What in the world is a Hytera?

One of the few assurances in life is that when there is something new in wireless communications, you will always here about it first from Falcon Direct! Now for the news about Hytera.....

Hytera is a new product offering from HYT America, one of the fastest growing communications companies in the USA. As the battle lines are drawn between differing narrow band technologies, one fact is very clear. Like it or not, 2-way radio communications is going digital. Not only is it going digital, it is also moving toward the fusion of communications and computers.

Traditional 2-way radios are moving toward three basic technologies. APCO-25, or P25, is the U.S. Government standard based on an FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) protocol for Phase 1 and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) for Phase 2. This is the only technology currently approved for fire grant funding and the recommended technology for all public safety communications. The NXDN protocol promoted by ICOM and Kenwood also uses FDMA as a basic platform, but it is totally incompatible with P25. There is a third protocol called DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) that has its origins primarily in Europe that uses a form of TDMA that is also incompatible with P25. DMR, until now, has been offered only by Motorola in the United States, where it is known as MotoTRBO.

Aside from the endless debates as to which is the best technology, the fact that there has been no competitive offering to MotoTRBO which has been a major concern by many prospective users. The Hytera offering, for the first time, provides an alternative to MotoTRBO. In the case of P25, there are many competitors. With NXDN, there are currently three choices, and now MotoTRBO users have a choice as well. Competition advances technology and reduces cost to the consumer. We think this is a good thing!

We'll be telling your more about Hytera very soon. For now, we just wanted to keep you informed on the rapidly changing dynamics of wireless communications technology. In the meantime, we know that a great deal of confusion is being caused by overly aggressive, often misinformed, and in some cases, deceptive sales representatives. For the sake of clarification, let us address a few fundamental issues.

First - P25 is the ONLY technology approved for PUBLIC SAFETY communications. Some misguided sales representatives are attempting to present MotoTRBO as a public safety solution. It is NOT! The following is an excerpt from the Motorola Q&A website at http://mototrbo.motorola.com/frequently-asked-questions/#qtwelve.

Is MOTOTRBO compatible with P25 technology/systems?

No. The P25 protocol (TIA Project 25 standard) was adopted for public safety sector use and currently uses 12.5 KHz FDMA technology. MOTOTRBO supports the ETSI Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) standard for large organization/enterprise two-way radio customers and uses 12.5 KHz (6.25 equivalent-6.25e) TDMA technology.

What types of organizations/businesses would be best suited for MOTOTRBO?

Public (government) administration, public works, manufacturing facilities, transportation companies, small campuses such as resorts and schools, construction sites,and energy/utility companies, as well as small, municipal public safety organizations (as long as they don't use FEMA grant money for the purchase and they have no desire to participate in a statewide Interoperability plan - Comments ours).

The battle for superiority in the public safety sector will be by those who provide top quality P25 equipment at reasonable cost. Already, there are some really competitive offerings as you will see in a special report available at www.info4u.us/Ready4P25.pdf. Check it out for information that we hope will be useful in your system planning.

Speaking of planning, we were recently asked to provide a long range plan by a major user looking for a near term solution for converting to narrow band, and a long range objective of selecting the best digital system as well as enhanced features such as paging, trunking, vehicle location, etc. That plan is currently being prepared and shared with a number of users with similar requirements. It is based on the migration to narrow band using NXDN technology for a non-public safety user.

The elements of the plan would generally apply whether you were considering DMR, NXDN, or P25 technology. If you would like to receive a free copy of this planner, please send us your name, organization, daytime phone number and email address to sales@falcondirect.com. We think you may find this information to be very useful in making your plans for narrow banding and enhanced capabilities. For more information, please click here to visit the Hytera webside. We will also be telling you more about Hytera during the month of March 2010. You WILL be impressed!