Caledon, Dufferin and First Available

[Rcarde40]

Does anyone know the frequency for Caledon, Dufferin and First Available OPP? Maybe even the 410 talk group as well.
And how to go about getting a good clear feed. Thanks guys

 

[ATCTech]

"First available" refers to a broadcast from the Comm Center for tow trucks, who monitor the regular OPSxx channels for the area they're in. Tows don't talk on the OPP system, they call in via telephone to the Comm Center when necessary. The 410 is patrolled by the Port Credit detachment up to Mayfield Road. North of there it's the Caledon detachment for highway 10. Port Credit can be heard on the Mississauga tower/frequencies while your best bet for Caledon is the Ballinafad tower/frequencies. They will appear on other towers around those as well, but that's a proper starting point to hear them. I trust you know how to program whatever scanner you have for the Fleetnet system. This is a trunking radio system, they don't appear on a specific frequency as in the 1970s. You might get lucky and hear them on one of the mobile repeater or "beat frequency" channels in the database, but don't expect much range if you do.

OPP is on this system:

Bell FleetNet Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 Trunking System, Southwest Zone, Ontario

Bell FleetNet Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Single frequencies for portables/mobile repeaters and "beat" UHF links to the Fleetnet system are here:

Ontario Provincial Police (Ontario) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Ontario Provincial Police (Ontario)

www.radioreference.com

 

[Rcarde40]

Okay cool
I’m new to this so all the help I can get is awesome
Do you have an email we can chat on rather than this ? If you don’t mind that is

 

[ATCTech]

I do, as do we all, but I'll start by asking you to post here on the forum what radio your have and how you're trying to program it - by USB cable connection to your computer or by pressing endless keys on the scanner itself? If you have a radio capable of programming via a USB data cable I strongly suggest you pay for a premium membership here and directly download the systems of interest to you right to the radio from the database here. It will save you endless problems and have you listening in no time.

 

[Rcarde40]

I was using a Baofeng but found out recently those are illegal to use.
Haven’t used it in like 6 months or so. Now I’m looking for a cheap but effective alternative. I’ve been looking at getting a BC335C. But not sure as I’m new to the scanning game.

Been driving tow truck for a bit but was mostly contract work

 

[gary123]

Look into the newer DMR compatable scanners.

 

[maxtracs]

Monitor 149.665
Caledon Port Credit uses it. Dufferin OPP does not us it at this time.

 

[phyberoptics]

Personally, I wouldn't rely on Ballinafad for Caledon OPP. King & Britannia towers, and Primrose.

 

[ATCTech]

I had both media channels on for a couple of days last week for hours and hours. I think I heard 3 broadcasts the entire time, including a transmission where the dispatcher was actually talking to a car and I'm assuming inadvertently selected the media channel in error. At any rate, there had to have been 20x more "first available" broadcasts on regular talk groups than those two frequencies combined.

 

[phyberoptics]

Yes at least my experience with Dufferin OPP and Caledon OPP is that they talk directly to the tows on their OPS channels, not the MACs.

 

[exkalibur]

MAC channels were only ever intended to be for the 400 series highways in/around Toronto.

Niagara was to be the QEW and 420
GTA West was to be Port Credit and Burlington catchment areas
GTA East was to be the former Downsview and former Whitby - now Toronto catchment areas.

Originally it was quite common for dispatchers to just multi-select the talkgroup onto the MAC channel. These days, not so much.

 

[mikewazowski]

Keep in mind that the MAC channels were setup when P25 scanners didn't exist and there weren't any plans to build any.

When they were finally released, the MAC channels became redundant.

I suspect they'll make a return if the OPP move to encryption.