HARRIS P800 question A
OpenSky Digital Radio
Portable
Radio
Model P800
Users Manual
CHAPTER 1
Welcome to the OpenSky Network
Chapter 1
Safety Notices 3
Notices to the User and Safety Training Information 3
Occupational Safety Guidelines and Safety Training
Information 5
OpenSky Overview 7
Internet Protocol (IP) Network 7
Integrated Voice and Data 8
Digitized Voice, Text and Graphics 8
Multi-Agency Coverage 10
Promotes Interagency Cooperation 10
Connectivity with Legacy Equipment 11
Improved Coverage and Signal Strength 11
Better Peak-Time Performance 12
Software-Configured Device 12
Software Upgradeable 13
P800 User’s Manual 1
Safety Notices
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON SAFE AND
OPTIMAL OPERATION. READ THIS BEFORE
USING YOUR P800 PORTABLE RADIO.
Notices to the User and
Safety Training Information
WARNING Your P800 radio generates RF
electromagnetic energy during transmit mode. This
radio is designed for and classified as “Occupational
Use Only” meaning it must be used only during the
course of employment by individuals aware of the
hazards and the ways to minimize such hazards.
This radio is NOT intended for use by the “General
Population” in an uncontrolled environment.
The OpenSky P800 portable radio has been tested and
complies with the FCC RF exposure limits for
“Occupational Use Only.” DO NOT transmit for more
than 50% of total radio use time (“50% duty cycle”).
Transmitting more than 50% of the time can cause
FCC RF exposure compliance requirements to be
exceeded. The radio is transmitting when the “TX”
indicator light is flashing. The radio will transmit by
pressing the “PTT” button. In addition, your P-800
radio complies with the following Standards and
Guidelines with regard to RF energy and
electromagnetic energy levels and evaluation of such
levels for exposure to humans:
Welcome to the OpenSky Network—CHAPTER 1
P800 User’s Manual 3
CHAPTER 1—Advanced Radio Operations
• FCC OET Bulletin 65 Edition 97-01 Supplement
C, Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines
for Human Exposure to Radio Frequency
Electromagnetic Fields.
• American National Standards Institute (C95.1–
1992), IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with
Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency
Electromagnetic Fields, 3kHz to 300 GHz.
This equipment generates or uses radio frequency
energy. Changes or modifications to this equipment
may cause harmful interference unless the
modifications are expressly approved in the instruction
manual. The user could lose the authority to operate this
equipment if an unauthorized change or modification is
made.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply
with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to
Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation.
Government law prohibits the operation of unlicensed
transmitters within the territories under government
control. Illegal operation is punishable by fine or
imprisonment or both. Refer service to qualified
technicians only. Do not operate your transceiver in
explosive atmospheres (gases, dust, fumes, etc.).
This equipment generates and uses radio frequency
energy and may cause harmful interference to radio
communications if not installed and used in accordance
with the instructions. However, there is no guarantee
that the interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:
• Re-orient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment and
the receiver.
• Consult a service center for technical assistance.
4 P800 User’s Manual
Welcome to the OpenSky Network—CHAPTER 1
Occupational Safety Guidelines and
Safety Training Information
CAUTION. To ensure that your exposure to RF
electromagnetic energy is within the FCC allowable
limits for occupational use, always adhere to the
guidelines below.
Your P800 portable radio may transmits using the
integral antenna. When the radio is ON, it receives and
also sends out radio frequency (RF) signals.
In 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
adopted RF exposure guidelines with safety limits for portable
devices, based on the recommended limits of the National
Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP)
and the American National Safety Institute (ANSI).
The design of the P800 Portable Radio complies with the FCC
guidelines for Occupational / Controlled exposure to RF
electromagnetic fields, as measured by the specific absorption
rate (SAR). To assure optimal performance and make sure
human exposure to RF electromagnetic energy is within the
FCC guidelines, always adhere to the following:
1. Do not hold the radio less than 1 inch from your
body, especially your face, ears, or eyes, while
transmitting.
2. When using the radio, angle the antenna away
from your body and do not allow the antenna to
touch your body during transmission.
3. The push-to-talk button should only be depressed
when intending to send a voice message.
4. The radio should only be used for necessary work
related communications.
5. The radio should only be used by authorized and
trained personnel and should not be operated by
children.
6. Do not operate your radio or replace/charge
batteries in explosive atmospheres (gases, dust,
fumes, etc.) or near explosive basking caps. Your
radio should be turned off when installing and
removing batteries.
P800 User’s Manual 5
CHAPTER 1—Advanced Radio Operations
7. Do not attempt any unauthorized modification to
the radio. Changes or modifications to the radio
may cause harmful interference. Service of the
radio should only be performed by qualified
personnel.
8. Always use M/A-COM authorized accessories
(antennas, batteries, belt clips, speakers/mic, etc.).
Use of unauthorized accessories can cause the FCC
RF exposure compliance requirements to be
exceeded.
The information listed above provides the user with the
information needed to make him or her aware of a RF
exposure, and what to do to assure that this radio
operates within the FCC exposure limits of this radio.
6 P800 User’s Manual
Welcome to the OpenSky Network—CHAPTER 1
OpenSky Overview
M/A-COM’s OpenSky is a suite of products
implementing an integrated digital voice and data
system based on the Internet Protocol.
The OpenSky network is digital, but provides
interoperability with analog radios, making it possible
to integrate existing (legacy) equipment alongside the
most sophisticated digital equipment available today.
• If you’ve been issued a P800 to replace a
conventional analog voice-only radio, you’ll
particularly appreciate the integrated voice and
data capabilities of the all-digital OpenSky
Portable equipment.
Internet Protocol (IP) Network
OpenSky’s Wireless Private Network is changing the
nature of real-time communications for large fleet
mobile businesses and public safety organizations
alike.
IP Backbone
Using Internet Protocol (IP) as a network backbone for
end-to-end user applications, OpenSky integrates
digital voice and packet data into a single network that
provides significant performance advantages over
yesterday’s uneasy alliances of independently-built
radio networks trying unsuccessfully to interact.
Like tuning into a channel in a conventional FM
radio system, logging onto the OpenSky network with
your pre-configured user profile will place you in
contact with the members of a software-defined talk
group consisting of the set of users you customarily
have to contact.
P800 User’s Manual 7
CHAPTER 1—Advanced Radio Operations
• Unlike your conventional FM radio, your P800
is a node on an Internet-Protocol (IP) network with
its own unique IP address.
Addressable Headers
Messages intended for you (whether voice or data) are
broken into packets with identifying headers, just like
World Wide Web internet communications, and
targeted to your specific IP address.
• You can travel anywhere within your network
and messages intended for your IP address will
find their way across the network to your personal
receiving set.
This doesn’t mean your communications are traveling
across the World Wide Web. Far from it. OpenSky is a
private wireless Intranet that adopts the best features of
IP protocol for increased communications efficiency
and capacity.
Integrated Voice and Data
Your P800 Portable Radio is a hardware component of
the OpenSky network, an integrated voice and data
communications system that delivers end-to-end digital
voice and data transmissions over the same wireless
network to a single handheld device.
Digitized Voice, Text and Graphics
By converting analog voice waves to digital
information before transmitting them over the network,
OpenSky technology makes it possible for portable
radio users to send and receive voice transmissions at
the same time they receive and view data on the radio’s
display screen.
8 P800 User’s Manual
For complex graphics,
interface a PC through
your radio’s RS-232 serial
port.
Welcome to the OpenSky Network—CHAPTER 1
With a P800 in your vehicle, or by your side, you’ll
be able to scroll through complex instructions and
driving directions displayed on an external terminal
device, or view on-screen emergency warnings while at
the same time carrying on conversations with
dispatchers or other mobile operators in your coverage
area.
• With OpenSky and the P800 you’ll not only use
the same device to receive data and carry on
conversations, you won’t even have to switch
between radio modes to do both simultaneously.
RS-232 Interface
For heavy data transfers or displaying graphics, your
P800 is equipped with an industry-standard RS-232
interface serial port for connecting a portable PC or any
of an increasing array of third-party display and keyentry devices.
A data programming cable is required in order to use
this feature.
P800 User’s Manual 9
CHAPTER 1—Advanced Radio Operations
Multi-Agency Coverage
OpenSky is scalable, and designed to accommodate a
virtually unlimited number of portable devices from a
single fleet, or even a complex network made up of
several cooperating agencies.
Examples of how OpenSky improves cooperation:
• Every truck in a Carrier Company’s fleet can share
one large national network.
• Every cruiser in a state-wide police agency can
communicate with any other cruiser, from one end
of the state to the other.
• Patrolmen with older analog equipment can
connect seamlessly with newer digital devices over
the same network.
• Emergency response agencies share the same
network for improved communications during a
massive crisis.
Promotes Interagency Cooperation
In fact, the system is best suited to multi-agency public
See full discussions of Talk
Group, User Group and
User Profile elsewhere in
this manual
safety networks over areas as large as an entire state:
every cruiser, ambulance and fire truck and all their
dispatchers and support personnel sharing voice, data,
even graphics over the same network.
Talk to Anyone on your Network
Your personal voice profile defines who you
commonly communicate with. Each user needs only
one authorized radio to connect seamlessly to many
independent agencies or cooperating dispatch
networks.
10 P800 User’s Manual
Welcome to the OpenSky Network—CHAPTER 1
• There’s no need to monitor multiple frequencies on
several pieces of equipment to maintain contact.
• User talk groups connect you at all times with
precisely the users you need to reach, no matter
who they work for, or where they’re located within
the network.
Connectivity with Legacy Equipment
The all-digital, end-to-end IP OpenSky Intranet even
provides support for legacy equipment and protocols
both digital and analog.
Along with supplying voice and data to your P800
portable radio, the network will also support existing
(or “legacy”) radio equipment you may still need to use
during a hardware rollover.
This also means you’ll be able to make radio contact
with cooperating agencies on the same network,
whether or not they have made the conversion to
OpenSky equipment.
Improved Coverage and Signal Strength
Part of OpenSky’s scalability is its ability to
accommodate as many base stations as your coverage
area requires to provide robust voice and data
transmissions wherever your route may extend within
the network.
Cell Sites
OpenSky cell sites automatically extend coverage into
otherwise hard-to-reach areas and connect back into the
network.
Background Roaming and Switching
Automated switching takes place in the background
with OpenSky, so you’ll no longer be required to scan
for an open channel, or wait for an available channel,
when you move through your coverage area.
P800 User’s Manual 11
CHAPTER 1—Advanced Radio Operations
Instead of depending on choices from a central
switching station, your radio itself constantly monitors
signal strength and makes its own decision to roam to
another base site for a more robust connection.
Better Peak-Time Performance
OpenSky’s digital trunking architecture provides
enormous advantages over conventional FM operation.
Conversation capacity is effectively doubled by the
system’s ability to carry two voice-to-voice
conversations over the same channel that was
previously dedicated to just one.
Software-Configured Device
Your P800 is a “soft” radio. Its functions are
determined by OpenSky software applications, in much
the same way computer hardware can be used for
different applications.
Unlike older analog radios you may have used, with
their hardware-based proprietary functions, your P800
converts voice waves into digital information before it
transmits to the network, providing noise-free audio
transmission and reception.
What’s more, because each user in the network has a
Make any radio in the
system “your radio” by
logging on with your
identity code.
unique identity code, you can activate your identity
from any radio connected to the network. Any radio
from your agency’s stockpile of radio hardware can
become “your” radio and log on as part of your talk
group and profile.
12 P800 User’s Manual
Software Upgradeable
As with computer hardware, your portable radio
equipment is upgradeable each time the OpenSky
software enables a new feature or operational
enhancement.
Communications protocols, radio features, and user
profiles can be changed easily and transparently to the
user, during a shift or during “sign-on” at the beginning
of a new shift.
Welcome to the OpenSky Network—CHAPTER 1
P800 User’s Manual 13
CHAPTER 1—Advanced Radio Operations
Enhanced Digital Features
The all-digital network and OpenSky’s digital trunking
features also enable a rich array of network
enhancements unthinkable over historical FM
broadcast systems.
Voice grouping (into talk groups, user groups, and
profiles) is probably the most obvious advantage to
individual users. Other essential and enhanced feature
sets include:
• Priority scanning
• Multiple priority levels
• Pre-emptive emergency calls
• Late-entry calls
• Autonomous roaming for wide area applications.
You’ll benefit from high-quality, noise-free voice
communications with enhanced speech clarity
compared to analog, especially in noisy environments.
14 P800 User’s Manual
CHAPTER 2
Network Organization
Chapter 2
Network Organization 15
Your Voice Feature Personality 17
User Groups 18
Profiles 19
Radio Personality 21
Terminology 23
P800 User’s Manual 15
P800 User’s Manual 16
Your Voice Feature Personality
When you activate your radio at the beginning of a
shift your unique identity code is used to sign on, your
radio is assigned its IP address and “provisioned” with
a radio personality that identifies other users on the
network with whom you are most likely to need to
communicate by voice. If you need to modify your
identity code bring your P800 to your network
administrator.
Some users you’ll only monitor, others you’ll want to
talk with during the course of your shift, just as with
older analog equipment you talked over one frequency
and monitored others to keep informed about the
activities of users in your agency, workgroup, task
force, fleet or geographic area.
Your overall radio personality is organized into User
Profiles are assigned by
your network administrator
to match your
communication needs.
You’ll have access only to
those users who fall within
your profile.
Groups (talk groups and listen groups), similar to a
channel in a conventional FM radio system. These user
groups are then organized into Profiles (collections of
up to 16 user groups), similar to banks of channels.
Finally, as many as 16 profiles make up your
personality.
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
Global Voice Profile
Profile 1 is known as the Global Voice Group. It is
always active scanning for inbound calls. It is usually
allocated to a “Fleet” operation allowing users to
receive broadcast calls independently of the active
profile.
There can be only one active user profile at any time.
Within that profile, only one user group is your talk
group; the others are listen groups. So, while you have
tremendous capability to establish contact with a very
large number of users, you’ll need to select the profile
that puts you into voice contact with the talk group you
need at any time.
P800 User’s Manual 17
User Groups
Network capacity is the
only limitation on the
number of users that can
make up a group.
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
A user group is a set of users who regularly need to
communicate (all the officers in a state police barracks,
for instance, or all the drivers who work a particular
shift).
• In conventional FM radio broadcast systems,
these users work together by tuning to the same
channel.
• In the IP-backbone OpenSky digital network,
subscribers in a user group are connected by a bit
of data in the header of every voice or data packet
addressed to the members of the group.
With OpenSky, members of the same user group can
stay in contact regardless of where they roam within
the network, whether the network incorporates a single
county, a state, even the entire nation.
Dispatchers maintain contact with all members of the
group, and each user can stay in “push-to-talk” contact
with the dispatcher and all the users in their talk group,
even if those users are from different, inter-networked
agencies.
The Figure below illustrates a small user group of four
P800 portable radios.
Figure 1
User Group
Each radio assigned
to an individual user
Nothing about this user group so far defines it as a talk
group or a listen group. That determination is made
when user groups are gathered together by the network
administrator into the larger groups called profiles.
P800 User’s Manual 18
Profiles
Members of a talk group
are not necessarily
scanning the calls of the
same listen groups.
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
A profile is a set of up to 16 user groups. All sorts of
configurations are possible within this simple
architecture. Police officers on the same shift might
make up a profile, for instance. Within this profile,
each police station within the network might be
assigned a user group. So the profile would connect all
the cruisers from 16 stations for an entire shift.
Officers from each station would most likely be in
“push-to-talk” contact with one another; all other
officers on the same shift would most likely monitor
the other groups for “listen-only” access to all other
calls within the profile. But this is only one possible
configuration.
A user group might just as easily include officers from
several stations: a SWAT team, for example, or a
special emergency task force might require the
collaboration of special personnel or equipment from
different police stations, or even other agencies.
• In conventional FM radio broadcast systems,
users with this sort of relationship would create an
“ad hoc” profile by tuning to one channel for talkgroup privileges and scanning an entire bank of
channels to monitor the conversations of other
groups.
• In the IP-backbone OpenSky digital network,
members of the same talk group automatically
receive every voice message addressed to the
group, and monitor the voice messages of every
other user group in the profile.
Each user in the OpenSky network can be assigned as
many as 16 profiles by the network administrator. At
any time during a network session, users can select the
profile that suits their needs with a simple twist of the
Profile Selector knob. The Active Profile Number is
displayed in the radio’s menu Display and Control
Area.
P800 User’s Manual 19
Talk Groups
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
Figure 2
___________________________________________
User Profile
User Group 1 User Group 2 User Group 3 User Group 16
. . .
Talk Group Up to 15 Listen Groups
While your active profile can contain up to 16 user
groups, only the primary group in any profile is your
talk group. All the other user groups in your profile are
listen-only groups. You’ll hear the calls from these
groups but they will not hear your voice unless your
user group is part of their profile.
To establish voice-to-voice contact with a particular
user, you’ll have to select the profile that makes that
user part of your talk group. This is only possible if
your network administrator has configured a talk group
that contains both you and the other user.
If each of you has a profile that includes the other in a
talk group, you can each select the profile that puts you
into “push-to-talk” contact with the other.
Listen Groups
All the other user groups in each of your up to 16
profiles are listen groups. See the User Profile Figure
above for an illustration of how user groups are related
in a profile.
By adding different listen groups to your several
profiles, your network administrator can change the
configuration of the user groups you can monitor at any
time by clicking your profile selector knob to the
appropriate profile.
You may only have one talk group, but that doesn’t
keep you from tuning in different profiles to monitor a
different “bank of channels.”
P800 User’s Manual 20
Scan Modes
There are three scanning options that include:
Scan none: Scanning is disabled.
Scan normal: Scan all listen groups in your profile.
Scan talk back: Scan all listen groups in your profile
Radio Personality
Your radio personality is a collection of up to 16
profiles. The entire personality is organized by your
network administrator and is unique to your
communication needs.
When you activate your radio at the beginning of a
shift and sign on with your unique identity code, your
radio is assigned its IP address and “provisioned” with
a radio personality that identifies other users on the
network with whom you are most likely to need to
communicate by voice.
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
PTT results in a response in your default
talk group.
within a time out period. PTT results
in a response in the active listen group.
Your overall radio personality is organized into User
Groups (talk groups and listen groups), similar to a
channel in a conventional FM radio system. These user
groups are then organized into Profiles (collections of
up to 16 user groups), similar to banks of channels.
Finally, as many as 16 profiles make up your
personality.
P800 User’s Manual 21
Figure 3
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
____________________________________
___
Radio Personality
Profile 1 (1 Talk Group and up to 15 Listen Groups)
. . .
Profile 2 (1 Talk Group and up to 15 Listen Groups)
. . .
...Profile 16 (1 Talk Group and up to 15 Listen Groups)
. . .
Radio personality architecture gives you tremendous
flexibility to organize your communications needs,
even as conditions change.
With 16 profiles you can participate in as many as 16
talk groups. Or, if you only need one talk group, you
can still have up to 16 different profiles that can add
more than 200 other user groups to your listen group
pool, each with an almost unlimited number of
subscribers.
Of course, with potentially hundreds of voice calls in
your profile at any time, your personality also
establishes strict pre-determined priority sequences to
suppress the calls that would distract you from the calls
you’re more likely to need.
P800 User’s Manual 22
Terminology
Network Organization — CHAPTER 2
Most of the terms and concepts you’ll need to
communicate with your dispatcher, network
administrator and other users have parallels in legacy
analog networks.
Digital Compare to Analog
User Group ........
Profile .................
Talk Group ........
FM radio channel
Bank of FM radio channels
“Push-to-talk” connection with
users tuned to the same channel
Listen Group......
“Listen-only” connection to a bank
of radio channels
Profile .................
Talk privileges on one channel
while monitoring an entire bank of
channels
P800 User’s Manual 23
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