Programming a 536 for a P25 system question

[frog760]

Hello,

After reading the easy manual, I see that P25 doesn't have I-Call. Is this true? Our county recently switched from a conventional 800mhz trunking system to a P25 phase 1 800mhz trunking system. I-Call was used pretty much non-stop. How are they doing it now?

Also, the easy manual says to program only control channels (pri and alt). I've read here that any freq can be used as a control for P25 systems. Our system has 20 freq's. Should I program just the controls or all?

Thanx....

 

[troymail]

After reading the easy manual, I see that P25 doesn't have I-Call. Is this true? Our county recently switched from a conventional 800mhz trunking system to a P25 phase 1 800mhz trunking system. I-Call was used pretty much non-stop. How are they doing it now?

I'm pretty sure I've seen private calls (or i-calls) on at least Phase 1 systems - more than one in fact.

Also, the easy manual says to program only control channels (pri and alt). I've read here that any freq can be used as a control for P25 systems. Our system has 20 freq's. Should I program just the controls or all?

Depending on various factors, entering a minimum number of frequencies can optimize performance. For some systems/sites I've programmed, I typically only program the primary CC frequency for that very reason. Having said, that, I was watching a fairly new Harris P25 system last night on Pro96Com and, unlike most Motorola P25 systems I've seen, this system was indicating that ALL frequencies are alternate CC's.

If the system is strong and not simulcast, programming all won't hurt. If it's a weak/distant system and/or simulcast where the radio might constantly be looking for something better, I'd keep the frequencies to a minimum.

Bottom line is - it's your choice. The trade-off could be that if you only program selected frequencies, the radio might go quiet and you won't know it because they changed.

 

[frog760]

I agree--less is more when programming freq's for trunking.

Forgot to mention--it's a 10 site simulcast "Cassidian Communications CORP25 simulcast, P25 LMR radio solution"

I programmed a dept labeled I-Call that has only one channel (TGID) -- i0, and have not heard a thing.

 

[troymail]

FWIW - I didn't do any specific programming to receive i-Calls on my 536 at all but I do hear them on a local Motorola system. I haven't programmed a local P25 system that does iCall regularly but I will now and see how it works.

It's possible that when they switched to P25, they decided to eliminate i-Call ability in favor of something else - but that's just speculation on my part.

EDIT: minor correction -- I probably WAS running in ID SEARCH mode when I picked up iCalls.

EDIT 2: I just programmed a local Federal P25 system in ID SEARCH mode and am seeing/hearing iCalls on the 536