Cheesy scanner trick for OPP

[Aoshi]

I have been using a very simple trick with my scanner, that combined with my STi-R and LI, have saved my ass from numerous tickets while travelling on Ontario Highways.

All OPP cruisers are equipt with a "vehicle repeater" which receives the signal from their handheld, and amplifies it out to the tower - and vice versa...

I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. The "VR" can only be heard about 2 - 3 miles away, so I set my scanner to the known OPP VR Frequency (as listed on radioreference) and voila! Even the most clever officer running K band I/O can't hide from his own repeater screaming out his location.

Yes, there's at least half a dozen reasons you can't always rely on this. First, someone needs to be talking directly to the officer or on a common channel the officer receives so the VR is transmitting. Another thing is this doesn't work well in urban centers as you'll have no idea if the officer is anywhere on YOUR street... but this does work well whenever you're on a road trip in Ontario and is an excellent use of your scanner!

I'm sure other police departments have this lovely feature too... might be worth looking in to!

[The Breeze]

I have been doing this as well. I use a BCT8 Beartracker, and the red light and alert tone lets me know if there is a HP within a 3 mile radius. It's not 100%, but this works more times than not in a rural/highway scenario.

[fire65]

Same here, I just got my Bct8 mounted and so far I am impressed.

[GTO_04]

I have been using a very simple trick with my scanner, that combined with my STi-R and LI, have saved my ass from numerous tickets while travelling on Ontario Highways.

All OPP cruisers are equipt with a "vehicle repeater" which receives the signal from their handheld, and amplifies it out to the tower - and vice versa...

I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. The "VR" can only be heard about 2 - 3 miles away, so I set my scanner to the known OPP VR Frequency (as listed on radioreference) and voila! Even the most clever officer running K band I/O can't hide from his own repeater screaming out his location.

Yes, there's at least half a dozen reasons you can't always rely on this. First, someone needs to be talking directly to the officer or on a common channel the officer receives so the VR is transmitting. Another thing is this doesn't work well in urban centers as you'll have no idea if the officer is anywhere on YOUR street... but this does work well whenever you're on a road trip in Ontario and is an excellent use of your scanner!

I'm sure other police departments have this lovely feature too... might be worth looking in to!

Indiana and Ohio used to have those and they called them mobile radio extenders (MRE). Indiana did away with them when they went to 800 MHz trunked radio systems. There was some talk of Ohio still using some type of MRE but cannot confirm that. They were very useful when Indiana had them though.

GTO_04

[Stealth Stalker]

The main drawback to this method is that, if the officer is using a vehicular repeater, then he is not in his vehicle, so he probably is not running radar or laser, so he isn't a threat to you anyhow. It's nice as a cop locator, but not so much as a speed trap locator, which would be the whole point.

[Lucky225]

WOW the bct-8 still has a use?!?! I thought that was CHiPs only deal and once they switched frequencies it was useless.. Glad to see this method still has some use

[stingrayls2]

Does this have to do with the 154.905 frequency? If so what do you do if it isn't the CHp?
This only works for the CHP agency. What do you do if you are dealing with a city police department or Sheriff's Dept.?
Does this situation defeat the Bear tracker scanners?
I like them they are a nice size but I don't know if they are the best thing for detection or presence of law enforcement in the area.

[stingrayls2]

I have been doing this as well. I use a BCT8 Beartracker, and the red light and alert tone lets me know if there is a HP within a 3 mile radius. It's not 100%, but this works more times than not in a rural/highway scenario.

You can get the same warning just by tuning in 154.905 frequency into your scanner. You know when this frequency has traffic there is a unit within 3 miles.

[Stealth Stalker]

You can get the same warning just by tuning in 154.905 frequency into your scanner. You know when this frequency has traffic there is a unit within 3 miles.

But then again, the information is just useless noise in your cabin. What's the point?

[The Breeze]

You can get the same warning just by tuning in 154.905 frequency into your scanner. You know when this frequency has traffic there is a unit within 3 miles.

No, I don’t think that will work. A BCT8 has all 50 states preprogrammed for highway patrol. So, what I do is just select the state I am in, on the scanner and let it scan. If it picks up a signal it will alert with a red light and a tone. I generally keep the volume down until it alerts, and then turn it up to listen and see if it is a concern. If the HP is on my route, then measures will be taken to maintain the PSL, if he says he is in some other place then I don’t worry as much. This has worked well a number of years for me. I just have to remember to change the state I am in when crossing state lines, and then like magic; I am hearing that states highway patrol. If one transmits within a 3 mile radius, the BCT8 will alert. In this mode though, it will not scan local cities, or county LEO’s, just highway patrol cars. If you want to monitor local police traffic, one has to program those frequencies in themselves. Out west, police agencies are still analog, in my travel radius anyway.