The Regina City Police trunked system is right now running on the backup system. The system is NOT in Failsoft.
The Regina Police actually have two trunked systems, almost identical, in different buildings. The main system is the digital capable system at the main site at the twin towers (west tower). The consoles on the system are hardwired into the main system.
The backup system is a 9 channel trunked system located at the Regina Inn. The backup trunked controller software has identical programming (same system id, same talkgroups, same radio ids, etc.) as the main system. The backup system is not equipped for digital operation however, only analog. So even though the digital talkgroups are there, no digital radio calls are allowed. The digital radios get a reject tone if they try transmitting digital. The backup system has no phone interconnect either, so "no phone calls allowed." Because the dispatch consoles are hardwired into the main system, they do not operate while on the backup system. Police, Fire, and EMS dispatchers are using backup radios right now, either handheld portable radios or mobile radios bolted to their desks.
When RPS switches to the backup system, the system briefly goes into failsoft. That's when all of the repeaters come up in conventional mode, and stay up, and you get the soft tone every 10 seconds. The users talk in conventional mode on their assigned failsoft repeater. If I recall, Fire radios move automatically to repeater 1 in failsoft, EMS ends up on repeater 2, etc. Normally you only hear failsoft when the trunked system has failed. However, when switching to the backup system the main system has to be turned down and forced into failsoft prior to turning up the backup system. If the technicians are quick, failsoft usually only lasts a minute or two.
As heard over the air, the trunked system is being upgraded. I suspect it is a software upgrade, and perhaps a hardware upgrade as well. This upgrade is supposed to take "a couple of days". That seems like a long time for software, so they must be doing some hardware work as well. No idea when they will be able to move back to the main system. I suspect later today (Tuesday), or perhaps Wednesday. Just a guess though.
So, as I said, right now we're on the backup system in Regina. You may notice weaker signals from the backup radio site. Since there is no digital, RPS have to operate on backup analog talkgroups. No digital means no encryption, so RPS can be scanned while on backup. Enjoy.
Rob
Regina, Sask.