Radio Shack PRO-90 Car Stereo System User Manual


 
32
TRUNK TRACKING
Your scanner is designed to track transmissions on Mo-
torola Type I, Type II, and hybrid analog trunking sys-
tems, which are extensively used in 800 MHz
communications. Remember these important points
when tracking transmissions:
Your scanner monitors Type II systems by default.
However, you can change this if the system in your
area is different (see “Types of Trunking Systems”
below and “Scanning Type I and Hybrid Trunked
Systems” on Page 44 for more information).
Your scanner cannot track transmissions on non-
Motorola trunking systems.
Your scanner cannot track an 800 MHz trunked sys-
tem and scan frequencies in conventional mode at
the same time.
The frequencies for many of the 800 MHz public
safety systems are listed in the separate “National
Public Safety Trunked System Frequency Guide”
included with your PRO-90.
TYPES OF TRUNKING SYSTEMS
Your trunk tracking scanner can monitor two basic types
of systems —
Type I
and
Type II
. Instead of selecting a
specific frequency to transmit on, a trunked system
chooses one of several frequencies in a 2-way radio us-
er’s talk group when that user presses PTT (push to talk).
Thus, trunking systems allocate a few frequencies
among many different users, but the way Type I and
Type II systems do this is slightly different. One important
distinction between these systems is the amount of data
transmitted by each radio when its push-to-talk button
(PTT) is pressed. In a Type I system, the radio’s ID and
its current affiliation (the trunk system it belongs to) are
both transmitted. In a Type II system, only the radio’s ID
is transmitted.
Why the difference? In Type I systems, each radio in the
trunk group individually transmits its own affiliation, while
the trunk system maintains a database that determines
each radio's affiliation(s) in Type II systems.
Another difference between the systems is that Type I
systems are arranged in a fleet-subfleet hierarchy. For
example, it is possible for a city using a Type I system to
designate 4 fleets, each with 8 subfleets.
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