Office of Emergency Communications Gateway Training Workshop Module Three Hands-on Configuration Incident Commanders Radio Interface (ICR)

Office of Emergency Communications Hands-on Configuration Overview  Specific Requirements & Capabilities  Setup & Configuration  Adjustments

Office of Emergency Communications Specific Requirements & Capabilities  Power  6.5 to 20 VDC suggested sources:  12 or 24 volt vehicle battery  Vehicle cigarette lighter  115VAC (with an external adapter)  BA590 “military”  Commercial dry-cell battery (12V or greater)  C-AT 12 volt battery pack (uses 8 “AA” batteries  Note: that if eight “AA batteries are used, the ICRI will continue operate to nominally for at least 2 hours after the “OK” LED is extinguished, the “LOW” LED has lit and then extinguished

Office of Emergency Communications Specific Requirements & Capabilities  VOLTAGE LED:  OK “Green” lit: input voltage 8.6 or greater  Low “Red” lit: input voltage 7.5 to 8.5 volts Note: DC source voltage between 6.5 and 7.4 volts will not light either the OK or the LOW voltage LEDs but the ICRI will still function “AA” Batteries “AA” Bbatteries Battery Tray Key Tab Side Key Tab Battery Housing Case Larger Label

Office of Emergency Communications Setup & Configuration  As a minimum, the following will be required for ICRI operation:  ICRI assembly  Power supply with interconnect cable to ICRI  Two radio interface cables  Two radios

Office of Emergency Communications Setup & Configuration Standard Application  Frequency/channel is agency defined, not stipulated by ICRI  Radios supplied by individual supporting teams  Connect through radios’ external speaker mic jack

Office of Emergency Communications Setup & Configuration Interface Cables You require the proper cable for the interface device you’re planning to use!

Office of Emergency Communications Setup & Configuration NEXTEL Direct Connect Mode (PTT Function) When connecting the phone as an LMR install the radio-end of the ICRI interconnect cable onto the accessory jack of the phone and attach the other end of the cable to any of the RADIO INTERFACE jacks

Office of Emergency Communications Setup & Configuration ICRI Operation  Connect the radios to the ICRI with the proper interface cables  Turn the radios on; initially place the radio volume controls at a mid-position between fully counter-clockwise and fully clockwise.  As a radio connected to the ICRI receives voice for a remote radio user for the first time, adjust the radio’s volume control so that the associated LED flickers as words are spoken.  The LED should not remain on continuously as the voice is received

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments  The ICRI is designed to work with most conventional radio systems straight out of box. However system repeaters with long squelch tails and/or trunk systems may require additional adjustments  All of the adjustment are internal to the unit so the top panel must be removed

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Circuit Board Layout Input Blocking Time Prevents Ping-Pong Time Out Timer Adjust Time Out Timer Defeat VOX Trail Time VOX Threshold MIC Output to Radio Test Point Audio Delay Enable/Disable Audio Delay Programming Telephone Time Out Timer Defeat Audio Delay Power Control Test Point Do not user Input Blocking Time Handset Power Control Phone Handset Channel Delay Circuit

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Per Radio Port  Input Blocking Time (JP) – Prevents Ping Ponging.8 Jumped / 1.8 Not Jumped  Time Out Timer Adjust – Factory set to 60 Seconds  Time Out Timer Defeat (JP) – Turns off the Time Out Timer (normally jumped)  VOX Tail Time - keeps the audio path enabled preventing the audio from being muted between syllables  VOX Threshold - Factory set to activate with 1000 Hz tone at -30 dBm injected into the front port  Test Point (JP) – Audio Jumper to ICRI if removed the audio signal will not be patched through the ICRI circuit  MIC Output to Radio

Office of Emergency Communications Audio Adjustments Ping Ponging Ping Ponging is the effect when the radios in the patch begin bouncing between TX and RX with no signal present. 1.Connect all the radio interface modules together in one Net 2.Using a remote radio key-up, speak, and release 3.Watch the radio icon’s VOX LED. Whichever radio icon shows activity first is the source of the problem 4.Remove that radio an see if the problem goes away, if not remove any addition problem radios 5.Patch one on the problem radios back into the net, remove the Input Blocking Time jumper for that port changing the delay from.8 to 1.8 Seconds, repeat step 2 to verify the problem is corrected 6.Repeat for the other problem radios 7.Verify the problems are corrected by repeating steps 1 and 2

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Per Radio Port - VOX  Internal adjustments – Factory adjusted and should not need adjustment in the field  Voice Operated Transmit (VOX) or Voice activated switch – algorithm will signal carrier present whenever the incoming audio exceeds a set threshold (amplitude)  VOX Threshold  Low threshold is less likely to fail to detect speech but more likely to false on noise  High threshold is less likely to false on noise but will fail to detect some speech  Lower threshold should be used if noise is not excessive, Higher threshold is used for open-squelch FM radios  VOX Trail Time - keeps the audio path enabled for an adjustable duration after the moment when speech is no longer detected preventing the audio from being muted between syllables or during pauses in speech

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Per Radio Port - VOX  It creates events, performs certain tasks, and makes certain decisions based on the input parameter values entered.  VOX - needs defined parameters  horizontal axis is time (VOX Trail Time)  vertical axis is signal amplitude (VOX Threshold)

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Per Talk Group  Audio Delays - used for trunked radios  Trunked systems have a delay between when the radio’s PTT is activated and when a channel is assigned  Most systems signal this ready status by a confirmation tone, which can not be relayed by the ICRI  The Audio delay should be set to a duration that holds the TX audio until the channel is selected so the first syllable is not clipped  Two Jumpers  Audio Delay Enable/Disable – JP18  Audio Delay Programming – JP17

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Talk Group Delays  ICRI Generation 3 Talk Group delays  Used for Trunked systems  MSec – for Microcontrollers Marked : Delay.Hex  mSec -for Microcontrollers Marked : Delay1 1Sec Max

Office of Emergency Communications Adjustments Talk Group Delays Delay Hex Delay1 1 Sec Max JP 17 Delay Select Jumpers JP 18 Activate/Bypass Delay Amount

Office of Emergency Communications Questions ????