31
Here's another Washington Times article which follows up yesterday's
reporting of the new DC digital radio woes
Firetrucks dispatched to wrong locations
Thanks to Blair Thompson for sending in this article about a PA sheriff
who sounds off about their city's recent cell phone ban (even though it
doesn't effect their public safety personnel)
Sheriff calls ban 'a boondoggle'
George White was kind enough to send in this link about a company that
derives its income from helping stores to avoid losses of shopping carts!
Their latest technology uses radio devices to activate a braking system if
a user tries to take a cart off company property!
Carttronics LLC
The US military fights to retain control over their current frequency
resources as reported in this EE Times article
DOD returns fire on spectrum relocation
30
Mike Agner, KA3JJZ, first heard of radio system problems in Washington, DC on
WTOP, their local AM news radio station. It seems their current system is
woefully inadequate and the city will have to add about 5 times more
repeaters to cover all of the 48 dead spots (Motorola says there are only 6
dead spots yet their own documents show them testing only about 50% of the
service area) found thus far by the city. It's been so bad that firefighters
have had to use cell phones during emergency situations.
Many thanks to Chris Stockton for passing along this link to the Washington
Times article covering this story in the press.
Firefighters' radios fail in four dozen zones
Peter Szerlag post the following link on a scanning list about a 60 Minutes
II article on the NSA
National Security Nightmare
David Cabatu, AH7E, writes from Hawaii with news about the latest radio
system there. The article supplied by David talks of problems with
Honolulu's digital radio system and a new backup system for almost $1
million which can be run from any city computer (I wonder how long it will
be before a virus shuts it down or someone hacks in and takes it over?)
HPD Breaks In Back-Up Radio System
Thanks to Randall Clark, KB8KZZ, we can read this latest article on the
future of Software Defined Radio (SDR). There's a lot of good info in here
and one of the sidebars talks about a company which has a 700 MHz PC which
is running prototype software that is decoding APCO 25!
Missing no links
Ed Brown, KB1MZ, passes along the following informative page he received
from a friend. Thanks, Ed!
Remote Scanner Control Protocol
Finally, Bill Kramer, KB9MMR, supplies us with the following
Just a neat link on a mobile Aussie land cruiser with lots of RF gear.
Thanks, Bill!
Remote Area Communications Vehicle
UPDATE: After seeing the above vehicle, Clint
wrote in with the following link which contains details about another
RF-equipped vehicle that he helped build! Be sure to click on the
Specifications links to view the hard-core details
MaxiMog
27
Here's a pretty scary story kindly supplied by Blair Thompson
Bailiff Talks Of Mischief Among Judges
Kevin Inscoe has recently brought online a new tool for helping those who like
to scan along US I-95. If all goes well he intends to add I-81 as well!
Scanning US Interstate 95
Bob Reynolds, WB3DYE, passes along this link which is a great article about the
history of unravelling EDACS scanning secrets on David Cabatu's great monitoring
Hawaii site
Conquering EDACS
Gary Saffer came across the following about a new communications center going up
in the Austin area. Thanks for sending this in, Gary!
Mayor, council members break ground on new Combined Emergency Center
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
kindly supplies an interesting mix of radio-related stores
Radio systems topic of meeting
National Counterdrug Center Simulation Training Receives Arizona Certification
Court Rejects FCC Delay Request
Program Threatens Wireless Security
Peter Szerlag posted the following on SCAN-L which looks like an alert sent out
by the FAA or one of its ARTCCs (I wasn't able to find this info posted anywhere
by either the FAA or FCC to link to so I'll post the original copy)
INTERFERENCE IMPACTING AERONAUTICAL AIR TRAFFIC FREQUENCIES CAUSE BY
ILLEGAL HIGH POWER CORDLESS TELEPHONES.
ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL OPERATORS: THE MIAMI AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL
CENTER (ZMA ARTCC) HAS EXPERIENCED RADIO FREQUENCY INTERFERENCE (RFI) ON
FREQUENCIES 134.2, 134.6 MHZ RESULTING FROM THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF HIGH
POWER CORDLESS TELEPHONES IN THE BAHAMAS AND ON FREQUENCY 133.85 MHZ FROM
THE USE OF HIGH POWER CORDLESS TELEPHONES IN MIAMI. THE CLEVELAND AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER ARTCC (ZOB) OPERATIONS WERE ALSO IMPACTED DUE TO
RFI ON FREQUENCY 134.65 MHZ, FROM THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF HIGH POWER
CORDLESS TELEPHONE LOCATED IN HARRISON, MICHIGAN.
HIGH POWER CORDLESS TELEPHONES ARE BEING USED ILLEGALLY IN THE U.S. AND
THE BAHAMAS. THESE PHONES CAN INTERFERE WITH THE FREQUENCIES USED FOR AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL WORLDWIDE AND CAN POSE PROBLEMS TO ATC NAVIGATION AND
COMMUNICATIONs. THE FAA IS WORKING WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES WITHIN
THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES TO CURTAIL ILLEGAL USE OF THESE
PHONES AND IS APPROACHING VENDORS TO CEASE DISTRIBUTION AND PRODUCTION OF
UNITS THAT OPERATE IN OR CAUSE INTERFERENCE TO CRITICAL AERONAUTICAL
RADIO SPECTRUM.
USERS OPERATING ON THESE FREQUENCIES SHOULD BE AWARE THAT NAVIGATION AND
COMMUNICATION COULD BE SEVERELY IMPACTED DUE TO RFI OF THESE HIGH POWER
CORDLESS TELEPHONES. USERS OF AERONAUTICAL RADIO NAVIGATION AND
COMMUNICATION SERVICES WHO EXPERIENCE THIS TYPE OF INTERFERENCE SHOULD
REPORT ANY EVENT IMMEDIATELY TO THE AIR TRAFFIC FACILITY PROVIDING AIR
TRAFFIC SERVICES. IF THIS IMMEDIATE REPORT IS UNACHIEVABLE, THE USERS
SHOULD MAKE A REPORT TO THE NEAREST AIR TRAFFIC FACILITY AT THE EARLIEST
TIME POSSIBLE AFTER THE RFI EVENT.
24
Thanks to Jeff Goldman, WA1UDB, via Alex Lentini at
Lentini Communications
we receive word of instant-off coupons redemeeable when buying new Yaesu
radios! The following is a list of Yaesu radios and the discounts which will
be honored Aug 25 through Sep 30:
VR-5000: $200 off
VR-500: $100 off
FT-50RD: $50 off
VR-120: $50 off
VX-5R: $50 off
VX-1R: $30 off
There are also a number of deep discounts on their amateur radio base and
mobile models!
In a followup to yesterday's info provide by Mike Dockery, N0DOC, he
provides more details, via the ScanColo group at Yahoo, on the technology
used to patch together differing radio system:
"Essentially, the system permits any form of radio communications system
that ordinarily would be incompatible with other public safety systems
due to frequency band or proprietary modulation format, to interlink and
be patched through by a dispatcher at the Lakewood Police Communications
Center. As many as six separate and simultaneous operations can be
conducted on this system. A radio propagation study indicated that the
Lakewood installation was most compatible to serve the six county
metropolitan area with effective coverage.
In the demonstration, federal, state, and local agencies using a variety
of different and ordinarily incompatible radios (e.g., VHF high band FM
radios, 800 mHz digital trunked radios, 800 mHz analog trunked radios,
UHF FM analog radios, as well as 800 mHz conventional analog/digital
cellular telephones). During the live demonstration, as many as six
different agencies with totally different radio systems were
intercommunicating with full clarity and audibility.
A portable version of the fixed system is also available, and allows a
"black box" interface to attach to up to six different portable/hand-held
radios for local or limited area operations. The entire system fits in a
"camera case" container. This would of course be ideally suited to local
interjurisdictional operations and/or mobile radio communications command
vehicles.
The technology has much broader future applications potential such as for
interoperability of multiple jurisdictions, including fire services,
emergency management, emergency medical services, et al, for coordinating
major natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, etc., civil
disturbances, and for major crime events requiring mutual aid from
multiple jurisdictions such as school shootings."
Bob Amick, ENP, Communications Director
Department of Public Safety
University of Colorado at Boulder
Thanks for helping to keep us up to speed, Mike!
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
once again keeps us at the leading edge of news developments with the
following stories. Thanks again, Perry!
Resident reports hearing transmission on scanner before fatal plane crash
State giving IPS static over police radio system
Paramedics to get better radios
I received a RadioShack 2002 catalog courtesy of Doug Calladonato, KB2RVZ,
from his store in New Jersey. I must say that the overall scanner offerings
are pretty lackluster. From last year they have carried over the PRO-79,
PRO-89, PRO-94, PRO-92, PRO-2067, PRO-2017 and PRO-2052. The new models,
which we already know about are the PRO-93 and PRO-2053 which are to be
released mid-October.
I was also surprised to see the catalog had a spread on the much-hated
CueCat as well as the CueCat bar codes appearing on most items!
23
Mike Dockery, N0DOC, wrote in with the following article which makes for
very interesting reading. All about some "new technology" being used to link
together radio systems of differing types. Thanks, Mike! (And what an area
to support "12 metro-area drug enforcement agencies"!)
Technology links metro drug-fighting agencies
Jim Handcock was kind enough to send in the following buyer alert:
I bought the CD at Radio Shack tonight, and found that it was on sale for
$17.95. Apparently this is an unadvertised special, and the store manager
was not aware of the price drop till she rang it up, so I thought that I
would tip you & your users about it. Close to half price is a pretty good
bargain!
Thanks for the notice, Jim! Everyone, just be aware that not all RadioShacks
carry this and the 2002 edition is due to come out in about 2.5 months (if
all goes well)
Bob Reynolds, WB3DYE, sent in the following news articles courtesy of
Ernie, W8EH, which cover more ground in the news posting the other day
about the amateur radio operator arrested in Ohio for interferring with
police communications
Man arrested for clogging police airwaves
Man charged with radio interference (page down a bit)
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
kindly sent in this link about new Panasonic laptops being put into police
service
Virginia State Police and Loudon Sheriff's Office Add...to Their Police Force
We received a copy of the spanking new
Wireless Spectrum Finder
in yesterday's mail (from Barnes & Noble who had it in stock for $40 and
was delivered in about 4 days).
It's a great reference and contains hordes of interesting details. But it's
probably best left for the hard-core hobbyist since $40 is too much to spend
for those who might only casually read it. Much of its content is also of
academic value since not too many of us will be using the 2 - 30 GHz range
that it covers in detail. But there are a lot of good history details here
(this whopper tops out at 500 pages) and about every acronym ever invented
by radio technology companies or Uncle Sam are present here. I look forward
to delving into this one more thoroughly!
I did look up scanning in the Index to find such text used only once; in the
section on 869-894 MHz and how Part 15 rules forbid the manufacture or
importation of receivers that tune this range!
21
Reggie Moody recently wrote to tell me about his web site which he bills as
"your information storehouse for shortwave radio, ham radio, VHF/UHF, FM,
SSTV, CW, scanners, TV, internet radio, broadcasting, longwave, AM,
communication satellites and more." It is quite a comprehensive resource and
will likely pique your interest in a number of areas!
RadioStorePlus
Many thanks to Bob Reynolds, WB3DYE for passing along word of a ham who
obviously isn't smart enough to know what direction finding equipment is
Hams track police radio interference
Peter Vieth was kind enough to send in this article about the nasty old sun
giving fits to commercial broadcasters
Sunspots Scrambling Signals
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
supplies us with two articles about the increasingly popular FCC! The first
is another article which covers the ongoing fight over spectrum real estate
while the second is a document concerning the FCC's regulation of the air
waves and their recent NextWave fiasco. Thanks, Perry!
Radio-wave fight a dilemma for FCC
Spectrum Issues in the Courts, Congress, and Federal Agencies
20
Dan Rollman of
Scannerstuff,
sends in this interesting article from MRT magazine. It takes a shot at the
age of digital radios and their promises to let everyone talk to everyone
else but cut the, at times, helpful scanner listener out of the loop.
Luckily, in this case, the system was analog and the listener was an officer
whose use of a scanner directly aided in the apperhension of a bank robber.
Thanks for the great reference, Dan!
Interoperability simplified
Many thanks to Courtney Smith for providing this article about Nextel's
plan to eliminate interference between their service and public safety, 800
MHz frequencies. Will it work? And where will the money to implement it,
if it's approved, come from?
Nextel has plan to eliminate police-cellular interference
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
was kind enough to send in this Washington Post article about the recent
fight for spectrum space
Unclog the Wireless Pipelines
Today's trailing news article revolves around the Uniden SC200 SportCat.
Recent testing of my older v1.05 unit against the just-purchased v1.06
received by Jeff Goldman, WA1UDB, proves that the 7th channel bug (whereby
a scan will stop on some memory channels ending in 7 even though they are
locked out) has been fixed!
17
Jonathan of
Javiation
writes to say that they do have stock of Alinco's new DJ-X3 as well as
some of the Australian version of the UBC780XLT!
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
provides two news articles for our reading pleasure
Motorola Leads Way With Next Generation of Public Safety Communications Capabilities
Motorola Extends Functionality of Talkabout® Two-Way Radio Line with New GMRS/FRS Radio
Many thanks go to Bill for his posting on the Message Board for a web link
which allows us to compare the pricing of Wireless Spectrum Finder
(mentioned in yesterday's news) across several vendors!
BestBookBuys comparison
16
Ryan Beacham ran across the following article and was kind enough to pass it
along! It seems South Dakota is looking for an updated radio system to
enhance inter-agency communications and it appears they have decided upon a
VHF digital trunked system which will be APCO P25 compliant!
Unified radio networks are essential to services
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
graciously sent in this link to a review of Wireless Spectrum Finder
by Bennett Z. Kobb. Interestingly, I was just at Amazon.com yesterday with
the intent of purchasing this book. I had expected to save $10 or so off the
published price but was disappointed to see Amazon had it listed for the
full 50 beans.
BOOK REVIEW: Tour the word from 30MHz to 300GHz
15
Today's Hot Item...
I've heard and been contacted by some who have heard a "rumor" about the
upcoming 2002 Police Call. I just received word from Rich Barnett and I
pass it on from him to you...
The 2002 editions of Police Call will all include the nationwide Police
Call CD-ROM for a price of $19.99. We think this is an unbeatable
combination at a terrific price.
This new, 3rd edition of the CD-ROM includes all the Police Call "plug-in"
user notes that are found in the books, providing for data that cannot be
found on the FCC or any other web site. The CD also include business
frequencies, trunking data, maps, codes and more. The CD, as usual, is
searchable by state, volume (region), and is searchable nationally.
Thanks for the update, Rich!
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
once again sends in interesting press articles...
One county in Michigan is preparing to increase 911 costs to its residents
to help pay for an upcoming $15 million radio system
911 costs may rise for radio purchase
One officer in Connecticut probably thought he was much safer behind a desk
than out on the streets
Cop hit by lightning recovering
Eric McDonald, KC2FRI, passed along this article about one organization which
wants to use the radio amateur network of repeaters to back up the Internet
and phone system in case they are overloaded or intentionally disabled. While
I might be able to fathom the phone system, saving traffic on the Internet is
a little too far-fetched. And what's to keep mischevious individuals from
disabling the amateur radio network should they choose to?
For Our Next Trick, We Take Away The Internet Completely
Peter Szerlag posted references to another update by Jim Borland and his
ongoing attempts to hamstring one county's attempt to purchase a new radio
system. Jim believes that the public is being hoodwinked into paying for a
$12 million 800 MHz trunked system when a $4 million VHF conventional system
would be a better choice for everyone involved
A Message to Fauquier County's Citizens
Randall Clark, KB8KZZ, passed along this article from the Village Voice which
focuses on the increasing popularity of wireless, wide area networks. The scary
part is "powerful antennas and signal amplifiers...can be used to propel a
signal many miles" which has the potential to make Nextel interference look
like kid's play.
High Speed, Freed
13
Just in from Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
is an article from the Denver Post about scanner listeners who are nearing
the end of the line for listening to county and state services which are
planning to go digital in the next few months. The article quotes both Bob
Grove and Rich Barnett. Specifically:
Barnett said he is developing a decoder board for scanner manufacturer
Uniden that will enable the public to listen to digitally trunked radios.
Radio Shack spokeswoman Jill Lain said the Fort Worth-based company also
is developing an add-on product so scanning buffs can listen. Grove
estimates the new products will sell for between $300 and $400.
While the news about the Uniden product was known, the RadioShack work is
new and offers more light on the darkening horizon. We now have to find out
if the alleged RadioShack product will be developed by GRE or Uniden.
Thanks for the great find, Perry!
Old police scanners to fall silent
Doug Calladonato, KB2RVZ, a RadioShack store manager (in NJ?) writes to say
that they have received a shipment of the 2002 catalogs! $250 seems to be a
popular price as the catalog lists the PRO-92, PRO-93, PRO-2053 and PRO-94
at this mark. Doug also mentions that the PRO-89 is no longer in the
catalog.
Reading the comments in the catalog, Doug says that it gives the impression
that the upcoming PRO-93/2053 will be software- and cloning-compatible with
the current PRO-92/2067 (which we have heard is NOT true). Before you take
the catalog as gospel, consider that one paragraph mentions the PRO-62 (when
it appears this should have been the PRO-92)!
Thanks for the latest, Doug, and I guess we can all start scoping our local
RS stores to see when the catalogs hit our areas!
Thanks to Bob Reynolds, WB3DYE, we can read about how radio problems have
forced one agency to mandate new policies for officer patrols
Bloomington police mandate 2-person patrol units
Gary Hahnke was kind enough to write in with this article about a Detroit
agency which is anxious to roll out a new Motorola digital system which
promises to fix problems with the current communications
New public safety radios offer better communication
Scott Stokke sends in one article from the NWS about a new computer voice
being phased in for weather broadcasts while the other link highlights the
Communications Resource Group (CRG) and their latest scanning-related
newsletter. Thanks, Scott!
New NOAA Weather Radio Voices
CRG's THE REPEATER Newsletter
Last but certainly not least is our headline scrounging newshound Perry
Joseph, author of
PROBE,
who generously graces us with the following news articles to make sure
we keep on top of all the issues facing today's radio listener!
Outage cuts police, fire radio traffic
EFJohnson Receives $3.7M...For SmartZone Radios
Motorola's ReadySET Technology Brings World Together Through Communications
Sierra Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Padcom and Panasonic Develop Wireless Data Solution for Law Enforcement Officials and Public Safety Industry
FCC searches for spectrum in new places
9
Here's an interesting article provided by a lead from Jeff Multer on a
Carolina scanning e-mail list. File this one under "What the heck were they
doing up there?" Since the article doesn't say (probably via request of
the DEA) I can only guess one reason why
Detective Dies While Working on Communications Tower
Thanks go to Todd Stout, KD6ECZ, for passing along this LA Times article
about planned work to improve the Orange County digital radio system
County Hears Mayday Signal to Fix Radios
8
Good news for scanner listeners in the Phoenix, Arizona area courtesy of
Dan Rollman of
Scannerstuff:
I just received this piece of news in my Phoenix FireWorks August issue
(Fireworks of the Phoenix FD newsletter). Every issue has a column called
"Focus on 800 MHz" which discusses current progress and issues relating
to implementation of the new Astro Digital Trunked radio system, approved
by voters in a bond election earlier this year. Talk of the system
started around 1992, when members of the fire departments tech committee
said a trunked system would be in place in 1994. Since then, they've
basically said essentially "next week" for ten years. The passage of the
multi-million dollar bond election was by far the largest solid sign that
the system would be coming quickly, and Phoenix said they could have it
in place by early 2002. Needless to say, that put local scanner listeners
on edge given the uncertainty that digital scanners would be out by that
time, coupled with the fact that we "lost" our County Sheriff's
Department and will soon loose the City of Scottsdale to digital trunked
systems. The new Phoenix digital system is going to be for Fire, Police,
and ALL city services. Additionally, Phoenix dispatches about 18 other
surrounding cities fire departments, some of them quite rural, on their
same single FD radio system so we have yet to know what will become of
those.
Well, I'll quote from this issue of Fireworks:
"The 800 MHz focus groups have been and will be an on-going process. The
system will not be installed until 2004, but the technical committee
wants to make sure every concern or suggestion is considered."
Hello? 2004? First we've heard of this yet-another date push-back!
Well anyway, free subscriptions to this print-newsletter by PhxFD are
available at http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/AGENCY/phxfire/firewk.html
Needless to say, this all is good news to scanner listeners here.
Dan
Jeff Goldman, WA1UDB, says he has purchased an SC200 from the latest Uniden
production run and that its firmware version is 1.06 which is obviously
different from the 1.05 units that have been shipping for a while. We can
only wonder if this is a fix for the channel lockout bug present in all
models to date. Here's hoping we find out when Jeff checks back in!
7
Kaehu Shapiro, WH6WW, has been in contact with Ham Radio Outlet who states
that their price for the upcoming Kenwood TH-F6A will be $389.95 delivered
(via UPS Ground) plus any applicable taxes. Thanks for passing along the
info, Kaehu!
Kevin Rogers was kind enough to send in this news article about recent
Nextel interference in the Portland, Oregon area. Kevin says that in the
downtown area, the interference is so bad that he has to remove the antenna
from his scanner to prevent overload on the trunking control frequency
Emergency calls crowded out
Many thanks to Jim Bloom for passing along this NY Times article about the
most recent update to the NYC FD's problems with digital radios and
criticism of fire officials for failing to comply with regulations for their
purchase, testing and introduction
Fire Officials to Reprogram Digital Radios
Bob Reynolds, WB3DYE, has supplied a great set of pages which details the
new M/A-COM radio system being rolled out in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Thanks, Bob!
LCWC Radio System
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
kindly passed along the following radio-related news articles...
Chester County emergency communications system was out of service
SHOPLIFTERS in Godalming should beware...
Raytheon Announces 'Team Futara' for $3 billion Software Radio
Uniden, Trek Bikes Join Forces to Promote FRS Sport Radios
2
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
once again supplies us with the days' interesting articles. The lead article
is the latest update in the LAPD situation
No Risk Seen in Radio Glitches
Lucas County, OH to Deploy Wireless Public Safety Solutions...
New radio system could transform future combat
Courtesy of Peter Szerlag on an e-mail list is this news article about
Worcester, MA plans to upgrade their communications systems
Worcester weigh $1.5M upgrade to city's communications systems
Dan Rollman of
Scannerstuff
has the perfect solution for those wishing they could carry multiple
scanners while keeping their hands free. You can now use stylish pants to
take the edge off of "geekiness"
Docker Unveils Pants For Mobile Gadget Storage
Bob Reynolds, WB3DYE, passed along this link to a web page devoted to
dispatch operators in New Jersey who hope to increase public safety and
raise public awareness of their jobs
911 Com Center of NJ
1
Rising from the dead, ace reporter and overall scanner geek Jeff Goldman,
WA1UDB, brings us some very interesting news from a top dog at RadioShack!
You heard it here first and remember that when what's written below gets
spread around the Internet where personal conjecture on these issues turns
into "fact" not long after! Copyright (c) 2001 by Strong Signals
RadioShack's upcoming PRO-93 handheld (Cat #20-523) and PRO-2053 base (Cat
#20-466) are expected to be available around the middle of October. Like the
latest incarnations of the earlier PRO-92/2067, these radios will be built
in China by a GRE-owned plant. Expect both models to be in the RadioShack
2002 catalog available later this month but it's unlikely we'll learn
anything more than we already know now. Copyright (c) 2001 by Strong Signals
One feature that was mentioned was something called "Auto Load" which sounds
very similar to the Control Channel trunking mode of Uniden's latest
BC780XLT. It has also been confirmed that the cloning feature of these new
scanners will not be compatible with those of the current 92/2067 so there
will be no cloning of data between the old and the new. Copyright (c) 2001 by Strong Signals
In related news, RadioShack has been suffering on the stock market and as a
result, overall radio offerings at their stores are likely to suffer as they
concentrate their core offerings to be parts, accessories and batteries.
Copyright (c) 2001 by Strong Signals
One confirmed casualty is the PRO-92 which will be put on clearance sometime
after Christmas until they are all gone, gone gone! For some odd reason, the
PRO-2067 has escaped the chopping block and will remain in the lineup for
2002. Copyright (c) 2001 by Strong Signals
Thanks for all the news, Jeff, and everyone stay tuned because later this
month we'll be able to release more information regarding upcoming
blockbuster sales on selected RadioShack models! Copyright (c) 2001 by Strong Signals
John of
Advanced Specialties Electronics
was kind enough to pass along some interesting news from Alinco!
They have introduced the first FCC Approved Amateur 2M/440 HT with
Digital Transmission capability! The DJ-596T has an optional A to D
"board" that converts analog speech to digital transmissions &
vice/versa. The item should be available in a few weeks & a photo
& Faq are on Alinco's website now. The plug in D/A board is also
compatible with some of their monoband mobiles.
Anyone know where Alinco's US web pages might be (since they have largely
shut down their US site and gone with another distributor)? I was able to
dig up the following off their
Japanese pages
Thanks go to Bruce Thivierge, AA1OL, for passing along the Alinco US web
site link. It's the same link I tried earlier (with Netscape on AIX) which
came up largely blank making me think they had discontinued this site but
when I tried it using Netscape under Windows it came up just fine. Anyway,
right on their opening page is the DJ-596T announcement!
Alinco USA
Looking at the Alinco FAQ on their US web site, I came away with the
following about the digital mode supported on this new radio:
The EJ-40U/EJ-43U optional digital boards consist of a CVSD (Continuous
Code Delta Codec), a CPU and GMSK-MODEM (Gaussian Minimum Shift
Keying-Modem circuits. The analog voice signal from a transmitter's
microphone is encoded by CVSD to a 14kbps digital signal while
transmitting (Analog-Digital conversion). This digital signal is
processed in the CPU using the publicly-open ITU-TV.32 protocol. This
processed signal modulates the VCO in GMSK direct frequency modulation
using a GMSK-Modem. It is then transmitted as a 20F3E conventional FM
signal.
In the receiving mode, the GMSK modulated RX-AF signal comes out of a
demodulation circuit and is processed at the GMSK-Modem. This signal is
again processed in the CPU, then decoded in CVSD to obtain the original
analog voice signal (Digital-Analog conversion). As in a normal FM
receiver, the signal is amplified for output to a speaker.
The advantages are low-noise and high-quality audio communication (and in
commercial or government communications a higher level of security is
possible)....in theory. However, for amateur use where there are
restrictions such as bandwidth, cost of the radio etc, the technology
applied to the EJ-40/43U is rather simple. We admit that the audio from
the digital modulation mode in our radio definitely sounds 'processed'.
Due to simplified circuit design, the error-correction rate is not as
high as more expensive "cutting-edge" commercial rigs. However, using
these boards, you can experience and experiment with the new world of
digital audio communications in the amateur bands at a very affordable
Alinco price. It is exciting to many to experiment with a new mode. And
don't forget the analog FM audio quality of the DR-135/235/435 series and
DJ-596 is superb. The Alinco radios allow you to easily select and use
either mode.
Definitions: CVSD: Continuous Code Delta Codec. One of the delta
modulations that is commonly used for A-D,D-A conversion. It is a
relatively low error-rate pulse modulation system.
ITU-TV.32: Internationally published open modulation protocol for a
data-modem circuit. GMSK: One of the digital modulation systems. It uses
a Gaussian filter to reduce side-lobes produced at the moment of
modulation.
John also says they are expecting a small quantity of sought-after
DJ-X2000Ts to arrive today so if you've been waiting...
In closing, John informs us that they will be closed from Aug 2 through
the 8th and will NOT be able to ship orders or answer e-mail until they
return
And the hits, they just keep on playing. No matter what anyone else says,
Motorola and Ericsson are still managing to convince public safety agencies
to part with millions of taxpayer dollars to install state-of-the-art
hit-n-miss radio systems. Several readers wrote in with the following
articles which all discuss the LAPD's problems with their new Motorola
system.
I just love Mot's reponse regarding the reported problems: ""It will take
some time for officers to get comfortable with the system". Ah, yeah, that
will really help with the dead spots and such. Perhaps Ford and Firestone
should have used that intelligent remark when handling their tire recalls...
Many thanks to Stephen Mitchell, Todd Stout, KD6ECZ, Scott, Dennis Gibson
and Dave Cleary for the links!
LAPD officers criticize department's new $21 million radio system
LAPD Says It Is Working Out Glitches in New Radio System
New LAPD Radios Get Negative Reviews
UPDATE: Dan Rollman of
Scannerstuff
writes in with another story about the LAPD woes with comments from the
Vice President of Motorola
Report: New LAPD Radio System Unsound
Also, thanks to a lead provided by Peter Szerlag on an e-mail list, here is
a link to the LAPD's official press release on all that is happening
ASTRO Digital Technology
Perry Joseph, author of
PROBE,
kindly provides us with three interesting articles.
The first concerns a Tennessee agency planing to install a "digital" system.
You see the same things time and time again. Eliminate safety issues. Dead
spots eliminated. Inter-agency communication across differing systems
assured. While it is Ericsson, will it truly be digital as the article
status? For the stated price, I'm skeptical
The second article is about more problems with a newly installed system in
Colorado. If the old system was so reliable, why the new, costly, unreliable
one? And the comment by the police chief about most scanners not having 800
MHz to listen to tells me he doesn't know who's listening to them or their
capabilities
The last article comes out the APCO conference and the companies showing
their wares for Project-25. Starting at a list price of $2150 and projected
to roll out this Fall, this might be the first answer for digital scanner
needs (for those of us who are independently wealthy?). I've also provided a
link to Datron's web page covering their new, portable model
Clarksville [TN] plans digital radio system
[CO] Police radio system not wave of future, yet
Datron Demonstrates Project 25-Compliant Radios At APCO Conference
Datron Guardian Portable Radio
Thanks to a lead by Kevin Inscoe, we get the latest on the FAA's plans to
migrate to digitial comms for commercial aircraft in the US
FAA Selects Contractor for the Next Generation Air/Ground Communications Program
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