New Nevada Highway Patrol radio system up and running

The Nevada Highway Patrol's new 80-megahertz radio system is up and running in the Reno and Carson City area.

Highway Patrol Col. Dave Hosmer said most of the Department of Public Safety including agencies like parole and probation are already using the new radio system in the northern command. But he said Las Vegas ran into some computer problems when they tried to switch in Southern Nevada last week.

He said fortunately, NHP still had the 150 megahertz system to fall back on in the south.

"No one on the system was left without communication," he said.

However, that means troopers are still using unauthorized frequencies they were told to get off of by the Federal Communications Commission.

The 2003 Legislature approved $15 million for the 800 MHz system after they were told the highway patrol was facing hefty fines for using frequencies in the 150 MHz band it has no license to use. Hosmer said they are moving as quickly as possible to get off those frequencies and get the new radio system running. He said since summer, the new radios have been installed in about 350 vehicles.

But he said they decided to keep the 150 MHz radios in the cars as well because they can legally use them on certain frequencies in central Nevada. He said the combination of the two systems gives probably the best radio coverage the highway patrol has ever had.

"Probably the biggest complaint if you were to talk to the troops out there is there are just not enough channels right now so they're having to wait a little bit of time to get on the radio," he said. "That's a temporary problem. As we get it all up and fully engineered, that will diminish."

He said engineers hope to put the system online in Southern Nevada next week.

He said the central and eastern parts of the state from Lovelock to Beatty and east to Elko and Wendover will take a little longer. Before the system can be used in that area, the Department of Information Technology has to install radio sites on mountain tops - which he said will have to wait for better weather.

"But we have licenses for frequencies out there," he said.

"I guess for those of us in it every day, it seems like it's got to move faster but when you look at what other states do to get off one system and on another, we're moving at light speed compared to them," he said.

One reason, Hosmer said, is because the Nevada Department of Transportation was already on the 800 MHz system in Reno and the Las Vegas area so the mountain top transmitters serving those areas were already in place.

He said the highway patrol also got a big helping hand from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department which had its radio technicians work a full weekend helping state technicians install the radios in patrol cars.

Contact Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or 687-8750.