Me and a few friends have been playing around a little with MDC-1200. More in the PTT ID form but we don't know much about MDC to begin with. Just for fun we'd like to setup MDC ID on some of our radios and push it through the local repeaters. What would the most effective setup be to push MDC through a tone activated analog repeater? Also, is there a good source out there for learning MDC features and setups (or is it just primarily knowledge acquired through use)?
I wrote up these programming notes for the Professional (Waris) radios, but you should be able to adapt this to other /\/\ radios. This should get you going for transmitting MDC1200 ID's.
Setting up MDC –Define an MDC System (You can go back and fine tune later if desired.) First, create and set up a basic system to transmit an ID.
1) Signaling --> MDC System --> MDC System – 1 --> Basic Tab: Primary ID, type in the ID you want to send. Note: valid MDC ID’s are 4-digit hexadecimal numbers with the following limitations:
a) “0000” is not permitted
b) “F” is not permitted in any digit position
c) “E” is not permitted in the first digit position
2) Still on the Basic Tab --> PTT ID Type: Select Pre-Only or Post-Only (I like Post-Only because there’s no ID sent at the beginning of the transmission so that people who talk too quickly when keying the mic are not blocked out.)
3) If you simply want to decode MDC ID (and your radio is capable of this), Signaling --> MDC System --> MDC System – 1 --> Basic Tab: Check the box for “Display Decode ID.” Also on this tab, if you use PL, check “PL Transmit” too.
4) For now, don’t change any other settings in the MDC System. For a simple send an ID system, this is all you need to do. DO NOT mess with DOS or timing settings unless you know exactly what you are doing.
a) Now, to point your Personality to the MDC system: Go to the Conventional Personality that you want to send the PTT-ID. On the Signaling tab, under Tx System, select the MDC system you wish this personality to use. Note: You have to use the drop down menu and only validly defined MDC systems will appear. Ignore systems of any other type. Signaling squelch should be set to “OR.”
5) If you desire to only transmit MDC ID and don’t want to decode MDC into an alias, or your model doesn’t have a display, you are done. Test your ID with another radio that has a display and is properly set up to receive MDC ID. You cannot send your ID to another radio that is programmed with the same ID. They ignore each other.
