Poor man's multisite trunking -
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Published on: 10/3/2002
Last Visited: 10/3/2002
What it offers is multiple-customer, multiple-site networking for LTR systems," said Reed Danuser, IDA's director of marketing.
Danuser said that some other systems, such as PassPort and ESAS, use a switch with an enhanced protocol.
"The biggest difference with Net-Link is that you're using your existing frequencies, no modification is required to the radios in the field, no phone lines or microwave links are required to connect the sites, and no DTMF or other signaling is required," Danuser said.
"On the positive side, it's cost-effective.It's an elegant, simple solution," he said.
"The negative side of Net-Link is two-fold.It's inherently inefficient because it ties up two channels, one at each site, for a single conversation.The other is that it's not automatic.The system doesn't know where your vehicle is, so it doesn't automatically network you.The operator needs to physically change the system and group in his radio to make a network call," Danuser said.
Net-Link has been enhanced so it will carry three conversations simultaneously.
"What Net-Link does is to create an RF link between the sites, controlled by a PC.You can actually be carrying on three conversations at the same time - one from site A to site B, another from site A to site C, and a third from site B to site C, for example," he said.
Danuser said that Net-Link attracts any system operator that wants to offer wide-area dispatching, so long as they have LTR systems.
"The charm of Net-Link is that there is no specialized equipment.It's off the shelf.The investment is modest, and it works and has worked for 10 years," Danuser said.
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