Lincoln County Sheriff Department using Bald Mountain?

I found a document indicating the Lincoln County Sheriff Department may be using the Area 51 Bald Mountain communications site.
www.lazygranch.com...

Nice find !!!!

Wasn't Bald, along with
Freedom Ridge the best
views, before they got
snatched from public use ?

Thanks, gariac !!

Regards,
Lex

That is interesting. I am not to knowledgeable in the field of communications so I certainly can not verify this but if the police department had a communications tower on the land before it was taken by the government then would it not be possible that they still have one there? I wouldn't think they would have to set foot on the land to get a signal? I really don't know much about that type of thing so forgive my ignorance.

The two view spots before the land grab were Whitesides and Freedom Ridge. Bald Mountain is inside the border.

Taking these in reverse order, I don't think that you can see much of the base from Bald Mountain. I did a "line of site" computer analysis of spots on the base, and Bald didn't show up.

Regarding the sheriff department being there first, I would think the answer is no. Bald Mountain is only reachable by chopper. The other thing that would need to be researched is when did the police begin to use repeaters. In the dark ages of police radio, they started out just above the AM radio band. I have a friend with one of those old Zenith radios (floor standing in a wooden cabinet) that shows the old police band. Anyway, at those frequencies (the bottom of the HF band), you wouldn't need a repeater and in fact, a repeater might get you in trouble. The problem is the HF signals travel so far that cities would interfere with each other. This shows up today at "lowband" frequencies used by many highway patrols, though it is controllable by coded squelch tone.

There are two stories regarding being "grandfathered" into Nellis range access. One is that the owners of the Groom Mine can visit the area. The other is that there is a mine near Bald Mountain that shows up as private land on the USGS topo map.

Note that the Lincoln County Sheriff department is in cahoots with the base, since the camo dudes are deputized by the sheriff department. I'm sure they can get access to Bald Mountain to do maintenance.

Access to the Nellis range by civilian organizations seems possible if it serves the interests of the feds/DoD. Verizon has microwave relays on the range and IIRC, a repeater site near Mercury. Coach USA has a repeater on Skull Mountain for their buses. I need to track it down again, but I recall Coach USA had a contract to run buses to the TPECR. Here is the license information:
WPQA811
36-45-58.8 N, 116-11-24.1 W
CUSA K-TCS, LLC dba Coach USA
3 Lincoln Centre, 5430 LBJ FWY, Suite 1075
Dallas, TX 75240
Frequency 160.0650

The facility shows up at
www.acme.com...,-116.19342&z=17&t=S&marker0=37.51882%2C-115.76432%2CN37.51883%20W115.76431&marker1=37.87558%2C-116.82141%2CN37 .87559%20W116.82141&marker2=38.19197%2C-116.41756%2CN38.19197%20W116.41756&marker3=38.07269%2C-117.22199%2CN38.07269%20W117.22198&marker4=38.05189%2C- 117.22556%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker5=37.54734%2C-115.77982%2C37%25C2%25B032%2750.43%22N%5C%2C%20115%25C2%25B046%2747.33%22W&marker6=38.072 47%2C-117.22174%2C0.9%20km%20NE%20of%20Tonopah%20NV&marker7=38.09907%2C-117.18679%2CN38.099074%20W117.186791&marker8=37.54315%2C-115.77249%2C17.2%20km %20SW%20of%20Tempiute%20NV&marker9=36.76123%2C-116.19342%2C21.1%20km%20WxNW%20of%20Mercury%20NV
Hope that link makes it. Verizon has gear there as well.

Lastly, the FAA has gear on Bald Mountain, though this is probably what they call a Joint Surveillance Site, where feds and military share facilities.

Look at this photo
www.lazygranch.com...
from
www.lazygranch.com/bm.htm
I shot this in the dead of winter, and the hazy sky really shows the antennas. There does appear to be a vertical antenna at the left of the facility, but it looks like a lowband antenna more than VHF. A VHF vertical might not be that easy to detect. [If you didn't bother to read the referring page, the circled areas are where I suspect fixed positions cameras are located. In the winter, the heater in the camera enclosures melt the snow, making them easier to detect.]]If you are foolish enough to repeat my winter Bald Mountain photography, it is important to be there early in the AM. The ground gets slippery when the sun heats it up. It is easier to drive it when it is still frozen.

I don't know if you followed that curving road that went north of that facility, but it finishes, but looks like it was erased and then i spotted this facility right beside one of the ridges.

www.acme.com...,-116.17562&z=18&t=S&marker0=38.07269%2C-117.22199%2CN38.07269%20W117.22198&marker1=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.051 89%20W%20117.22556&marker2=37.54315%2C-115.77249%2C17.2%20km%20%20SW%20of%20Tempiute%20NV&marker3=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker 4=38.19197%2C-116.41756%2CN38.19197%20W116.41756&marker5=37.54734%2C-115.77982%2C37%25C2%25B032'50.43%22N%5C%2C%20115%25C2%25B046'47.33%22W&marker6= 37.87558%2C-116.82141%2CN37%20.87559%20W116.82141&marker7=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker8=37.51882%2C-115.76432%2CN37.51883%20W1 15.76431&marker9=36.76123%2C-116.19342%2C21.1%20km%20WxNW%20of%20Mercury%20NV&marker10=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker11=38.09907 %2C-117.18679%2CN38.099074%20W117.186791&marker12=38.07200%2C-117.22174%2C0.9%20km%20NE%20of%20Tonopah%20NV&marker13=36.77633%2C-116.17582%2C20.7%20km %20NW%20of%20Mercury%20NV

Have you noticed this also, or have I found something. To me It looks like a base, in the middle of nowhere also, right beside the dark side of mountain. With a building that looks pretty tall, beside a long rectangular building.:

[edit on 24-12-2007 by puhatek]

Looks like the forum choked on those long links from the acme mapper. I have a webpage in the works for repeater sites in the general area

www.lazygranch.com...

You can check out Bald Mountain and Skull Mountain there. The page is still in the works, so it looks pretty ugly.

Originally posted by puhatek
I don't know if you followed that curving road that went north of that facility, but it finishes, but looks like it was erased and then i spotted this facility right beside one of the ridges.

www.acme.com...,-116.17562&z=18&t=S&marker0=38.07269%2C-117.22199%2CN38.07269%20W117.22198&marker1=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.051 89%20W%20117.22556&marker2=37.54315%2C-115.77249%2C17.2%20km%20%20SW%20of%20Tempiute%20NV&marker3=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker 4=38.19197%2C-116.41756%2CN38.19197%20W116.41756&marker5=37.54734%2C-115.77982%2C37%25C2%25B032'50.43%22N%5C%2C%20115%25C2%25B046'47.33%22W&marker6= 37.87558%2C-116.82141%2CN37%20.87559%20W116.82141&marker7=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker8=37.51882%2C-115.76432%2CN37.51883%20W1 15.76431&marker9=36.76123%2C-116.19342%2C21.1%20km%20WxNW%20of%20Mercury%20NV&marker10=38.05189%2CNaN%2CN%2038.05189%20W%20117.22556&marker11=38.09907 %2C-117.18679%2CN38.099074%20W117.186791&marker12=38.07200%2C-117.22174%2C0.9%20km%20NE%20of%20Tonopah%20NV&marker13=36.77633%2C-116.17582%2C20.7%20km %20NW%20of%20Mercury%20NV

Have you noticed this also, or have I found something. To me It looks like a base, in the middle of nowhere also, right beside the dark side of mountain. With a building that looks pretty tall, beside a long rectangular building.

:

[edit on 24-12-2007 by puhatek]

Didn't anyone check out the location ???

All you have to do is copy that entire segment of the address, and you'll see the area i found thats east of the other building structures.

And for what reason Groom Lake have to use Lincoln County Sheriff Department in maintenance of Bald Mountain? It would be easier for the Groom Lake military or USAF carried out the work and maintenance of Bald Mountain instead the Lincoln County Sherif department?

I don't understand how Groom can let a local police agency carry out the maintenance of a small facility that is owned by USAF, we know that camo dudes are represented by the Lincoln County sheriff department and they have some business relationship with them, Groom Lake (Det 3) and Lincoln Sheriif Department using jointly Bald Mountain?,I find hard to understand.

Groom Lake doesn't need to use the Sheriff Departments repeater, but the sheriff does. I hear they arrest people that cross the border!

For all we know, the sheriff dept. can have a contract with Nellis to maintain their repeater. The comm person from the sheriff dept might never go on Bald Mountain. If they did, the view of the base doesn't appear to be all that good.

There was talk (as in it showed up on the FCC database) of the state of Nevada putting a repeater on Ragged Ridge. I don't think that ever happened .But the military, feds, and commercial users share Mt. Irish. Basically it isn't all that odd for peak to be shared by the DoD, feds,and civilians. Warm Springs is a good example of multiple users. Even Ham gear is on that hill.

I don't understand of all but hey, that is:

- Lincoln County Sheriff has a repeater on Bald Mountain.
- Bald Facilities are owned by Air Force and Groom Lake.
- Lincoln Country Sheriff can access Bald Mountain for maintenance, since supposedly they have a contract with Nellis.

Why Lincoln County Sheriff Department need to have a repeater on Bald?

Why Lincoln County Sheriff Department need to have a repeater on Bald?

reply to post by rayktheon


Nevada is very mountainous. Bald Mountain is a great location. For one repeater on Bald Mountain, you might need half a dozen repeaters on other peaks. So it is cheaper and more efficient to put a repeater on Bald Mountain. As I stated now a few time here, the Lincoln County Sheriff Department and Groom Lake Security have a relationship. Security stops the border violators, and the Sheriff arrests them.

No cop wants to be out of radio range. Yeah, you can shout real loud for backup, but is is more effective to get on the radio and ask for backup. Further, you can out smart "criminals" (as if the border crossers are really criminals) by radioing their location and direction of travel.

The Sheriff Department has a small substation in Rachel. Uh, not that the town's residents want the sheriff around. In Rachel, you take care of problems yourself.

The only disadvantage to Bald Mountain is the need for helicopter access. However Nellis has a contract with Sundance out of Vegas to fly people around the range to maintain mountain top sites. The red choppers are seen frequently in the area. Stonewall Mountain for example. The BLM uses Sundance too for horse counts, guzzler repair, etc. The Nellis range is secure from the general public, but it is not so secure that no civilian can get on the range. I helped out a guy stranded by the ET highway that was doing an official bird count. He said he had done a count on the TTR and had stayed at the TTR mancamp. Of course the fact he was an electrician that wired up the F-117a barns back in the day might have helped with his range access.

That is, the Lincoln county sheriff department has placed a repeater on Bald Mountain to have better communication with the Nellis base security?

reply to post by rayktheon


Not for Nellis base security, but Groom Lake security. Remember the dudes are Lincoln County deputies. Well more accurately they are deputized with the Lincoln County Sheriff department. The actual deputies, i.e uniformed officers, probably don't have radios on the Groom Lake trunk system, so they need a repeater on Bald Mountain for interoperability. I assume the camo dudes have radios for both systems.

The only alternative to being on Bald Mountain is Mount Irish. The Nevada Highway Patrol is on Mt. Irish, so it goes to show you how little influence the state of Nevada has on Groom Lake. At one time the NHP was going to be on Ragged Ridge, which is on NTTR property, and that never materialized. Everyone rather be on Bald Mountain because it has the most range. The signals should easily reach Arizona and Utah.

If you never used a repeater, they have a scheme to control when it is keyed up (operated). An entity (organization) has an assigned repeater input frequency. That is a coordinated value chosen to minimize interference. But in addition, the repeater can required a pilot tone be mixed in with the audio (called PL for Private Line) or a series of tones (called DCS for digital coded squelch). So the repeater on Bald Mountain probably has a unique PL or DCS that differs from the rest of the Lincoln County Sheriff Department radio system. You are not going to tanning on a house boat on Lake Meade and scanning the camo dudes. But if there was a significant event, they might use the Bald Mountain repeater.

Note that you can see Bald Mountain from many places along route 95, clear on the other side of the range. It would be full of antennas if it wasn't for the fact that you could see Groom Lake from the peak.

I don't suggest this, but there are people who "kerchunk" repeaters to figure out the PL. For instance, you could hang around Alamo and eventually find the Lincoln County Sheriff Department repeater input frequency. It is very likely that the Bald Mountain repeater uses the same input frequency but a different PL. However, there are only a handful of PL frequencies. You try all PL codes until you hear the repeater output go "kerchunk." Kerchunkers are hated the world over!
Kerchunk

In the case of police, if dispatch hears a kerchunk, they are required to inquire "If a unit has traffic." It is possible an officer needs assistance but can't hit the repeater cleanly. So kerchunking the cops is illegal, perhaps life threatening, and absolutely bad manners.

reply to post by gariac


But who is the owner of repeater, the Sheriff or Groom? By whom, was placed the repeater on Bald Mountain? Bald its a restricted zone, by where would have access the sheriff for routine maintenance of the repeater? Anyway, Bald is accessible only by helicopter, if the Sheriff is dedicated to maintaining the repeater, what is the route that make to go there?

reply to post by rayktheon


Sundance helicopters out of Las Vegas handles mountaintop access around the range. Civilian and military. I don't know if they have an exclusive contract, but their choppers are the only non-military ones you see around the range. They also service the watering holes for animals on the range (wildlife guzzler).

Sundance
and specifically
Sundance charter

wildlife guzzler

Sundance also services transmitter sites off the range. They have spent an enourmous amount of time at Mount Irish over the last year.

I assume the Sheriff Department owns their own repeater. They probably have a "minder" for the radio techs working on Groom. Or the 99th comm squad does the work. The added a new dish for the Bald Mountain to Halligan Mesa link. I wasn't there to watch, so I can't say if they had a military chopper or Sundance. Some "visitors" watched them work, but I couldn't get much detail from them.

That is, BLM has a contract with Sundance Helicopters for keeping their animal wildlife, horses, etc because the area where the animals are located is near Bald Mountain? And Nellis Base, as they have a contract with Sundance Helicopters is responsible for transport of BLM agents to the top of Bald Mountain?

www.fbo.gov...


www.mustangs4us.com...

I think BLM, also has repeaters in Mount Irish as like NSRS.

reply to post by rayktheon


BLM on Mt. Irish

Incidentally, the Lincoln County SD and Nellis have facilities on Mt. Ella and Highland Peak.
Lincoln SD

But I wouldn't make too much out of the shared sites.