modern SLATER Fire Tones

[rjvalenta]

i'm attempting to figure out the difference in the SLATER tones that we hear... they are not the different old-school QCII tones that would define which house to light up, but something else... which seems to be consistent for 2 types of call.

from what i can tell, a steady 5sec 650hz tone is always some form of medical call sending out an ambulance, maybe an engine to assist as well, but always a XXX7 truck.

then every so often i'll hear and on/off tone at a different Hz (haven't figured out what Hz yet), and that seems to be calls which are not medical and do not involve an ambulance.

if i am wrong about any of this - someone please correct me.

i assume that just before this happens some kind of data packet goes out to tell each house or specific apparatus to open their speaker and so on... wish i knew what this was, it would be interesting to set up an old XTS or Unication system just to trigger for the departments close to me.

for now... does anyone know if i'm right about this 650hz tone, what the other tone is, and what differentiates them all (or tells which department to head out)?

thanks,

Richard

 

[BIRRM1]

I am assuming you are referring to this tone (attached). All of St. Louis County and Jefferson County centers that dispatch fire have started using a fire station alerting system that dispatches over the internet. The dispatch is simulcasted over the dispatch talkgroup still.

So there is no need to have tones that page a specific house anymore.

However, Jefferson County 911 still transmits their dispatches over the old tone out frequency with QC tones. That is in addition to the 800Mhz simulcast.

 

[BIRRM1]

I am assuming you are referring to this tone (attached). All of St. Louis County and Jefferson County centers that dispatch fire have started using a fire station alerting system that dispatches over the internet. The dispatch is simulcasted over the dispatch talkgroup still.

So there is no need to have tones that page a specific house anymore.

However, Jefferson County 911 still transmits their dispatches over the old tone out frequency with QC tones. That is in addition to the 800Mhz simulcast.

Sorry, I failed to mention, there are different "tones" for different nature codes. So a medical call has the tone you were talking about, but a first alarm has a tone that is still different than a fire alarm.

 

[rjvalenta]

so if i'm understanding what you're saying correctly, the dispatch (CAD) system notifies the department/house via the internet and while the system at the house may open up the speakers there to hear the SLATER broadcast, that's almost a backup re-notification without the house specific info (I guess the logic being that if the crew is out at that grocery store or whatever they could listen for their truck number on the dispatch frequency since they aren't at the house to see the house's notification system?).

which makes me wonder if the house has some way to telling the crews if it loses it's internet connection... 'hey, the fire house isn't online, turn on your radios in case we get a call'.

does this make Unication useless for STLCounty houses as there's no specific QC (or other) tone or notification for it to listen to?

 

[BIRRM1]

CAD is integrated into this system. They also have a cell phone app that will notify them of a dispatch as well. Central County maintains the old VHF system in the event of an outage.

Here is a link to the manufactures website.

 

[rjvalenta]

so i guess the question remains... is the system defining the 650hz tone that we are hearing on the 'G2 Voice Alert' as EMS related calls? does anyone know the Hz of the other type that i hear and how the system is defining it differently?

and while i still scan the VHF systems, all i hear recently is a scratchy P2P broadcast and i thought i heard the most recent Monarch houses weren't built to include VHF. i wish there was a reliable way to distinguish who the dispatch calls are going to via the 800Mhz system.

has anyone tried to get Unication to work listening to SLATER?

 

[MissouriSirens]

i'm attempting to figure out the difference in the SLATER tones that we hear... they are not the different old-school QCII tones that would define which house to light up, but something else... which seems to be consistent for 2 types of call.

from what i can tell, a steady 5sec 650hz tone is always some form of medical call sending out an ambulance, maybe an engine to assist as well, but always a XXX7 truck.

then every so often i'll hear and on/off tone at a different Hz (haven't figured out what Hz yet), and that seems to be calls which are not medical and do not involve an ambulance.

if i am wrong about any of this - someone please correct me.

i assume that just before this happens some kind of data packet goes out to tell each house or specific apparatus to open their speaker and so on... wish i knew what this was, it would be interesting to set up an old XTS or Unication system just to trigger for the departments close to me.

for now... does anyone know if i'm right about this 650hz tone, what the other tone is, and what differentiates them all (or tells which department to head out)?

thanks,

Richard

That tone that goes off and on is 1000hz, id say its a second priority tone (activated fire/CO alarms, vehicle fires, welfare checks)

Then Id say theres first priority (Structure fires, vehicle accidents with entrapment)

All of the firehouses have phoenix IP alarm systems. Its run over the internet so thats how each department is dispatched accordingly alongside the CAD voice

I personally do not own a Unication but Id assume that you can only get the 650hz 5 second tone, haven’t seen anyone use it for the on/off tones yet.

 

[MissouriSirens]

I am assuming you are referring to this tone (attached). All of St. Louis County and Jefferson County centers that dispatch fire have started using a fire station alerting system that dispatches over the internet. The dispatch is simulcasted over the dispatch talkgroup still.

So there is no need to have tones that page a specific house anymore.

However, Jefferson County 911 still transmits their dispatches over the old tone out frequency with QC tones. That is in addition to the 800Mhz simulcast.

Only reason JeffCo uses them is because lots of districts have Minitors if I recall correctly.

 

[BIRRM1]

Only reason JeffCo uses them is because lots of districts have Minitors if I recall correctly.

You are right. Some districts chose not to buy into the Phoenix system, I believe due to the high cost.