need help! anybody!

[FIREMAN3000]

Hello i am a paramedic in los angeles california and a few friends and i are trying to start a fire notification business but are kind of at a standstill as to how to accomplish this. We know we need scanners to accomplish this but dont know on what magnitude. Do we need multiple people in the different areas or counties we want to cover? Is it possible to have the scanned information be sent to one central location? If someone could please shed some light it would be highly appreciated. Weve been trying to figure this out for about 6 months now. Thank you

 

[captclint]

Hello i am a paramedic in los angeles california and a few friends and i are trying to start a fire notification business but are kind of at a standstill as to how to accomplish this. We know we need scanners to accomplish this but dont know on what magnitude. Do we need multiple people in the different areas or counties we want to cover? Is it possible to have the scanned information be sent to one central location? If someone could please shed some light it would be highly appreciated. Weve been trying to figure this out for about 6 months now. Thank you

If my memory serves correctly, technically, you are not allowed to repeat anything you have heard on a scanner, esp for personal gain. The enforcement of this is highly variable, and often depends more on the agencies that are being monitored. There are several cases where agencies have, or have attempted to. shut down live feeds, which would be your best method of inter-team communication, so this whole area of repeating info is not to be taken lightly.

If you chose to ignore this issue, the answers depend on several things:
1. Are you only interested in LA, or the whole county, or more than one county?
2. Are all of the pages/dispatches centralized for the area(s) you want to cover, or are some dispatched at a local level.
3. What is your target audience for the notification, and how much detail do you intend to relay.
4. How do you plan to notify: email, telephone, web site, tweets?
5. Do you plan to charge for this service?

 

[FIREMAN3000]

Were trying to cover multiple counties, about seven of them. And these agencies pay us for scanning for them, theure not paying us for the info, so its legal, besides there are other companies out there that are doing this. We are just tring to figure out the best way to scan a huge area. People in different counties? Are we missing somethin?

 

[gmclam]

It depends

Hello i am a paramedic in los angeles california and a few friends and i are trying to start a fire notification business but are kind of at a standstill as to how to accomplish this.

With all the companies out there doing this already, I am surprised someone (else) would consider it. That is unless there are legal reasons no one is doing it.

We know we need scanners to accomplish this but dont know on what magnitude. Do we need multiple people in the different areas or counties we want to cover?

L.A. county is a HUGE area and has a lot of different agencies/etc. Some people consider parts of Orange County or perhaps Ventura or San Bernardino to be part of the "L.A. area". The answer to your question: "it depends". Do you only want dispatch traffic? Do you want tac traffic? Do you want command channel traffic? Do you want it from all areas of the county? Do you want it from surrounding counties? A ton of questions as to what the scope of your business entails.

Note that "broadcasters" spend lots of money to put their transmitters on mountain tops for a reason. Generally speaking, if your receiver can't "see" the antenna of the signal being broadcast, you probably won't hear it (there are exceptions). If the signal you want to monitor goes through a repeater (which is on a mountain top), you are far more likely to receive it. If the signal is coming direct from a (fire) radio, let's hope you are close and/or one or both of you are "high up".

Is it possible to have the scanned information be sent to one central location?

Yes. You could send it to the moon.

If someone could please shed some light it would be highly appreciated. Weve been trying to figure this out for about 6 months now.

Lots of issues on every front .. business .. legal .. technical.

 

[loumaag]

FIREMAN3000:

I am going to try and be diplomatic about this. You have already had 3 posts deleted. You have been a member for 5 days as of this morning and are generally looking for free help for you and your friends to start some sort of business. That is not what this site is about. This is a hobbyist site and although their are many many members who are in the "business" of radio communication, and are willing to help other hobbyists with questions, they are not here to be badgered by someone looking for free help to start a business.

Since you have already stated what your ultimate intention is, and I have just explained that this is not the place to get the answers that you seek to start a business, you are welcome to remain here as a member on a non-commercial basis. However, any further seeking of information to aid you in your goal of starting your business will result in a forum infraction being issued for failure to follow a moderator's request as a minimum.

Thank you in advance for your understanding that this is not a business consultation site.

 

[FIREMAN3000]

First of all thanks for all those who were willing to help me, i really appreciate it. There are like a thousand different topics here so i figured it wouldnt be a big deal trying to get some help. And i think there are tons of peole that are willing out of a good heart to give "free advice" to someone who needs it. With that being said i am more than willing to accept your terms on not bringing up the subject anymore.