Signaling: Group Call Setup Query

[pforbes]

Am trying to figure out how to setup Group Calling within the RSS for MDC, Astro and Astro 25 (P25). The Help screens aren't helpful and Google has had no luck, either. Am just trying to learn how to do it. I was doing that many years ago with 2 Tone sequential no prob but, MDC and Astro has me mystified.
MDC ID's are in 4 character hex and its groups are 3 characters. Secondary and Variable is over my head. Astro's are decimal. So far so good...

 

[RKG]

For an MDC 1200 group call:

Program all members of the group with the same "variable" ID. This will be a three-digit hex number, no digit of which can be "F."

Send an alert or sel call to "Exxx," where xxx is the three digit hex number of the group variable ID.

No acknowledgment will be sent or expected.

 

[pforbes]

What? It's that simple? Variable means Group! Who'dathunk it!
Thank you very much! Any idea what 'Secondary' is for?

 

[pforbes]

Currently our SU's are MDC ID'd for our six (6) Conventional channels using the last four decimal digits of the units Trunked ID in the MDC hex ID field. That was for simplicity's sake.

I'm curious if there is any way to create sub-group levels IE: All Call, East (one of four geo areas of the City) and District (a sub unit of East).

Then there's the Astro/P25 analogy to the above that I'd like to learn next.

 

[RKG]

. . .
I'm curious if there is any way to create sub-group levels IE: All Call, East (one of four geo areas of the City) and District (a sub unit of East). . . .

The answer is yes, but you have to get a bit clever with the use of wildcards.

In MDC programming, `"F" is not allowed in any digit in an ID because "F" is used as a wildcard.

So let us say you set up your people as follows:

"122" is East;
"222" is West;
"322" is North; and
"422" is South.

You can call any one group by sending to Ex22 for that group (e.g., E122 for all the North people). To do an All Call, send to EF22 and you hit every one.

Another scheme I created once was along these lines:

First Digit: 1 for PD, 2 for FD, and 3 for non-PD or FD resources.
Second digit: 1 for top guy, 2 for duty supervisor, 3 for everyone else.
Third digit: not used (everyone got the same 1).

Now, sending to E1F1 got all PD, E2F1 got all FD, etc.
Sending to EF11 got all chiefs.
Sending to EF21 got all duty supervisors.
Sending to EFF1 got everyone.

The other thing you can do involves console paging programming. Most consoles will permit you to define one page "recipient" with is actually a series of stacked pages (multiple individual pages send in sequence).

The Motorola MDC system has far more capability than most departments employ, but you do have to spend a bit of time learning it and then thinking about how creatively to use it.

 

[pforbes]

WOW! In all these years of searching, thank the Lord for the Net. This is from the RSS and was what sent me on the wrong track:

Minimum = 0001 (Hex)
Maximum = DEEE (Hex)
Note: This is a hexadecimal number where F is reserved by the base station system.

The info you provided is exactly what I'm trying to set up. It is the core of our planned Back up Comm System as mandated by NFPA something.
Most appreciated!!

 

[KA5YTH]

Can the "E" variable have to be the first digit?

If I have 4-digit MDC codes, would group call "17EE" page all the codes 1700 through 1799, for example?

 

[pforbes]

FF would. F is the 'Wild Card' in MDC signalling.