Any Centracom gurus out there?

d119 · Post by **d119** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:12 am

I'm considering buying a complete (console, CEB, and wiring) Centracom console. I've located a complete unit.

I'm just curious - will this be plug and play into my MSF 5000 (which is equipped with Tone Keying) provided the Centracom is configured for Tone Keying as well?

What kind of connections need to run between the Centracom and the MSF 5000? Just 2-wire tone keying right?

Where are the base station connections located on the CEB? How hard is this to get running?

Also, if I want to upgrade the console so it has all the various alert and channel marker tones, what's involved?

Thanks for any info.

Post by **wavetar** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:22 pm

Forget it. I started writing out what you need to make sure you could even consider purchasing & using one...but gave up at about 1000 words & hadn't even scratched the surface.

Centracom dispatching systems are way, way more than any one individual would ever need/want to use. It's a two-week course at Motorola to even begin to understand & work on them. If you have a single MSF5000, your money would be much better spent on a decent stand-alone dispatch console. Orbacomm & Zetron both offer good products.

XMO & Salem the Cat are both well versed with Centracom systems. They can feel free to try & help you out...but they'll likely agree that you're in way over your head. Anybody who hasn't taken the courses and/or worked on them for a number of years would be.

Todd

Post by **xmo** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:49 pm

I have to agree with Todd. I thought about trying to answer but I decided it isn't practical. I used to teach Centracom II technician classes at one time and there is just too much information to attempt to cover in this format.

One possibility for you might be a Motorola T5600. They are cheap on ebay and you can program them for all sorts of stuff. The T5620 is the top of the line. It has a display that can show MDC ID aliases. It can also encode all the MDC functions like call alert, radio check, etc.

T5600's can have the multi-base option if you need to hook up to more than one station. You would have to scrounge up some manuals and the RSS, but some of the ones on ebay come with manuals.

You can program a T5600 to send just about any tone remote sequence. Combine that with the tone remote capability of the MSF5000 and you can control just about any function you can think of.

d119 · Post by **d119** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:38 pm

I am shocked and apalled.

Isn't this group supposed to be supportive and positive?

I WANT A CENTRACOM DISPATCH CONSOLE AT MY HOUSE, AND DAMN IT I'M GONNA GET IT!

Can I get some support here from those in-the-know?

Please tell me what I need to know. I'm not buying some HUGE ASS console, just a single op-position unit with a small CEB.

There will also be a MICOR hooked up to it as well as a kenwood TKR750 via a tone interface.

Please help me and post what you were going to post. It'd be immensely appreciated. I don't like the plasticy nasty T5600's. The CommandPlus doesn't do what I want (Marker Tones).

Please post the information.

Thanks!

KG6EAQ · Post by **KG6EAQ** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:01 pm

d119 wrote:Please post the information.
Thanks!

Dude... look for some manuals. You're asking for them to post a book. Centrecom's are nasty biatch's and XMO would be typing for DAYS just to get some basics up. There is a reason not too much has been posted about them... the few people still using them were trained by Motorola with quite a bit of $$$.

Mike in CT · Post by **Mike in CT** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:25 pm

911:

the group IS supportive and positive. I agree with the others, (having been to /\/\ centracom school way back when), that it is way over ones head to even begin to get into it. Its not like other consoles where a terminal simply has a bunch of wires tied in (like tha back end of a MASTR-II), but the software driven elements can drive even the most seasoned Centracom technician up a wall. And forget the "manual"... whoa!...

If we sound negative, well don't take it that way. Think of it as constructive advice.

While a Centracom would be really neat (I'd love to put one in my home to control the three repeaters I am involved with), BUT, it is totally impractical and expensive except for a large agency.

There are better ideas, and the guys on this board will always try to help with good ideas... We all got our grey hairs from years of radio waves!

keep smiling, keep asking, keep working at it...

73,
Mike in CT
KM1R

d119 · Post by **d119** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:26 pm

OK

Simple questions I want to know are:

What pairs do the base stations interface to

What is the basics of upgrading the console to have more feature buttons. I dont wanna know HOW, just what's GENERALLY involved. EEPROMS, RSS, what.

Anyway... I appreciate everyones thoughts that Centracom is overkill for my application but I've the oppotunity to purchase a complete setup for $180, and I intend to do it. Everyone thought SpectraTAC was overkill for my application (at least the locals did), and I got that working on my own. I can do this too.

I realize I'm taking on something I probably don't want to take on, but how else will I learn? It's something I want to learn, it's something that interests me. It's something I want to make happen on my system. I think everyone can appreciate that

Thanks

119

Post by **wavetar** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 4:21 am

Well, for $180, I guess you have nothing to lose, except sanity.

d119 wrote: What pairs do the base stations interface to

The BIM (Base Interface Module) cards in the CEB attach to the backplane in the card cage. There are those big ugly 50-pair connectors on the backplane. In newer systems, a 50-pair cable runs to an RJ-45 strip, which brings the audio to 10 seperate RJ-45 jacks...one for each card cage slot. The pins in each jack are 1&2, 4&5 for tone remote hook-up. If you do not have this RJ-45 strip, then you must terminate the 50-pair cable with one of those '66' blocks the telcos use. I don't know which pair(s) on the 66 block would give you the audios off-hand. You can hit the 'reset' button on the BIM & try to measure for the output. It will output 3 test tones for about 6 seconds, at whatever level the card has been set for.

d119 wrote:
What is the basics of upgrading the console to have more feature buttons. I dont wanna know HOW, just what's GENERALLY involved. EEPROMS, RSS, what.

It depends on what feature(s) are added. It could involve new firmware in ALL cards...BIMs, OMI's, CIE's, etc along with uploading to everything. That is something that would involve Motorola Direct 99% of the time.

The console interfaces to the CEB backplane via 7-pair cable. The card which controls the console is some type of OMI card (Operator Module Interface). It MUST be in one of the 2 center slots of the card cage, unless jumpers have been cut to allow it to be in the right or left-most slot, but that is rare. The 7-pair cable will plug above the card slot.

There must be a system timer card in the CEB in order for the system to work.

For your purposes, you can get away with the console, a BIM card, an OMI-type card, and a system timer card. Every card in the card cage must have it's own unique TDM address, and it must match what's in the database.

If the system you are purchasing was a complete working set and hasn't been touched/played with, then you might get lucky & have it work for you with a minimum of fuss. I would forget about any kind of upgrading though.

I cannot really give advice on the RSS side of things, since I assume you have a Centracom Series II system, and I am far more familiar with the Gold/Elite series & it's associated softwares.

Good luck...don't say we didn't warn you!

Todd

d119 · Post by **d119** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 3:09 am

EXACTLY what I wanted to know. Thanks so much!!!!