Is it possible to listen to Youngstown police calls over the internet? It would be good to hear what is going on in the city while I'm on this forum.
Is there a list of the "codes" and "signals" used during the radio conversations?
Jay:
If you wish to have the list of signals and codes for YPD E-mail me and I'll send you the list. You can do so by contacting me through my web site http://farrell-report.tripod.com
If your interested in getting a police scanner to listen to what's going on in the area. May I suggest checking out the Greater Youngstown Monitoring Association at http://www.gyma.org. We sell a local area frequency book for the area which features frequencies, codes and signal lists and other useful information for Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.
The YFD scanner audio is on the internet. Could the same be done for the YPD calls?
The Y.P.D. may not want their police radio streamed on the Internet, as criminals
might use it as a counter-measure against the police. It would certainly tip them
off if they are in the middle of a robbery, etc and hear the calls going out from
central dispatch.
Can't people listen to the calls on a regular scanner radio now?
That would be easier then carting a computer along to a robbery.
LOL
I don't know of any online services to actually listen in.
If you get your own scanner, you can purchase a frequency book like the one GYMA (good to support a local group) has:
http://www.steelvalleywebdesign.com/gyma/gymabook.php (http://www.steelvalleywebdesign.com/gyma/gymabook.php)
and if you're up to figuring out which stations are really in use, you can also look on the net at places like:
http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&ctid=2089 (http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&ctid=2089)
http://www.scanohio.com/mahoning/index.html (http://www.scanohio.com/mahoning/index.html)
Keep in mind, with most basic scanners, you will not hear what YPD is saying when they disengage. There are things they don't want the average person that is listening with a cheap scanner to hear.
Quote from: ForumManager on August 22, 2006, 10:42:10 PM
Can't people listen to the calls on a regular scanner radio now?
That would be easier then carting a computer along to a robbery.
LOL
I was thinking about the possibility of criminals that might have a portable scanner
(some of the newer models fit in a SHIRT POCKET) or a cellphone with Web Access
(many of the newer phones have this, along with multimedia capabilies, ie: movies
and sound, music players in them, etc, etc etc)
It's just an thought, any ole ways...
I was just razzing. I had visions of criminals carrying computers just do they could access online scanners.
Actually, it might be possible to have a scanner radio connected to a line in on your computer and produce a broadcast via shoutcast. I had a shoutcast station setup for music... posted it on the forum last year The computer I was using wasn't up to snuff and I couldn't work and broadcast at the same time.
Not everyone wants to purchase a scanner when all they are interested in are the call for the the YPD. Believe me, listening to the Youngsown police calls is a real eye opener. The police are often overwhelmed. The nature and location of the calls will inform everyone as to the extent of our crime problem.
All we need is a technology buff to figure out how we all could listen the the police calls over the internet.
I think Forum Manager has the right idea on this one - I've never personally used ShoutCast,
but people who have (including our own Forum Manager) say it seems to work quite well
at the Audio Streaming stuff.....
Now all we need is someone who owns a scanner with an earphone jack, and a
computer and broadband connection.
:)
I agree with Jay, they are often overwhelmed in YT. If you listen on the weekends especially. If everyone heard them, they would have a better idea of why they can't be everywhere at once or there in an instant. However, YT does a very good job of prioritizing calls.
I've thought of setting a live online broadcast, but I don't always have my PC & Scanner on. Plus I also listen to other stations (YFD, Skywarn, etc) and often must turn YPD off just to hear the others.
The Cleveland Police have their own on http://www.cleveland.com/ra/livepolicescanner.ram (http://www.cleveland.com/ra/livepolicescanner.ram) and I'm sure it could be done for YPD easily.
Setting up a feed is easy once your set the first one up :)
I run the YFD feed at youngstownfire.com via Shoutcast. I also run a Mahoning Valley Fire feed on incidentbroadcast.com (Teamspeak).
Let me see if there is a way I can set up another live feed on my feed computer. I have plenty of scanners to do it.
Anyone can pick up a scanner capable of listening to the YPD (and many other agencies) for as little as $10. My buddy just picked up a 10 channel mobile scanner for $10 this past weekend. I recently bought another radio off of EBay for $60. Being an amateur radio operator, I have several amateur radios that will pick up many area freqencies as well.
Youngstown puts a lot of information over the radio but keep in mind that detectives and undercover officers often use either nonpublished frequencies, frequencies that they can change, encrypt transmissions or they may bypass the radio all together and using Nextel phones. When Youngstown disengages, all they do is temporarily shut off the repeater. If you are within 5 - 10 blocks of the car transmitting, you still hear them. It just doesn't broadcast the cars traffic over the entire city for all to hear.
Anyone interested in the hobby of scanner monitoring, I invite you to a meeting of the GYMA. We meet the second Saturday of every odd month at the Boardman United Methodist Church on Market Street in Boardman. Visit GYMA.ORG for more info on the club.
Greg
Webmaster, youngstownfire.com
Vice President, Greater Youngstown Monitoring Association, GYMA
Greg,
Thanks for explaining how the police radio system works. This information was very helpful.
I would like for all users of this forum to have the ability to listen to police calls over the internet. I understand that some calls need to be kept off the air but that is OK. I am willing to make a donation to get a system running.
Thanks for the details Greg. I knew when they disengaged, it was some change in their broadcast. Someone else gave me incorrect information on the YPD setup. I've never heard a car when disengaged. Someone else told me it had to do with a digital setup.
If you're able to get that YPD feed setup, great job as usual. I have a spare pc, just not a spare scanner at the moment. Maybe one of these days I'll drop into a GYMA meeting. I just purchased the freq book from GYMA...just to have it. I'm also always listening & paging out through YMFPA when I can.
Take care.
I also have a spare PC now but not a scanner radio.
I will look into getting one.
Is anyone still working to place the YPD police calls on the internet for the forum members?
We talked about this at the picnic.
I believe Greg is looking into it.
I am also considering it but I am wondering about the legalities.
Is it legal? Do we need to get permission?
Just a heads up, I should be able to get a Youngstown Police feed up and running sometime in the next 2 weeks. The scanner is set up and everything is ready to go, I just discovered that my old computer (a 600MHz job) won't support running 3 simultanious feeds. So I ordered another computer (3.3GHz) to run all of my feeds. As soon as it get's here, I'll get it set up and post the address to the feed here.
Greg
That's good to hear Greg.
I'm assuming you won't be running a channel 2 feed with all the broadcasting of personal info they do. I'm sure someone having their info ran from a traffic stop and then having someone on the net capture and use it would create a legal nightmare.
The police feed will only contain Channel 1 Dispatch, Channel 1 Input and Channel 3 Car to Car. It will not include Channel 2, because channel 2 is extremely boring and you would never hear any of the main dispatch. As new patrol officers who are comfortable using the mobile data terminals (MDT) join the department, more and more of the personal information will be transmitted via the MDT as opposed to over the radio.
I figured that would be your setup. We were sitting here listening today and realized how much info was being discussed on 2. We agree that it's a very boring freq except when you want to hear the details on warrants and such.
It is kind of scary to hear so much info in clear air. It's a big motivation to not speed in Youngstown.
That is great news about being able to listen to Youngstown police calls over the internet. It will help all of us to better understand the workings of the police department and the extent of crime in the city.
Ok, I've been testing the feeds with a friend of mine but I would like some other people to try them out as well. If clicking on the links doesn't work, try opening Windows Media Player (Start/All Programs/Windows Media Player in WinXP). Then click on File/Open URL and paste one of the 2 links in the box. You should then be connected and hear the feed.
The Youngstown Fire Department Live feed is
http://yfd.dnsalias.com:8080/broadwave.m3u?src=1
What is programmed in:
Channel 1 - Dispatch
Channel 2 - Fireground Ops 1
Channel 3 - Fireground Ops 2
The Youngstown Police Department Live feed is
http://yfd.dnsalias.com:8080/broadwave.m3u?src=2
What is programmed in:
Channel 1 - Channel 1/Dispatch
Channel 2 - Channel 1 Input/Dispatch Input (for when they 'disengage')
Channel 3 - Channel 3 Car to Car
Give it a try and post back here with whether it worked for you or if it didn't work.
Thanks!
Audio Streamed by the BroadWave Streaming Audio Server (http://www.nch.com.au/streaming/index.html) by NCH Swift Sound Software (http://www.nch.com.au/index.html).
Greg,
Tested for you.
The listed link for YFD is YPD.
The listed link for YPD I believe is Boardman, Milton and others? :-\ Sounds like something big going on somewhere on one of the others. Something about OE facilities and rescue efforts.
Your Listen Live link at your site is also down.
Tried both YPD & FYD. It does sound like the one listed YPD is somewhere else. The one listed as YFD is for Youngstown Police. We have a portable scanner but this is nice. Thanks. Wish I knew how to do all the stuff you can do. Your YFD website is great.
Top link is definitely police.
There are calls from Boardman-.
Suspicious activity at Sam's Club and an injured deer on 680 at Western Reserve Rd. were included.
update - stopping people on Tippi
I think it might be a sherrif.
Quote from: yfdgricker on November 11, 2006, 02:41:23 AM
The Youngstown Fire Department Live feed is
http://yfd.dnsalias.com:8080/broadwave.m3u?src=1
What is programmed in:
Channel 1 - Dispatch
Channel 2 - Fireground Ops 1
Channel 3 - Fireground Ops 2
The Youngstown Police Department Live feed is
http://yfd.dnsalias.com:8080/broadwave.m3u?src=2
What is programmed in:
Channel 1 - Channel 1/Dispatch
Channel 2 - Channel 1 Input/Dispatch Input (for when they 'disengage')
Channel 3 - Channel 3 Car to Car
Audio Streamed by the BroadWave Streaming Audio Server (http://www.nch.com.au/streaming/index.html) by NCH Swift Sound Software (http://www.nch.com.au/index.html).
Ok, I discovered, thanks to all of you, that the streaming software I have is not feeding the correct sound cards for the correct radios. I've fixed them :) I now have Youngstown Fire connecting to the Youngstown Fire feed and the Youngstown Police going to the Youngstown Police Feed. That third feed you said 'The listed link for YPD I believe is Boardman, Milton and others? Something about OE facilities and rescue efforts' was actually the third feed I run which is a 6 county area Mahoning Valley Fire Department feed.
Also, I didn't realize it but the Youngstown Police scanner wasn't programmed for the correct police channels. It actually was Youngtown PD Ch 1, Boardman PD Ch 1 and MCSO Ch 1. I did that for testing purposes because those are all very active stations. I've now reprogrammed that radio with the YPD Channels as are listed above.
Have a listen and let me know if the correct feeds are on the correct channels :)
In reference to the feeds stopping every minute or so, I dropped the bps rate for all the feeds from 56 to 34. That might help with the signal drop problem. I've never run 3 feeds on 1 PC before so this is all new to me. Thanks everyone for helping get things squared away!
Greg
In case your wondering, the two radios on the middle shelf are the Youngstown feeds. The top scanner (with the blue lettering) is the YPD and the bottom is the YFD :)
The second pic is the PC and other radios on my station desk. There are 7 radios in the picture :) Ignore the crooked frames and corkboard in the photo, they have minds of their own.
I'm being nosy... no need to answer if you don't want to.
How much moola do you have invested in all of your equipment to make this happen?
Looks like a lot!
It's working good now.
The only thing I noticed is a constant buzz from the fire feed that wasn't there on the old setup.
Quote from: ForumManager on November 12, 2006, 08:47:51 AM
I'm being nosy... no need to answer if you don't want to.
How much moola do you have invested in all of your equipment to make this happen?
Looks like a lot!
It's hard to say what I have invested. I've been into scaner monitoring for at least 15 years and I go to a lot of 'Hamfests' and buy equipment. What I've spent is not nearly as much as what it is worth. The PC, I bought the components I needed and constructed it myself. I've just recently sold off a bunch of radios I've purchased over the years and bought some new equipment. I've seen the scanners that I'm running for the feeds (BC-560XLT. Here is the EBay link fo the scanners... http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=560XLT ) going for $15-20 at some of the hamfests. They are small 16 channel workhorses that are perfect for this line of work (in my opinion). At that price, I always buy because I trade or loan them quite often and always have something I can use them for. I'm also an amateur radio operator so in addition to scanners, I have several radios capable of receiving and transmitting on the amateur radio bands. I'm frequently on 146.745MHz, the W8QLY repeater. My call is W8YFD.
If I had to guess, I'd say I have about $300 in the computer and maybe about $75 in the radios.
Speaking of Police Calls, I wonder if we will see the day when YPD drops te 10 Code as are Police Departments in other states?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/12/AR2006111201098_pf.html
I doubt they'll be dropping the codes they use anytime soon. From what I've heard when they need to talk with the surrounding communities, they don't tend to use codes as your linked story is putting forward. Most of Mahoning County uses the same code system. Youngstown also uses final signals & action taken codes. They tend to use a mixture of the codes & signals.
For anyone listening that doesn't know what the general codes around here are, here is a reference:
http://www.scanohio.com/mahoning/index.html#signal