What are you listening to???

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EJB

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I hope that this post is in the correct place and that some or maybe many of you respond.

I've been a member here for longer than most of us, 18 years. I've met and become friends with some of you guys and gals and RadioReference is an important site and thus important to my life.

I am curious, what is everyone scanning these days? I have a bunch of radios and scanners generally running in the background while I watch TV or read. I live in downtown Hamilton, high up facing the west and south with a bit of exposure towards Burlington Bay. Most of my scanning is based around this. It's hard at times to receive Peel and Toronto. I have a tough time scanning Fonthill. I can get it in my friends apartment across the hall, but not here.

So using one of my go-to scanners, the marvelous Uniden 436 this is what I scan at any given time of the day:

Charlton P25 FleetNet- only the Charlton tower, in scan mode, OPP, MTOE, and MNR.

Charlton MOH FleetNet-only the Charlton tower, generally the Hamilton and Mississauga CACC with some Zone 1 and Zone 2 MOH activities.

Halton P25 South in scan mode, monitoring the 4 fire services and sometimes the Works talkgroups, very valuable, listening to areas that get snow yesterday while we didn't.

FleetNet London dispatch-I'll utilize the Brantford and Woodstock towers to monitor London dispatched OPP, MTOE, and SSM MNR activity.

FleetNet CISO/SURV, the Charlton and Brantford towers cause you never know whatyou might hear :).

When mobile, if I am heading east, I have a bank set for Fonthill and Skylon towers. When I worked in Oakville around Speers and 3rd line it's located in a bit of a ditch. It's just on the boundary where Brittania and Mowat are dicey and Charlton falls off. Fonthill is often the strongest tower in the area.

Sometimes I use a bank set for Mowat/Brittania/Fonthill to allow for continuous coverage in Oakville and points east.

I have a bank set for Woodlawn/Cedarwoods, Ballinifad when I go north and west towards the escarpment.

At home I use my 20+ year old Pro 2025 for local air coverage.
I don't like to monitor more than 3 or 4 banks at a time so when I'm home I will use my Home Patrol 1. If I'm at home I. 'll use the 436 to monitor Charlton P25 and Halton's P25 system and let the HP monitor London Dispatch activity.

When mobile in Hamilton on my bike or when I walk the 396T is my go to. It's small and easily put in a pocket. Usually I have Halton P25, Charlton P25 & the Mississauga and Hamilton CACC, sometimes I have a bank to monitor EMS paging and ORNGE activity.

At home, I occasionally monitor the ONQ system. I used to monitor the Waterloo Region EDACS. Even less time monitoring the town of Oakville system, Metrolinx.

When the weather is iffy and different from place to place like yesterday I'll monitor the MTO. I have 2 banks set up, one for GTA/HA towers and another for Brantford and points west.

Occasionally when the weather is nic, and we are having large inversions I use one of my antennas on my balcony and go searching for comms, be it Motorola or whatever radio systems or stuff in the 30-50 MHz range.

I'd love for this thread to be large and I await responses.
 

Saint

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Down in Fort Erie I have a SDS100 scanner and the 436HP scanner, what I listen to

Bell FleetNet tower Skylon and Fonthill
BearCom Fonthill
Canadian Niagara Power Fort Erie
Embassy Suites - Fallsview All other hotels I have there frequencies or the Digital System
FleetConnect
OnQ Network
Talk Wireless (LTR VHF Fonthill)
Talk Wireless (DMR St. Catharines)
Talk Wireless DMR VHF
Talk Wireless (LTR UHF)
Niagara Falls, Welland, Port Colborne Transit
All aircraft in the Niagara Region and in the U.S
Private business frequencies in the Niagara region
All airports in the area Toronto, Buffalo NY, Niagara Falls NY, many more
I won't list all the frequencies and Digital systems and Conventional frequencies in Western NY I pick up there are just to many to list
Military Aircraft
Federal Frequencies
Railroad frequencies in Canada and Western NY
AND SO ON
Steve
 

mciupa

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It would take me an hour to type all the things I listen to on my BCD 536HP from home so I will share my .hpe files. Feel free to copy and use if you have compatible scanners. Have a look at my scan cycle. Custom is Favourite List 1, New York is FL 2 , YYZ is FL 5 FL 3 and 4 are Quick Saves and test lists that are not yet ready for prime time.

Also use DSD+ with the TETRA Demodulator to listen to the TTC subway and Surface vehicles.

Don't have a portable currently. Considering an SDS-100 or BCD 436HP or BCD 325P2 or TRX-1. Only read the negative reviews so I can make an informed decision.
 

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KK4JUG

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I concentrate on public safety. I don't care about McDonalds, Walmart, the neighbor's baby monitor, etc.
 

Don57

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Currently listening to Suffolk County NY PD 1st , 2nd , 3rd precincts. NYS Troopers Troop L , Village Of Amityville PD , Good Samaritan Hospital Security and a local taxi company.
 

EJB

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Ok for Steve and Mike:

Do you listen to those all at once? Toronto is such a hard city to scan cause its so large. When I lived there and had the 296 and 246 I'd build a bank for my local area, 13 and 53 Divison, NW and SW EMS and Fire in and around the midtown area.

Hamilton is a good size, the action doesn't overwhelm you. And there is no police to scan locally.

Right now I am listening this way:

HP 1 Charlton P25
436-EMS for Miss, Ham and some inter region county stuff, OnQ system, I also have this scanner hooked up to a mag mount so I'm monitoring Brittania, Mowat, for GTA action, the HP1 is only on the Charlton tower
396-Brantford and Woodlawn towers, P25 only
PRO2025-Air comms
XTS 2500-Halton Fire

There is a good deal of construction in and around my area, big projects. I'm unable to figure out what systems are being used for the 3 different projects at King and Queen but I'd love to hear when the workers talk with the cranes. I've done many searches in the 469 MHz area but haven't heard what I'm looking for.

My Uniden, Racing addition is off now and my XTS3000 needs a new battery. The 3000 is great for FleetNet.

I'd like to thank anyone who has responded and hope I hear and see more responses.
 

EJB

20 + year membership
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Messages
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Location
Downtown Hamilton
It would take me an hour to type all the things I listen to on my BCD 536HP from home so I will share my .hpe files. Feel free to copy and use if you have compatible scanners. Have a look at my scan cycle. Custom is Favourite List 1, New York is FL 2 , YYZ is FL 5 FL 3 and 4 are Quick Saves and test lists that are not yet ready for prime time.

Also use DSD+ with the TETRA Demodulator to listen to the TTC subway and Surface vehicles.

Don't have a portable currently. Considering an SDS-100 or BCD 436HP or BCD 325P2 or TRX-1. Only read the negative reviews so I can make an informed decision.

I have two favourites lists for the 436. It was given to me by a very good friend. This friend used his GPS to scan and had pretty much all of southern Ontario and upstate NY to scan, probably about 150 systems.

I created my own fave list as follows, the ones in Bold are monitored most often:

FleetNet MOH Charlton only
FleetNet P25 Charlton only

ONQUE, Hamilton and Milton towers
FleetNet GTA/HA, Mowat, Brittania, Fonthill
FleetNet London P25, Brantford and Woodstock
Halton P25 South

Halton EMS off Charlton, Brittania and B-Fad
FleetNet MOH mobile, same towers as FleetNet GTA/HA
Toronto EMS & Fire
Halton P25 North
FleetNet Niagara
FleetNet Grey Bruce, Durham, O.S, Wiarton, Dyers and Kincardine, used when I'm up there.
Waterloo Region old
Waterloo Region new
KW & Wellington FleetNet P25
King City FleetNet
FleetNET CISO/SURV, Towers used and avoided as per needed
Peel Region P25
Peel Region FleetNet, Analog and Digital for local stuff
Hamilton P25, Can't monitor but to see the talkgroups used
Town of Oakville
Alectra Hamilton, never heard anything yet
Metrolinx
FleetNet MTO GTA/HA
FleetNet SW, MTO

FleetNet MOF and Corrections
City of Brantford
 

Saint

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Ok for Steve and Mike:

Do you listen to those all at once? Toronto is such a hard city to scan cause its so large. When I lived there and had the 296 and 246 I'd build a bank for my local area, 13 and 53 Divison, NW and SW EMS and fire in and around the midtown area.

Hamilton is a good size, the action doesn't overwhelm you. And there is no police to scan locally.

Right now I am listening this way:

HP 1 Charlton P25
436-EMS for Miss, Ham and some inter region county stuff, OntQue system, I also have this scanner hooked up to a mag mount so Im monitoring Brittania, Mowat, for GTA action, the HP1 is only on the Charlton tower
396-Brantford and Woodlawn towers, P25 only
PRO2025-Air comms
XTS 2500-Halton Fire

There is a good deal of construction in and around my area, big projects. I'm unable to figure out what systems are being used for the 3 different projects at King and Queen but I'd love to hear what the workers talk with the cranes. Ive done many searches in the 469 mgh area but haven't heard what Im looking for.
My Uniden, racing addition is off now and my XTS3000 needs a new battery. The 3000 is great for Fleetnet.

I'd like to thank anyone who has responded and hope I hear and see more responses.

Take a look at these frequencies
 

mciupa

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Ok for Steve and Mike:

Do you listen to those all at once? Toronto is such a hard city to scan cause its so large.

Yes, all at once. If something is very interesting, I'll replay what I just heard, then hold on it. To me it is ambient sound, just like other people may listen to music.
 

VA3ADP

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Most of the time I monitor Toronto, York, Halton, and Metrolinx on my SDS. My 536 is always monitoring FleetNet (Mainly of off the Britannia tower with Peel EMS and OPP) My 996P2 is pretty much dedicated to Peel and sometimes I will even hook it up to Pro96Com and do some logging. I'll also monitor OnQ, and FleetConnect, as well as the local malls to see what's going on. Most of the time, I can also pull in Niagara County NY just fine. On a really good night I can even pull in Buffalo Fire and EMS.
 

Enjoi19

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I'm sort of limited on what I can listen to at home due to a living situation and not optimal antenna placement. However, I do get some stuff pretty clearly.

When I'm at home I let my 325P2 tuned to the OPP and EMS off the Whitby tower. I let my 436HP bring in Metrolinx, mostly.

Most of my listening is on the road - so I have system set up on my 325P2 to roam between the few towers around the GTA for fleetnet. Works great for just hitting one key and enjoying the drive. But not too many sites, keeps it snappy enough.

Mostly monitor Toronto Fire on my 436, so I have a few easy systems set up and associated number tags. I let it sit on the ops/dispatch channels and when I hear something interesting, usually use a number tag to jump to the tac channel. Depending on where I am, I'll use my 436 to roam fire tac channels, and my 325 to sit on ops/dispatch.

I've tried listening to Halton and Peel fire when I head out that direction, but it's very hit and miss with what seems like simulcast distortion. Really would like to get an Unication for fire - even parts of downtown Toronto really suffers from what seems to be cell interference and supposedly it cuts through that a bit better.

Eventually I'd love to have a good antenna at home, outdoors, to really listen to more, and listen further. But for now, this works and is enjoyable.
 

bigcam406

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oshawa,ont,canada
Great thread, gents. I myself use my PSR 500/600 for FleetNet, TFS, Niagara County, Monroe County Sheriff and Rochester PD (when conditions optimal) and western New York P25. My PSR 310/410 are used strictly for western New York analogue Law Enforcement and Fire, 898T and 125AT strictly for air comms, and my 325P2 is loaded with FleetNet and local DMR stuff.
 

jgiercyk

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Greenville, SC
I'm just getting back into scanning. I've been a member since 2006, but I've never spent much time here. I've always been an aviation fanatic, and I've fired up the old BC895XLT and I've been monitoring KGDC (Donaldson Center) which is literally across the street, and KGMU (Greenville Downtown) which is 5 miles away. I'm in the flight path of both airports as well as KGSP, and I can see a lot of what I'm hearing. I like that!

My new SDS200 is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. I've already got my favorite lists programmed and I'm ready to go. Everything around here is on P25 (Palmetto 800), so I haven't been able to hear much other than aviation....as if that weren't enough. :) I'll keep you posted.
 

sonm10

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Well, im from the USofA but I'll chime in - I like to listen to a lot of business related TRS (DMR, NXDN, utility related P25)
I also do enjoy listening to DOT during weather related events
 

EJB

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Take a look at these frequencies


Steve: Yup, there is a lot of construction extremely close to my area, so I use CLOSE CALL but I'm stumped as to what each of the 3 sites barely 100 yards away are using.

I do hear plenty of the FRS radios, I'd love it if there is something or someone to talk to but there rarely is.

Every now and then I pine for a CB radio, especially with side band, I'd love to get one if I thought it was worth it.
 

EJB

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Messages
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Location
Downtown Hamilton
I'm sort of limited on what I can listen to at home due to a living situation and not optimal antenna placement. However, I do get some stuff pretty clearly.

When I'm at home I let my 325P2 tuned to the OPP and EMS off the Whitby tower. I let my 436HP bring in Metrolinx, mostly.

Most of my listening is on the road - so I have system set up on my 325P2 to roam between the few towers around the GTA for FleetNet. Works great for just hitting one key and enjoying the drive. But not too many sites, keeps it snappy enough.

Mostly monitor Toronto Fire on my 436, so I have a few easy systems set up and associated number tags. I let it sit on the Ops/Dispatch channels and when I hear something interesting, usually use a number tag to jump to the tac channel. Depending on where I am, I'll use my 436 to roam Fire Tac channels, and my 325 to sit on Ops/Dispatch.

I've tried listening to Halton and Peel Fire when I head out that direction, but it's very hit and miss with what seems like simulcast distortion. Really would like to get an Unication for fire - even parts of downtown Toronto really suffers from what seems to be cell interference and supposedly it cuts through that a bit better.

Eventually I'd love to have a good antenna at home, outdoors, to really listen to more, and listen further. But for now, this works and is enjoyable.
Antennas make a huge difference, even if it's a mag mount on your balcony it can radically increase your range.

I have 4 external antennas, 2 are for FleetNet, 1 for 800 MHz and another for genera.l

2 of them are mounted on my balcony and I run them to my radio area. I use them when needed, I have to crack open a window to use them and it's getting cold here....

1 I have suction-cupped to my window and another is a mag mount I stuck on my shelf.

When I lived in Burlington and couldn't put an antenna outside I got creative. I manipulated a wire hanger, measured against one of my antennas I used for Air and FleetNet, and stuck it into a strong magmount.

I left the top part of the hanger in the hook, attached it to the track holding the curtain , took a metal cookie sheet, attached the mag mount to it and viola, a good antenna for FleetNet
 

EJB

20 + year membership
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Joined
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Messages
3,640
Location
Downtown Hamilton
I'm sort of limited on what I can listen to at home due to a living situation and not optimal antenna placement. However, I do get some stuff pretty clearly.

When I'm at home I let my 325P2 tuned to the OPP and EMS off the Whitby tower. I let my 436HP bring in Metrolinx, mostly.

Most of my listening is on the road - so I have system set up on my 325P2 to roam between the few towers around the GTA for fleetnet. Works great for just hitting one key and enjoying the drive. But not too many sites, keeps it snappy enough.

Mostly monitor Toronto Fire on my 436, so I have a few easy systems set up and associated number tags. I let it sit on the ops/dispatch channels and when I hear something interesting, usually use a number tag to jump to the tac channel. Depending on where I am, I'll use my 436 to roam fire tac channels, and my 325 to sit on ops/dispatch.

I've tried listening to Halton and Peel fire when I head out that direction, but it's very hit and miss with what seems like simulcast distortion. Really would like to get an Unication for fire - even parts of downtown Toronto really suffers from what seems to be cell interference and supposedly it cuts through that a bit better.

Eventually I'd love to have a good antenna at home, outdoors, to really listen to more, and listen further. But for now, this works and is enjoyable.


How do u find the 325p2 when you are in close range to a system like Halton? My 436 does an ok job on it.

I live surrounded by buildings and cell antennas and there are times when the Halton system gets overwhelmed by the noise all around me.

I'm high up and part of the balcony faces towards Burlington but I've noticed on my 396T and HP1 The signal cuts in and out. The 436 is better on Halton but it's nothing like when I lived in Aldershot area where I didn't even need a antenna to monitor it.

The SDS scanners appeal to me because of the colour options. Colours appeal to me, they cheer me up.

The 325 series also appeals to me, the size is a major bonus, I generally take my 396T when I'm walking or riding my bike.

I also find that the 436 and HP are more deaf compared to my 396.
 

Saint

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Steve: Yup, there is alot of construction extremely close to my area so I use CLOSE CALL but I'm stumpt as to what each of the 3 sites barely 100 yards away are using.

I do hear plenty of the FRS radios, I'd love it if there is something or someone to talk to but there rarely is.

Every now and then I pine for a CB radio, especially with side band, I'd love to get one if I thought it was worth it.
Close Call is really hit and miss, it depends on how much background noise is in the air, if there is low background noise the CLOSE CALL will work better. From time to time I run into the same problem, all you can do is keep searching or get someone to show you the radio they are using.
 

EJB

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Downtown Hamilton
While mobile I have two mag mounts, One for 700-900 activity and another for FleetNet.

A decent antenna makes the trip from Hamilton to Toronto seamless. As I've mentioned before when going EB on the QEW around Bronte it is on a small but noticeable hill and between Bronte and 3rd line it's in enough of a valley and it's hard to get Charlton and either Brittania or Mowat with a regular antenna, your best bet is to monitor Fonthill here.

Just a few weeks ago I met a friend at the Wendy's/Tim's at 3rd Line and the QEW but all of the above towers were hit and miss. The Larson mag mount on my car greatly improved my reception there
 

Enjoi19

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How do u find the 325p2 when you are in close range to a system like Halton? My 436 does an ok job on it.

I live surrounded by buildings and cell antennas and there are times when the Halton system gets overwhelmed by the noise all around me.

I'm high up and part of the balcony faces towards Burlington but I've noticed on my 396T and HP1 The signal cuts in and out. The 436 is better on Halton but it's nothing like when I lived in Aldershot area where I didn't even need a antenna to monitor it.

The SDS scanners appeal to me because of the colour options. Colours appeal to me, they cheer me up.

The 325 series also appeals to me, the size is a major bonus, I generally take my 396T when I'm walking or riding my bike.

I also find that the 436 and HP are more deaf compared to my 396.

It’s decent on Halton the few times I’ve tried. Although depending on location it did go deaf a bit. But overall I’ve been incredibly happy with the 325P2. The size is great and it’s honestly loud enough that in my car I don’t need any speaker or extra to help hear it when I’m driving.

I have more grief than anything in downtown Toronto. So many spots where I’ll have 5 bars of reception and it can’t get a peep through with all the interference.
 
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