[TrunkCom] upcoming new digital scanner announcements
nrf
[email protected]
Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:50:24 -0400
based on getting 'burned' the last two times such scanners came out, I think we need to demand more information from
the manufacturers. there is a lot more to the story than 'p25 compatible' or 'tracks 9600 data channel'
lack of tracking a 9600 data channel kept the first one from working in michigan, but people didn't really know about it until the
scanner came out and was found not to work.
the second generation can track 9600 data channels, but lo and behold, there is yet another issue - p25 systems can have different
voice coding schemes, so although the second generation scanner can track the 9600 data, it can't decode much of the speech on a
system that uses qpsk in simulcast mode...
how compatible with actual systems will these new scanners be? what encodings will they work with? will the manufacturer commit to updating to phase 2
capabilities as they are rolled out? or do we have to replace our $1000 scanners every couple of years to stay 'in the race'?
and even though first generation digital scanners will cover the ohio-state-wide MARCS system, it will soon be moving to 9600 bps
and qpsk, locking out both the first and second generation scanner users!
it would be nice if someone would put together a matrix of the p25 options (current and future) so we could build a checklist of
where certain scanners are covering the possible configurations. unfortunately this is a very technical business!
nrf