ONE ON THE RADIOS IN MOVIES TOPIC AGAIN

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Sat Jan 19, 2002 9:48 am

I just saw Black Hawk down, Incredible movie!! I recommend it to all!!

It was nice to see they used the actual equipmemt too...except for the blanks in the M60 belt.

Anyway, most were carrying Motorola SABER-R I models with the NMN6128C mics. They were so new they even still had the plasic over the label.

And they actually pushed the PTT when they talked...kind of rare in movies at times.

mancow

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Sat Jan 19, 2002 2:34 pm

Check out the show "Yes Dear" on CBS, one of the characters has a job as a sceurity guard and carrys an Astro Saber!! Glad I don't work as a prop master, I'd be tempted to pull the astro and give him an MT500 to use, while I programmed the astro up and tried it out!!

10-95

[ This Message was edited by: 10-95 on 2002-01-19 17:34 ]

jim · Post by **jim** » Sat Jan 19, 2002 8:03 pm

Just caught one on Beverly Hills Cop III tonight. One of the detectives was talking on the mobile and was speaking into the rear or the mic. I guess Motorola puts a small condenser mic element in the hangup button.

Tom in D.C. · Post by **Tom in D.C.** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 4:29 am

Jim: No, I think the guy was using one of those special voice-cancelling units (G)!

Tom, W2NJS
...in D.C.

wazzzzzzzzup · Post by **wazzzzzzzzup** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 10:43 am

i swa an old starsky and hutch recently, hutch was talking into the back of a slimline ht220 in some western town movie prop scene looking for a bad guy, oops! circa 1978 tv show

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 10:50 am

Check out the all time Motorola new product show off shows, Adam-12 and Emergency, I think Jack Webb had a deal with M or something. I caught an episode last week with Martin Millner's character having a wreak into a ditch in his patrol car, he was pinned in for the entire show, and beleive it or not the Mic on his mocom 70 was smashed in the impact, so for the entire show he is using wires from the Mic element to send FM CW, s.o.s , they finally found him, thank god!!

10-95

MT2000 man · Post by **MT2000 man** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 11:22 am

Also a little something I noticed, that in Lethal Weapon 4 the astro saber they use when they're talking in the car to the chopper, the astro was actually off when they were talking. (I noticed that the volume knob was in the "off" position) You can tell I'm not bored

mancow · Post by **mancow** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 3:49 pm

I still want to know how ET made an intergalatic MDT unit out of an electronic see and say. I found that to be the most interesting part of the movie when I was a kid.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 4:45 pm

You would be amazed just how "stupid" some of the prop guys are and the technicial director was sleeping!
This is why I am gathering together some radios, that no longer work, and making them look good for the movie people.
This is another of my projects that does NOT make me ANY money! But BatBoard always makes my day.

radiofreak · Post by **radiofreak** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 5:56 pm

I noticed in a TV sitcom that a detective was using a P200 as a cellular phone. He put the speaker up to his ear and had a conversation talking into the battery.

jim · Post by **jim** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 7:19 pm

If anyone caught "The Man Show" on Comedy Central, you would have noticed that Adam was using some older "M" product. It was hard to make out what it was.

radioEd · Post by **radioEd** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 7:37 pm

How many movies have you seen with a scanner in a house or car, and 10 Led Lights! going non-stop right thru the dispatch tx.?

motor59 · Post by **motor59** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 8:14 pm

Yeah, I caught the scanner LED gaffe in 'Die Hard'. The reporter was listening to the dispatcher sending backup to Powell at Nakatomi Plaza, but the lights never stopped cascading. Lots of comm errors in that movie.
I remember that Adam-12 episode too. Didn't a perp rip the Mocom mike out, and steal Malloys shotgun, after the wreck? And wasn't it Reed, of course, who heard the squelch breaks, and correctly interpreted them as Morse code?
Gotta love Jack Webb-always a tidy ending...

Tom in D.C. · Post by **Tom in D.C.** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 6:11 am

As I recall that Adam-12 episode, Malloy did NOT send code as some of us know it. Rather, he and Reed played 20-Questions, with one zap of the PTT for "Yes" and two zaps for "No," in response to Reed's questions, because although the mic had been ripped out the car's receiver still worked. But they sure didn't know or use Continental Code, which is what it is properly called. Morse is the telegraphic code which consists of dashes, dots, and spaces, and is somewhat different from Continental.

Tom, W2NJS
...in D.C.

[ This Message was edited by: Tom in D.C. on 2002-01-21 16:21 ]

Jonathan KC8RYW · Post by **Jonathan KC8RYW** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 9:38 am

Some Tips for Hollywood

<uL>
<Li>Make sure the radio is actually powered on. It looks dumb if it's switched off, and still magically works.
<li>Make sure the actor is talking into the microphone's element. Contrary to popular belief, talking to the back of the radio or microphone won't work well.
<li>A 2-way radio isn't a cell-phone. Don't let the actor hold it up to their ear. This looks really silly.
<li>When transmitting, the actor must press and hold the Push-To-Talk button. Likewise, for the actor to recieve something, they must release the Push-To-Talk button.
<li>Be sure to fit the radio model to the character. A security guard wouldn't be using an Astro Saber. They'd be using an SP-50, or some other cheap radio.
<li>Make sure the dispatcher doesn't call the actor saying "One Adam 12...One Adam 12..."

</ul>
Feel free to make suggestions to this list.

RCVMO · Post by **RCVMO** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 4:40 pm

And I bet all of you saw the car in the background when the elflings were in the field in "Lord of the Rings", Didn't you??????????????

EC-7 · Post by **EC-7** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 8:10 pm

"American Pie 2" they used FRS radios and talked to FRS, CB, Police.

"The Fast And The Furious" they had a 10 LED scanner that didn't stop flashing when a dispach was made. They also had different beeps for the Nextels.

"Gone in 60 seconds" used the Alinco credit card sized HAM or FRS
radios to talk across the city. Those radios had 200mw max.

Jonathan KC8RYW · Post by **Jonathan KC8RYW** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 9:36 pm

Did anyone see that MacGyver when he makes a crystal radio that allows him to pick up the "bad guys" radio communications? Amazing. They use a lot of radio's in that episode, I wish I had it on tape... Anyone know of the episode I'm thinking of?

CHEFA2001 · Post by **CHEFA2001** » Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:55 pm

To continue the MacGuyver thread, or rather the movie radio thread, Anyone recall the Mac episode where he gets locked in a room with a DTMF keypad activated door?

He fills a few x-tal wine glasses with wine to various levels and then records them on a doctors tape recorder and then strips the headpones wiring and hooks each polarity to forceps and attaches them to the various circuits on the access panel on his side and was able to release the lock.

Talk about a "new" use for DTMF....

cracked · Post by **cracked** » Fri Apr 12, 2002 9:41 pm

On 2002-01-21 12:38, KC8RYW wrote:
Some Tips for Hollywood

<uL>
<Li>Make sure the radio is actually powered on. It looks dumb if it's switched off, and still magically works.
<li>Make sure the actor is talking into the microphone's element. Contrary to popular belief, talking to the back of the radio or microphone won't work well.
<li>A 2-way radio isn't a cell-phone. Don't let the actor hold it up to their ear. This looks really silly.
<li>When transmitting, the actor must press and hold the Push-To-Talk button. Likewise, for the actor to recieve something, they must release the Push-To-Talk button.
<li>Be sure to fit the radio model to the character. A security guard wouldn't be using an Astro Saber. They'd be using an SP-50, or some other cheap radio.
<li>Make sure the dispatcher doesn't call the actor saying "One Adam 12...One Adam 12..."
</ul>
Feel free to make suggestions to this list.

how about:

<ul>
<li>The actor cannot interrupt someone else by keying up in the middle of receiving.</li>
</ul>

you may remember that sort of thing happening in Die Hard (sooo many radio related errors in that movie).

JohnDo · Post by **JohnDo** » Sat Apr 13, 2002 6:47 am

Just Hapend to be watching James Bond Movie ( live and let die ) while reading these posts,

Its cool You can still recive while the PTT is depressed. you even have vox when your too lazey to pick up the mic and push the PTT in a patrol car with an old syntor or the like.

Was there ever a movie made were they used there radios correcly if so they should get the Acadimy Award..

John

RESCUE161 · Post by **RESCUE161** » Sat Apr 13, 2002 6:59 am

Yeah, Like Cracked said, I just love it when one person is sending and all of a sudden the receiving person interrupts them and the sending person actually hears them??? I guess all of the radios in Hollywood allow duplex transmissions??? lol
Scott

astronut · Post by **astronut** » Sat Apr 13, 2002 11:28 pm

In the movie Fast and the Furious when he was listening to the scanner with the LEDs and they did not stop when dispatch was talking. He was listening to LAPD. I didn't think APCO 25 was standard with those crystal controlled scanners. he he

In Gone in 60 Seconds they were also supposed to be LAPD but it looked like he was talking into a scanner. It had a BNC and what looked like a VHF rubber duck.

Post by **alex** » Sun Apr 14, 2002 8:48 am

How about training day.... The narcotics team appeared to use Nextel, or an iDen derivitive, and they were doing single clicks to signal when to go, and if you've used one, there ain't no single beep when keying them.

-Alex

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Sun Apr 14, 2002 12:31 pm

Check out the CBS show "The District", they all use the Saber series with speaker mic. In the first season you could see the Motorola logo on the Speaker mics, now they are gone, covered up with black marker on some and some without the sticker at all! Guess they did not want big M to get any free advertisments!

Frank

scott1811 · Post by **scott1811** » Sun Apr 14, 2002 1:43 pm

Back to the adam 12 stuff, have you ever listened to the dispatcher at the beginning when they start the show. It goes something like this: one adam 12 one adam 12, a 2-11 in progress, one adam twelve handle code 3. They flip the lights and siren on, pull a U-turn and they are off. But where are they off to???? No address is ever given!!!

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Sun Apr 14, 2002 1:56 pm

The Adam 12 dispatcher also mentions "See the man.." , maybe "The man" knows the address of that 2-11 in progress!

Frank

d119 · Post by **d119** » Sat Jun 01, 2002 9:01 pm

it's not 2-11, it's 211

no dash

211 isn't a "10 code", if you will (ex 2-11, 2-12, 2-13, etc), it's the california penal code for armed robbery: 211PC

2002radioman · Post by **2002radioman** » Sat Jun 01, 2002 9:56 pm

astronut wrote: In Gone in 60 Seconds they were also supposed to be LAPD but it looked like he was talking into a scanner. It had a BNC and what looked like a VHF rubber duck.

The radio he used was a VHF Kenwood Tk-290 with top display. In LA I think NOT!!!

FatBoy · Post by **FatBoy** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 12:35 am

In the movie "Joy Ride" There is a scene near the end where the good guys are fighting the bad guy behind the motel and one of the good guys grabs a crate, upon which a newer portable is perched with green and red LED's glowing. Other stuff like that pops up in that movie. FatBoy.

Cell God · Post by **Cell God** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 11:57 am

How about these 2:
1.) In CHiPs Return (made for TV movie in the late 90's early 00) Ponch was caught in a traffic jam and had to hang from a ladder under the heli. He had to hold onto the emergency blood supply with one hand, the ladder in the other but when he talked into the speaker mic they heard him all the time.

2.) And also on the Die Hard thread. How in the hell could all the CB (terrorist) radios talk to the police band, and FBI. I did not know that M made a dual band Pub Safety/CB HT.

In addition in most movies where they use a generic speaker/mic they are usually the old radio shack ones that are remote speakers only.

-Cell God

Oh one last final comment. For all you Star Trek, Nextel fans watch and old Star Trek (with Krik and the Gang) movie or show and did there communicators have the sound of the chirp of a Nextel when they responded. Does that mean nextel will survive will all other cell companies go bye bye?????
Makes you think doesn't it!!!!

Will · Post by **Will** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 12:08 pm

Check out the Sabre rack charger in NYPD Blue, all the led's are on all the time!!!
Talking into the back of the mic, well does anyone remember the Turner mic that had the mic element on the "hang-up stud" side? That mic WAS way cool, did not have to turn it arround!!

LAPD once had a "hang-up" bracket in their cars that was backwards so the officer did not have to turn the mic in his(her) hand to talk into the front.

evanh · Post by **evanh** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 2:14 pm

You know you're watching a quality flick when you hear the squelch tail at the beginning of the transmission !

Despite all of the above blunders, the systems perform amazingly well.... No dead spots, breakups or intermod.
Good crisp, clear audio.... each and every time !

Heck,... even the CB radios sound good. Some even have squelch tails.
None of that 'south of the border' interference either.

EH

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 2:29 pm

i am not shure if any one elsed noticed that in emergency the first years they had motorola then later on they had GE Masrer II

mike38015 · Post by **mike38015** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 3:14 pm

While watching Die Hard With A vengence after the bomb blew up in the subway take a look at all mof the fire engines with completely empty hose beds, not one inch of hose. Makes it a little difficult to put the wet stuff on the red stuff.

Julian · Post by **Julian** » Sun Jun 02, 2002 11:33 pm

I'd have to say the most common error ive found in the movies would have to be the squelch tail and the BEGINNING of the transmission. Believe I saw an Astro Saber in one of the Rush Hours, had a top shot of the Astro while the officer was talking, yet no transmit LED.
Ha,
Julian

jim · Post by **jim** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 6:01 am

Did anyone else ever notice when watching police chase videos on Discovery or TLC that all of the tire squealing sounds are mixed in. There will be two cars going completely straight and they are squealing like crazy! Their tires also squeal heavily when traveling on wet roads, sand, mud and dirt. They are making perfectly normal maneuvers in a police car and it sounds like they're doing donuts (no pun intended, cops!) in a parking lot.

When a K9 is sent after somebody and grabs them, a very fake "chomp" sound (I think from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon??) is dubbed into the sound track.

Ever notice how you can hear the tires squeal from the chopper camera/audio recording?

Catch the one with a Yamaha motorcycle running from the cops and they addded the sound of a Harley engine?

How about the one with another Japanese bike running and you can hear the engine as is rips upward through the gears. Too bad the speedometer reading on the video showed a consistant speed and no upward acceleration.

EngineerZ · Post by **EngineerZ** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 7:26 am

jim wrote:Just caught one on Beverly Hills Cop III tonight. One of the detectives was talking on the mobile and was speaking into the rear or the mic. I guess Motorola puts a small condenser mic element in the hangup button.

Apparently GE had the same feature back in the '70s according to this picture:

http://www.hyattsvillevfd.org/emergency/emercapt.jpg

--z

mike m · Post by **mike m** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 8:40 am

It all started with Broderick Crawford in the series 'Highway patrol' back in the 1950's, he was always talking into the back of the darn mic. Oh boy am I getting old if I can remember that far back.

Mike.

Dale Earnhardt · Post by **Dale Earnhardt** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 10:41 am

Hey, watch COPS, and listen carefully, when they have there show say in Dallas Fort Worth, or somwhere eles, what do you hear in the background of the radio, LAPD, lol, I 've been noticing that, I can hear LAPD call being dispatch on Fort Worth, or asking to go to tac 6 lol, Just thought would bring something out if, you guys havent notice yet

Post by **HumHead** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 12:06 pm

I've always gotten a chuckle out of the fact that not only does COPS "borrow" audio, they only seem to have 1 or 2 clips. Watch an episode, and see how many times you here "1490 to 1433 transmit on Tac2" or something similar. You'd think they would expand the library by a few samples. My other favorite is the way they use MODAT or ANI bursts to "bleep" out last names, addresses, license plates, etc.

Good clean fun!

2wayfreq · Post by **2wayfreq** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 1:19 pm

Yeah, I always seem to hear the same "Police Traffic" sound effect on different movies. Such ignorance in the movie industry. I had a question though. What kind of radio does Col. Jack O'Niel have in the origional StarGate? Its the dual antenna VHF/UHF? radio.

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 1:59 pm

On 'The District' I think your looking at a Jedi mic. I've noticed the black tape over the 'M' on Nancy's mic. come and go over a bunch of episodes.
Don't know what that's about but haven't seen the blackout on anyone else's mic. The 1st radio blunder I can remember is Kojac where he has
a mic. coming out of a Bearcat III.

Post by **HumHead** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 2:34 pm

OK- Just a hair off the topic, but how about what is affectionatly referred to at one of my agencies as "The Kojak Phenomonon"?

This is the miraculous bit of physics where you get a call, roll down the window, and stick the gumball light on the roof through the open window.

Now- on TV- You get to the call, open the door, step out, and save the day.

In the real world- You get to the call, open the door, drag the light accross the roof, leaving a nice scratch, until it gets to the edge, whereupon it catapults itself off of the roof (usually still running) and swings like a pendulum into the door, denting the door or, if you're really good, destroying the driver's side window.

Seen it a million times. Still cracks me up

10-95 · Post by **10-95** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 2:36 pm

Humhead that is so damn funny!!! Man you need to get a job in Hollywood writing comedy scripts!! That made my day man!

Frank

MT2000 man · Post by **MT2000 man** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 2:46 pm

Speaking of the show COPS, I was watching it last night, and (they were showing the LAPD) and they had what looked like the old MX360 with MODAT, and thats about all I heard for the entire time, that annoying noise

Eather that was an older episiode, or they didnt make the Astro saber switch yet.

Just a comment

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 4:29 pm

A lot of these off topic threads are good for a few chuckles- Guess we have related stuff in common other than just the radios. The fireball story
reminded me of the time it came loose from the roof, hit the road, got run over by the car in the next lane and showing up at the call with what looked like a crumpled tuna can dragging in the road from the end of the coil cord.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 8:10 pm

We had a guy in my department who had a habit of putting his light on the roof of his car through the open sunroof. That worked great until the day he decided to try it on the expressway at 70+... flew off his car and shattered the windshield of the vehicle behind him. Everyone was ok, but DAMN did that make a mess.

CHEFA2001 · Post by **CHEFA2001** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 8:21 pm

HUM HEAD, thats GREAT!!!

AS 10-95 said, ya made my day too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The whole story about the light on the roof is soo true....

take care

ARZ902 · Post by **ARZ902** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 1:24 pm

The one that gets me is in Die Hard II - has any one ever seen a C-130 with an ejection seat?

How about a hand launched personal ordance device with a 30 second fuse?

Dennis

ONE ON THE RADIOS IN MOVIES TOPIC AGAIN

you're all wrong

movie radios

A little off topic

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