Tom's Tech Talk (#10): Digital Mobile Radio System Implementation

      In today’s Digital Mobile Radio systems, networking is playing a key role in implementation of these radio systems. Years past connectivity was through an in house set of wires or over the local telephone companies telephone line. With the evolution of radio, not only has product changed, but the way we need to get the information between sites has changed.

      In the early years, radio equipment was controlled by Direct Current (DC) traveling down the telephone lines between dispatch and the radio at a tower. The voice and DC current would travel the line to the equipment. The equipment in turn would interpret the DC current as one of the following:

 1)      Transmit on F1

 2)      Transmit on F2

 3)      Monitor the Channel

Fred Budge

Fred has 38 years of experience being a Bench & Field Technician. He started at Chicago Communications in 1991. He specializes in portable and mobile two way radio component work, which is rare today. A lot of other shops don't go past a certain point of repair into the detailed component issues, but Fred still does.

 

Career History: After graduating from high school in 1967, Fred attended a college with a 2 year Technician/Electronics/Engineering program where he determined his interest was in communications. Just after finishing, he was drafted into the army for the Vietnam war for 2 years. Afterwards, he started working for MetroCom, which was a chief competitor with Chicago Communications for many years.  He worked as a Bench/Field technician there for about 17-18 years until they were bought out by ChiComm. He decided to stay on with ChiComm doing the same type of technician work. He continued his education by taking courses and teaching himself on the job in addition to the 2 weeks a year that ChiComm sends him to training sessions.

Our Customer Service Expert

Linda has worked at ChiComm for over 25 years. Dave O'Brien hired her in 1986 when Jerry Bear owned the company. She started as a member of the reception and customer service personnel in the Elk Grove shop but as time passed she took on many other responsibilities and roles within the company including collections, billing & payroll in addition to many other miscellaneous tasks that a customer service position can bring. She wore multiple hats as one might say. She's stayed at Chicago Communications because of the flexibility she's given to do her job and the long lasting friendships she's made over the years with co-workers.

"Share the Vision"

This video was made by Motorola Solutions, our premier partner in service, for a piece in the Motorola Road Show earlier this week. Chicago Communications was able to lend advice on the process of guiding customers to a system migration plan and how to implement this plan. As our Sales Director Tom Treichler says, "A lot of customers don't know they have the capability to go to the next level and it's up to us to educate them and tell the story of where they can go and show them the benefits of what they can do."

Tom's Tech Talk (#8): "Sync" Your two-way Radios & Accessories

     As most people believe that hooking up a radio is a couple of wires, consider this. Typical radio antenna connections are 50 ohms of impedance. Antenna cable comes in many varieties. For instance your Cable TV Cable is 75 ohms impedance. Twin lead for an outdoor antenna is 300 ohms. Standard 2 Way Radio cable is 50 ohms. In layman’s terms, ohms equates to the resistance of a part or device. When mixing different varieties of cables, you actually get a mismatch. This mismatch usually results in degraded performance or even failure.

    For two way radio, the typical impedance is 50 ohms. This means that the radio should match the antenna cable and the antenna cable should match the antenna. When done properly you obtain maximum transfer of power to the antenna. When done improperly the mismatch can actually cause reflected power back into the radio either shortening the life of the amplifier or causing degraded performance in the operation of the radio.

Tom's Tech Talk (#7): Ready for the Next Emergency?!

With the recent weather-related incidents happening around the US and the world for that matter, now is a good time to assess your backup plan for communications. When developing a backup communications plan, you have to consider what type of an emergency you are planning for. It's usually:

1) Your radio system is impaired and you need an alternate method of
communications.
2) You have to evacuate your facility leaving the equipment intact and
operational.
3) You have an incident which has completely taken out your building,
equipment or tower and you have to relocate.

How long will a radio last during the day?

Battery capacity and the duty cycle of the radio will determine talk time. Typically a radio AT MINIMUM should last 8 hours. Over the years as batteries age, their ability to meet the customers requirements diminish and the batteries need charging during the shift or workday. New technology such as Motorola’s Impress battery systems enhances battery life as the charging systems are intelligent and adjust the charge rate for the type of use. Battery technology changes over the years have led to increased battery life as well.

What is digital?

Digital is a process to modulate the radio channel or frequency using data instead of traditional analog voice. By converting ones voice into a data stream and sending it over a radio channel we can improve the ability of the signal to be decoded and reproduce the audio at the other end to be heard. All cellular systems today use digital technology. Two way radios have both analog and digital. Digital affords some additional benefits such as a two for one channel usage. Thus one frequency or channel will allow you two simultaneous transmissions. This may allow for reduced costs in radio equipment.

FAQs

Q: What is the first thing that you should check when problems occur with your two-way radios? A: The Battery. Repairs ( Labor )  is costly. Change a battery out with another radio to first check. If you just need a new battery then order one and ask if there are any specials.

Q. Retail stores claim that their radios can work 15+miles, is this true? A. Yes and no. A radio can work for  15 miles if nothing is in the way of transmission. ( Mountain to Mountain ) There always seems to be obstructions such as buildings and never  a true line of site. These retail store radios are never recommended for business applications and are usually 1 watt of power. That is why there are Professional radios that give better range because their 4 & 5 watts of power. Other needs also come in to play such as a Repeater.

Tom's Tech Talk (#4): Data Paths Are Re-shaping Connectivity

As we migrate to a more digital universe, as I’ve indicated in my previous Tech Talks, Radio is usually slower to follow. What should be recognized is preplanning for systems. Just as telephone systems are changing out from Analog to Digital, so are radios. With this migration, we see implementations from Villages and corporations to provide network connectivity between buildings or facilities, whether on a campus or miles apart, data paths are reshaping connectivity.

While we have always relied on the telephone company to provide our wide area connectivity, solutions like fiber and wireless links contain a larger up front cost, but a greater return on investment. With these paths we can achieve huge bandwidths that allow us to carry voice, data and video.

Technology continues to evolve and is more mobile now than ever. First cell phones, and now Voice Over IP (VoIP), text messaging, imagery and video have changed everything, from the way the public places 9-1-1 calls, to the manner in which emergency operations centers field and respond to those calls. The Nation's current 9-1-1 system is designed around telephone technology and cannot handle the text, data, images and video that are both increasingly common in personal communications and critical to future transportation safety and mobility advances. The NG9-1-1 initiative has established the foundation for public emergency communications services in a wireless mobile society (RITA).

What is NG 9-1-1?

Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) addresses the evolution of emergency call taking in a technology-saturated world centered on Internet Protocol (IP). IP will be the foundation of NG9-1-1 for years to come. However, we must not lose sight of the present and the fact that each call center has its own unique needs. After holding Lunch & Learns in partnership with Cassidian Communciations, here we share some important things to consider going forward that can allow you to plan ahead.