LMRN General Discussion

[gary123]

Phased over time. I have a unit on constant scan looking for anything to pop up.

The actual use is pretty infrequent. I think in part to the belief that the new repeaters are only to be used when the new system activates. The new repeaters are the same as the old repeaters with the dead battery issues on the Tait's and finally, poor training on when and how to be using the repeaters.
The last is a common issue with many services that have repeaters. The user and dispatch will complain they cannot hear the unit but will not activate and dial over to the repeater sitting 60 feet away.

 

[mrweather]

Thanks for the explanation. Incidentally, while driving around yesterday late morning near 401/Mississauga Road I heard chatter on 771.74375 for the first time so perhaps it's starting to come alive.

 

[Muxlow]

The UHF repeaters are done with for OPP and most EMS now down in the Windsor-London area. All traffic is on 700 MHz now for their vehicle repeaters. MTO enforcement is still on UHF. Rule of thumb is if you see a OPP/EMS vehicle with the black antennas now, then they will be on 700 MHz, not UHF.

 

[mrweather]

With the exception of what I caught the other day, all VR comms around here are still on UHF.

 

[bluwest]

I saw a post from OPP in Nipigon, Ontario which is North Western Ontario. They were still using the Tait portables.

 

[Muxlow]

Just stumbled across this photo of an Essex County officer.. has the logical choice "stubby" 7/800 MHz antenna rather then the annoying tall one.

 

[Saint]

I didn't add anything to the database. The frequency in question here VR04 was already in the database. If you'll notice, the latest update included the other frequency mentioned in this thread which is

772.05625

RM

131.8 PL

MOH 700VR3

VR03 Mobile Repeater

FMN

EMS Dispatch

I just add frequencies to my own personal programming based on observations mentioned in these threads. It was just noticed when I put them in the order mentioned, it looks like it matched the same as Fleetnet with 5 VRs for EMS.

I haven't confirmed nothing, this system hasn't even reached my part of Ontario yet.

I have been scanning the 700 Vehicle Repeater frequencies down In Fort Erie for three days and nothing has come.
Steve

 

[gary123]

We all have to be patient. Expect the database info to change because the channels are not super active yet. With winter it is real hard to have the opportunity to hear activity and get eyes on a user radio to confirm the channel name.

Anyone with contacts in OPP, EMS, and the not yet mentioned MTO could try and see if they can get the names of all the channels in the DVRS portables. Worst case it would let us know how many there are for each service.

 

[bluwest]

If they are moving from Analog to Digital, why wouldn't they have done that already with the upgraded portables?

 

[gary123]

It's got to be an all or nothing switch unless they want to simulcast on LMRN and FleetNet. All indications are they do not want to do that. I can see several technical reasons why. The big one being the frequency usage. Many if not all of the sites will be using the same FleetNet frequencies in LMRN. Doing an all in one switchover eliminates having to phase over frequencies individually.

As far as the portables are concerned, the mode the portable is in is controlled by two main factors. The first is the 'auto' selected mode of the DVRS. The second is the Channel configuration of the portable. There is still very little actual information yet on exactly how all this is configured, but based on industry knowledge, hardware knowledge and programming knowledge a pattern is starting to appear. This is why monitoring of the system and reporting of all LMRN activity and conditions is important.

 

[Ctsoom]

Hey guys. I'm a GTA paramedic and we received these from the MoH recently for training. Not sure of the specifics for rollout but it must be imminent.

 

[Forts]

Thanks for the pics! That's the training hardware they are wheeling around to let you guys get some hands on training. Most of the medics down my way have already completed the training and are using the new radios now (still on FleetNet though).

 

[gary123]

I too want to say thanks for the pics. It confirms the hardware in use. The mobile looks like a mono band APX. Possibly a APX 2500 or APX 6500. The DVRS appears to be a Futurecom DVR-LX. The portables look like APX6000BN model 1.5 and 2.5. the BN is because of the blue dot on the front indicating Bluetooth capabilities.

 

[Guccisock5]

Thanks for the pics! That's the training hardware they are wheeling around to let you guys get some hands on training. Most of the medics down my way have already completed the training and are using the new radios now (still on FleetNet though).

Northumberland EMS still using the old ones. No training set for near future.

 

[hunterca]

Northumberland EMS still using the old ones. No training set for near future.

Does that mean all of Zone 2 or just Northumberland?

 

[Guccisock5]

Does that mean all of Zone 2 or just Northumberland?

Honestly, I have no idea.

 

[hunterca]

I have an old Uniden BCD396T. Can I use it as a SDR for LMRN? Modified of course.
I know there is a pad on the Mother Board that says Disc.

 

[Forts]

So... yes, that can be done. You can get discriminator audio out of it to feed some software, but that doesn't make it an SDR (programs like Unitrunker 2 don't even accept disc audio anymore).

If you'd like to carry on this discussion I'd recommend making a proper thread in the Uniden or SDR forums and we don't want to clog this one up.

 

[mrweather]

What sort of range do the new VR's have? On the old 410 MHz ones, I could easily receive them 2-3 km away.

 

[gary123]

About the same range, maybe a bit better with a dedicated 700 band antenna. You also get better coverage in part to the lack of strong signals near the repeater frequencies.