Mississauga Fire scanning

[Ryan2006]

Hi everyone,
I live in the Halton Region and have been scanning it for a couple years now. I pick up everyone in the region just fine (Milton, HH, Oakville, Burlington). I would always listen to Mississauga Fire on Broadcastify, but within the last few weeks it has since been removed.

My scanner (Uniden BCD436HP) doesn’t seem to want to pick up Mississauga Fire (or Brampton for the matter, but I don’t care about Brampton), until I actually get into the city. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue or it’s just me?

I don’t think it is an antenna issue as like I mentioned I can pick up every other town nearby that’s the same distance away.

Thanks!

 

[Enjoi19]

If you see signal bars but aren't getting a decode on the control channel, you may be having issues with simulcast distortion. It may also depend on where you're trying to listen from and the geography. Antenna could be a factor if you're trying to listen indoors to an out of region system.

 

[mciupa]

90% of my monitoring is at home. I have the BCD 536HP with a rooftop antenna in Etobicoke and I have found that setting the Attenuator on the system (FUNC button + 4) button presses helps a bit. Without the ATT, I see the talkgroup flicker or it is mute, just like you are experiencing.

On your scanner, put the Peel Region system on hold by pushing SYSTEM, push FUNC and 4, then push SCAN again. You will see ATT on the display. I hope that helps.

My best decode for Miss Fire is on SDRTrunk. I seem to get much more coming across and it is on the left and right channels through the speaker or headphones. Down side is you need a laptop and SDR dongle and antenna. Definitely not grab and go like a 436.

I set up SDR Trunk by watching YouTube, pausing the video step by step.

 

[Enjoi19]

My best decode for Miss Fire is on SDRTrunk. I seem to get much more coming across and it is on the left and right channels through the speaker or headphones.

Or feed SDR-Trunk into Rdio-Scanner and never miss a thing

 

[mciupa]

Or feed SDR-Trunk into Rdio-Scanner and never miss a thing

I turn all my electronics off every night.
I'm an "awake from 700 to 2230 hours" old geezer.

 

[VA3ADP]

I find for the 536, if you set the digital threshold level to 6, it will decode a bit better. The SDS scanners work perfectly on the GTA P25 systems. Or if you have the $$$ for a Motorola APX, works well also.

 

[Ryan2006]

90% of my monitoring is at home. I have the BCD 536HP with a rooftop antenna in Etobicoke and I have found that setting the Attenuator on the system (FUNC button + 4) button presses helps a bit. Without the ATT, I see the talkgroup flicker or it is mute, just like you are experiencing.

On your scanner, put the Peel Region system on hold by pushing SYSTEM, push FUNC and 4, then push SCAN again. You will see ATT on the display. I hope that helps.

My best decode for Miss Fire is on SDRTrunk. I seem to get much more coming across and it is on the left and right channels through the speaker or headphones. Down side is you need a laptop and SDR dongle and antenna. Definitely not grab and go like a 436.

I set up SDR Trunk by watching YouTube, pausing the video step by step.

View attachment 164926

Just did a little digging around online, found an SDR and all online and am considering purchasing it. Curious as to how well you pick up Mississauga radio traffic on it. I am in Milton and my 436 wont pickup anything in Peel until I am in the city. I'm considering buying this but worried I wont pick up anything and would be a waste of money lol.

 

[mciupa]

It's all about antennas. The higher you put it up the better you will receive. If you don't have outdoor antenna access, it may not be worthwhile.

 

[Ryan2006]

It's all about antennas. The higher you put it up the better you will receive. If you don't have outdoor antenna access, it may not be worthwhile.

Gotcha. I unfortunately do not have any outdoor antennas. I would just be using the stock antenna that comes with the unit from inside my house. If you don't think it will be worthwhile because of that I don't think I will take the risk and just deal with not being able to listen to them from home 😂😂 Thank you for the help regardless!

 

[Aviator747]

Gotcha. I unfortunately do not have any outdoor antennas. I would just be using the stock antenna that comes with the unit from inside my house. If you don't think it will be worthwhile because of that I don't think I will take the risk and just deal with not being able to listen to them from home 😂😂 Thank you for the help regardless!

A magnetic mobile 2m ham radio antenna can be found for fairly cheap and will be greatly better than the stock antenna. You cant go wrong with a RTL-SDR V3. Just make sure you are getting the real deal.

 

[Ryan2006]

A magnetic mobile 2m ham radio antenna can be found for fairly cheap and will be greatly better than the stock antenna. You cant go wrong with a RTL-SDR V3. Just make sure you are getting the real deal.

I was considering purchasing an RTL SDR then just listening to Mississauga Fire via my computer. I'm just worried that it won't pick them up from a city over.

90% of my monitoring is at home. I have the BCD 536HP with a rooftop antenna in Etobicoke and I have found that setting the Attenuator on the system (FUNC button + 4) button presses helps a bit. Without the ATT, I see the talkgroup flicker or it is mute, just like you are experiencing.

On your scanner, put the Peel Region system on hold by pushing SYSTEM, push FUNC and 4, then push SCAN again. You will see ATT on the display. I hope that helps.

My best decode for Miss Fire is on SDRTrunk. I seem to get much more coming across and it is on the left and right channels through the speaker or headphones. Down side is you need a laptop and SDR dongle and antenna. Definitely not grab and go like a 436.

I set up SDR Trunk by watching YouTube, pausing the video step by step.

View attachment 164926

Looking at buying an RTL SDR and just listening via my PC. Just curious as to if you needed to manually input all the frequencies for the Tac channels or if it automatically does so.

 

[mciupa]

It automatically finds them as they broadcast.

 

[gary123]

Depending on the software you choose to run the SDR you can also tag the RIDs TG and other parameters. This makes using the SDR a whole lot more enjoyable.

 

[Ryan2006]

Depending on the software you choose to run the SDR you can also tag the RIDs TG and other parameters. This makes using the SDR a whole lot more enjoyable.

Gotcha right on. Id have to find a solid software

 

[gary123]

Unitrunker and DSDplus are the most popular. Unitrunker is free from their groups. the current version of DSDplus is a purchased item. I believe its $35 for a lifetime subscription. Many hardcore use DSDPlus as it provides a few features not seen in other software. If you look at the PSRN threads you will see both in use.