  Soomka1 Member Username: Soomka1 Post Number: 61 Registered: 02-2007 |
I'm sure that one of you out there can tell me when this picture was published. It is a picture of my Grandpa from one of the Detroit papers at the time they first put two-way radios in police cars.  He is the one in the middle. | ||
Karl_jr Member Username: Karl_jr Post Number: 151 Registered: 06-2007 |
This might be helpful to you: http://forums.detnews.com/hist ory/story/index.cfm?id=35&cate gory=government | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1242 Registered: 12-2005 |
From the history of the Center Line Police Deptartment: quote: | ||
Krawlspace Member Username: Krawlspace Post Number: 332 Registered: 04-2004 |
I wonder how the fundamental mechanics of the radio were properly illustrated by what appears to be a soldering iron. ;-) | ||
Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 184 Registered: 02-2005 |
anyone into police scanners? I got a new digital one. It is pretty interesting | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 913 Registered: 01-2007 |
Pgn421, I have my scanner running when I'm working in the garage. It's a quick way to see if the sirens your hearing are a good photo op or not. The Detroit freqs are always humming. Ferndales are boring. Mines a Radio Shack with some simple notch mods for cell phones. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 255 Registered: 06-2007 |
Scanners-my #1 hobby. NOW we're on a topic I know a lot about. I have a digital. I live less than 2 miles outside of Detroit and only pick up bits and pieces of the Detroit system. I've never found a good place where I can hear their system ok. Otherwise, the reception is a big improvement. Warren's system is much clearer than when it was analog and comes in stronger. I've even gotten station "skips" from Monroe and Livingston counties. | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 1041 Registered: 02-2007 |
No more KQA 414 though *sniff* | ||
Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 188 Registered: 02-2005 |
hpgrmin-I have a bearcat 396 t i believe. Man is it complicated to program. I have 5 scanners, and it seems the digital APC ones are tough to program I took mine to Abel, they did a good job. However, the broadcasts break up sometime. Do you have the same problem? | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 108 Registered: 08-2007 |
Larryinflorida; that seems to ring a bell, isn't that the call letters used for the East side precincts, 5, 7 and 15 back in the days of old? | ||
Kenp Member Username: Kenp Post Number: 868 Registered: 03-2006 |
Adam 12, Adam 12 see the woman at 2113 Seminole coming from across the street at 2115 Seminole with her clothes torn and nervous shaken  | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 3703 Registered: 12-2005 |
I have at least two handhelds and a very nice mobile/base. Mobiles are no longer illegal in Michigan (except for use while committing a crime, etc.). | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 258 Registered: 06-2007 |
Pgn- I take it youre listening to Detroit. The digital frequencies are a bit more sensitive. The reception tends to be more fragile I've noticed. I live south of 10 mile and I can usually only pick up 2 or 3 words at a time on Detroit's system. I've listened inside the Detroit city limits and the audio was still pretty rough. It has to do with the city's equipment, not the receiver itself. A Detroit Firefighter told me he can pick it up at his house, which is farther from the city than mine,and he suggested an 800 mhz antenna purchased seperately. | ||
Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 189 Registered: 02-2005 |
Hpgrmin- I do not have Detroit. I have everybody else. Macomb, Roseville, Shores,etc Wayne County Sheriff,Grosse Pointe,Harper Woods. If i had Detroit, that scanner would be humming.Are you a member of any scanner club? Have you checked out radioreference on the web? That is an interesting site. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 261 Registered: 06-2007 |
Yeah, those all come in pretty choppy. The 800-band is really fragile. You probably have Detroit and just can't receive the signal most of the time. I've heard different Macomb county agencies on some of the same frequencies Detroit uses.They are all part of the statewide digital system. I cannot pick up the Grosse Pointes at all. I was talking to a dispatcher and he alleges that the digital radios DO NOT work inside brick buildings. Detroit firefighters have to go to a window and YELL to someone outside to relay information since the radios don't work. Warren was one of the first cities in Michigan to use a trunked system. They had their own frequencies. They still use those frequencies, but switched it over from analog to digital in the last year or so. Theyre signals appear stronger. Its those MPSCC systems that are weak.On the plus side, I've gotten a few interesting station "skips" on that system. Once in a while, at night, you might get a stray signal from Genesee county. Radio reference is probably the best source.I have used that site for information when I went up north for a few days this summer. It is very accurate. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2203 Registered: 01-2005 |
"Radios? We doan' need no steenkin' radios."  | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 55 Registered: 08-2007 |
is that an early tucker automobile?. haven,t listened to the scanner since every thing went digital, guess i need to upgrade. my dad used to tape the garden city police calls. good thing it was long before i learned to drive. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2206 Registered: 01-2005 |
LOL, dog. Only if the middle light turns. | ||
Margaret Member Username: Margaret Post Number: 247 Registered: 06-2007 |
I remember listening to our neighbor's scanner of some kind during the 1967 riot! man, that was interesting! | ||
Sportsfan Member Username: Sportsfan Post Number: 13 Registered: 01-2007 |
Anyone know the numbers I would need for southwest detroit? Delray area.Much thanks in advance | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 3734 Registered: 12-2005 |
Psip recommended http://www.radioreference.com/ as a good reference for frequencies. | ||
Hpgrmln Member Username: Hpgrmln Post Number: 262 Registered: 06-2007 |
The new frequencies are citywide. The way a trunked system works is there are a number of frequencies in the system, and whenever the radio is keyed it goes to the first available frequency.So unfortunately, S/W no longer has its own frequency, it shares many of them with all of the other departments in the city-fire, EMS,transit etc. | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 1042 Registered: 02-2007 |
Stinger4me Sez: "Larryinflorida; that seems to ring a bell, isn't that the call letters (ed:KQA 414) used for the East side precincts, 5, 7 and 15 back in the days of old?" Yeah, I think KQA 371(?) was the other precincts/towers. They had those call letters since the early 60's So when they switched to trunking, it was the end of a 40+ year run for them. (Message edited by LarryinFlorida on November 08, 2007) | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 308 Registered: 01-2007 |
Does anyone remember a ham by the call sign W8QDU? This would be from the 1920's to late '80s. | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11715 Registered: 10-2003 |
On April 17, 1928, Detroit had the world's first workable police radio system. The original antenna tower was on Belle Isle, and I was told that the antenna tower present there today is the same one. | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 1043 Registered: 02-2007 |
Detroit was also a pioneer in walkie talkies on patrolmen. The "PREP", or "Personal Radio Equipped Patrolman" was the acronym for them. They had UHF Motorola HT-200's in the 60's that looked like bricks by today's standards, (a whopping 3/4 watt) but they did work pretty good with those tall towers. Except when a mic button got stuck and the dispatcher had to say: "All Units, check your PREPS" lol. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2215 Registered: 01-2005 |
There was a bank holdup around 1969 or so where a Detroit officer was locked into a bank vault along with the employees. He tried to call for help on his "PREP", only to get this response from dispatch: "1-3, you're breaking up badly. Change your location and try again." | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 116 Registered: 08-2007 |
Larryinflorida; Good analogy about the brick. There was a time when radio runs were not simulcast. I don't think that lasted too long. |
