Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cop Cars with many MANY antennas on the roof. Why?

This is topic Cop Cars with many MANY antennas on the roof. Why? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-12-2014, 10:10 AM:

Just a curiosity -- Occasionally I see cop cars, usually unmarked, that had literally half a dozen small antennas over the roof and sometimes on the trunk. What are they for and why so many? Couldn't a single antenna serve however many receivers might be in the car?

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 05-12-2014, 10:33 AM:

I've been told that here in San Francisco the cars with the multiple antennas
are used to track the small transmitters that bank tellers & some some busineses
hide inside of the money-bags during a robbery. If you look inside such a car
you'll see they are equipped have a lot of "extra" radiocrap in there.
I've also heard they can be used to track some types of stolen vehicles.
So, basically the cars with extra antennas are "tracking vehicles", if
the anecodotal info I have is correct.

Posted by Jarod Reddig (Member # 6363) on 05-12-2014, 02:16 PM:

Interesting. Ive seen the same cop cars with the extra antennas as well and have always wondered.

Posted by John Eickhof (Member # 323) on 05-13-2014, 11:32 PM:

yes some of that s true, also some have multiple radios sets for allied agency frequencies as well as transponders for the on board computer and direct connects with dmv computers and probation depts,etc., and once in a while, an authentic old radio scanner! Real radio is not dead yet

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-14-2014, 03:08 AM:

- New, but yet not fully operational digital system #1
- Digital system that never was #2
- Legacy analog system #1
- Legacy analog system #2
...
- GPS antenna
- Cell phone antenna #1
- Cell phone antenna #2

Might explain why the roof of a fully featured cop car looks like a miniature version of the roof a Manhattan highrise. [Wink]