Trouble Monitoring Toronto Emergency System Fire and EMS.

[XJM721]

I was an avid listener of the Bell FleetNet OPP and MOH. Now that they are encrypted I am trying to listen to Toronto Fire and EMS. I was successful in being able to listen to Toronto Fire and EMS a couple of years ago with no issues.

I have a two Uniden HomePatrol 2's. One is connected to an attic mounted dual band VHF/UHFmobile antenna and the other is connected to a DPD Productions Omni X on the roof of the house at a height of about 30 feet with a clear view of Toronto. I am located in Mississauga south of Highway 403 and one block west of Winston Churchill Blvd.

I am looking for some help with an issue of being unable to receive the Toronto Emergency System reliably. If I compare what I receive on my HomePatrols to the Broadcastify channel for Toronto Emergency System, I am not receiving 98 percent of the traffic that I am hearing on Broadcastify.
Even if I setup a Favorites List just for Toronto Fire West and set up to only monitor West Command Talk Groups and West Simulcast frequencies, I see a full signal but hear very little traffic. I tried this for Toronto Fire South and North with the same issue little to no traffic.

I did the same type of setup for EMS for example I setup a Favorites List with Talk Groups Paramedics Services Zones A, B and C with West Simulcast Frequencies and get the same results of little to no traffic.
Even if I manage to hear a Fire Dispatch and I monitor the assigned Tac Channel I hear nothing 98 percent of the time even though I have a full scale signal on the S-Meter but I hear the traffic on Broadcastify. I have the System Type set to P25 X2 TDMA and the Service Types set as per Sentinel.
I have no trouble receiving Mississauga, Brampton and all Halton Region Fire Departments as well as Buffalo Fire and even the Niagara County New York Public Safety UHF P25 Standard Simulcast system.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Paul

 

[mciupa]

In my Sentinel programming, the System Type is P25 Trunk for Toronto Emergency System. I am local to the system so no issues with receiving. I think there are other members out your way that may be able to help.

 

[XJM721]

Thanks for the response. In my version of Sentinel I have a choice of the following P25 System Types: P25 X2-TDMA, P25 Standard, P25 One Frequency.

 

[mciupa]

Try P25 Standard and see if you have any improvement.

 

[mjf]

I believe the Home Patrol 2 cannot handle simulcast systems. The missed traffic despite having a strong signal really sounds like a simulcast problem. I see the same with my BCD996P2 when it's sitting next to my Unication G4. The G4 hears everything but the 996 gets bits and pieces.

 

[gary123]

Sometimes on a simulcast system, a poorer antenna works better. That way you only get the signal from the closest site.

 

[XJM721]

@mciupa
I tried P25 Standard and it made no difference.

@mjf
I understand what you are saying about the simulcast issue with the HomePatrol but I am able to receive Mississauga and Brampton Fire on the Peel Region 800 MHz simulcast System Type set to P25 X2 TDMA as well as the Niagara County New York Public Safety 400 MHz simulcast system set to P25 Standard. On both systems I do get some distortion and broken transmissions but it seems to be very minimal.

@gary123
Thanks for your input. I will give it a try.

 

[XJM721]

@gary123
I tried using an old VHF/UHF mobile antenna, as well as the antenna that comes with the HomePatrol. Indoors on the main floor and the second floor of my house, but unfortunately it did seem to make much difference.
One thing I did notice is that during all the testing I have done is that when using my attic mounted to a dual band VHF/UHF mobile antenna or the Omni X reception seems to be better on somedays than others. The traffic I receive is still far less then what I am hearing on Broadcastify. I guess the only real solution is to look into getting one of the Uniden SDS scanners.

 

[mciupa]

Or another option might be to buy a RTL-SDR dongle and a lifetime subsription to DSDPlus Fast Lane. I find listening to Metrolinx horrid on my 536 and 325 scanners and superb on DSDPlus.

 

[XJM721]

mciupa... Thanks for the info.