Types Of Trunking Systems; Motorola Trunking - Uniden BCD396T Owner's Manual

system with a lot of users, only a few users are ever
transmitting at any one time.
Instead of being assigned a frequency, as with
conventional systems, each group is assigned a talk
group ID. A central computer controls the frequency
each group operates on...and this frequency selection
is made each time a user transmits. So, while on a
conventional system queries, replies, and follow-ups
are all on a single frequency, they could each be on
completely different frequencies on a trunked system.
This semi-random frequency assignment made
monitoring such a system impossible prior to Uniden's
invention of the TrunkTracker IV scanner.
Not only does your BCD396T scan channels like a
conventional scanner, it actually follows the users of a
trunked radio system. Once you know a talk group's
ID, you won't miss any of the action.
If you are a new scanner enthusiast, you might want to
read the first part of this manual and use your scanner
in conventional mode before you begin trunk tracking.
Understanding scanning fundamentals and
terminology will make trunk tracking much easier. If
you are already an experienced scanner operator, you
might want to go to "Programming Motorola Systems"
on Page 62, "Programming EDACS Systems" on
Page 66, or "Programming LTR Systems" on Page 69
now.

Types of Trunking Systems

Trunking systems divide a few frequencies among
many different users, but the way that each system
does this is slightly different. This section describes
some of the technical data behind Motorola, EDACS,
and LTR trunked radio systems.

Motorola Trunking

While there are different types of Motorola trunking
systems, they all use the same basic trunking method.
The system consists of one control channel (or as
Understanding Scanning
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