Mastecom MTRUNK Network

[centralcoastscanman]

I was just reading a brouchure on mastercom's website in relation to this radio network, and the gear they recomend that people use has only got one type of trunking enabled... mpt1327

its got me thinking has anyone tried to monitor this system using trunkview or universaltrunker to see what comes up ?

[cartman]

Andrew

Mastercom's Mtrunk -That is a digitally encrypted data system using Kenwood radios
And it is not NXDN
It is another form of digital with a 11K etc emission deisgnator which makes the racket on four or five frequencies in sydney we hear around 487Mhz

Grant

[centralcoastscanman]

ah ok, i obviously must have found an old brochure as it was telling people if they want to use it they recomend Tait TM8000 radios which the only trunking those do is mpt1327

[centralcoastscanman]

here is the url that got me thinking this system could have been mpt1327

http://www.mastercom.com.au/DownloadsPDF/M-Trunk.pdf

[cartman]

One of the techs involved told me what it was and i even got a pdf link for it .... the layout of the type of system that is employed - can't access the link at the moment.
Ivhari aka as richard is aware of this system - pretty secure from what he said in previous posts


Grant

[centralcoastscanman]

ah ok cool, if someone remembers i'd be interested to know what sorta system it is, eg what protocol it is based on etc

[ivahri]

Even I can't properly describe this system, other than to say it is the smartest, most advanced "conventional" radio system I have ever seen. It is extremely secure so forget about expecting to hear anything intelligible via a scanner or receiver, it is full duplex, and has features such as AVL and message bank built in to it. Individual networks, world wide, are linked via IP to permit a radio in Sydney to talk to a unit operating in the US (or anywhere else there is coverage). It was developed by some very smart independent system designers in the US in conjunction with Mastercom. I've had it demonstrated to me quite a number of times and been blown away everytime. Sadly it wouldn't suit emergency service applications as it is extremely proprietary but I have to admit in principle it makes P25 look very "dumb" while not having the coverage limitations of TETRA.

Cheers,


Richard

[centralcoastscanman]

ah ok fair enough richard, didn't realise mastercom went to that sort of length to get hooked into a system

only issue i have with voip in linking radio system is it relies on people not cutting fibre cables and having redundancy in the network to cope with 1 link falling down

[ivahri]

Well RoiP is actually more reliable than point to point link technologies. The most weak system is the one that depends on a single radio link- lose an antenna, a receiver or transmitter & it is dead. Look at Mesh type networks- lose one node & it automatically reroutes via another. The only fibre or cable you need worry about is the one that you plug your gear in- once in to the ip world it is inherently more reliable than old exchange based technologies. Welcome to the new world.

Cheers,


Richard

[centralcoastscanman]

richard,

I agree with your comments about the weake systems, as my work always has problems with links to outlying sites when bad weather comes in as they only have an rf link with no backup in place. admitedly they are cisco wifi links that are running point to point.

Regaring IP Networks being better, your assuming that the network is setup properly and has redundancy in place for link failures.

If the IP network is setup properly then yes i would fully agree with you, but some networks are sold as being setup very well and infact when things go pear shapped there is no redundancy.