Uniden BCT8 manual Motorola Reception, Motorola Tracking

BCT8 8/13/03 5:14 PM Page 43

Motorola Reception

Motorola Tracking

There are really two types of Motorola trunking systems. These are usually referred to as Type I and Type II systems. Type I only occurs on some 800 MHz systems. All VHF and UHF trunking systems use Type II.

One important distinction between these two systems is the amount of data transmitted by each radio when its push-to-talk button (PTT) is pressed. Every radio in a trunked system is assigned a unique ID so the central site computer can identify it when it’s used. Both Type I and Type II systems place radios (or radio users) into groups, called talkgroups, and these talkgroups are also assigned unique IDs. Some radios have access to only one talkgroup, while others have access to many talkgroups. The talkgroup(s) each radio can access is called the radio’s affiliation(s).

In a Type II system, when someone uses their radio, only the radio ID is transmitted when PTT is pressed, whereas in a Type I system the radio ID and its current affiliation are both transmitted when PTT is pressed.

Why the difference? Type II systems are slightly more advanced because the central computer maintains a database which is used to determine each radio’s affiliation(s).

Changes to a Type II system are easier than Type I because the system manager only needs to update the database instead of reprogramming individual radios.

Another difference between the systems is that Type I systems are arranged in a Fleet- Subfleet hierarchy. For example, its possible for a city using a Type I system to designate 4 Fleets, each with 8 Subfleets. Their fleets might be the Police Department, the Fire Department, Utilities, and Administration. The Police may decide to further divide their fleet into subfleets such as Dispatch, Tactical Operations, Detectives, North, South, East and West Side Patrols, and Supervisors. All the available police radios would then be assigned to one of the police subfleets. Determining the exact Fleet-Subfleet hierarchy for a particular area is referred to as Fleet Map Programming, which is discussed further in this manual.

The disadvantage of a Type I system is that when PTT is pressed, the brief burst of data must contain the radio’s ID and its Fleet and Subfleet. This is three times the amount of data a Type II system radio sends, and as a result Type I systems usually accommodate fewer users than Type II systems.

Even though there are many Type II systems, Type I systems are still in use. There are also Hybrid systems which are a combination of both Type I and Type II. Your scanner defaults to monitor Type II systems, but its possible to select a Preprogrammed Fleet Map or create a Custom Fleet Map for your area.

For VHF and UHF Type II trunking systems, you will need to know the base, spacing frequencies and offset channels. See page 45 for details.

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