Mississauga/Caledon Fire Pager?

[Jay911]

The nice part about a discriminator tap is your are now ready to run other decoding programs like Mtrunker for Fleetnet and Seatty to decode S.A.M.E. on the Weather Radio transmitters.

I have an old Pro2001 I added a discriminator tap to and use only for the purpose of Trunker/PDW/seaTTY which keeps my other scanners free for regular scanning.

I would recommend everybody pick up an old boat anchor and tap it, if you blow it up you have nothing to lose and it opens up a whole new world of scanning.

Absolutely. I have several scanners and a computer or two dedicated for it - the nice part is, if you can get two sound cards to work in your PC, you can run two UniTrunker or PDW type programs. (It's been said that you can run more - up to eight sources if you have four stereo sound cards in your machine - but I've only had success with two cards and two sources.)

Myself, I run PDW and POC32 on one source at the same time, one for logging and the other for alerting (each piece of software does a job a little better than the other, IMO - and I wish either/both were still being developed). On the other computer, I run Unitrunker, which is a newer/different version of Mtrunker, and have it tracking a trunked radio system 24/7. (If I could get the 2nd sound card in that system going, I'd track a 2nd system with another copy of UT.)

Let me say that if you want to figure out the trunk systems in your area, learning talkgroups and frequencies and such, you want to run a trunker type program. All it needs is the control channel frequency and it gathers up the data being transmitted across it - i.e. when it says "Radio 12345, go to channel 361 for talkgroup 16", you get that. All that kind of stuff is very interesting/useful when you're trying to figure out who is who and what is what, especially on a new or growing system (as Fleetnet might happen to be where you are ). There are versions for Motorola, EDACS, and MPT1327 trunk systems.

Another thing you can use a tapped scanner for is ACARS, aircraft data transmissions. I don't know exactly what kind of messages you get because I've never been successful at receiving an ACARS transmission despite being right under a major air route. I believe it's generally stuff like aircraft location, type, speed, heading, origin, destination, etc.

Welcome to a new element of radio scanning.

 

[Chrome69]

yes i love PDW works well can make a web page with all the calls and even email me the calls its great.. I will be trying my hand on trunker. But like you guys said, maybe i bought a bit of a expensive radio with the 898 to run as a tap but i am happy with it.... I could have got some other cheaper models i think but i am happy with it.... Now we need to make a list of ontario paging freq so we can listen in on some of them...

 

[Chrome69]

0099050 00:12:43 05-09-06 POCSAG-1 ALPHA 512 51-PI ACCIDENT/
BRAMALEA RD-BR/SANDALWOOD PY E
Map:93B Tac:7
A208 S203
X1:1998 SANDALWOOD
X2:2 BLACK FOREST D
Inc:#6028823
2030003 00:12:47 05-09-06 POCSAG-4 ALPHA 512 51-PI ACCIDENT/
BRAMALEA RD-BR/SANDALWOOD PY E
Map:93B Tac:7
A208 S203
X1:1998 SANDALWOOD
X2:2 BLACK FOREST D
Inc:#6028823
2080002 00:12:51 05-09-06 POCSAG-4 ALPHA 512 51-PI ACCIDENT/
BRAMALEA RD-BR/SANDALWOOD PY E
Map:93B Tac:7
A208 S203
X1:1998 SANDALWOOD
X2:2 BLACK FOREST D
Inc:#6028823
here is a call and i see 3 pages sent out one to S203 and one to A208 i am guessing the first one is 009 chief or Superintendent? Mississauga doesn't do that, just brampton it would appear

 

[Jay911]

It could be almost anything. A lot of these things are very user-configurable and dependent on a number of factors designed/created by the developers. The department could require that all chief officers get paged on a certain type of call. We do that here. Or it could even be something like a data logger or similar... any pages sent to "099050" get captured to a computer and/or printed out. We do something similar here to trigger alarms at a firehall... anything with a certain string of alphanumeric characters, sent to a specific pager address, trips the siren tones.

As you are well aware, everything after the "ALPHA 512" is totally user-dependent. (Side note: Who uses 512 still these days? Apparently Mississauga.. here most are 1200 or 2400.. I think there's two 512 baud pagers left on the site.) It could be a phone number or a full text message like your system is showing. It's largely got to do with how the CAD system is set up and what it passes to the paging interface. The system here gives much the same info as what you're posting, except no cross streets, map, or tac. (Just address, call type/determinant, and event number.)

If you're lucky, the pager addresses you see will be remotely close to what the actual units are. It appears you are very lucky... here, the system is shared between all three services, and unit numbers went out the window ages ago... Medic 'whoever' is lucky if both pagers are within the same thousand numbers, let alone their proper number. It could be 0990953 and 0000715 for example.

 

[mikewazowski]

The system is actually quite old. It was put in when the regional fire volunteers moved over to the 800Mhz channels and the old VHF repeater was taken down.

512 baud was probably the most logical choice at that point. Since the system doesn't handle a high amount of data, there's probably no need for an upgrade until the pagers break.

 

[Chrome69]

It could be almost anything. A lot of these things are very user-configurable and dependent on a number of factors designed/created by the developers. The department could require that all chief officers get paged on a certain type of call. We do that here. Or it could even be something like a data logger or similar... any pages sent to "099050" get captured to a computer and/or printed out. We do something similar here to trigger alarms at a firehall... anything with a certain string of alphanumeric characters, sent to a specific pager address, trips the siren tones.

Yes that would make sense on the 099050 being sent to a computer but why is it done on Brampton but not Mississauga? Maybe thats where all dispatch is being done from in Mississauga and Brampton Fire wants a copy of their calls and Mississauga are printed locally? I don't see them updating unless like Mike said, the system dies... Guess the old saying applies here "if it an't broken, why fix it?".. Mind you if someone from Mississauga or Brampton Fire reads this thread it may happen sooner...

 

[Chrome69]

hmmm i have noticed something, I haven't got a Caledon page yet? Has anyone else thats monitoring that freq? I have got Mississauga and Brampton but no 300's yet

 

[exkalibur]

512 baud was probably the most logical choice at that point. Since the system doesn't handle a high amount of data, there's probably no need for an upgrade until the pagers break.

From what I've read, the lower the baud rate, the pager is less likely to false, and can provide better decode rates. This is why Toronto EMS still use 1200 baud POCSAG instead of FLEX from what I hear.

That, and...why fix what isn't broken?

 

[Jay911]

I guess that's true.. but I guess it also depends on how busy the system is. The paging system I'm most familiar with is rarely idle for more than a second or two. (Then again, part of that is because they send out individual pages when they should be sending out group pages, to groups of 5, 10, 15, or 50 or more pagers... can you say network overload? I knew you could)

 

[wyldman]

Got mine working off a tapped BC780.Works great off the tap.I've tried it off of other units through the earphone jack,and it never worked right.

Now we just need some way to get it to work off my IPAQ,so I can make it portable,without carrying a laptop around everywhere.

 

[wyldman]

hmmm i have noticed something, I haven't got a Caledon page yet? Has anyone else thats monitoring that freq? I have got Mississauga and Brampton but no 300's yet

Caledon hasn't been too busy lately,maybe that's why ?

I just got a few,so they do page out on that same frequency

0308000 14:31:32 05-09-06 POCSAG-1 ALPHA 512 31-TRUCK FIRE O
HWY 9/THE GORE RD-CA
Map:1A1B Tac:8
P308 S308 T308
X1:19060 THE GORE R
X2:19380 CENTREVILL
Inc:#6028870

 

[Chrome69]

I have it sending to my cell phone works good And yes i just got that one as well Chris... Now what is 65-OutDoor MINO? Wonder if their is a code chart floating around...

 

[wyldman]

I have it sending to my cell phone works good And yes i just got that one as well Chris... Now what is 65-OutDoor MINO? Wonder if their is a code chart floating around...

65 - Outdoor minor fire.

I'm not sure,but it looks as if the code number corresponds to the type of call.I will have to run it for a few days and see what all comes up,then maybe I can compile something.If the description is included in most of the pages,then the numbers aren't real important anyways,unless you get a long description which may be truncated to fit the pager.

 

[Chrome69]

Now the only thing i would love to learn is how to filter out dupe pages... I love that it will email me the calls but how to elimanite dupe calls being sent would be a bonus.... Hard to do as each call has its own address so going to be tough..... Any suggestions?

 

[pathalogical]

Decoding these pagers sounds very interesting. But I have a simple question, I've heard Mississauga Fire on 414.5875 (103.5 CTCSS) and then they are given a new channel/freq sometimes refered to as "Frequency 3". Is that when they switch to a trunked ID as listed in the Peel region system ? A quick search on IC revealed 414.5875, all 20 (800MHz) freqs as indicated in the Peel system, including 3 not listed in RR DB 866.0125 866.5125 866.2125 making Peel 23 freqs instead of the current 20. I am unable to clearly hear Peel due to distance and the static reception becomes annoying after a few minutes.

 

[wyldman]

Mississauga uses 414.875 for voice dispatching,and it is also sometimes simulcast on the Peel region trunked system,depending on the station(s) dispatched.Chrome mentioned to me that it is because there are a few stations which the trunked system does not cover well.

When they are told to use "channel 3",they are referring to the trunked system.All that info is in the database.

 

[wyldman]

Now the only thing i would love to learn is how to filter out dupe pages... I love that it will email me the calls but how to elimanite dupe calls being sent would be a bonus.... Hard to do as each call has its own address so going to be tough..... Any suggestions?

You can start by filtering out all the pages for capcode 0099050.These are always duplicates.Maybe they use this for confirmation and testing ? just to make sure the page went out correctly ?

You could also filter by station,and\or truck,so it only sends filtered messages for the stations\trucks you are close to,or wish to track.You can chose to both filter or reject any message you want.

I turned on the email notification as well,with all pages,and got like 30 emails in an hour.You'll get hosed with data charges on your cell phone if emailing all that stuff.

 

[Jay911]

Those codes are consistent with the National Academy of Emergency Dispatch's Fire Priority Dispatch system. I have a list around here, and there has been communications on the site here about them before. I'll do some digging and see what comes up.

Systems using NAED's EFD system generally use the EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch) system as well, the card numbers 1-33. (That's why EFD uses 50 and up.)

 

[pokey]

Mississauga uses 414.875 for voice dispatching,and it is also sometimes simulcast on the Peel region trunked system,depending on the station(s) dispatched.Chrome mentioned to me that it is because there are a few stations which the trunked system does not cover well.

When they are told to use "channel 3",they are referring to the trunked system.All that info is in the database.

Just to clarify, all dispatches go out on 414.5875..all the time. If a truck is not in the station and on the air, it will still go though 414.5875 but will be pached with channel 1 on the trunking system. If it is an on air dispatch, you will hear a series of tones before the voice dispatch. If a truck is available they are always sitting on channel 1.

 

[Jay911]

This list is old, and I hear some of the card numbers may have actually changed, but it should give you a running head start. Also note that dispatch centers are welcome to modify this system, to some extent, to more accurately fit their needs. I.e. Kananaskis Fire, here in the rural Alberta wilderness, may not need Card 62 Marine Fires, but could benefit from a new card for Urban/Wildland Interface fires.

Card 51 - Aircraft Emergencies
Card 52 - Alarms
Card 53 - Assist/Service Call
Card 54 - Confined Space Rescue/Structure Collapse
Card 55 - Electrical Hazard
Card 56 - Elevator/Escalator Rescue
Card 57 - Explosion
Card 58 - Extrication/Entrapment
Card 59 - Leaks of Gases
Card 60 - Hazmat/Fuel Spill
Card 61 - High Angle/Slope Rescue
Card 62 - Marine Fire
Card 63 - Mutual Aid Response
Card 64 - Odors (Strange/Unknown)
Card 65 - Outdoor Fire
Card 66 - Smoke Investigation
Card 67 - Structure Fire (Commercial/Residential)
Card 68 - Train/Subway/Commuter/Rail Incident
Card 69 - Vehicle Fire
Card 70 - Water Rescue (Still/Ice/Swift)

Alpha response - single rig cold
Bravo response - single rig hot
Charlie response - multiple rigs, lead rig hot, others cold
Delta response - multiple rigs, all hot
Echo response - multiple rigs, all hot - life status questionable

"cold" - no lights, no sirens
"hot" - lights and sirens