LPE-200 Rebanding Question

[nevfdjustin]

Okay, if I understand correctly - the LPE-200 radios that are over 1Meg can be rebanded, the 512k radios can not. Right? If that's the case, does it pertain to the 900mhz radios? Can they be tuned down to the new 700mhz edacs systems as well or is it just the 800mhz radios?

Either way, how much would it cost to get a LPE tuned down to the 700mhz band? Can that be done locally, or does it have to go back to Lynchburg?

[JungleJim]

Not quite, most of the LPE radios are rebandable. Only a a very few are not. They are denoted on the FCC label after the model number with the letters LBS which stands for Limited Band Split. They are missing a couple of MHz off the bottom end of the 800 band.

An LPE cannot do 700 MHz. Rebanding only applies to 800 MHz only!

[nevfdjustin]

Interesting. . . Thanks!

[Thunderknight]

Rebanding is the re-shuffling of 800 MHz. It only applies to 806-869 MHz. There are two different types of emission masks used at 800 MHz and some older radios are hard coded to where they work with which.

700 MHz re-structuring is the shuffling of the narrowband and broadband spectrum in 700 MHz. It affected only a limited number of deployed systems, as 700 MHz is not yet utilized to the extent that 800 MHz is.

Not mentioned in your post, but a source of confusion is narrow banding and the 2013 deadline. This only applies to VHF and UHF (150 - 512 MHz).

As far as I know, there are no "new 700 MHz EDACS systems" as I don't think EDACS is being marked to 700 MHz. Additionally, those systems would have to be digital (FCC rules on 700 MHz require digital modulation except for certain low power channels).

[ElroyJetson]

ALL M/A-Com radios will operate on rebanded frequencies in trunking mode. The NEW NPSPAC
conventional channels are out of reach of a few of them, but even an old System 16 Plus M-PD
(EDACS before they called it that) will operate on a rebanded EDACS system, provided its other
features are adequate to operate on that system.

Elroy

[morganAL]

The catch is that most of the older radios are not FCC type accepted for the new frequencies.

[ElroyJetson]

It's not an issue, really, for most people. All that has happened is that the public safety systems have been moved down 15 MHz. Previously, 866/821 MHz were the lower limits of the band. Now, it's 851/806, where the SMRs used to start.

Most radios that operate in the public safety segment of the band are capable of operating in the (former) SMR segment.

Especially if you're only using it to receive, I don't see that most people will encounter any problems.

There may be an issue with the new conventional national mutual aid channels, though. But actually
I can't remember what frequencies they've beem moved to.


Elroy

[JungleJim]

Originally Posted by Thunderknight

Rebanding is the re-shuffling of 800 MHz. It only applies to 806-869 MHz. There are two different types of emission masks used at 800 MHz and some older radios are hard coded to where they work with which.

700 MHz re-structuring is the shuffling of the narrowband and broadband spectrum in 700 MHz. It affected only a limited number of deployed systems, as 700 MHz is not yet utilized to the extent that 800 MHz is.

Not mentioned in your post, but a source of confusion is narrow banding and the 2013 deadline. This only applies to VHF and UHF (150 - 512 MHz).

As far as I know, there are no "new 700 MHz EDACS systems" as I don't think EDACS is being marked to 700 MHz. Additionally, those systems would have to be digital (FCC rules on 700 MHz require digital modulation except for certain low power channels).

1. The two masks are NPSPAC and Wideband and have not changed

2. All new EDACS capable radios are dual band (700/800) and I think you'll find all manufacturers are going to this platform. Back to EDACS, with the dual band radios you do have the ability to add 700MHz channels to an 800MHz system and, provided all your radios are dual band, it will work seamlessly. It has not been incorporated into an existing system yet as the TV stations have not abandon their analog broadcasts to make the channels available nationwide.

[Thunderknight]

Originally Posted by JungleJim

1. The two masks are NPSPAC and Wideband and have not changed

Correct, but some older radios were hard coded as to what was where. i.e. they did not know how to do the NPSPAC mask at 851-854.

[ElroyJetson]

While it may be correct to say that all NEW MODELS of EDACS radios are 700/800 capable (Not counting VHF or UHF radios, of course), it's not correct to say that all new EDACS RADIOS are
700/800 capable. The P7100s and P5100s are not 700/800 capable, but are still in production.

Elroy

[JungleJim]

Originally Posted by ElroyJetson

The P7100s and P5100s are not 700/800 capable, but are still in production.

Yeah, about that, 7100/5100 end of sales date 12/2009