Home Office radio
Encyclopedia
Home Office radio was the VHF and UHF radio service provided by the British Government to its Prison Service, Emergency Service (Police, Ambulance and Fire Brigade) and Home Defence
agencies from around 1939. The departmental name was the Home Office
Directorate of Telecommunications, commonly referred to as DTELS .
Prior to this, contact by emergency service personnel with their control rooms was made by telephone. Then in 1922 the Metropolitan Police
began to install radio receivers in their vehicles. Due to telegraphy only being one way, take up was slow. By the 1970s most Police and Fire services had their own dedicated radio setups, and personal radios (referred to as PR's) were beginning to be rolled out to Police in most towns and cities. Home Office radio was furthered towards the end of the Cold War, with having a communications network that was independent of the then Post Office deemed a necessity should Britain come under attack from nuclear weapons .
Radio schemes run by DTELS consisted of ten wireless depots throughout England, Scotland and Wales, supplemented further by around 60 outstations . Ten regions were designated along the same regional boundaries as the Home Defence were, and within each region was a Wireless Telegraph Station. The Home Office allocated four-character call signs beginning with M2 to every Police and Fire service, with respective control rooms starting and ending every transmission with said call sign:
By the last quarter of 2006 Police forces had migrated radio networks from the UHF frequencies to TeTRa
on the Airwave
network, followed by Ambulance services in 2007 and Fire services in 2010.
Airwave
now has a nationwide network of more than 3,000 sites and provides secure voice and data communications to over 300 public safety organisations.
Home Defence and Emergency Services Division
From 1935 to 1971 civil defence in the United Kingdom was the responsibility of the Civil Defence Department. On the run-down of civil defence in 1971 the department was replaced by the Home Defence and Emergency Services Division of the Home Office...
agencies from around 1939. The departmental name was the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
Directorate of Telecommunications, commonly referred to as DTELS .
Prior to this, contact by emergency service personnel with their control rooms was made by telephone. Then in 1922 the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
began to install radio receivers in their vehicles. Due to telegraphy only being one way, take up was slow. By the 1970s most Police and Fire services had their own dedicated radio setups, and personal radios (referred to as PR's) were beginning to be rolled out to Police in most towns and cities. Home Office radio was furthered towards the end of the Cold War, with having a communications network that was independent of the then Post Office deemed a necessity should Britain come under attack from nuclear weapons .
Radio schemes run by DTELS consisted of ten wireless depots throughout England, Scotland and Wales, supplemented further by around 60 outstations . Ten regions were designated along the same regional boundaries as the Home Defence were, and within each region was a Wireless Telegraph Station. The Home Office allocated four-character call signs beginning with M2 to every Police and Fire service, with respective control rooms starting and ending every transmission with said call sign:
Police radio codes
| PNC Code | HO Radio code | Police Force |
|---|---|---|
| 52 | QP | Avon and Somerset Constabulary |
| 40 | VA | Bedfordshire Police |
| 93 | BX | British Transport Police |
| 35 | VB | Cambridgeshire Constabulary |
| 84 | AH | Central Scotland Police |
| 07 | BA | Cheshire Constabulary |
| 48 | CP | City of London Police |
| 17 | LZ | Cleveland Police |
| 03 | BB | Cumbria Constabulary |
| 30 | NA | Derbyshire Constabulary |
| 50 | QB | Devon and Cornwall Constabulary |
| 55 | QC | Dorset Police |
| 70 | AJ | Dumfries & Galloway Constabulary |
| 11 | LA | Durham Constabulary |
| 63 | WH | Heddlu Dyfed Powys Police |
| 42 | VG | Essex Police |
| 78 | ZT | Fife Constabulary |
| 53 | QL | Gloucestershire Constabulary |
| 82 | UB | Grampian Police |
| 06 | CK | Greater Manchester Police |
| 61 | WE | Heddlu Gwent Police |
| 44 | HC | Hampshire Constabulary |
| 41 | VH | Hertfordshire Constabulary |
| 16 | XH | Humberside Police |
| 46 | KA | Kent Police |
| 04 | BD | Lancashire Constabulary |
| 33 | NL | Leicestershire Constabulary |
| 32 | NC | Lincolnshire Police |
| 76 | ZH | Lothian & Borders Police |
| 05 | CH | Merseyside Police |
| 01 | MP | Metropolitan Police (also 02) |
| 36 | VK | Norfolk Constabulary |
| 34 | NG | Northamptonshire Police |
| 10 | LB | Northumbria Police |
| 12 | XN | North Yorkshire Police |
| 60 | WE | Heddlu North Wales Police |
| 31 | NH | Nottinghamshire Police |
| 62 | WL | Heddlu South Wales Police |
| 14 | XS | South Yorkshire Police |
| 21 | YF | Staffordshire Police |
| 74 | AS | Strathclyde Police |
| 37 | VL | Suffolk Constabulary |
| 45 | HJ | Surrey Police |
| 47 | KB | Sussex Police |
| 80 | ZS | Tayside Police |
| 43 | HB | Thames Valley Police |
| 23 | YJ | Warwickshire Police |
| 22 | YK | West Mercia Constabulary |
| 20 | YM | West Midlands Police |
| 13 | XW | West Yorkshire Police |
| 54 | QJ | Wiltshire Constabulary |
Airwave
In 1991 the Directorate of Telecommunications officially changed its name to DTELS and four years later became a private sector company following a trade sale to National Transcommunications Limited (ntl).By the last quarter of 2006 Police forces had migrated radio networks from the UHF frequencies to TeTRa
Terrestrial Trunked Radio
Terrestrial Trunked Radio is a professional mobile radio and two-way transceiver specification...
on the Airwave
Airwave (communications network)
The Airwave network is a mobile communications network dedicated for the use by the emergency services in the United Kingdom. Designed to be both secure and resilient it allows multiple agencies integrated communications through a nationwide network. It is a secure digital, encrypted network and...
network, followed by Ambulance services in 2007 and Fire services in 2010.
Airwave
Airwave (communications network)
The Airwave network is a mobile communications network dedicated for the use by the emergency services in the United Kingdom. Designed to be both secure and resilient it allows multiple agencies integrated communications through a nationwide network. It is a secure digital, encrypted network and...
now has a nationwide network of more than 3,000 sites and provides secure voice and data communications to over 300 public safety organisations.