Local government/law enforcement 2 way radios ?

[bobthetj03]

What type of radio systems do most local county government and law enforcement use for their mobile radios? I work in local government for fleet management and see a lot of Kenwood units in the cars, plus our local road dept. has them as well in their work trucks. They use repeaters and was curious if they use a form of GMRS or a certain set of frequencies to work off. 

[OldRadioGuy]

I'm pretty sure these are 900MHz digital radios which I think means trunking or at least a TDMA scheme of some kind.

I'm not an expert but went to an ARES/RACES meeting for hams who volunteer for emergency comms.

They told me the radios cost like $1000 each. 

Some were made by Motorola.

 

They have a red panic button that calls all hands to your location.

So they probably have GPS built in.

It's basically for when you are being shot at.

They tell you to be really careful of that button.

 

Vince

[intermod]

In the western states, Motorola seems dominant, followed by Kenwood and Harris.  Seems the east is Motorola, Harris and Kenwood.   Kenwood tends to be very flexible and responsive to their customers as they are smaller.   

 

Governments and Districts qualify for special frequency bands.  They are all over the map.  In  California: 

 

Rural areas:  150-174 or 453/460 MHz, with many exceptions

Metro areas:  700, 800 MHz with many exceptions

 

GMRS system can use the same type of conventional repeaters and radio that government uses - its identical technology in many cases.  Gov can usually afford high-end models (its your money, not theirs....) where GMRS depends on how deep the owner's pocket is.   GMRS uses the 462 MHz frequency range.  

[bobthetj03]

Doing a bit more research, I found these are VHF radios. They are operating in the 150ish range, I think. We've installed a few of these units in our local road crew trucks, and I have just wired one up to use as a base unit for when we need communications with field personnel. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265087086006?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=265087086006&targetid=882300791467&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9032344&poi=&campaignid=1669934603&mkgroupid=65058347419&rlsatarget=pla-882300791467&abcId=1123856&merchantid=8457704&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7yCBhDJARIsAMWFScOqZJx25jwEpm9OGxyVCy-BW0O4c04vUJL8-KCC2tTA-nHPseKIrr4aAqHaEALw_wcB

 

There are a few maintained repeaters that are used in our county for these radios apparently. I was mostly just curious of the technology behind it, as it seems similar to GMRS, other than it's VHF vs UHF.

[MacJack]

Just remember that GMRS license are based on family not government... Currently $70 for one license for family/farmer not for others.

Jack

Doing a bit more research, I found these are VHF radios. They are operating in the 150ish range, I think. We've installed a few of these units in our local road crew trucks, and I have just wired one up to use as a base unit for when we need communications with field personnel. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265087086006?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=265087086006&targetid=882300791467&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9032344&poi=&campaignid=1669934603&mkgroupid=65058347419&rlsatarget=pla-882300791467&abcId=1123856&merchantid=8457704&gclid=Cj0KCQjwi7yCBhDJARIsAMWFScOqZJx25jwEpm9OGxyVCy-BW0O4c04vUJL8-KCC2tTA-nHPseKIrr4aAqHaEALw_wcB

 

There are a few maintained repeaters that are used in our county for these radios apparently. I was mostly just curious of the technology behind it, as it seems similar to GMRS, other than it's VHF vs UHF.