© 2006, MARITIMES SCANNING SITE, all rights reserved
Last
updated August 20, 2006. My last input of
information from contributors was in 2005 and therefore there may now be
further updates required. Please
contact me at info@marscan.com with any corrections or comments. Thanks. Much of the
information here was contributed by Gilbert and I have liberally quoted him!
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 |
162.2 |
Egmont Bay Repeater
(simulcast with Fredericton and Borden) (adjacent to Rogers Cell tower) |
Western District:
East Prince detachment |
|
05 |
406.2125 |
162.2 |
Caledonia Repeater[on
Aliant tower] |
Eastern District
(Kings County): Montague Detachment |
|
06 |
? |
|
Common Simplex |
|
|
07 |
? |
|
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 |
|
? |
406.3125 |
|
O’Leary Repeater
(simulcast with Alma) [on Aliant tower] |
Western District: West
Prince (Alberton) detachment |
|
|
408.9625 |
|
W St Peters (output
to Bear R rptr) (input frm mobiles on 416.0875) |
|
|
|
411.0875 |
|
W St Peters (output
to mobiles) (receives from Bear River on 406.1875) |
|
There is also a repeater mentioned elsewhere for Mayfield; however I am not aware of its status. If you have information on this or of course any corrections or clarifications. Please e-mail me at: info@marscan.com.
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 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.
Firstly: The detachments/districts
number:
|
1 |
Western
District |
|
2 |
Loan/Temporary
Radios |
|
3 |
Charlottetown
Detachment |
|
4 |
Charlottetown
Highway Patrol |
|
5 |
Eastern
District |
|
6 |
Stratford Municipal
Detachment |
|
9 |
L Division |
(for historical purposes : before consolidations
Souris was 7, Summerside was 8, Borden was 2 and Alberton was 1)
Secondly: The Unit Type
|
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 |
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.