Trying to monitor Erie County Buffalo Police / Fire / EMS from the Greater Toronto Area

[XJM721]

Has anyone been able to monitor Erie County Buffalo Police / Fire / EMS from the GTA?
I am in Mississauga using a Uniden HomePatrol 2 and an DPD Productions OmniX antenna at 30 Feet. I have been unable to receive any Police, EMS or Fire except for the Buffalo Fire Dispatch channel on 424.2250 Analog.

I am able to monitor the Niagara County (New York) Public Safety Trunked System P25 Standard as well as Niagara County Fire Dispatch 425.4625 Analog. Niagara Falls City Fire Dispatch 460.5750 Analog. Cattaraugus County Fire Dispatch 154.3250 Analog. Erie County Countywide EMS Simulcast 463.1000.
According to some of the Radio Reference Forums I have read Buffalo PD is P25 conventional, not trunked. How would I setup the System Type? The options on the Homepatrol 2 are Conventional, P25 Standard, P25 X2-TDMA, P25 One Frequency or Motorola?

 

[mc48]

Just append the system into a Favorites List from the Main Database in Sentinel.
The listing for BPD is under USA>NY>County Systems>Erie County.

 

[gary123]

FYI many conventional systems use a TG. You may have to locate the proper TG for each Buffalo Channel. Ask in the NY state forum someone there may already have the information you seek.

 

[sallen07]

@XJM721 if you are programming this manually, just pick "Conventional". If you have a P25 frequency progammed as "Conventional" you don't need to worry about talk groups.

The NAC is the digital equivalent of a squelch tone on an analog frequency. You don't need to program it if you don't want, but if you DO, it must match what is used by the agency you want to listen to.

Erie County, New York (NY) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference for Erie County, New York (NY)

www.radioreference.com

The county sheriff dispatch is the very first listing. I'm guessing the frequency and NAC are correct or one of the numerous Buffalo-area RR members would have submitted a correction. Bit too far for me to hear.

 

[GTR8000]

FYI many conventional systems use a TG. You may have to locate the proper TG for each Buffalo Channel. Ask in the NY state forum someone there may already have the information you seek.

Although technically capable of using talkgroups, 99.9% of conventional P25 never changes from the default of TG 1. Specifying a TGID is unnecessary when monitoring with a scanner when programmed as conventional. Now if you screw around with OFT, then you may have to specify TG 1 in your programming, but OFT is a cumbersome hack and is best avoided for most end users.

Anyway, the listings for Buffalo are correct. If you're unable to receive them, you may simply be out of range of coverage.

 

[XJM721]

I appreciate all the responses. I thought that since I was able to receive the Niagara County Trunked System and some of the Erie County VHF and UHF frequencies that my System Type setup was incorrect for the Buffalo PD P25 but it appears to be correct. As suggested maybe I am out of range of Buffalo PD and EMS repeater sites.

Thanks
Paul

 

[bigcam406]

You will have better success when the temps warm up. I find that when a southerly flow of warmer air starts creeping into the GTA, reception for Western New York frequencies vastly improve.
I have been monitoring New York Frequencies for over 30 years, just be patient. When it warms up, enjoy.

 

[EJB]

You will have better success when the temps warm up. I find that when a southerly flow of warmer air starts creeping into the GTA, reception for Western New York frequencies vastly improve.
I have been monitoring New York Frequencies for over 30 years, just be patient. When it warms up, enjoy.

Especially during heatwaves, and inversions in the late summer, and when there's a strong southern flow from a Bermuda High pressure.

 

[VE3RADIO]

You will have a harder time from Mississauga than from Toronto proper or East End... When I lived in Mississauga I could not get Buffalo PD, from Oshawa I can get it 24/7 365 rock solid, as well as Rochester sometimes.