MBCR + Digital???

[MNCRR9000]

I was looking on radioreference.com and it was reported that the MBTA has purchased Icom F3161T and is using the 4161DT portables which are capable of digital. Does anyone know if the MBCR is planning on switching to digital at any point or are they aherring to the FCC deadline of 2020.

[DutchRailnut]

Again why would Any railroad go digital, and maintain a standard network to ensure interchange ????
There is no Digital mandate for railroads , just a mandate to go narrow band 12.5 per channel.

[Grump]

Here on NJT for the past few years we have digital and narrowband ready Icom F50s. Not at all meant to withstand the bumps and bangs on the railroad. Half of the radios have damaged programming/speaker mic connectors and are getting slowly rotated through the radio shop. RX doesn't compare to the older Motorola EK500s or the great old HT1000s. I was talking to one of the radio techs a few months ago and he warned the company against it, but in typical railroad fashion someone sitting in a desk who doesn't use or work on them chose the lowest bid model...

If it was allowed I'd buy my own /\/\ radio....

[kitn1mcc]

the MOW and a few others have gone digital using i-dash/nxdn

[MNCRR9000]

the MOW and a few others have gone digital using i-dash/nxdn

Thats interesting that they have gone digital using i-dash/NXDN. Which railroad is using the digital for MOW?? On radioreference.com it was mentioned that Metro North is currently testing NXDN and MOTOTRBO to see how each one holds up under their working conditions.

[kitn1mcc]

MBCR is i know the radio guys up there


they said that i-dash maybe the standard that AAR may go with

[Ken W2KB]

Again why would Any railroad go digital, and maintain a standard network to ensure interchange ????
There is no Digital mandate for railroads , just a mandate to go narrow band 12.5 per channel.

Here's a technical reason that translates into a financial reason. Also, essentially every digital radio I have seen has the capability of operating in conventional analog mode so interchange capability is built in. The link to the complete article is below. Lots of interesting info.

"The new railroad band plan with the first 12.5 kHz mandate by 2013 does not require radios to be digital. However, due to technical limitations for the much tighter 6.25 kHz channel spacing that will eventually happen, the 6.25 kHz plan will require radios to be digital. It's this second new plan due around 2018 that has railroads experimenting with digital and trying to decide how exactly they will go about the change. Most new radios being purchased now are capable of both analog and digital, or they're at least capable of being modified to digital. Recently the FCC has recommended that the rail industry skip over the 2013 mandate altogether and just start shooting for the 6.25 kHz standard. Some of the larger railroads have decided to start working on this by replacing radios with new models capable of doing both analog and 6.25 kHz digital."

http://www.dpdproductions.com/page_rrfreqs_newplan.html

[MNCRR9000]

Again why would Any railroad go digital, and maintain a standard network to ensure interchange ????
There is no Digital mandate for railroads , just a mandate to go narrow band 12.5 per channel.

Here's a technical reason that translates into a financial reason. Also, essentially every digital radio I have seen has the capability of operating in conventional analog mode so interchange capability is built in. The link to the complete article is below. Lots of interesting info.

"The new railroad band plan with the first 12.5 kHz mandate by 2013 does not require radios to be digital. However, due to technical limitations for the much tighter 6.25 kHz channel spacing that will eventually happen, the 6.25 kHz plan will require radios to be digital. It's this second new plan due around 2018 that has railroads experimenting with digital and trying to decide how exactly they will go about the change. Most new radios being purchased now are capable of both analog and digital, or they're at least capable of being modified to digital. Recently the FCC has recommended that the rail industry skip over the 2013 mandate altogether and just start shooting for the 6.25 kHz standard. Some of the larger railroads have decided to start working on this by replacing radios with new models capable of doing both analog and 6.25 kHz digital."

http://www.dpdproductions.com/page_rrfreqs_newplan.html

Thats interesting stuff, thanks for the link. It's going to be interesting to see what each railroad does. Thats a great feature that the radios are capable of operating in both analog and digital.

MBCR is i know the radio guys up there


they said that i-dash maybe the standard that AAR may go with

Wow, it seems like the MBCR didn't mess around, did they go with I-DAS (ICOM) or NXDN by Kenwood. Did you mean IDAS instead of I-dash, the "h" through me off as to what it was.lol

[kitn1mcc]

what ever they do with will have to be an open format

[MNCRR9000]

what ever they do with will have to be an open format

Yeah that definietly makes sense to have an open format. So they actually haven't decided on a format and have gone operational with it then?? I heard that they use a bunch of Icom portables so it sounds like they may go to idas which operates in both digital and analog which is a definite plus.