Primary control channels vs. Secondary?

[RegionalFireSupport]

In looking at the EBRCS data for "System Frequencies" here, the list shows both "primary" control channels, plus a bunch of "secondary" control channels.

Just what is the difference between the two, and should I also be programming all of these secondary channels, to effectively monitor everything?

Thanks!

 

[W8RMH]

Most systems rotate control channels on a regular basis, some every 24 hours, so yes you want to program all the control channels.

Actually it doesn't hurt to program all the site's frequencies just in case the control channel assignments should change, or the information in the DB is inaccurate.

This is a must if you have an older scanner that does not support Control Channel Only.

 

[K6CDO]

As noted, trunked systems occasionally need to rotate the control channel (although my experience in California is that many systems do not rotate on a daily basis), to balance key-down time on site transmitters or particularly when a transmitter fails. In larger systems, up to four channels in each site are designated for CC use.

 

[RegionalFireSupport]

Thanks for the information...

Thanks for the information on control channels... I appreciate it!

 

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9900; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.1047 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

I Belive Harris P25 systems can use any channel on a site as the control channel

 

[WayneH]

Most systems rotate control channels on a regular basis, some every 24 hours, so yes you want to program all the control channels.

This was true about a decade ago when the old controllers were still around but with most current systems being either true P25 or SmartZone the control channel will only rotate on a fault/anomaly condition. They can also move due to admin intervention, which I saw today when we forced a site in to Site Trunking. With modern Motorola you are still limited to four also. I can't speak for Harris as I don't work on them but I know with EDACS they can use any channel. You have to enter all freqs in anyway so it's a moot point; their P25 trunking I believe may follow that method.

With the death of SmartNet systems this attribute is becoming no more.