App for Toronto TPS/TFS

[vabiro]

Hi all,

I hope the mod will be OK with this post due to the inclusion of SDR use/integration, and that it may be of interest to those that are interested in radio tech (like me)

Since TPS went encrypted I have been trying to use other technologies to make-up for this gap in information, so I began building a web and mobile app-based system that connects up information from a variety of open sources, and this is what I have come up with:

The app is in Beta, so distribution is a bit complicated for iOS users. I have to enter your iTunes account e-mail to allow testers.

Android is much easier: all you have to do is go to Play Store listing . Also a lot of the features are available through the web interface. If you're an iOS user and want to be a beta tester, send me a DM.

The application combines information from

- The Toronto Police Call For Service (C4S) Page
- The Toronto Fire Service Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) Page
- Audio for the Toronto Fire dispatch via 3 SDRs
- Geolocation technology to locate (most, but not all) calls
- Call Mapping
- Toronto Police Operations (TPOC) Twitter feed

Some of the current features:
- Mobile-friendly user interface,
- Almost real-time updating of TPS and TFS calls,
- Push notifications for high-priority calls will let you know about important, newsworthy, calls even if the app is off,
- Play the dispatch audio for the call to get radio Tac channel,
- Matches Police, Fire, and TPOC Tweets for calls,
- Places calls on city-wide map (where geoinfo available),
- Filtering of calls shown in the call list, so only calls that interest you are shown,
- Customisable local notifications. Select any type of call to receive local notifications when you have the application open,
- TFS and TPS calls link to your default Map programme (usually Google Maps) so you don't have to enter the address manually to locate them.
- TPS calls will search Toronto Police Operations Centre Twitter feed to see if they have sent out anything.
- Push notifications for Environment Canada Weather Alerts and Warnings

Here are some screenshots:
http://tfscad.victorbiro.com/images/1.png
http://tfscad.victorbiro.com/images/2.png
http://tfscad.victorbiro.com/images/7.png

 

[mchart13]

cool

Hi vabrio
I would be interested to test it out on IOS.
Please send me an email to mchart13 at hotmail dot com

 

[HiVolt]

Thanks for the effort. I follow your page for the TPS/TFS dispatches.

Would be cool if you added the audio streams for the two available TFS divisions, south and east. I stream the east so you'd definitely have my support.

 

[simcoescan]

Seems to be some troubles with the MAP on the web interface

 

[vabiro]

Seems to be some troubles with the MAP on the web interface

I noticed that too. I added it yesterday and for some reason when I made it work for the mobile devices it stopped working properly for desktops.

I will have to create separate pages, or figure out why, I guess.

In the meantime if you resize your window it seems to start working.

Thanks for the heads-up, and keep the feedback coming.

I'm doing this for the community, and if it ain't working for you then what's the point.

Cheers
Victor

 

[vabiro]

Thanks for the effort. I follow your page for the TPS/TFS dispatches.

Would be cool if you added the audio streams for the two available TFS divisions, south and east. I stream the east so you'd definitely have my support.

I am thinking about it.

I am blown away by the flexibility of the SDRs. They really lend themselves to experimentation with building web-based applications for scanning. However, there are restrictions on how, programmatically, they can be accessed.

For example, the normal paradigm in radio is that you listen to a specific frequency and convert it to audio. In the SDR you would tune to a 5Mhz range of signals, use the software to "break them apart" and then turn them into analogue audio.

On one hand it is fantastically versatile, on the other I really want to be able to turn on a switch in my car and listen to a scanner.

Where am I going with this? you may ask.

Here's the deal: I have to do some work on the application and some features (like speech-to-text translation of the dispatch), and I don't want to take down this core functionality while I try to get the streaming stuff working.

Having said that, I can see a time when I would be able to do something like this, but I need to do a couple of other things.

Cheers
Victor

 

[simcoescan]

I have sent you a message for iOS testing however haven't heard back.

 

[vabiro]

I have sent you a message for iOS testing however haven't heard back.

Sorry all that sent DMs to become testers. I didn't have e-mail notifications turned on, so I didn't realise that anyone had sent one.

That is fixed, and I have replied to everyone.

Cheers
Victor

 

[vabiro]

Thanks to everyone that has tested the application.

It is up on the iTunes AppStore at http://apple.co/2tOA7rn and Google Play at http://bit.ly/2nFDvEb

There are a couple of idiosyncrasies, but nothing that impact's core functionality right now.

Now to do the bug killing.

Thanks again to all!
Victor

 

[Aurora]

Great Work

I know it's just the beginning but well done. Very helpful.

 

[exkalibur]

Hey Victor - I'm curious how you've got the SDR end of things set up. DSD Plus?

 

[vabiro]

Hey Victor - I'm curious how you've got the SDR end of things set up. DSD Plus?

The SDR piece uses 3 RTL-SDR dongles to cover the frequencies, and on the software side it uses SDR-Recorder (https://github.com/robotastic/trunk-recorder), which is built on GNURadio, on a Linux box.

When the dispatch is recorded it is uploaded to my web server, Speech To Text converts the audio to text which is saved in a MySQL database.

Victor

 

[VE3RADIO]

Awesome app