PATCHING A TALK GROUP TO ANOTHER?

[poltergeisty]

Well with the increase in traffic lately dispatch had to patch a mutual aid to a fire talk group. I was wondering if any one would know the technical low down on how this gets done?

When they press the button/buttons for a patch does the radio at dispatch send a command to the towers or is this via hard line?

Maybe it just reroutes the corms. at the dispatch it self? I'm not sure and curious as to how it technically gets done.
Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

 

[Al42]

Well with the increase in traffic lately dispatch had to patch a mutual aid to a fire talk group. I was wondering if any one would know the technical low down on how this gets done?

When they press the button/buttons for a patch does the radio at dispatch send a command to the towers or is this via hard line?

Maybe it just reroutes the corms. at the dispatch it self? I'm not sure and curious as to how it technically gets done.
Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

I'm guessing (I got out of the business before trunking), but I'd say it's a command to the trunking controller. Whether it goes via radio or phone line depends on how the dispatch position is connected to the controller. Since it's just a change in command (the controller tells all radios in both talkgroup 1 and talkgroup2 to go to channel 3), there's no "hardline" signal being routed through the dispatch center, the way "patching" was done in old non-trunked systems.

 

[N_Jay]

There are lots of ways.

It would depend on how the systen is set up and how it is used.

Mutual aid is typivally a channle not a talk group, so most likely it is a console patch.
Could be done in the audio switch of a large system, all the way down to patching to control stations together by a console not cannected to teh trunked system at all.

 

[poltergeisty]

I was listening to fire on what they call tom group two. basically talk group two and they had to call in an outside agency fire truck to assist in a fire. The dispatcher said he would patch tom group two to mutual aid one. I think it was mutual aid one, or mutual aid two but never the less they are both digital talk groups. Here is a link to the system plan where I was listening to the fire department. Go down to Larimer county and look at the Loveland/Poudre Fire Mutual Aid's
Click me Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

 

[N_Jay]

If thye are both talkgropus on teh same system AND teh dispatch has a console directly intyerconnected to the system, THEN,
When the dispatchewr pushes teh patch button, the console system sends a command to the trunking control system to assigne a channel to both groups.
There used to be a temporary regrouping of one of the groups, but with P25 signalling I am not sure what is actually done (and it does not realy matter froman operational stand point).

 

[poltergeisty]

I thought that may be the case. Now these two talk groups were actually talking to one another at the same time. What I mean here is that mutual aid one was active with the same communications as tom group two. So it's like they were simulcasting mutual aid one with tom group two. Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

 

[N_Jay]

I thought that may be the case. Now these two talk groups were actually talking to one another at the same time. What I mean here is that mutual aid one was active with the same communications as tom group two. So it's like they were simulcasting mutual aid one with tom group two. Boo!-Poltergeisty :-0

That can be the case also.
In that situation, they would be useing two channels instead of one.
There are reasons you have to do it that way, but merging th egroups on one channel is more efficiant.