Repeaters

[kyparamedic]

We use an EDACS system and I'm fairly new to actually using this type of trunking system. We have to manually switch repeater sites depending on where we are in the county. Is this standard for EDACS or do some systems automatically switch to the repeater receiving the best signal?

Thanks.

 

[tfr]

EDACS itself can do multiple repeaters ("wide area" in their lingo), but most radios don't really handle it that well, switching back and forth between the sites if you're in border areas, making the radio beep each time and making you miss communications if there's active talk going on.

 

[kyparamedic]

Is this the same as CC SEARCH or something similar, which I assume means control channel search? Ours do that when we get out of range, and it can get quite annoying. We can manually switch between repeaters. We use one only when we go into the northern part of the county and have all the same talkgroups.

 

[MMIC]

There is a feature in EDACS, called ProScan, which will allow the radio to roam in between multiple EDACS sites seamlessly. This option does cost money, so this may be the reason that your agency has chosen to have the users switch between sites manually. I believe that there is an option in the radio that will allow the radio to sound a tone when sites switch, but I think that it can be turned off. It's been a while since I have been in ProGrammer...

Yes, "CC SCAN" indicates that the radio is out of range of a control channel and is actively scanning the programmed list of control channel frequencies for the presence of a control channel.

I really am surprised that they are making you manually switch sites. Personally, i'd question whether the programming is correct or not - but I don't know if your position will allow for such questioning. :\

 

[morganAL]

There is a feature in EDACS, called ProScan, which will allow the radio to roam in between multiple EDACS sites seamlessly. This option does cost money, so this may be the reason that your agency has chosen to have the users switch between sites manually. I believe that there is an option in the radio that will allow the radio to sound a tone when sites switch, but I think that it can be turned off. It's been a while since I have been in ProGrammer...

:\

Actually there are 2 ways of doing it. You can have Wide Area Scan which basically means the radio won't switch to the next site until it looses the CC from the first site. Then there is ProScan where the radio is constantly looking at both control channels and will switch from one to the other based on a signal-to-noise ratio defined in the radio. It also requires some setup at the IMC (Central hub for the sites). Either way, each option costs money.

 

[kyparamedic]

I really am surprised that they are making you manually switch sites. Personally, i'd question whether the programming is correct or not - but I don't know if your position will allow for such questioning. :\

I know the programming is correct. I think it came down to an issue of money. We only have to switch sites when we go to the northern end of the county although they are talking about putting up a 3rd site. The new system was acquired through a grant but already the city and county fire departments have switched back to VHF due to coverage issues. The 800 MHz coverage is really bad inside most commerical structures. There was a structure fire and most of the firefighters could not get out over their radios. We listened to a playback of the tapes and it was all garbled. An easy solution would be to switch to walkie-talkie mode for fireground operations but they want everything recorded by dispatch. Plus this still doesn't solve the coverage issue inside buildings during other incidents. I think they just threw the system up without adequately testing it. The neighboring city/county also uses an EDACS system and has to manually switch between 3 towers. Dispatch is broadcast from all 3 towers and once the units arrive they switch to the appropriate tower. I know we have some of their talkgroups on our radio but I have no idea which tower it goes to. Probably the central one as the only time we really use their system is to call the hospitals and that's from the mobiles.

 

[cstar707]

Edacs

Hi there I would really like to know what mods is needed to the LPE-200 software or the prism base station repeater software to make the TX/RX split into the ham band ??

some help would be great.

Thanx