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Why no analog trunking?

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phirephoto

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So this may answer another question for me too.. Why is there no analog trunking supported on the G5?

I used to have a Motorola APX radio. Great radio, but programming it for non affiliate trunking was a pain in the youknowwhat. So I upgraded to a Harris Unity XG-100P. Awesome radio, does native non affiliate trunking. But doesn't do analog trunking. Might be the same reason the G5 doesn't, so just curious why the G5 doesn't support it.
 

mmckenna

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There are many versions of analog trunking. I think you may be referring to Motorola SmartNet or SmartZone systems. Likely they don't support them because Motorola charges other companies to use the proprietary protocol.

Used to be that the only radios that would work on a SmartNet or SmartZone system were Motorola. Then, EF Johnson payed Motorola to start using the protocol in some of their radios. Motorola liked this since they could avoid some of the "sole source" issues that some agencies balked at. They could let agencies do competitive bidding between Motorola and EFJ radios. Either way, Motorola still got a slice of the pie.

I'd be willing to bet Unication doesn't want to spend the money to buy into what is a rapidly disappearing technology. While there are a few SN/SZ systems out there, they are very old and most of the hardware is no longer supported. I don't think Motorola even sells the platform anymore.
 

phirephoto

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There are many versions of analog trunking. I think you may be referring to Motorola SmartNet or SmartZone systems. Likely they don't support them because Motorola charges other companies to use the proprietary protocol.

Used to be that the only radios that would work on a SmartNet or SmartZone system were Motorola. Then, EF Johnson payed Motorola to start using the protocol in some of their radios. Motorola liked this since they could avoid some of the "sole source" issues that some agencies balked at. They could let agencies do competitive bidding between Motorola and EFJ radios. Either way, Motorola still got a slice of the pie.

I'd be willing to bet Unication doesn't want to spend the money to buy into what is a rapidly disappearing technology. While there are a few SN/SZ systems out there, they are very old and most of the hardware is no longer supported. I don't think Motorola even sells the platform anymore.

Sorry should have specified - yes, Smartnet/ Smartzone Type II systems. San Francisco for example.

So there's no Moto fee for Phase 2 or P25 systems? Or it's 'justified' paying for it?

Just would be nice to listen to it with my G5 or my Unity :)
 

N9JIG

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The P25 protocol is not owned by Motorola, they are just one of many licensees of the system. The P25 protocol is owned by APCO and licensed out to manufacturers. Presumably Unication and the other receiver manufacturers paid for a license to use it.
 

ffexpCP

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If I had to guess,

This is a solution for modern systems that require paging. Those old systems are being phased out. I doubt users of old systems are looking for new ways to operate on their aging system. I'm sure they've found alternatives long ago.
 

pinballwiz86

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The P25 protocol is owned by APCO and licensed out to manufacturers.

Not true. The FCC and various U.S. agencies created the open APCO 25 standard. They receive no royalty check.

But the digital vocoder in use these radios does get licensed out by DVSI for use of their IMBE/AMBE+2 vocoder. The vocoder license from Digital Voice Systems, Inc is very expensive. Thus the high cost of a P25 radio..
 
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