency, while the other button places the transmitter on the car-to-car frequency. This system is a carryover from the days when the mobile radios did not have dual receivers capable of monitoring both the station and the car channels. The purpose of including the S and C buttons on the microphone today appear to be 1) to prevent the dispatcher from hearing car to car traffic not intended for her and 2) to assure that mobiles with the "monitor" feature (listen to car and station channels simultaneously) disabled will still hear car-to-car traffic directed to them. The small pushbutton on the right side activates the PA function immediately such that there is no need to reach the control head to select "PA." The original shipment of GE RANGR mobile microphones did not have that pushbutton - - it was added later, in approximately 1992, presumably the same time the keypad overlays were changed and upgraded firmware installed in the control heads.

The GE RANGR is a 110 Watt mobile radio, in which the channel programming and some other features such as the CTCSS tone selection can also be carried in the "intelligent" S810 control head rather than just in the radio drawer itself, if desired. The frequency and tone information is stored in a Xicor X2212 EEPROM chip (electrically erasable programmable read only memory) in the radio chassis itself, which is normally programmed by a GE "TQ-" series suitcase programmer. In the lower cost S550 and other "ordinary" GE control heads, the control head contains just channel display circuitry and the channel/volume/squelch controls. In the S810 series control heads, there is additional circuitry which mimics the action of the TQ- series programmer such that the control head "programs" the radio by downloading to the EEPROM in the radio. However, there is still the necessity of a programmer to originally program the S810 control head with all the appropriate information.

The advantage of all S800 series heads is that far more information can be programmed into the radio system than could be done with the "stock" Rangr system, and one control head can also contain all the alpha-numeric display information and channel assignments necessary to allow that radio to be used anywhere within the State of California.

This equipment, while still in use, is now over 17 years old and has been discontinued by its manufacturer, which became Ericsson/GE, and now Tyco-M/A Com. Product support for the Rangr is becoming a serious consideration. The actual manufacturer of the RANGR equipment was JRC, a Japanese firm, which built the equipment under contract for GE. The days of the GE Rangr equipment are now numbered, although since few mainstream manufacturers are interested in producing a conventional low band radio, there are few replacement options available. As mentioned above, CHP is now replacing the Rangr fleet with new Kenwood low band radios as well as VHF high band equipment in some areas.

The generic RANGR S825 mobile control head was made available in a number of versions depending upon frequency band and system of use. The S810 head, its firmware and software were special for CHP, as was that for the S815. Within the S810 category there were several versions. Shown below is a typical head in current service with the CHP (August, 2001), and below it an overlay with a slightly different layout, as was used in the oldest installations before standardization on the Federal Signal Vision/Signalmaster lighting system. The S810 and S815 CHP version control heads are intended to be programmed by the TQ2310 "suitcase programmer" which in turn contains special instruction set "eprom" chips unique to CHP programming. It is unknown at this time whether the more modern TQ3370 interface box and floppy-disk software is capable of programming any of the functions on a CHP version control head.

The present CHP firmware in the S810 control head allows the LCD to display information about the Signalmaster amber arrow lamp in addition to the pushbutton illumination. For example, when the Signalmaster is in use, the control head display will alternate between the current radio status and a --------> or <----------- symbol to show the pattern of the Signalmaster when it is turned on.

Thanks to Jim Opocensky for the above control head photo

GE 1987 Mobile Extenders:

As in previous years, a mobile extender package is added to the regular mobile radio equipment. The extender was a GE Mastr Executive II unit of identical appearance and RF circuitry to the previous generation of Mastr Executive II mobile extenders, but in this case the logic board was an improved and modernized version and the model number changed to RVR-16HS. In the motorcycles, which have had extender-repeaters in them since 1996, a GE M-PA hand-held radio was reconfigured as a mobile simplex repeater, and mounted in a small sheet metal box directly on top of the motorcycle RANGR radio, with its antenna hidden down beneath the windshield in front of the fuel tank. Either extender unit operates on 154.905 MHz, and normally listens for transmissions on that frequency from a nearby portable which is then re-transmitted through the GE Rangr mobile out on the car-to-station channel on 42 MHz. When the GE Rangr is receiving traffic on 42 MHz, that traffic is re-broadcast through the extender unit (if it is enabled) on 154.905. During the time the extender is transmitting, it is also interrupting its carrier at a preset rate to listen for traffic from the portable unit. This is to give the portable priority, and can be heard as a slight "chopping" of the signal from the car on 154.905 MHz. Further details on extender operation can be found on my main CHP Radio page hyper linked at the beginning of this page.

Pyramid Mobile Extenders:

The GE Executive II mobile repeaters have been mostly phased out, as they are no longer supported by the manufacturer, and have been replaced with a mobile repeater of essentially the same function, but in a much smaller package, made by Pyramid Communications of Huntington Beach, California. The Pyramid unit is built into a small case about the size of an external computer modem, and is microprocessor controlled. Pyramid manufactures the current line of mobile repeaters for GE (M/A Com) as the OEM . The Pyramid repeaters were initially tested in 2001 and adopted later in that year, and are probably being phased into use in motorcycles as well.

Photo courtesy of Pyramid Technical Support

Portable Radios:

The present portable radio is the Motorola HT-1000, which recently replaced the multi-channel GE MPS synthesized hand-helds in use from approximately 1988-1997. The GE MPS radios have been surplused through the State of California Dept. of General Services and many are in use by local agencies and volunteer fire departments. The standard channel scheme of the old MPS was as follows, and should be equivalent to what is in the HT-1000:

CH 1: 154.905 Simplex, PL for Car to Station (S)

CH 2: 154.905 Simplex, PL for Car to Car (C)

CH 3: 154.905 Simplex, No PL, Portable to Portable

CH 4: 154.920 Simplex, CLEMARS mutual aid

CH 5: 156.075 Simplex, CALCORD Mutual Aid

CH 6: 155.475 Simplex, NALEMARS National Mutual Aid

CH 7: 154.905 Simplex no PL (Portable to portable)

CH 8 through 12: As channel 7 above, although after 9/11/01 most areas are programming these channels for coordination with local law enforcement agencies which still use analog VHF highband systems.

Please note that these radios will gradually be replaced with 700 MHz portables beginning in 2008. Interestingly, this means that CLEMARS, CALCORD and NALEMARS usage will no longer be possible (so much for inter-operability!)

Motorcycle Equipment:

The CHP motorcycles also use the RANGR radio, but with a motorcycle version S815 control head as shown below. Originally, the Kawasaki motorcycles were fitted with a white fiberglass radio weather housing supplied by GE and marked "California Highway Patrol" on both sides. When the "Extender" repeaters were added to motorcycles, an extra spacer section was added to the white "GE" radio box lid to allow for the extra height of the extender equipment. Then, when the Kawasakis were replaced by BMW motorcycles, BMW supplied a streamlined radio weather housing with the cycle, and the GE boxes were surplused out (although the same contents are still in the BMW housings.)

Motorcycle Extenders:

As in the patrol cars, since 1996 there has been a mobile extender (repeater) which operates on 154.905 MHz and relays the transmissions occurring on the 42 MHz CHP system to a VHF highband hand-held radio carried by the officer. See discussion above. The hand-held radios were initially GE "MPS" synthesized radios, but recently these have been replaced by the Motorola HT-1000 portables as discussed above. The motorcycle extenders did not begin to be installed statewide until 1996, as there was some disagreement among state planners as to whether a motorcycle was a "suitable platform" for a mobile repeater.

The original 1996 motorcycle extender consisted of a GE M-PA portable hand-held radio, reconfigured as a "simplex repeater" and mounted on a sheet metal tray which sandwiches in on top of the motorcycle Rangr radio and for which an extension section was added to the GE motorcycle housing. It is believed that those extender units are being either partially or totally replaced with the new Pyramid Communications mobile extenders as shown elsewhere on these pages.

The motorcycle extender antenna location varies, but usually it is located near the windshield of the motorcycle, between it and the handlebars. The maximum range expected of the extender is no greater than 1000 yards, hence there is an attenuator built into the system to reduce transmitter power and receiver sensitivity. The GE motorcycle extender differs from the car extender in another aspect, in that it is configured to "defer" to a car extender should one arrive on the scene.

In-Vehicle Laptop Computers:

Beginning in the late 1990's, the CHP began to add laptop computers to the mobile installations. This resulted in the re-location of the main radio antenna to the roof instead of the rear cowl area, because of radio frequency interference concerns. A typical computer installation is shown below. Some vehicles also have an 800 MHz Mobile Data Computer radio package installed; these use a small Motorola or Ericsson 800 MHz RF package similar to a cellular transceiver, mounted in the leftmost area of the trunk, with the 800 MHz antenna glass-mounted on the right rear windshield area. There are some rural patrol areas in which the cars are not equipped with computers. The computers are not a true mobile data terminal, but rather a conventional PC with a modem connected to a cellular service data subscriber unit (in most areas.) The systems used by the computers are not completely standardized throughout the state. Hence most requests for driver and registration information are still being handled manually through dispatch.

Scanners:

At the present time the CHP is using Bearcat 760 mobile scanners, usually mounted on the end of the metal console underneath the laptop computer mount. It is reported that the scanners usually have broken or missing knobs ! (This was a perennial problem with the older Regency M-100 and MX-3000 scanners of the 1980's.) The Bearcat scanner replaces the discontinued Uniden MR-8100 scanner (placed in service in the early 1990's) which did not have that problem and appears to have been a better and more rugged scanner. There are still a few Uniden MR-8100's in service in CHP vehicles, although the majority have been surplused over the last five years.

Relay Box:

There is an antenna relay box as shown in the trunk compartment photos, for antenna sharing. This box allows the scanner to connect to the mobile radio low band antenna at the same time as the Rangr mobile radio. Inside the box, among other things, is a relay which is connected to the push-to-talk line of the 2-way radio and repeater equipment, such that whenever the transmitter of the mobile radio goes on the air, the scanner antenna line is disconnected from that line (and presumably grounded.) This keeps the scanner from being blown out when the car transmitter goes on the air. The same push-to-talk line which disconnects the scanner from the antenna also originally muted the scanner, but it is my understanding that the scanner is no longer being muted and that mute line is just left loose at the back of the S810 control head. Apparently some installations are using the 154 MHz extender antenna to feed the scanner, and the relay box in those cases is connected in that line rather than the low band mobile radio antenna line. However, as they left Motor Transport at CHP, the relay boxes were all in the low band rooftop antenna line.

Siren and Light Control Equipment:

The GE Rangr control head includes an integrated control system for siren and lights, and that system is usually mated to a Federal Signal Vision "intelligent" light bar system which uses stepper motors to rotate the lamp reflectors. Not all patrol cars have light bars on the roof, some just have the red spotlight alone or a red light mounted inside at the upper edge of the windshield, with a number of rectangular blue/yellow lights mounted on the rear package shelf and a Signalmaster "arrow stick" amber light display. There are also a number of patrol cars with non-standard lighting arrangements such as the latest LED light bars.

Federal Signal manufactures a special junction box controller which is located in the vehicle trunk along with the rest of the electronic equipment, and which receivers serial data from the Rangr control head. This item appears to be have been custom made for CHP in order to eliminate the need for the normal Federal Signal Smart Siren / Light Bar control head and interface, and at least one version is Model CHP BB100. I believe there are at least two other junction box controllers in use, for different lighting systems. In the current Ford Crown Victoria cars, the electronic packages are all mounted on a piece of plywood which sits atop the shelf in the trunk. The BB100 can be seen in the "inside trunk" photo below, bolted to the top of an open bracket which contains a fuse panel and relays. The siren is a Federal Signal PA 500. Note that the photo below should say "Vision", not "Vector."

RADAR Equipment:

The CHP appears to have purchased a large quantity of Stalker radar equipment and standardized on it. A typical installation in a patrol car can be seen below, and on the motorcycle shown before. The newest cars with the Visteon system will have this radar control unit mounted in the trunk and controlled by the Visteon "touch screen" display.

Special Extra Radios:

Following 9/11/2001, in addition to M-16/AR-15 rifles, some divisions are equipping their cars with additional radios to allow direct coordination with local agencies on their channels, which are typically VHF highband and UHF, something which was frowned upon in years past but which is considered vital today. In some cases, the CHP has installed the trunk-mounted Kenwood TK-730 VHF highband mobile radio package, usually on top of the antenna relay box for the scanner. The Kenwood control head is then mounted on the center console box between the Bearcat scanner and the laptop computer base. See typical trunk installation below:

ANTENNAS:

At the present time, the standard CHP antenna configuration for the communications radios is a roof mounted Antenna Specialists loaded whip for 42 MHz and a glass mounted Antenna Specialists VHF 154 MHz antenna for the extender repeater. A few installations are still using a roof mounted 1/4 wave VHF antenna for the extender rather than the glass mounted version. The ball and spring mount, so familiar in the 1960's through 1990's, has been discontinued although it is still found on some special vehicles such as trucks. There is usually also a glass mounted 800 MHz antenna for use with the mobile laptop computer for data applications, but this setup varies throughout the state and is not present in all vehicles.

AIRCRAFT:

The CHP uses aircraft in various roles. It is believed that the aircraft are all equipped with 42 MHz aircraft radios made by Global Wulfsberg of Prescott, Arizona. If you have any confirmation or photos of these, do let me know !

This page is maintained by Geoff Fors, Monterey California. You can reach me by e-mail at wb6nvh@ mbay.net or by mail at P.O. Box 342, Monterey CA 93942-0342 .

FOR A DETAILED HISTORY OF PREVIOUS CHP MOBILE RADIOS, see my other page at:

http://www.mbay.net/~wb6nvh/chpradio.htm

FOR THE CURRENT CHP RADIO FREQUENCIES AND ZONE MAPS, see this link:

http://www.freqofnature.com/frequencies/ca/chp.html

FOR A PROGRAMMING TUTORIAL ON THE REGULAR GE S820 and S825 CONTROL HEADS:

http://www.mbay.net/~wb6nvh/GES825.htm

I am always looking for interesting CHP photos to add to these pages. If you want to share any, let me know.

Updated 08/04/2007