I agree the synthetic voice sucks. There are way better text to speech voices available. Many of the public domain ones you hear on YouTube/reddit are 1000% better and a lot easier to understand. If I was receiving those pages I would be pushing for a better, more understandable voice. Even Environment Canada's voice on the weather frequencies is better and it's 12+ years old.
Waterloo Regional P25 System
- Thread starter ve3ypn
- Start date
Actually the software was updated within the last one or two years and is on a software called I-Notify which replaced an old program called AVIPADS. Avipads had words recorded by a real person and when it spoke a forecast it played audio files of those words in sections. I believe the new software is an actual synthesized voice that reads full words and not recorded words.
This is what the Fire and Medical tones sound like along with the synthesized voice. They were testing this morning.
Fire Tones
Medical Tones
They are not using the voice for actual calls yet they are using the Fire and Medical tones for actual calls, though.
I have a question, why the need for these new automated notifications?
I am not sure. Just keeping up to date with the latest station alerting technology maybe?
ATCTech
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2002
- Messages
- 1,857
There was a dispatcher that worked for a smaller Fire Dept. in our area that routinely would (voice) page out calls giving conflicting details or even missing information between the initial and repeated voice message within the same transmission. It might be a different street number, east versus west, what apparatus was being dispatched or any combination there-of.
Downright dangerous and certainly confusing for responding crews having to request clarification when rolling. Automation eliminates at least that "human error" factor, provided the call data is properly entered in the first place.
Downright dangerous and certainly confusing for responding crews having to request clarification when rolling. Automation eliminates at least that "human error" factor, provided the call data is properly entered in the first place.
Not to mention it's potentially a money saving feature, given the wages dispatchers make at some departments.
Discovered a new talkgroup today on this system on my SDS100. 1901. Appears to be a fire patch talkgroup. Cambridge units were working with Guelph units for a vehicle collision in OPP territory. Possibly highway 24?. Anyway, Guelph units were checking in with Guelph dispatch while Cambridge was working with it's dispatch.
On another note, my SDS displays system NACs. Waterloo seems to have NAC 975, but the display also has a flashing NAC of 971. What's the flashing NAC indicating?
On another note, my SDS displays system NACs. Waterloo seems to have NAC 975, but the display also has a flashing NAC of 971. What's the flashing NAC indicating?
It's Puslinch Fire Tac 2 from the FleetConnect system.
Yep, Cambridge Fire and Puslinch Fire do calls together either on Hwy 401 accidents, or other calls that are in the middle between Cambridge and Puslinch.
For example, the Old Marina Restaurant fire in 2022 had Cambridge and Puslinch Fire working on that incident with them patching one of Waterloo Regions Fire Tac/Ops channels to the patch Talkgroup 1901 to talk to Puslinch on their radio system.
Any systems can be cross-patched. The desire usually is to repeat the P25 or DMR packets directly. It's when you have to convert P25 to DMR and vice versa that you have to go the convert the incoming format to analog and then remodulate to the other format.
If done correctly there is minimal double conversion distortion. if done poorly it sounds like sh*t. Other factors are the inherent processing delays and TX handshakes. A good system tech can handle all this and the result is nice clear comm's like the patches mentioned.
If done correctly there is minimal double conversion distortion. if done poorly it sounds like sh*t. Other factors are the inherent processing delays and TX handshakes. A good system tech can handle all this and the result is nice clear comm's like the patches mentioned.
DataSquid
Member
Any suggestions as to what TG 5801 might be? Dispatch checking in on the status of multiple units periodically.
Any idea what they are chatting about?
DataSquid
Member
I just heard the one burst of activity, and there was no context, just a round of check-ins. I just happened to be on monitoring after dusting off my SDS200 to try out the latest database updates. I'll setup recording and hopefully get enough info to draft a DB submission.
I think it's a Regional talkgroup for Regional services or something like that. RID 581xxxx and similar were seen on that TG and some other Regional talkgroups. 5309 is Region of Waterloo Security for the Region buildings.
So far These are the RIDs That Are Commonly Seen:
1xxxxxx - Fire
2xxxxxx - Unknown (Once in a long while keys up on the Fire/WRPS patch TGs)
3xxxxxx - WRPS
4xxxxxx - Transit
5xxxxxx - Regional Services
This list is from a 2018 Region of Waterloo Agenda:
I believe this was noted when they were still using the EDACS system.
Cambridge By-Law
Cambridge Public Works
Grand River Transit
ION (Region of Waterloo Light Rail Transit)
Kitchener By-Law
North Dumfries Township Fire Department
Waterloo By-Law
Waterloo Public Works
Waterloo Regional Airport;
Waterloo Regional Paramedic Services
Waterloo Region Emergency Measures Office
Waterloo Region Security Services (including security dispatch) - (TG: 5309)
Waterloo Region Transportation
Waterloo Region Waste Management
Wilmot Township Fire Department
Wilmot Township Public Works
Is anyone receiving any transmissions on these frequencies? I haven't received any signal so far. I have an RTL-SDR setup monitoring those frequencies for about a week and a half now.
| 852.525 | M | WRPS SIM 1 | Waterloo Regional Police Service SIM 1 | P25E | Law Tac | |||
| 852.625 | M | WRPS SIM 2 | Waterloo Regional Police Service SIM 2 | P25E | Law Tac | |||
| 852.875 | M | WRPS SIM 3 | Waterloo Regional Police Service SIM 3 | P25E | Law Tac | |||
| 852.975 | M | WRPS SIM 4 | Waterloo Regional Police Service SIM 4 | P25E | Law Tac |
| 852.875 | BM | KFD - Simplex | Fire - Simplex | P25 | Fire-Talk |
I am seeing some 75xxxxx RIDs being seen on WR Fire Traning Tac 5 and it's also patched with WR Fire Tac 5 for the St. Patrick's Day stuff going on in Waterloo. I passed by the area on 3/16 and saw police and EMS are staged in a couple of streets there for event responses and Waterloo Fire has formed a quick response team. I have a RID of 7510301 as WFR EOC Radio 1 and 7510302 as WFR EOC Radio 2 and have up to RID 7510305.
