Critical Communications: Dispatch

Question How can I troubleshoot IP Console and Gateway Audio Transport across a network?   Answer On initial set up of a console system, often the most frequent problem is the failure of Consoles and IP-223s to communicate across the network.  Common causes of this are: Typos in addressing, such as multicast addresses and port numbers not matching on end to end devices. Firewall turned "ON" in console computers Multicast being blocked across the network due to router settings, etc Use of the Telex “VU Meter” program (download at http://www.telex.com/us/dispatch/file?i=97544&lg=eng) is an excellent and quick way to determine if data is present on the correct port numbers. Open VU Meter with the appropriate multicast address and port number entered in the blanks. Turn the program on. Send a test call on the TX or RX port numbers and see if VU Meter indicates digital audio activity. You may open multiple instances of VU Meter to simultaneously monitor TX and RX port numbers.  Verification that audio data is being sent out on the correct address, but not arriving at the far end of the network may indicate a problem with network configurations, that is, blocking of multicast traffic. Please note that some newer switches are intelligent enough to contain routing functions, which can be unintentionally enabled in some situations.           © Copyright Bosch Security Systems All rights reserved. Text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos as well as the arrangement of the same in Bosch offline knowledgebase (help file) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The content of these offline knowledgebase may not be copied, disseminated, altered or made accessible to third parties for commercial purposes. Some Bosch web sites may also contain text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos subject to third party copyrights. Warranty Note This information is provided by Bosch Security Systems ''AS IS'' and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement. While the information provided in believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. Bosch Security Systems will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from use of this tool, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.  

Question What are possible causes of poor audio in Telex Radio Dispatch Systems?   Answer Telex Radio Dispatch systems have operating requirements which need to be established and verified, in order to insure good quality audio across a system.  Here are some fundamental parameters that installers and technicians need to be aware of, which, if not properly ascertained, may be causes of poor quality audio in the system: Levels are a foundational issue with Telex radio systems. Improper digital audio levels are one of the most common defects that impair system audio quality. This means that the digital transmit audio and digital receive audio must be “proportional.” “Proportional” means that the sampling and conversion of the analog signals must be in the proper binary value “window.”  Generally this would be indicated by a VU Meter bar graph deflection of about 2/3 to ¾ scale at voice peaks. Improper digital audio levels are the result of improper analog levels going into the CODEC. Digital audio that is too low or too high will degrade re-constitution of digital back to analog audio at the end points. The Telex “VU Meter” program allows measurement of the digital audio levels at different points in the network, (see the Knowledge Base articles on Optimal Analog to Digital Conversion in the IP-223, and Telex Dispatch VU Meter Program.) VU Meter gives a graphic and numeric indication of digital sampling with multicast traffic. Microphones The quality of the transmit audio of the entire system depends heavily upon the quality of the signal originating from the microphone.  The microphone is where the “tires touch the road” in the system, and a poor quality microphone cannot be compensated for by any external means. The highest quality radio system will not sound good if the microphone is of poor quality, improperly adjusted, or improperly used.  The microphone is the last component in the system that should be a low price based selection. Poor microphone audio is often caused by improper use of the microphone, or the wrong type of microphone for the application.  Without a doubt, the headset mic is the best choice for any dispatching application, whether pubic safety, or not. The headset mic is always at a consistent distance from the dispatcher’s mouth, and the close proximity minimizes background noise, and promotes a very consistent voice transmit level.  Keep in mind that although some dispatchers do not like to wear headsets, no other type of mic will produce as consistently good sound quality as well as a headset mic. Desktop and gooseneck microphones are designed to be used at a specific distance from the dispatcher’s mouth, and when that distance is exceeded, audio quality degrades, and more background noise is picked up along with the voice.It is common to find a desk mic used at a much greater distance than intended, and this creates less than optimal voice audio quality. Obviously, a microphone gain setting that is too high can also create a similar problem, with excessive pickup of background noise, and excessive voice amplitude. Too low of gain setting, and the voice amplitude will be too soft and accompanied by noise. Again console mic audio in a RoIP system is adjusted by watching the VU Meter deflection at the console, using a loud talk test. Once the best deflection is attained, further gain adjustments at the radio end ensure proper transmitter modulation, and optimal audio quality. Voice peaks are a recommended reference point for calibration. Tones may not be as accurate for modulation calibration, as digital conversion does not reproduce single frequency sine waves as well as voice modulation. Control Stations Control station radios need to be run across the test bench to insure that they meet all performance specifications. Once installed on site, transmit modulation levels need to be re-verified, once the overall system alignment is completed. Mic Jack Audio Some radios use the mic jack as the TX audio interface. Be aware that such low level signals are susceptible to local sources of electrical noise, and shielded cables should always be used. RF Most installations use multiple control stations in a single rack or shelf arrangement. RF leakage can infiltrate wiring of all kinds, so it is important to minimize any radiation that may occur in the vicinity of the system equipment. Keep lead lengths as short as possible. Using outside antennas located as far away from equipment as is possible is important, especially when using high power base stations. Use double shielded RF antenna cables to insure that minimal RF radiation is occurring locally at the rack. iDen phones and similar can generate all kinds of pulse mode interference, especially if the antenna is not cabled to an external location. A loose antenna cable connector can create a lot of RF radiation near the radio. When in doubt, shield everything and make sure connections are tight. Amplified speaker cables and microphone cables are very susceptible to pulse mode RF interference. High Noise Floor Areas For example, if you are planning a power company dispatch center installation, and you have 345,000 volt transmission power lines next to the building, you may have a noise problem. Similarly, areas near commercial radio and television broadcasting towers may also have a very high RF noise floor that must be considered. Control station interfaces should be located out of the area of these types of noise sources if possible. If installation away from these noise sources is not possible, extra care should be used to shield all wiring.  Faraday shielding is the best method of eliminating electrical noise induced from radiating sources. Noise Present via Supplied AC Power Variations and transients in AC power can contribute to system noise. Using UPS power supplies or power conditioners can help eliminate AC power noise present on the supply lines. Verifying that the equipment room supply outlets are properly wired and correctly grounded is good practice. Improper grounds can be a significant factor in noise. Telex equipment should always have case grounds installed. DC Power Telex equipment in racks should have a common DC power supply, rather than each one on a separate power supply. A power supply plugged into an improperly grounded outlet will almost always cause AC noise. Network Network topology can cause VoIP audio problems if there are bandwidth restrictions, or if shared services are causing packet queuing, or data collisions. If operating on a shared network, use VPN Tunnels. Many Telex customers have had good results with products such as DCB (Data Communications for Business) tunnel boxes.           © Copyright Bosch Security Systems All rights reserved. Text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos as well as the arrangement of the same in Bosch offline knowledgebase (help file) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The content of these offline knowledgebase may not be copied, disseminated, altered or made accessible to third parties for commercial purposes. Some Bosch web sites may also contain text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos subject to third party copyrights. Warranty Note This information is provided by Bosch Security Systems ''AS IS'' and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement. While the information provided in believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. Bosch Security Systems will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from use of this tool, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.  

Question How do I change Zones/Channels on a Kenwood radio with Telex Dispatch products?   Answer The Telex Consoles do not have the ability to directly change zones on a radio, this would be done in either the IP-223 or IP-224. The frequency you select on the console would correspond to the F-Tone on the Per Line Setup page in the IP-223/4. In that same section look at the far right hand side and you will see two columns labeled System and Channel. The System column is the zone that you want the radio to change to when the console selects that channel. In turn the IP-223/4 will also change to that channel in that zone. So in practice let’s say the IP-223/4 has F1, F2, F3 set to zones 1,2,and 3 for the channels 1,2,3 respectfully: Now if this is submitted and saved to eeprom, the IP-223/4 will now change channels to zone 1 channel 1 when the IP-2002 selects F1. If the console selects F2 then the radio will change to zone 2 channel 2. If the console selects F3 then the radio will change to zone 3 channel 3.         © Copyright Bosch Security Systems All rights reserved. Text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos as well as the arrangement of the same in Bosch offline knowledgebase (help file) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The content of these offline knowledgebase may not be copied, disseminated, altered or made accessible to third parties for commercial purposes. Some Bosch web sites may also contain text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos subject to third party copyrights. Warranty Note This information is provided by Bosch Security Systems ''AS IS'' and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement. While the information provided in believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. Bosch Security Systems will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from use of this tool, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.  

Question Can I connect a secondary power source to the Dispatch console?   Answer The Dispatch consoles have an Auxiliary Power connector and a primary power supply connector on the rear of the unit. These connectors are internally connected but not designed to supply power to the unit at the same time (either one but not both at the same time). If both sources are required a switch must be implemented on the backup power source requiring a manual switch over from primary to the backup source if the primary power source fails. Power should not be supplied simultaneously to both connectors as hum and noise could be introduced. When primary power is restored, the switch should then be returned to the normal position.                 © Copyright Bosch Security Systems All rights reserved. Text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos as well as the arrangement of the same in Bosch offline knowledgebase (help file) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The content of these offline knowledgebase may not be copied, disseminated, altered or made accessible to third parties for commercial purposes. Some Bosch web sites may also contain text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos subject to third party copyrights. Warranty Note This information is provided by Bosch Security Systems ''AS IS'' and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement. While the information provided in believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. Bosch Security Systems will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from use of this tool, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.  

Question What are the part numbers for replacement power supplies?   Answer The listed inline power supplies will require an additional power cord, order one for each unit if needed. Part Number F.01U.117.972, Power Cord US 115V For the following products order this power supply: Part Number F.01U.110.313, Power Supply, 12 VDC, 1.25 A 90-260vac C-2000 Series C-2002 Series C-1610 Series C-1616 Series IP-2002 HB-3 and 3+ Series ADHB-4 Note: The above 2 part numbers are listed on the Dispatch Price List and available using the normal Customer Order Desk at: Phone: 877-863-4168 Email: buv.orders@us.bosch.com For the following products order this replacement power supply from After Sales Service: Part Number F.01U.153.075, Power Supply, 12 VDC, 72W Desktop 90-260vac C-6200 Series IP-1616 Please contact our Parts and Repair department for pricing and availability at: Bosch Security Systems After Sales Services (ST-ASA/SRA1-AM) 8601 Cornhusker Hwy Lincoln, NE 68507 Tel: +1 800 553-5992 Fax: +1 800 366-1329 Web: www.boschsecurity.com Email: repair.lincoln@us.bosch.com           © Copyright Bosch Security Systems All rights reserved. Text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos as well as the arrangement of the same in Bosch offline knowledgebase (help file) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The content of these offline knowledgebase may not be copied, disseminated, altered or made accessible to third parties for commercial purposes. Some Bosch web sites may also contain text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos subject to third party copyrights. Warranty Note This information is provided by Bosch Security Systems ''AS IS'' and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement. While the information provided in believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. Bosch Security Systems will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from use of this tool, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.  

Question The time change occured and now is off one hour on my C-6200, IP-1616, and IP-2002.  How can I change the time on these consoles?   Answer To change the time on the IP-1616 follow these steps: To set the console clock in quick mode, do the following: 1. On the IP-1616 keypad, press and hold the MUTE button, F16 button, and the XP button in that order. 2. Follow steps 3-17 in “CLK Menu” . To change the time on the IP-2002 follow these steps: To set the console clock in quick mode, do the following: 1. Press and hold Line 1’s MUTE button, Softkey 1,  and the * button, in that order. 2. Follow steps 3-17 in “CLK Menu” . To change the time on the C-6200 follow these steps: To set the console clock in quick mode, do the following: 1. On the C-6200 keypad, press and hold the MUTE button, the F16 button, and the C1 button, in that order. 2. Follow steps 3-17 in “CLK Menu” . The Programming Mode menu appears. 3. Press the CLK softkey. The clock menu appears. Options Edit, A/P, 12/24, and back appear. 4. Press the 12/24 softkey until 12hr displays. The 12-hour clock mode is selected. In the upper-right corner of the display, 12hr appears OR    Press the 12/24 softkey until 24hr displays. The 24-hour clock mode is selected. In the upper-right corner of the display, 24hr appears. 5. Press the A/P softkey to set the 12-hour clock time to AM or PM, if 12-hours clock mode is selected. The time appears with AM or PM on the right. 6. Press the Edit softkey. The clock settings appear on the display. 7. Press the Hours softkey. The Hours menu appears and displays the current setting. 8. Press the 12 softkey. The clock resets to 12 hours or 1200 hours depending on selected mode 9. Press the dwn or up softkey until correct hours displays. The hour setting changes. 10. Press the back softkey after setting the hours. The edit clock menu appears. 11. Press the Mins softkey. The minutes menu appears and displays the current settings. 12. Press the 0 softkey. The clock reset to 0 minutes. 13. Press the dwn or up softkey until correct minutes displays. The minutes setting changes. 14. Press the back softkey after setting the hours and minutes. The hour and minutes setting menu appears. 15. Press the back softkey. The edit clock menu appears. 16. Press the back softkey. The Programming Menu appears. 17. Press the EXIT softkey. The console displays, Resetting console. Changes are saved.         © Copyright Bosch Security Systems All rights reserved. Text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos as well as the arrangement of the same in Bosch offline knowledgebase (help file) are protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. The content of these offline knowledgebase may not be copied, disseminated, altered or made accessible to third parties for commercial purposes. Some Bosch web sites may also contain text, images, graphics, sound, animations and videos subject to third party copyrights. Warranty Note This information is provided by Bosch Security Systems ''AS IS'' and without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including (but not limited to) any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose or non-infringement. While the information provided in believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. Bosch Security Systems will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from use of this tool, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.