Entry Level

Digital Mobile Radio

(DMR) “Today”

Product & Feature Overview

Prepared by 2826 Limited in Partnership

with UK DMR Manufacturer

© 2826 Limited December 2014

Introduction

Over the last 7 years there has been a major change within the business two way
radio industry, in that a new digital era has arrived. In the past, all two way radio
transmissions have been analogue and speech has been sent in the transmission by
modulating the signal to speech patterns. This method of transmission has been
extremely successful over many, many years. However the launch of digital
transmission has led to the design and implementation of new digital protocols for
the business radio industry.

Sepura has taken these new protocols and emerged with a new product portfolio
that offers digital transmission of both voice and data so that we can all benefit from
the features digital mobile radio (DMR) can deliver.

Below we talk about basic entry level systems for small to medium size
organisations, however we have further documentation which explains in more
detail about linking multiple sites, networking, unique software and dispatcher
packages for larger systems. This document “Advanced DMR Today” can be
requested by contacting one of our team.

Analogue versus Digital

The introduction of Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) brings some fundamental questions
which are answered here.

 Q. What does the new DMR platform offer over analogue?

o A. The main advantages of DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) over

analogue are audio quality, data transmission and integration with
other systems and devices.

Audio quality with analogue systems deteriorate over distance and as

a result, as the signal gets weaker, the audio quality falls away. With
digital transmission, the audio is coded into data before transmission
and decoded on arrival. If the signal gets through, you hear the same
quality audio at the receiver as left the transmitter.

With regard to data transmission, the Sepura radio is built to handle

data and hence has the capability to be more effective. The digital
platform can therefore be more useful for transmitting data such as
GPS information and text type messages to enhance feature lists.
Sepura digital two way radios use IP based protocols and will
therefore integrate more easily with back office systems.

© 2826 Limited December 2014

 Q. When is it time to migrate to digital?

o A. The new digital platform for business two way radio users has
been available for almost 7 years. Sepura have provided an upgrade
path for users so that digital equipment is backward compatible and
users can easily migrate their systems over a period of time.

Once all radios have been upgraded to digital, the radios can be
reprogrammed to digital mode. If your business is considering a new
installation or replacement of an old one, then Sepura DMR should be
your only consideration, as manufacturers have begun cancellation of
many analogue portfolios. Any new analogue installation could mean
potential problems sourcing equipment and would lead to the need to
upgrade to digital in the future in any case. This could mean more
investment and possible disruptions.

 Q. Are there different digital platforms and are they all compatible?

o A. There are two protocols that have been developed and used
by different manufacturers and unfortunately they are not all
compatible with each other. These protocols are widely known in the
market place as dPMR and DMR. The easiest analogy to explain the
differences would be a VHS/Betamax scenario making it very difficult
for customers to choose the right path, however market research
clearly shows the majority of UK systems sold use the DMR protocols
as they are far more advanced and indeed reliable.

Features & Product Information of Digital Mobile Radio

The feature list of the Sepura Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) range is extensive and
growing all the time.

Radio products available today include:

 Digital Repeater Station

 Desk Top Fixed Radios
 Vehicle Radios
 Portable Radios
 Associated Accessories
 Software Applications / Integrations

© 2826 Limited December 2014

Product Information: Sepura Digital Repeater Station

The Sepura digital repeater station has a very unique dual voice slot feature. Due to
the use of TDMA technology (Time Divisional Multiple Access) used in the digital
transmission, the repeater station is able to send two voice transmissions using a
single frequency so you get the use of two channels for the price of one when using
a repeater station. Furthermore the unit has battery backup capability and an
external RJ45 IP connection to allow units to be connected together over a network.
This feature is very useful for connecting remote sites together or increasing radio
coverage if required.

Sepura DMR Repeater (SBR8000)

The Sepura DMR repeater station also offers an upgrade path from analogue to
digital in that it will work in analogue mode, digital mode or a “mixed mode” option.
This will allow digital transmission when receiving a digital signal from a digital radio
and then analogue transmission when receiving an analogue signal from an analogue
radio. This basically means you can run both digital and analogue radios through the
same repeater station, making migration simple and painless.

Product Information: Sepura Digital Desktop / Vehicle Radios

Both configurations above utilise the same Sepura mobile radio terminal, however
dependant on the requirement, depends on the accessories utilised.

For a vehicle configuration units will come with a mounting bracket, power cables
and fist microphone and for desktop or fixed scenarios a 240v power supply. All
fixed or vehicle radios come as standard with a colour display to make best use of
features available such as messaging, lone worker alarms and emergency calling.

Sepura DMR Mobile (SBM8000)

© 2826 Limited December 2014

Product Information: Sepura Digital Portable Radios

Sepura DMR portable radios are available with and without keypad and display and
these choices will be dependant on the features required. As mentioned before
some features such as text messaging, lone worker and emergency calling work so
much better with a portable radio with visual display.

Both display and non display units meet IP67 build standards, which includes the
ability to fully submerse radios in water for 30 minutes at depths of 1 metre without
damage.

Sepura Portable units are supplied as standard with a belt clip, antenna and lithium
polymer batteries. Radios are also available with optional coloured bezels to easily
identify users groups or departments and are available in Orange, Yellow, Green and
Blue.

Sepura DMR Portables (SBP8000)

Digital Features

When installing a new Sepura DMR system that uses a repeater station, whereas
with an analogue repeater station you would have one operational channel, with a
digital repeater and digital portables you actually get two channels. This is achieved
by breaking the channel up into slots. When transmissions take place over a digital
network the speech is turned into data which is compressed. This compression
means that the voice can be transmitted in half the time that an analogue system
would take.

© 2826 Limited December 2014

Call Types

There are many different call types that can be programmed to a Sepura DMR
system including:

 Individual Private Call

 Group Call
 All Call
 Emergency Call
 Remote Monitor Call
 Remote Disable / Enable Call

The ability to programme and configure radios with sophisticated calling structures
will give rise to a very versatile and robust radio system that can be tailored to
specific applications and needs.

Radio users can select to call individual radios for a one-one conversation or perhaps
select a specific group to make a call; further users could select all radios in the fleet
to make an announcement. Calling from the office radio or display radio can be
initiated from a contact list within the radio. The contact list can be pre
programmed or manually adjusted by the user.

If a radio user is called and they are unable to answer, a “call indicator” will show in
the radios display to show that a call was received. Display radios can be
programmed to show the incoming caller ID number or indeed alphanumeric name.

There is an emergency button on the top of the radios that can be aimed at a
particular radio user or group. The receiving radio, with a display, will show the
emergency call and who made the call. If the system is busy when the emergency
call is made, the radio will slot the emergency call within an active conversation to
get the emergency through.

The remote monitor call is used to switch a remote radio in to transmit such that
local noise or background to the radio is transmitted automatically to you. As an
example, perhaps a portable radio user activated an emergency call to alert the
office radio but no further transmission was heard. It could be that the radio user is
in conversation with somebody and cannot use the radio. The office can then
activate a remote monitor call to put the portable radio into transmit with the
microphone live. The office can then hear the conversation or noise without the
radio user knowing. This can also be done with vehicle radios. This feature is
programmable per radio user.

© 2826 Limited December 2014

The radio disable/radio enable feature can be used to remove radios from the
system if they are stolen. If at any point a radio is stolen and is being used to cause
interference to your fleet, the office radio could use this feature to disable the
nuisance radio, should this radio unit be recovered the radio can then be enabled
again.

Crystal Clear Audio

One of the key benefits of a Sepura digital system over a legacy analogue system is
the crystal clear audio achieved. This is due to the speech being encoded and sent as
data and is decoded by recipient radios such that the voice is received exactly as it
left the transmitting unit. With legacy analogue systems a weak signal meant weak
audio, whereas a weak digital signal can still bring crystal clear audio. Of all the
benefits of digital over analogue systems, the clear audio is top of the list and
ensures every call within coverage is heard clearly. The audio crispness experienced
using a Sepura portable is simply the best in its class. This has been achieved by the
company’s global experience developing TETRA terminals for the mission critical
markets and their huge annual investment in R&D at HQ in Cambridge.

Reducing Background Noise

When transmitting on a Sepura digital radio the audio processor samples the audio
from the microphone and is able to cleverly discriminate between what is speech
and what is noise. The noise is filtered to leave a much clearer voice transmission.
This facility will greatly improve transmission from radio users operating in high
noise environments. A great example of this facility is the Formula 1 Grand Prix
teams now being able to communicate more clearly with their pit crews and you as a
viewer can now hear those conversations broadcast live on TV. The reason this is
possible is from the introduction of digital radio transmissions that remove
background noise.

© 2826 Limited December 2014

Longer Battery Life

With digital radio transmissions the radio compresses the speech which takes up to
half the transmit time. The radio actually transmits in pulses and thus transmitting
for less time. This improves the life of batteries by up to 40% on average allowing
users more operating time without the need to change or charge batteries.

Strong Robust Portables

Sepura digital portable radios are built to IP67 standards, in a nutshell

this means radios are built to military specifications and are put
through accelerated life testing to ensure reliability for years to come.
Sepura digital radios also come with a minimum of 24 months
warranty as standard and this warranty can easily be extended up to
60 months and can even include accidental damage cover. IP67 also means the
radio is submersible in water for 30 minutes to depths of 1 m with no degradation or
operational issues to the radio.

 Q. Why choose the Sepura DMR family

o A. Sepura has a pedigree that can be traced back, through well

known names such as Phillips and Pye, over 100 years in radio
communications, and has been a global leader in the digital
sector for over 15 years. The company has successfully
delivered over one million digital radio
terminals.

Built on providing robust,

secure solutions for use in
tough, harsh environments
and utilising open standards,
Sepura’s unique DMR
product family remains true
to these principles and provides a total DMR solution.

© 2826 Limited December 2014

 2826 Limited
Units 11 & 12 Walworth Enterprise
Centre
Duke Close
Andover
Hampshire
SP10 5AP

Tel: 08452 200200

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.2826.co.uk

© 2826 Limited December 2014