Batboard

Dear fellow radio aficionados,

I am looking for a solution for my emergency department, but honestly I do not know a whole lot about radios. What I want to do is creat a moble comand, where I can conect radios from varios agencies and complete patches radio to radio or Telefono to radio. I would asume that a dispatch console would be best, and have seen some on ebay. Just I do not know if this is all that is needed, or if there is a easier route.

Take a look at the JPS ACU1000 or the Zetron 4010. Be advised, this is not a simple project.

The concept is simple. Each radio is a "line" to the console. At the console end, each line hooks into a channel card, which is configured for the type of signalling appropriate for that radio. At the radio end, the card is hooked into the radio's Tx, Rx and (in the case of local control of mobile radios) the PTT line. Internally, the console engages in some fancy switching of a single mike to one or more radio Tx lines, one or more speakers to one or more radio Rx lines, and so forth.

As is often the case, the devil is in the details.

If you go to http://www.allcommtechnologies.com/case_stud.html, you will see (hopefully) an application similar to what you have in mind. This is the Tactical Command Unit (TCU) of the Boston Fire Department, which responds to all working fires or above. At the scene, it is manned by one Fire Alarm Operator and one District Chief, who serves as the Net Chief.

On board are: a large number of CDM mobiles (8 programmed as single channel radios to monitor the input and output freqs of BFD's four main channels), and a channel agile Quantar repeater. Control is via a Zetron 4010R, which is a self-contained small console (i.e., the channel cards are in the unit itself, versus in a separate central electronics bank). A Cimarron C Plus III MDC decoder decodes the ID of all transmitting units, as well as activating audible and visible indications of an emergency activation. And a whole bunch of other stuff.

You should take a look at the Sytech Corp gateway system called the RIOS. Most of the people that have used
the ACU-1000 and other gateways have found that the RIOS user interface is very easy to use, simple to learn
and has mesh IP network configuration. The ACU-1000 and 2000 use a spoke and hub type configuration. This
requires the use of multiple, expensive plug in cards for each point to point IP connection. The RIOS doesn't
require any plug in cards for any configuration. Each port is software configurable and can be used as most any
type of radio, phone, cell connection as needed.

The RIOS has the ability to interconnect a number of different radios with remote control, has the ability to use
tone remote control, SIP, cell phones, sat phones and works over a satellite IP connection. A large number of
Federal agencies have the RIOS gateway in their mobile command centers as well as many state and local
public safety agencies.

They have a contract right now to interconnect 32 PSAP or 911 dispatch centers in Virginia in the Lynchburg
and Roanoke region. This will allow those agencies to share and interconnect their radio channels to any of
the locations in the network. The state police will also have 3 regional and state headquarters to be part of the
interop network.

http://www.sytechcorp.com is one of their web sites for contact information.

Jim

westcom wrote:Dear fellow radio aficionados,

I am looking for a solution for my emergency department, but honestly I do not know a whole lot about radios. What I want to do is creat a moble comand, where I can conect radios from varios agencies and complete patches radio to radio or Telefono to radio. I would asume that a dispatch console would be best, and have seen some on ebay. Just I do not know if this is all that is needed, or if there is a easier route.

In a nut shell, a console would give an operator access to multiple radios and phone but if you want to network different radios, using the
console patch is awkward and limited. If that is your primary goal, go with a full fledged interconnect like the JPS. If you had an interconnect,
you could add a console to the radios and have the best of both worlds.