TETRA Amateur Radios Discussion Group

USA User Looking for Motorola TETRA Portables

fl2wayrf@... (TetraUser) — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:26:30 -0700

As I am from the USA, it is already difficult enough tracking down used/new Tetra radios. Curious if anyone has some for sale. Specifically in the 403-470 region.

Re: Motorola Mtp700

radiobup@... (radiobup-SWL) — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 19:03:20 -0700

Hi Graeme,

If you could share your various MTP700 Codeplugs, I may be able to help with modifications.

Regards,

Motorola Mtp700

graemedrew@... (2M0BXP Graeme) — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 14:49:03 -0700

Hi all, I hope everyone is ok.

I am looking for some advice/assistance

would any of you good people have or know someone who might have the depot cps for the mtp700, I have several of them programmed in dmo mode but I’d like to expand the frequency range up to 440mhz and enable the radios to work through a dmo repeater.

any assistance would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance

Graeme

2M0BXP

Motorola Mtp700

graemedrew@... (2M0BXP Graeme) — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 14:48:45 -0700

Hi all

I’m looking for some help

Would anyone have or know anyone who might have
Depot CPS MR5.11 R6D.581.03

To enable a couple of extra features on this radio

I’m looking to expand the frequency range up to 440mhz
And enable the radio to work through a dmo repeater.

Can anyone offer any advice

Thanks in advance

Graeme

2M0BXP

Tetra Northern Ireland

@... — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 15:33:25 -0700

Hi,
Would anyone have a list of frequencies and la's that is used for the tetra emergency network in Northern Ireland please

Occupational health effects linked to terrestrial trunked radios (TETRA)

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:39:16 -0700

The use of terrestrial trunked radios (TETRAs) has raised concerns about health and sickness absence. Jackie Cinnamond looks at the evidence for a precautionary approach.

The British police and the other emergency services use a communication system involving technology called TETRA (terrestrial trunked radio), which is halfway between a mobile phone system and a walkie-talkie.

At one NHS trust during the autumn of 2013, it was noted that there seemed to be a correlation between increasing levels of sickness absence in ambulance staff and the recent introduction of TETRAs.

This assumed association was based upon clinical presentations of cases being seen in occupational health practice involving ambulance service employees, who maintain that their portable radio handsets are causing them to experience adverse health effects.

TETRA is the leading public safety radio communications system worldwide, and serves to enhance the function of almost 500,000 police, ambulance and firefighting employees (Airwave solutions, 2012; Motorola, 2007).

The Government commissioned TETRA in 2005 at a cost of £3 billion. It did so in response to concerns raised by the Police Federation regarding the use of a two-way radio communication system and its link with breast cancer in female operatives (Police Federation News, 2005).

The use of TETRAs was contentious due to similar health fears raised by the Health Protection Agency and its working group of 2001. Consequently, the Airwave Health Monitoring Study started in 2009 and the findings are due to be released in 2018 (Imperial College London, 2009). This long-term, observational study is investigating health outcomes of TETRA users within the police force.

Initial concerns were raised by Lancashire police after it was introduced, when almost 200 police officers began to experience symptoms of nausea, malaise, head pain, insomnia, skin complaints and two cases of oesophageal cancer (Farrell, 2002; Police Federation News, 2005).

Comparably, these symptoms correlate with reports of symptoms experienced by the ambulance employees within this trust, soon after the TETRA system was purchased, and which could be associated with electromagnetic radiation emitted by this technology.

More
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/occupational-health-effects-linked-terrestrial-trunked-radios-tetra/

OsmocomTETRA

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:37:23 -0700

This project aims at practical research and experimentation with the TETRA trunked radio system. See OsmocomTETRA.

It is part of the bigger family of Osmocom projects,
all aiming to create Free Software (Open Source Software) for mobile communications.

NOTE: Please observe the LegalNotes before using this software!

Software Defined Radio TETRA Air interface sniffer¶

The osmo-tetra project aims at implementing the sending and
receiving part of the TETRA MAC/PHY layer.

Currently, it can

receive, demodulate and decode TETRA downlink signals of real-world TETRA networks
display information about SYNC, SYSINFO, MM and CMCE PDUs
forward those TETRA downlink signals to the wireshark protocol analyzer
forward IP packets contained in TETRA SNDCP to a local tun/tap device

Acute Exposure to Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) has effects on the electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram, consistent with vagal nerve stimulation

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:28:27 -0700

Tetra health effects

Acute Exposure to Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) has effects on the electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram, consistent with vagal nerve stimulation

Background

Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) is a telecommunications system widely used by police and emergency services around the world. The Stewart Report on mobile telephony and health raised questions about possible health effects associated with TETRA signals. This study investigates possible effects of TETRA signals on the electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram in human volunteers.

Methods

Blinded randomized provocation study with a standardized TETRA signal or sham exposure. In the first of two experiments, police officers had a TETRA set placed first against the left temple and then the upper-left quadrant of the chest and the electroencephalogram was recorded during rest and active cognitive processing. In the second experiment, volunteers were subject to chest exposure of TETRA whilst their electroencephalogram and heart rate variability derived from the electrocardiogram were recorded.

Results

In the first experiment, we found that exposure to TETRA had consistent neurophysiological effects on the electroencephalogram, but only during chest exposure, in a pattern suggestive of vagal nerve stimulation. In the second experiment, we observed changes in heart rate variability during exposure to TETRA but the electroencephalogram effects were not replicated.

Conclusions

Observed effects of exposure to TETRA signals on the electroencephalogram (first experiment) and electrocardiogram are consistent with vagal nerve stimulation in the chest by TETRA. However given the small effect on heart rate variability and the lack of consistency on the electroencephalogram, it seems unlikely that this will have a significant impact on health. Long-term monitoring of the health of the police force in relation to TETRA use is on-going.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5010210/

MTM5000-series (MTM5400) programming and upgrade

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:27:28 -0700

There are no official schematics for Motorola TETRA cables - Motorola isn't so dummy. They show us virtually everything in cable manual, but level shifter with all passive components shown as "black box". So you must just buy cable or develop particular schematics by yourself. I successfully did it once for MTP700 by using standard cellphone cable with MAX232 and radio SM with connector pinout. Of course, Motorola TETRA Terminals commonly use TTL levels.

Also keep in mind, that many Motorola TETRA terminals require some keypress procedure to be put in programming mode. At least, all portables I’ve had. Can’t recall my experience with mobiles, sorry (it was a few years ago).

And what the problem with front mic connector and appropriate cable? MTM5400 uses the same cable as most of Motorola Astro25 and TRBO radios, HKN6184. They are easily obtainable off eBay for $50 or something (genuine ones). It will do regular programming as well as normal firmware upgrade. There are only one reasons to use serial connections �� data applications and radio recovery.

DASHBOARD TETRA LINK REPEATERS

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:26:46 -0700

DASHBOARD TETRA LINK REPEATERS

leipzig2000.dyndns.org:4047

LAST SVXLINK TETRA IMAGE :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vu8ef9kcvnvyove/SVXLINK_TETRA_20212702_RASPI_8GB.zip?dl=0

Personal radio use and cancer risks among 48,518 British police officers and staff from the Airwave Health Monitoring Study

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:26:06 -0700

Abstract

Background

Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from mobile phones have been classified as potentially carcinogenic. No study has investigated use of Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), a source of RF-EMF with wide occupational use, and cancer risks.

Methods

We investigated association of monthly personal radio use and risk of cancer using Cox proportional hazards regression among 48,518 police officers and staff of the Airwave Health Monitoring Study in Great Britain.

Results

During median follow-up of 5.9 years, 716 incident cancer cases were identified. Among users, the median of the average monthly duration of use in the year prior to enrolment was 30.5 min (inter-quartile range 8.1, 68.1). Overall, there was no association between personal radio use and risk of all cancers (hazard ratio [HR]��=��0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93, 1.03). For head and neck cancers HR��=��0.72 (95% CI: 0.30, 1.70) among personal radio users vs non-users, and among users it was 1.06 (95% CI: 0.91, 1.23) per doubling of minutes of personal radio use.

Conclusions

more
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-018-0365-6

DMR Vs TETRA

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:25:26 -0700

DMR Vs TETRA

Advantages of DMR versus TETRA

If you are considering a new radio system or a replacement/upgrade of your existing system, choosing the right technology is of prime importance. The decision to use a particular technology should always be based on best fit to achieve the project’s objectives.

In the article below, we have aimed at comparing the relative advantages and disadvantages of DMR and TETRA along several factors including coverage, frequency bands, fallback to analog and the ease and cost of migration.

What is TETRA?

Is an ETSI standard digital radio solution that is more like a cellular telephone system than other LMR standards.

Standards (EN 300 392) were published in 1995 �� the same time as P25 phase 1 was published in the USA.

Operates in 25kHz channels and uses 4 slot TDMA to achieve 6.25kHz equivalence (1 communication path per 6.25kHz of spectrum)

Only includes trunked operation.

Primary market is Europe. It is starting to appear in the USA and Oceania.

What is DMR?

DMR is an ETSI standard, low complexity professional digital radio solution designed to replace analog FM radio that is cost effective.

Standards (ETSI TS102 361) were published in 2005. There are 3 ‘Tiers�� specified �� Tier II and Tier III are for professional users.

Operates in 12.5kHz channels and uses 2 slot TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) to achieve 6.25kHz equivalence. Tier II is conventional, Tier III is trunked.

Offers an easy path to migrate analog FM LMR users to 6.25kHz digital radio technology.

Fast gaining traction in the Americas and Oceania as a lower cost alternative to P25.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMfeYjJwmQ8

https://blog.taitradio.com/2015/02/26/advantages-of-dmr-versus-tetra/

MTP850s PTT Tone

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:24:38 -0700

I was reading an earlier post about Moto TETRA PTT tones so I thought I would share the tone for the MTP850s in case anyone wanted to use it. I'm running it on a few Hytera DMR sets and it sounds nice.

1800hz on 30ms

0hz on 20 ms

1800hz on 30 ms

0hz on 20ms

1800hz on 30ms

The actual tone is 1805 according to my analysed but the Hytera CPS will only allow multiples of 10hz.

I'm using it on the Hytera MD782 and the PD782

TETRA and Health

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:23:55 -0700

Is there any evidence that TETRA affects health?

There has been a substantial amount of research into the effects of radio frequency emissions, including the frequencies used by TETRA, over a number of years. The balance of scientific evidence does not demonstrate any link between radio frequency emissions at levels below the safety standards and adverse effects on health. In its 2007 report MTHR said “Mobile phones have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects.��

Professor Colin Blakemore, head of the Medical Research Council and a Stewart Inquiry Committee member, has said “nobody has established a medical risk and on balance there is no real reason to worry about TETRA. It is certainly no greater risk than a mobile phone…�� .

The MTHR Report published in 2007 said that none of the research supported by the programme and published so far had demonstrated that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones.

Does TETRA affect the functioning of the brain?

https://tcca.info/tetra/faqs-tetra-and-health/

Sepura feature codes and RM info

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:23:11 -0700

I've been fiddling around with Sepura terminals (STP8000-, STP8X-, STP9000- and SRG -series) for a year and a half.

If this post, or a part of it, fails to comply with forum rules please let me know and I apologize. I read the rules and this might be leaning towards a gray area.

This post concerns use in the radio amateur scope only, not professional, public safety or profitable use.
Most of the time, they're great devices. The programming is somewhat different from Motorola CPS.
The biggest drawback, is the inability to turn on features "for free". One feature to be had, is DMO repeater mode.
First a bit of background on programming.
Sepura radio manager (I'm using 2.0) is made of three pieces:

Radio manager
SQL database, where everything is stored
Radio manager client, that updates data TO radio FROM SQL database

1. Radio manager
This uses TEMPLATES for;

Network
Talkgroups
Contact list
Profile
SDA (Short data Application)
Device
And optional custom template that can override desired (though not all) settings defined in previous templates.

For each software version you intend to use, you must have a separate template.
Templates can be upgraded, but not downgraded.

This makes it quite easy for example to update TG:s to different model radios while still having distinctly different GUI on mobiles/portables.
All data is stored on the SQL server that runs locally, or on a centralized MS SQL server.
Before programming:

a terminal (mobile/portable), it must be listed in terminals, and is identified by TEI.
- This can be done with the RM client, more on that later.
The terminal must be mapped to a subscribed identity ISSI/ITSI

To program a radio, a programming batch has to be created:

Select the correct terminal family AND software version
Select the sub/terminal-mappings this batch affects
Select the required templates
Select which clients this affects
The RM will run a validation
Select a few options regarding the process, a few examples listed below:
- Update PIN/PUK
- Update contact list
- Update feature code
- Update tcp/ip-data
- Define a timerange, when the programming is in effect (easy for migrations etc)

The result is a "blob" that's stored in the SQL DD

3. Radio Manager Client
This is the software that does the programming and interfacing to the radio. This can installed standalone on a computer.
Each radio manager client (device) has to be configured in the radio manager. Configuration parameters include, but are not limited to, client hostname, serial ports on client, port speed, allowed operations (RM toolbox etc)
The radio manager client app shows each configured serial port, and the TEI for a possibly connected radio.
Once batch data is updated to the client, it will start processing any terminal that has an update coming at that time.

The client also has a Toolbox (separate app on RM1.8) that can:

Read info (xml blob)
- This includes some sort of log of what has been done to the radio.
- The log seems to reset when radio is wiped. It's in HEX (See attachment 28660.txt)
Read data to RMC
- this is what could be described as a Codeplug
- RMC data can be imported to a template
- RMC data can not be directly cloned to another terminal
- RMC size is about 20MB
Wipe radio.
- Radio will show "Engineering mode" and is a clean slate.
- Wiping radio does not by my testing wipe featured license codes.
- Afaik, this has nothing to do with tuning data

Feature codes
Radios can be upgrade with different feature codes (line out, DMO repeater mode, gateway mode etc).
These are inserted in RM per terminal, and updated while creating a batch. RM does not validate the feature code.
The feature code validation is done at the end of transferring a programming batch to terminal and results in an ERROR.

Now this is what would really be nice, to generate feature license codes.
By opening up this discussion online, I will most probably be cut off from my present source of purchased, most likely bootlegged, feature codes (eBay).
The other option (about the same price) is to purchase from a Sepura dealer.

The third option would be to find out HOW they are calculated. A feature code request is done by sending the terminal TEI and desired feature.
The returned feature license code is a hex string.
Here are the product numbers for a few options:

DMO repeater	STP9000, STP8X	600-00004
DMO repeater	SRG3900	600-00005
DMO power	SC2, STP, SRG	600-00353
Network by TG	SC2, STP, SRG	600-00348
DMO GW	SRG3900	600-00006
Virtual console 1st	SRG	600-00026
Virtual console 2nd	SRG	600-00027
Line-Out	SRG3900	600-00033
DMO/TMO by TG	SC2, STP, SRG	600-00349

And these will result in the following hashes/feature license codes:

TEI	Option	feature code
000109179027510	gw+rep	34A5DC53FA1CF7B9D8CFD3C9EAD442C6C000
000109179028660	rep	988D33765CEE08CD5E3FD90ABC0FDBD94000
000109179028660	rep+line out	98365298CD1081B2AD6AEF5A08554B674100

I do not have the skillset to dwell into hex code, shifting bits or similar. I have seen people on this forum that are capable of finding distinct patterns.
I'm looking for any input to help with this :-)
I just might purchase one or two license codes just to add a bit of entropy.

The funny thing is, if, and I must stress IF this gets solved, it's most probably possible to apply the findings to other areas as well.

This, in addition to the FCC images should give some insight to the innards. Removing cans was new to me, do I didn't open them all up.

SRG3900UW TETRA Mobile/Gateway Terminal Teardown Internal Photos Sepura plc

dmrcodeplug@... (Randy Clark) — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 07:21:54 -0700

SRG3900 Vehicle Mounted Tetra Radio

https://fccid.io/XX6SRG3900UW/Internal-Photos/Internal-photos-1258801

Hum in AMS and Digital Mode

@... — Wed, 25 May 2022 17:09:18 -0700

Hi All,
Is anyone having a problem with a hum when you're in AMS and DM Mode? You can hear it mostly through an external speaker or with headphones on. Changing the volume level doesn't change the level of the hum sound, it stays the same. You can hear it no matter if you are receiving a signal or not. As a side note I don't hear it through the internal speaker. I don't know if the hum is transmitted though when in digital mode.
It goes away when you're in analog mode.
Thanks very much
Lonnie (N7RYT)