can my scanner pick up Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1

[trancefreak99]

Hey everyone.! Im just getting into this police scanner hobby. Ive already done alot of reading as I soon found out that it isnt as easy as just tuning into a frequency and hearing everything out there. Anyways There is so much to learn and its a bit overwhelming so I thought I would Try a shortcut and ask a question here,
Please forgive my newbie ignorance if this does not make any sense.

I have a police scanner and I bought a outdoor multiband antenna that ive already installed out on the tv tower. just manually scanning thru frequenies i found i have been able to catch chatter on quite a few different frequencies. Ive also looked thru the databases here to help point me in the right direction.

Now im just trying figure out if My scanner is able to pick up Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 (or any zone for that matter) I know its a Motorola Type II SmartZone.

Do I need a Digital Scanner to pick this up? My scanner is a Uniden Bearcat BC895XLT(not digital i believe). It has Trunk tracking and the manual states "Your BC895XLT is designed to track Motorola Type I, Type II, Type IIi, Hybrid, SMARTNET™, and
PRIVACY PLUS™ analog trunking systems*, which are extensively used in 800 MHz communication
systems. - It also states that it will error out if you try to program any frequency outside of 800mhz, but on the Custom Frequency Tables all the frequencys are in the 142.xxxMHz range (not 800)

So Im confused. I know I have alot more reading to do but feel that im really missing something here. If someone could just help explain this to me or maybe point me in the right direction on where i can find some good learning material that partains to what i need to pick up police ambulance fire etc in southwestern ontario, and also learn what these Talk group charts are below the frequency tables and how they work.( what is alpha tag and how is it used in the scanner in DEC or HEX) It would be sooo helpful and save me some time as Its hard to know where to start right now.

Anyways enough rambling on. If theres anyone out there that can help this lost newb out even a little, it would be Very much Apprecieated.

Thanks alot and glad I found this place!

 

[pathalogical]

Yes, you will need a digital capable scanner for Fleetnet (OPP, MTO, MNR) and GO Transit. There are analog users on Fleeetnet too. There may be other digital systems out there, but you have not provided a location of where you are. To answer another question you'll probably ask: no scanner is capable of decoding encryption.

The current digital radios are Radio Shack 106/197, Uniden 396T & XT models and GRE PSR 500/600. I have the Radio Shack Pro 106 (handheld) and it can hold 1800 memories (objects). Your 895 isn't quite outdated yet, but at 300 memories it's not a lot of space, a single trunk system can have hundreds of users.

Forgot to mention, you'll need programing software too. There's lots of info the radio needs to track a system.

 

[FoeHammer]

The 895 is not a digital scanner ,...To monitor fleetnet properly you will need a digital scanner
Im not sure on this but I think it may be possible to program in a vhf trunked system on the 895
& only have the MOH or ambulance talkgroups programmed in ,.....again Im not too sure if you can do it with that model ,....but that might,.....allow you to hear ambulance on the fleetnet system (Ambulance is still analog) ,....someone can correct me on that ,...
The 895 will be good for aircraft & marine frequencies ,..FRS/Gmrs /Bisinessband if thats active in your area
Most police are either digital & or encrypted , but you will have to check the database for your area to determine what you will be able to hear .

Ontario Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

 

[exkalibur]

Correction to what was said above. You do NOT need a digital scanner to hear Fleetnet. You only require one if you wish to hear users that are digital (OPP, MTO Enforcement, MNR Enforcement). If you just want to hear MOH, MOC and MTO Maintenance, you're all set.

 

[trancefreak99]

Thanks

Thanks for the quick response guys! I really appreciate it. I see know in the frequency charts page it shows which talk groups are digital analog and encrypted (designated D,A,E)

Ok Ive got a chance to buy a Bearcat BC796D for a good price. From what i can gather this is the previous model to the 996T which is previous to 996XT (I think....) would this be a good radio to get or should i just bite the bullet and get the 996XT ?? (I like the mobile base style more then the handheld since i will use it alot more at home and can still mount in car if i want to. and i also like the Uniden bearcat style. maybee im wrong here and should go with Radio shack or GRE.)

What do you all think on that one?

 

[VE3JSO]

i use the radio shack pro 106 which is a handheld and i love it and the radio shack pro 106 and it's sister model the pro 197 (mobile) i find it cheaper to go with the radio shack pro serries and they are not much different then gre since gre makes the scanners for radio shack. and plus i find it easier to program the radio shack and gre versions then the uniden except the home patrol 1 in which you just enter your postal code and select the system you will want to moniter and there is some people on here that will say that modal is the best out there.

 

[EJB]

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Thanks for the quick response guys! I really appreciate it. I see know in the frequency charts page it shows which talk groups are digital analog and encrypted (designated D,A,E)

Ok Ive got a chance to buy a Bearcat BC796D for a good price. From what i can gather this is the previous model to the 996T which is previous to 996XT (I think....) would this be a good radio to get or should i just bite the bullet and get the 996XT ?? (I like the mobile base style more then the handheld since i will use it alot more at home and can still mount in car if i want to. and i also like the Uniden bearcat style. maybee im wrong here and should go with Radio shack or GRE.)

What do you all think on that one?

If you have $ to buy a 796 and that's all you have you can make do.

But if you have a few extra $ buy a newer brand.

Some people here swear by the GRE models, some like the shack. I prefer Uniden scanners.

The 996XLT is a sweet scanner, the best out there, easy enough to program (get software and ask around for files, see how they are configured and go from there).

You can also get a Home Patrol or GRE PSR800. Scanners that come loaded with data from this website (I heard some chatter that this site still prides itself on its database, LOL!!!) That you can add and load for pretty much all of Canada and the States.

Hope this helps and welcome to the site.

 

[hawkeye32]

Welcome to the site!!!

Personally I like Uniden as well have BC898T and as well the 996XT. The software is easy to use even for beginners which is very nice. Thou downside it does cost money, however, their is a 15-30 day trial I believe with them. So that way you can at least get your scanner programmed and figure out the basics. Also depends on your location surroundings. If you have paging towers around you or radio towers I have heard that the radioshack models have a better front end that is less sensitive to the crud. Like what EJB said, if you have the extra $ go with a new scanner. Its kinda like computers, the newer the better and up to date with technology. Hope this helps!!

 

[tilt404]

I'm not sure what city you are in but like the others said, you should be able to listen to EMS fine since its still analog on Fleetnet. OPP is digital on there but they still have analog re-broadcasts you can find on here.

Ontario Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Many conventional analog frequencies listed on that page for this area. Where I am I got a digital scanner mainly to monitor the fire department calls. Other than that a lot of police are digital and encrypted in southern ontario now so you might want to look into your area and see what is encrypted before spending a lot of money on a digital scanner since you still might not even be able to listen in if the things you want to hear are encrypted.

 

[OldDeadOne]

trancefreak99:save up some more money and bypass that 796D and get one of the scanners that have been mentioned(I have a Pro106). I waited til I had enough to get my Pro 106.

 

[trancefreak99]

My location

Thanks again guys! this is helping alot. I guess I should of mentioned my area already so it helps you guys with the advice your giving me. I live in southwestern Ontario and Basicly wish to listen to as much of the frequencys as I can in the Oxford, Haldimand, Norfolk, Elgin and Possibly Brant if I can pick it up.
Right now on my Analog scanner I am able to pick up St Thomas and Aylmer Police which is impressive to me since I live almost an hour away. Im also able to pick up some paramedics even though im not really sure where yet because Ive just been finding and inputing frequencies manualy right now since I havent firgured out how to trunk track on this thing yet since Im thinking of just waiting to learn on a new digital one. Also From what I can understand from My manual I can only input Trunk Tracking Frequencies in the 800 MHz Range or it will error out, and the and all the frequencies in the Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 are in the 142Mhz range so I dont understand how I could program up the Analog Talkgroups. Im guessing I need software for that and a cable which i have neither.(Not sure if i can even hook this up to a computer). Anyways Im missing something and Still need to figure that part out yet.

But Thanks for the Advice on the Scanners. So if I go Digital I take it I can pick up the OPP,Fire,and EMS in these areas (Oxford,Haldimand,Norfolk,Elgin and Brant)? From What I can gather From the Frequency charts on this site all those Talkgroups Are Digital(OPP) and some Analog but Not Encrypted. Is that Correct? If So Then I am Definatly getting a Digital Scanner

Thanks Again.

 

[tilt404]

I'd say skip the 796 also since I seem to remember those are a pain to program. But I do understand how it can be hard to afford the new digital ones. I have a GRE PSR800 and currently saving for a Uniden BCD996XT. I've been happy with the PSR800 for the most part but the software is terrible in my opinion. It did come with a USB cable though. The BCD996XT doesn't so I had to buy a USB cable for it for around $50, but it comes with a serial cable. I have software for the BCD996XT from Butel which I really like and lets you virtually control it on your computer and record. The PSR800 records right onto a Micro SD card in the scanner, but it has no virtual control.

More and more seems to be going the way of encryption though, so be sure to check your area. Where I am there isn't much to listen to anymore. Even some are using trunk systems that scanners can't monitor so best to look into that too. Encryption isn't the only thing that can prevent you from listening unfortunately.

 

[frankh]

before you spend money on new gear try listening to the beat repeater frequencies from the database here might be all you need

 

[EJB]

Thanks again guys! this is helping alot. I guess I should of mentioned my area already so it helps you guys with the advice your giving me. I live in southwestern Ontario and Basicly wish to listen to as much of the frequencys as I can in the Oxford, Haldimand, Norfolk, Elgin and Possibly Brant if I can pick it up.
Right now on my Analog scanner I am able to pick up St Thomas and Aylmer Police which is impressive to me since I live almost an hour away. Im also able to pick up some paramedics even though im not really sure where yet because Ive just been finding and inputing frequencies manualy right now since I havent firgured out how to trunk track on this thing yet since Im thinking of just waiting to learn on a new digital one. Also From what I can understand from My manual I can only input Trunk Tracking Frequencies in the 800 MHz Range or it will error out, and the and all the frequencies in the Bell FleetNet - Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 are in the 142Mhz range so I dont understand how I could program up the Analog Talkgroups. Im guessing I need software for that and a cable which i have neither.(Not sure if i can even hook this up to a computer). Anyways Im missing something and Still need to figure that part out yet.

But Thanks for the Advice on the Scanners. So if I go Digital I take it I can pick up the OPP,Fire,and EMS in these areas (Oxford,Haldimand,Norfolk,Elgin and Brant)? From What I can gather From the Frequency charts on this site all those Talkgroups Are Digital(OPP) and some Analog but Not Encrypted. Is that Correct? If So Then I am Definatly getting a Digital Scanner

Thanks Again.

For your area a digital scanner would be best. In Norfolk, Brant (not incl Brantford City), Haldimand, 6 Nations and many parts of Oxford the OPP are your police and it looks like they will stay in the clear for a few more years at least.

If you are in the SW, west of Brantford you will probably be able to pick up a good many OPP patrol areas, Brantford will occasionally have Burlington 5 Charley cars on the 403 so you will be able to listen to stuff all the way into the west end of the GTA, same with Port Credit 5 India cars (these are patched with Cambridge 5 Echo cars), allowing you the pleasure of listening to Peel and Waterloo Region meyhem!

As for the MOH EMS, you might be able to listen to EMS units from as far east as Hamilton City to Niagara and out to Cambridge (Waterloo Region, maybe Wellington and Dufferin EMS) as well as London East EMS dispatches like Oxford, Perth, Huron.

It isnt for me to say but if you have enough $ to buy a scanner its best to do it right and to buy the best one you can.

Also, and this is very important, get a good antenna for however you plan to monitor or choose to buy.

 

[trancefreak99]

Awesome

For your area a digital scanner would be best. In Norfolk, Brant (not incl Brantford City), Haldimand, 6 Nations and many parts of Oxford the OPP are your police and it looks like they will stay in the clear for a few more years at least.

If you are in the SW, west of Brantford you will probably be able to pick up a good many OPP patrol areas, Brantford will occasionally have Burlington 5 Charley cars on the 403 so you will be able to listen to stuff all the way into the west end of the GTA, same with Port Credit 5 India cars (these are patched with Cambridge 5 Echo cars), allowing you the pleasure of listening to Peel and Waterloo Region meyhem!

As for the MOH EMS, you might be able to listen to EMS units from as far east as Hamilton City to Niagara and out to Cambridge (Waterloo Region, maybe Wellington and Dufferin EMS) as well as London East EMS dispatches like Oxford, Perth, Huron.

It isnt for me to say but if you have enough $ to buy a scanner its best to do it right and to buy the best one you can.

Also, and this is very important, get a good antenna for however you plan to monitor or choose to buy.

Man that sounds Friggin sweet!!!! thats exactly what im after,
I think Im definitely going to go with your advice and get the best one I can. Its like another poster said, with electronics/computers etc you dont wanna buy outdated.

speaking of antennas. Currently I have installed a 30-1300MHz ST2 Scanner Antenna Kit from Antennacraft. Is this a good antenna? Is a Discone better? or which one is the best for scanning these frequencies in this area.

Also When I installed it on the top of my tv tower, I just took down the old round white tv antenna and used the coax cable that was connected into it and screwed it into the Scanner Antenna so I didnt have to make another hole into the house(was convienent at the time) Now this cable is just the white one that came with the tv tower, it has no writing on it so I have no way of knowing wether its RG-59 or RG-6 or what. I would hope since it was intended to be used outside and is long it would be RG-6 but cant gaurentee it. After this long cable goes down the tower it goes into my basement where it connects to a coupler and another cable to make it to my living room tv area. Is this Bad? I imagine the cable is pretty important and I dont wanna be in a situation of Having a Awesome Antenna but loosing alot because of a ****ty cable/s. Can that happen? I see this Cable called LMR-400 and someone claming that it made a world of a difference when he changed from RG-6. Is it really worth it, does it make that much of a difference where I should be changing mine.

Just something else Ive been wondering. whats your thoughts on that one?

 

[Forts]

Your antenna should be ok... but you will really want to know what type of coax is running up there. Depending on what it is, you might really be losing a lot of signal at higher frequencies. If you are trying to stay within a decent budget a good chunk of RG-6 is pretty cheap these days and will give you pretty decent performance... it may suffer some up in the 800mhz range but performs pretty well on VHF and UHF... LMR-400 is indeed great cable (I use it on 2 of my antennas here) but in my opinion it's really only worth the $$ if you are using it for higher (800mhz) frequencies. It's attenuation is better across that board than RG-58/59/6 but it really shines at the higher frequencies. I'm using it on 2 800mhz Yagi's... My vhf ground plane that use for Fleetnet is just using RG-6, and my 'little bit of everything' discone is using RG-11.

As far as scanners go, the previous guys are right... go with the best you can afford. The 796 was a decent radio, but it had really crazy audio balance issues sometimes (most of the first generation Unidens did). You set the volume to a comfortable level on an analog talkgroup, and a digital one would just about lift you out of your chair. If you are looking for an older radio, I wouldn't hesitate for a second with a Pro-96 or 2096. First generation GRE scanner (sold under the Radio-Shack banner) and they still perform great. Not as many bells and whistles obviously, but they get the job done. I've got a Pro-96 (which I have since given to my dad) that has been parked on Fleetnet 24/7 for I bet 8 years and hasn't skipped a beat.

 

[EJB]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9360; en) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.391 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

For your area a digital scanner would be best. In Norfolk, Brant (not incl Brantford City), Haldimand, 6 Nations and many parts of Oxford the OPP are your police and it looks like they will stay in the clear for a few more years at least.

If you are in the SW, west of Brantford you will probably be able to pick up a good many OPP patrol areas, Brantford will occasionally have Burlington 5 Charley cars on the 403 so you will be able to listen to stuff all the way into the west end of the GTA, same with Port Credit 5 India cars (these are patched with Cambridge 5 Echo cars), allowing you the pleasure of listening to Peel and Waterloo Region meyhem!

As for the MOH EMS, you might be able to listen to EMS units from as far east as Hamilton City to Niagara and out to Cambridge (Waterloo Region, maybe Wellington and Dufferin EMS) as well as London East EMS dispatches like Oxford, Perth, Huron.

It isnt for me to say but if you have enough $ to buy a scanner its best to do it right and to buy the best one you can.

Also, and this is very important, get a good antenna for however you plan to monitor or choose to buy.

Man that sounds Friggin sweet!!!! thats exactly what im after,
I think Im definitely going to go with your advice and get the best one I can. Its like another poster said, with electronics/computers etc you dont wanna buy outdated.

speaking of antennas. Currently I have installed a 30-1300MHz ST2 Scanner Antenna Kit from Antennacraft. Is this a good antenna? Is a Discone better? or which one is the best for scanning these frequencies in this area.

Also When I installed it on the top of my tv tower, I just took down the old round white tv antenna and used the coax cable that was connected into it and screwed it into the Scanner Antenna so I didnt have to make another hole into the house(was convienent at the time) Now this cable is just the white one that came with the tv tower, it has no writing on it so I have no way of knowing wether its RG-59 or RG-6 or what. I would hope since it was intended to be used outside and is long it would be RG-6 but cant gaurentee it. After this long cable goes down the tower it goes into my basement where it connects to a coupler and another cable to make it to my living room tv area. Is this Bad? I imagine the cable is pretty important and I dont wanna be in a situation of Having a Awesome Antenna but loosing alot because of a ****ty cable/s. Can that happen? I see this Cable called LMR-400 and someone claming that it made a world of a difference when he changed from RG-6. Is it really worth it, does it make that much of a difference where I should be changing mine.

Just something else Ive been wondering. whats your thoughts on that one?

Try this out: go to the database section here for Zone 1 fleetnet. Check out the different towers. Then pick ones near you. Punch in the frequencies that are "coloured" the control channels.

With a tower you will probably will do well, if you can hear a grinding sound that means you will likely be able (if the signal is strong enough and the scanner you eventually get is as sensitive as yours) to listen into a wide variety of activity.

Let us know what towers then you can hear.

 

[trancefreak99]

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Try this out: go to the database section here for Zone 1 fleetnet. Check out the different towers. Then pick ones near you. Punch in the frequencies that are "coloured" the control channels.

With a tower you will probably will do well, if you can hear a grinding sound that means you will likely be able (if the signal is strong enough and the scanner you eventually get is as sensitive as yours) to listen into a wide variety of activity.

Let us know what towers then you can hear.

Just an update guys

Great News EJB, I just tried inputting those control channel frequencies into my BC895xlt analog scanner and I def hear that grinding or boat motor sound that you and others describe. I easily pick up all the ones i listed and way more. Heck Im just goin thru and I bet you I can pick up at least half of these or more!!!
Im going to go pick up my BCD996XT tomorrow!!!!! Im pumped
I was told to go bring it in to get it programed (I dont wanna say the name incase thats against the rules but its in Toronto) Ive heard I wont regret it. I know thats kinda cheating and I should learn to do it myself.
what do you think about doin that? Is it worth it as a very capable smart with electronics and technology kinda guy but still a huge newb to scanning. Even though what i learn I am understanding. It is more complicated then most toys and want to even out the early enjoyment to stress ratio that im sure this toy will bring

Please weigh in

 

[Forts]

If they are charging you any more than a few $$ to program your radio, then no it's not worth it. There is nothing they can program into the radio that you can't do yourself. Always feel free to ask questions, and someone will help you out. Many good programming software packages are free or come with free trials so you will be able to get your feet wet and try things out. Plus if you really get stuck you can send your file to one of use to take a peek at and see where you went wrong. If you like to tinker at all, do it yourself. You won't regret it in the end.

 

[EJB]

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If they are charging you any more than a few $$ to program your radio, then no it's not worth it. There is nothing they can program into the radio that you can't do yourself. Always feel free to ask questions, and someone will help you out. Many good programming software packages are free or come with free trials so you will be able to get your feet wet and try things out. Plus if you really get stuck you can send your file to one of use to take a peek at and see where you went wrong. If you like to tinker at all, do it yourself. You won't regret it in the end.

Yes and no Chris. Its up to the person buying the scanner. A 996XT for a neub might be intimidating.

However, RadioWorld prob charges way too much to get it programmed. And many of us here could give you a bunch of files for free. Once you see how the files look you can figure out how to do them yourself.

Its good though that you can hear the grinding sound of the control channel. With any luck you will be able to listen to the OPP from well into London's dispatch area all the way into the GTA.

And since the 996XLT allows you to jump from one CC to another you can keep abreast on all activity around you.

Advise for the orignal poster, ask to have control channels set for area. If you have a file where too many CC's are you won't be able to keep up on what's going on. Ask for a setup where you can scan towers in your area and another for areas further away.

Or ask for a setup for MOH, another for the GTA OPP, another for London dispatch OPP, etc.

Nothings more frustrating when you have this amazing scanner and you have no idea how to get it going.

So, as long as you don't pay a criminally high price for programming you at least can see how to set up your scanner.

Check the wiki articles in the Ontario area. I wrote articles about what you will expect to hear off a few towers.

And let us know what your setup is and post to here what RadioWorld made for you.

While its not the site it used to be there are still plenty of good people who will help you out.