Bill's Nova Scotia Radio Site

 

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE and MUNICIPAL POLICE FORCES

 

NOTE THAT THIS IS AN HISTORICAL PAGE.  THIS SYSTEM NO LONGER EXISTS, HAVING BEEN REPLACED BY PICS2, THE PEI COMPONENT OF THE REGIONAL P25 DIGITAL TRUNK SYSTEM ON 700 MHZ.    WHEN THIS PAGE WAS LAST REVISED IN 2010, THERE REMAINED SOME SPECULATION REGARDING THE NATURE OF THIS CONVENTIONAL UHF REPEATER SYSTEM, AND THOSE LINGERING QUESTIONS WILL NOW NEVER BE ANSWERED.

 

1. RCMP:

 

Prince Edward Island is one of eight provinces of Canada in which the RCMP operates as both the provincial and federal police force.  In addition it is also the municipal police force in much of the province.   The RCMP organization in PEI is designated as L Division, with its own commanding officer and headquartered in Charlottetown.  This is the smallest division in Canada, in terms of geography, and also I would guess, in number of personnel.  L Division is part of the Atlantic area of the RCMP, which has a regional headquarters in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  As in other provinces the field structure of the RCMP below divisional headquarters was in the past to have subdivisions (not necessary in PEI due to its small size) and beneath those individual detachments.  Today this is evolving towards a consolidated structure in which detachments are joined in districts or in large detachments.  The individual former detachment locations may still remain as local offices of the district.  In some cases they may still be referred to informally as detachments but do not have the autonomy of the past.   L Division was, in the recent past, made up eight detachments, which are now combined into three districts (Western, Central and Eastern)

 

Readers may find it useful to also read the information on the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia RCMP elsewhere on the site as some comparisons are made.  Some of the following is directly quoted from Gilbert, so that “I” refers to him and not to myself.

 

Prior to 1983 communications were VHF in the 155.xx range using many frequencies similar to those still used in other parts of Canada, notably New Brunswick and Newfoundland.  There were 4 repeater sites and 3 simplex channels. It is possible that some of these frequencies are still in limited use for specialized service by PEI RCMP.

 

In the fall of 1983 a UHF system came into use.  Coverage was relatively disappointing and over the years extra repeaters have been installed and more recently computer dispatch consoles. There are 12 repeater channels (including some frequencies reused using PL tones), 3 simplex channels and also some DES channels. Most of the sites are linked by a UHF link system (414/ 419).  It might be considered unusual that a system has working frequencies and link frequencies so similar, in this case both components being in the low 400’s UHF.  Two link frequencies known to be in use in the Western District are 419.3625 and 419.6125 (info from Brian).

 

The hub of the system is the Stratford repeater (across the river from Charlottetown) and a microwave link from there to telecoms at L Division HQ located in Charlottetown.  The call sign for telecoms is XJD916. There formerly were 8 detachments but now instead there are three districts. The radios have displays and generally, a name rather than number identifies the channel.

 

In addition to these frequencies it is possible or likely that the RCMP in Prince Edward Island may also utilize the national bank of 420 MHz frequencies allocated to the RCMP and CSIS, for special uses.  All of this usage is likely to be encrypted and therefore unavailable to the casual listener.  Here is a link to the Eastern Ontario Frequency Directory website’s list of the 420 MHz frequencies.

 

 

Channel

Frequency

PL tone

Location or designation

Major use

01

406.1125

162.2

Stratford (Charlottetown) Repeater (simulcast with Cavendish)

Central District (Queens County): Charlottetown, Cavendish and Stratford Municipal detachments

02

406.1375

162.2

Hazel Grove (Fredericton) Repeater (simulcast with Egmont Bay and Borden) [on Aliant tower]

Western District: East Prince detachment

03

406.2125

123.0

Alma Repeater (midway between Alberton and O’Leary)(simulcast with O’Leary)

Western District: West Prince (Alberton) detachment

04

406.1875? might be changed

162.2

Egmont Bay Repeater (simulcast with Fredericton and Borden) (adjacent to Rogers Cell tower)

Western District: East Prince detachment

05

406.2125 (poss now on 406.5625)

162.2

Caledonia Repeater[on Aliant tower]

Eastern District (Kings County): Montague Detachment

06

406.2375

 162.2?

Common Simplex

 

07

407.1625

 162.2?

GIS Simplex

 

08

408.1125

 ??

Municipal Simplex

 

09

406.2875

123.0

Borden (simulcast with Fredericton and Egmont Bay) [on Aliant tower]

Western District: East Prince detachment

10

406.1875

123.0

Bear River Repeater (Souris) [on Aliant tower] (linked to W St Peters)

Eastern District (Kings County): Souris Detachment

11

406.1625

123.0

Cavendish Repeater (simulcast with Stratford))

Central District (Queens County): Charlottetown, Cavendish and Stratford Municipal detachments

12

406.3125

 no tone (CSQ)

O’Leary Repeater (simulcast with Alma) [on Aliant tower]

Western District: West Prince (Alberton) detachment

 link?

408.9625

 

W St Peters (output to Bear R rptr) (input frm mobiles on 416.0875)

 

 link?

411.0875

 

W St Peters (output to mobiles) (receives from Bear River on 406.1875)

 

There is also a site at  Mayfield near Cavendish that houses a link repeater with unknown frequencies.

 

It is not known if the channel numbers shown above are actually used to refer to the channels or on the radios themselves.

 

 

Simulcasts indicated are usual but repeaters can stand alone if desired.

 

The Borden site can be linked to Port Elgin, NB for policing around the Confederation Bridge by a patch from 916.  This is thought to be via a 155.415 repeater located on the island but part of the NB RCMP system.  This repeater was until recently on 155.88.

                                                                       

Some of the towers are owned by the RCMP itself but other sites are owned by Aliant Telecom (the telephone company of the Maritime Provinces), originally the 152.xx mobile phone towers and as cell phone came along new towers went up, taller than before, and the RCMP antennas went up higher which has helped with coverage issues.

 

The radios now are mainly Kenwood mobiles and GE portables. Both have displays listing the channel by name rather than number. The dispatch button (A/I) sends a data burst that id’s the unit calling on the dispatch screen and causes the repeater to remain open with a queue beep every few seconds until the unit is responded to (similar to New Brunswick).  There is also an emergency button that does the same as dispatch with the addition of lights and audible alarm at the telecoms centre.

 

There are also at least two repeater channels from the bank of Canada-wide RCMP channels in the 420.xxxx MHz band. DES encryption is used on these channels as elsewhere but in-the-clear traffic has also been heard. They seem to move about on these but they have been heard in the clear and also in DES encryption. There are also simplex channels in the 420 MHz band that are DES, perhaps used for drug and ERT operations.  422.1375 has been an active channel but with digital noise.

 

As everywhere some communications are now via cell phones with which all units are now equipped.

 

 


 

Prince Edward Island RCMP Unit ID’s

 

Prince Edward Island RCMP use the same type of unit designations as in other provinces, i.e. number letter number, for example 4A12 = detachment, district or organization/type of unit/ sequential number.  With the recent consolidations of detachments there are some initial numbers missing.

 

Detachment or Unit prefix

1

Western District (formerly used by Alberton, now part of Western District

2

Loan/Temporary Radios (formerly used by Borden, now part of Western District)

3

Charlottetown Detachment

4

Charlottetown Highway Patrol

5

Eastern District (former use unknown)

6

Stratford Municipal Detachment

7 unused (formerly used by Souris, now part of Eastern District)
8 unused (formerly used by Summerside, now part of Western District

9

L Division

 

Type Designator

A

Provincial (rural) territory general duties

B

Municipal detachment general duties

C

Highway Patrol

D

Detectives/GIS, etc

E

Support e.g. dog, ident, etc.

F

Administration

G

Marine

H

Air

O

Office

P

Portables

S

Porta packs

These are followed
by one or two digits
for the individual vehicle.


Some examples of specifc unit ID’s

 

9E1 & 2 Ident

9E3 Dog Section

9E5 Radio Shop

9G1 Boat

9D1 Tows the boat (doesn’t seem to go with the detective designation for D)

9E7 ERT van

The Explosives unit (51E30 H div EDU) from Halifax has been heard on the PEI system here but without the A/I tones

 

916 also is a 911 answering point and has communications ability into the New Brunswick RCMP VHF system and the PICS system, the province-wide 800 MHz trunk system.  See the separate page on this site.  It is possible that 916 may also be able to link to the Nova Scotia provincial 800 MHz trunk, used by H Division of the RCMP.  Certainly this is a technical possibility as at least one site of the NS TMR is easily accessible from Charlottetown.

 

Some detachments also use PICS as a backup system. The system has mutual aid talkgroups and this way any first responder agency can have contact with 916.

 

 

 

2. MUNICIPAL POLICE FORCES

 

There are four independent municipal police forces in the province of Prince Edward Island: Borden-Carleton, Kensington, Summerside and Charlottetown. Borden and Kensington operate on the PICS system while Summerside and Charlottetown both have their own conventional 800MHz repeater system within the PICS channel plan.  See the PICS page for frequencies and talkgroups.