NARROWBANDING INFORMATION:
The FCC has mandated that on January 1, 2013, Land Mobile radios in the VHF and UHF band will operate in the “narrowband” mode.
Narrowbanding is a reduction in the space occupied by your radio channel.
This FCC action was created to allow approximately 3 narrowband radio channels to fit in the space of two existing channels.
You will need to add a “narrowband emission designator” to your license. The FCC has a backlog of licenses to process, so it is prudent to do this soon. (We can help.)
Many radios designed after 2000 merely need to be reprogrammed to be compliant. Older radios may need to be replaced.
Narrowbanding will not require you to change the frequency of your radio channel.
Narrowband channels have about a 10% reduction in range compared to your current channel.
We test the radios after reprogramming, and have found that the performance of certain radios can be substantially improved with a minor realignment.
Radios set to wideband (current) will not reliably communicate with radios set to narrowband. It is important to change all your radios at the same time.
Narrowbanding enabled the FCC to create several new “splinter” channels.
Several of the “splinter” channels cannot be programmed by older radios even if they can be programmed to narrowband.Some of our competitors are licensing their clients on splinter channels in an attempt to obsolete their existing radios.
There is no requirement to purchase digital radios for the 2013 deadline. While there is talk of requiring digital radios near the end of the decade, at this time we don't think it is prudent to invest significantly more money in technology that may be obsolete before its use is required.(Unless of course, you need the features that digital radios can provide).
Call us at (269) 349-1935 if you have questions, or require further information.
Narrowbanding
