Fleetnet dependant on users being connected to towers?

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bush_aholic

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Was wondering if anyone as insight or explanation on this issue I have noticed on BellFleetNet? I tried to search around but came up empty.

When in remote areas I am connected to at least one tower but usually its 2 or 3 with at least one of them having excellent signal, control channel is good and strong but no traffic at all for days sometimes. These areas are far from bases or detachments and it can be a day or more without seeing any service vehicles using FleetNet, most of the time they are just passing through the area when you do see them unless there is actually something going on.

It seems as soon as there is someone connected to the tower I am connected to I can hear all kinds on traffic sometimes coming from 300-500km away from my location but it’s only transmissions associated with that specific service that is in range (MNR, OPP, MOH, MTO) but once they are off the tower out of the area dead silence once again.

Am I wrong to assume scanners are dependent on having to have at least one FleetNet user whether it be a vehicle, base or detachment on the tower you’re connected to in order to receive any transmissions on a scanner?

On the upside it’s very easy to tell if someone is nearby and I need to watch the speed a little closer since it’s the only time I hear anything.



- Using BCD996P2, with mobile 136-170 MHz antenna
- Everything is downloaded form the RR database using FreeScan and seems to works great and is nearly foolproof to set up.
 

mmckenna

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Correct.
There are a lot of talk groups on that system, and it can't send all the traffic out to all the sites, there just isn't enough resources.
So, when a subscriber wanders into an area, the radio will affiliate with that site and the radio will tell the system that it's sitting on talk group "x". The system will route all traffic for that talkgroup to that site.
When the radio leaves that site, it affiliates with another site (or should, if there is one in range), and the traffic switches to the new site and the old one is freed up.

This is one of the reasons why when people buy a used trunking radio transceiver and attempt to put it on a trunked system, we'll caution them against doing it wrong. If the radio affiliates, even accidentally, it'll utilize some of the resources on that site. That can be an issue if resources are very limited.

So, yes, that's what you are seeing.
 

bush_aholic

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Thanks for the great reply!

I've been listening to feeds for a long time but finally got my own scanner still working on learning it all. I guess I was hopeful I was just missing something or there was a legal workaround. From what I've pieced together getting caught with a transceiver on FleetNet without permission could be big trouble.

I originally just figured each tower site would transmit at least a limited range of talk groups surrounding the area regardless of any actual connections to that specific tower.

At least the dead air has pushed me to broaden my horizons a little more and look beyond fleetnet to fill the time...lol
 

mmckenna

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Thanks for the great reply!

I've been listening to feeds for a long time but finally got my own scanner still working on learning it all. I guess I was hopeful I was just missing something or there was a legal workaround. From what I've pieced together getting caught with a transceiver on FleetNet without permission could be big trouble.

Yeah, not sure what the provincial or federal laws are up there, but down here it gets pretty serious.

I originally just figured each tower site would transmit at least a limited range of talk groups surrounding the area regardless of any actual connections to that specific tower.

My Motorola SmartZone skills are pretty rusty, but I think that's difficult to do on a system that size. Doesn't make sense for traffic loading.

At least the dead air has pushed me to broaden my horizons a little more and look beyond fleetnet to fill the time...lol

Get a good antenna and see what's out there.
 
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