1. Fire and Rescue Service Mobile Radio Training Program
Learning Event Description:
This learning event provides subscriber unit users an introduction to their unit, its basic operation, and the job aids available for assistance in operation. This is accomplished through the use of video clips, instructor facilitation, and hands-on activities.
Learning Event Objective:
Upon completion, the participant will be able to employ the toolkit resource required to accomplish an operational task. Furthermore, the trainee will successfully complete the competency-based evaluation.
Montgomery County
Fire and Rescue Service
Mobile Radio Training Program

2. Copyrights/Disclaimer
Computer Software Copyrights
The Motorola products described in this manual may include copyrighted Motorola computer programs stored in semiconductor memories or other media. Laws in the United States and other countries preserve for Motorola certain exclusive rights for copyrighted computer programs, including, but not limited to, the exclusive right to copy or reproduce in any form the copyrighted computer program. Accordingly, any copyrighted Motorola computer programs contained in the Motorola products described in this manual may not be copied, reproduced, modified, reverse-engineered, or distributed in any manner without the express written permission of Motorola. Furthermore, the purchase of Motorola products shall not be deemed to grant either directly or by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license under the copyrights, patents or patent applications of Motorola, except for the normal non-exclusive license to use that arises by operation of law in the sale of a product.
Documentation Copyrights
No duplication or distribution of this document or any portion thereof shall take place without the express written permission of Motorola. No part of this manual may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose without the express written permission of Motorola.
Disclaimer
The information in this document is carefully examined, and is believed to be entirely reliable. However no responsibility is assumed for inaccuracies. Furthermore, Motorola reserves the right to make changes to any products herein to improve readability, function, or design. Motorola does not assume any liability arising out of the applications or use of any product or circuit described herein; nor does it cover any license under its patent rights nor the rights of others.
MOTOROLA, the Stylized M Logo, ASTRO, SmartZone, and Spectra are registered
in the US Patent & Trademark Office. Call Alert, intelligence everywhere, Private Call,
Private Conversation, TalkAround, and XTS are trademarks of Motorola, Inc.
All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
© Motorola, Inc. 2002
ASTRO® Digital Spectra®/Spectra Plus Model W4

3. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Astro Digital Spectra W4
WELCOME participants to the learning event and Introduce yourself.
TELL participants that this learning event takes approximately 2 to 3 hours to complete.
TELL participants that this event consists of interactive tutorial, video clips and hands-on activities.
STATE the Learning Objective for the course.
Learning Event Objective: Upon completion of the learning event, the participant should be able to employ the toolkit resource needed to accomplish a task.
This tutorial has been prepared exclusively for you, keeping in mind your system configuration and radio layout. The explanation for each function is a step-by-step guiding process, specifically designed for easy comprehension and implementation. However, for in-depth system or radio information, you should consult your system administrator. Keep in mind that each radio and each system is customer configurable.
7 A DISP

4. Status Alert Tones
Pressing the speaker icon in the presentation mode will play the sound as defined in the “Tone Information” area.
A limited number of mobile radios are encryption-capable. Most end-users will never see a “Key Loss” message.
Radio is out of range of the system
Out of Range
A Private Conversation Call has been received
Two-Tone
A call to the central controller was not acknowledged
No Acknowledge
Radio encryption module does not contain a valid key for the current mode
Key Loss
Receipt of a call sent to the central controller
Acknowledge
Time-out timer limit has been reached (60 seconds)
Time-out Timer
Channel is ready to use
Talk Permit
Channel, system, or target radio is busy
System Busy
Receipt of a Private Conversation call sent to your radio
Private Call
Radio has successfully powered on
Power-up
Radio has lost communication with the central controller
Failsoft
Emergency alarm was sent from your radio
Emergency
Receipt of a Call Alert page was sent to your radio
Call Alert
A valid key was pressed on the keypad
Button Press
Tone Information
Tone Name
ASTRO® Digital Spectra®/Spectra Plus Model W4

5. Radio On or Off
The radio will display an error message if it fails the self test. If the radio fails the self test, turn the radio off and then back on again. If the error message re-appears, complete the appropriate radio repair documentation.
To turn the radio on:
Rotate the Volume knob clockwise.
The display and graphics illuminate, indicating that the
radio is on. If enabled, a power-on tone also sounds.
When the ASTRO Digital Spectra radio is turned on,
Self Chk is displayed.
To turn the radio off:
Rotate the Volume knob counter-clockwise.
Self Chk

6. 7 A DISP 7 A DISP L.E.D. Status RED Yellow Solid
- PTT is pressed, radio is transmitting
Yellow
Flashing
- Conventional channel busy (Private Line)
Emer
Dir
Scan
Call
Sel
Page
7 A DISP
7 A DISP

7. 7 A DISP Display Brightness
Turning the radio off and on will result in a display set to full-brightness.
Reiterate to end-user trainees that, in the event that the L.E.D. display is blank (assuming the radio is on), (s)he may depress the Dim button to return the display to high, or simply turn the radio off and on again.
To adjust the display brightness:
Press the Dim button to change the display brightness to one of four levels:
Off to high
High to medium
Medium to low
Low to off
In off, both the display and the backlight are off (used for
surveillance operations).
7 A DISP

8. 7 A DISP Home Mode Select To select the Home mode:
Press the Home button.
For radios in suppression units, the Home button sets
the radio to 7A DISP.
For radios in EMS units, the Home button sets the radio
to 9A DISP.
7 A DISP

9. Mode (Channel) Select (Current Zone)
To access a mode in the current zone:
Turn the Mode knob until the desired mode name is displayed.
7 B OPS

10. 8 C INC40 Zone Select A zone is a grouping of modes. A mode is a group
of characteristics such as transmit/receive
frequencies, Private Line codes, radio
parameters, and an alpha-numeric name.
To select a zone:
Press the Zone Up button or Zone Down button.
8 C INC40

11. 7A DISP Transmit (Trunked) 1 of 2 To transmit:
Lift the microphone off the hook, and press the microphone PTT button.
Do one of the following:
If you hear three quick tones, or if you hear no tone and the red XMIT (transmit) indicator lights steadily, proceed with your message.
Release the PTT button to receive.
- OR -
If you hear a busy tone, all trunked channels are
in use.
a. Release the PTT button and wait for three, quick, call-back tones.
7A DISP
PTT

12. 7 A DISP Transmit (Trunked) 2 of 2
b. When the call-back tones are heard, press and hold the PTT button within three seconds to proceed with your message.
c. Release the PTT button to receive.
- OR -
If you hear a continuous low-pitched tone, you are
out of the system's range. The red XMIT indicator may flash several times as the radio tries to access the system. Release the PTT button and try again when the vehicle is driven within range of the system.
7 A DISP
PTT

13. Time-out Timer
All ASTRO Digital Spectra models provide a time-out timer function that prevents locking up a repeater or channel by prolonged keying of the transmitter. You cannot transmit longer than the preset timer setting. If you attempt to do so, the radio automatically stops your transmission, and you hear a prohibit tone.
Notes:
You will hear a brief, low-pitched, warning tone four
seconds before the transmission times out.
The timer is set for 60 seconds .
7 A DISP

14. Emergncy Emergency Alarm 1 of 2
For trunking modes, a high-pitched tone sounds indicating that the alarm has been received by the trunked central controller.
Remind end-user trainees that the emergency button (on the mobile radio) is a red dot button.
The red dot button is recessed to minimize inadvertent activation.
To initiate an emergency call:
Press the Emergency (Red Dot) button. This activates an audible and visual Emergency indication for the talk-group at ECC. Your radio’s alias is displayed for the dispatcher.
A tone sounds and the display alternates Emergncy with
the current zone/channel.
NOTE: The Emergency Call function will only work on trunked talk-groups. It does NOT work on conventional channels (FDTA - talk-around).
Press the PTT button and announce your emergency.
Note: Other radios in the same mode will see the message “EMER RCV’ indicating that another user has activated his/her Emergency button.
To end an emergency call:
Press and hold the Emergency (Red Dot) button until a tone sounds.
Emergncy is no longer displayed, and the radio returns
to normal operation.
Emergncy

15. No Ack Emergency Alarm 2 of 2 Special Considerations for Emergencies
If you press the Red Dot button while in a mode that has no emergency capability, a low-pitched tone sounds.
If the unit is out of the range of the system and/or the emergency alarm is not acknowledged, a tone sounds and the display shows No Ack.
If you press the Red Dot button and change to a mode that has no emergency capability, a No Emerg display alternates with the mode name display. A continuous low-pitched tone sounds until a valid emergency mode is selected or until the emergency is cancelled.
When an emergency is active, changing to another mode where emergency is enabled causes an emergency to become active in the new mode.
No Ack

16. Announcement Call (Trunked) 1 of 2
When making an announcement call, it is imperative to advise our trainees of the following: Re-transmit any announcement call a a second time after waiting five seconds. This will maximize the probability that any users, who have been transmitting during the first call, will receive the message.
The announcement capability allows a user to make
announcements to the entire announcement group.
All Announcement calls use ruthless preemption.
When an announcement call is initiated, the requesting radio begins transmitting immediately.
All associated talk-group calls taking place on other channels are immediately halted, and the radios are steered to the announcement call.
Notes:
When the announce group function is initiated, radios
continue to transmit until the PTT button is released. At
that time, these radios also become capable of receiving
announcement calls.
Individual calls (Private Conversation and telephone
interconnect) are not affected.

17. Announcement Call (Initiate) 2 of 2
Reiterate that the announcement capability allows a user to make announcements to the entire announcement group.
For incident announcement groups (ANN##) the announcement is made across the corresponding incident talk-groups (7 FANN10 announces across 7 CINC10, 7 DINC11, 7 EINC12).
For the hospital announce group (10H HANNC) the announcement is made across the individual hospital talk-groups (10A HCH, 10B MGH, 10C NVYMD, 10D SGAH, 10E SUB, 10F WAH, and the general county-wide 10G HOSP talk-group), for the in-County hospitals. HANNC does not announce to the out-of-County hospitals in the template.
To initiate an announcement:
Turn the Mode knob to locate the announcement-group mode.
Press the microphone PTT button to initiate the announcement.
7 F ANN10

18. HCH Ack Rcvd Paging a Hospital 1 of 2
Important Note: Prior to initiating a hospital page, ensure that you are on the proper talk-group for the hospital that you are paging (if you are paging Holy Cross Hospital (HCH) be sure that you are on 10A HCH so that they can respond to you). Otherwise, the hospital receiving the page cannot respond to your page.
Demonstrate responding to a Call Alert page.
The page will continue until it is cleared, as is the case with an alpha-numeric pager.
To select a hospital from the call list:
Press the Page button.
The page indicator lights and a valid-key tone sounds.
The display shows the last transmitted/received unit ID.
Use the pre-stored list by turning the Mode knob to locate the hospital you want to page.
Press the Sel button or the microphone PTT button.
The displayed hospital is automatically paged. The
display shows Pls Wait.
When the called unit acknowledges the page, four
additional tones sound and the display changes to
Ack Rcvd.
The radio returns to normal operation.
If you are out of the system’s range, a low-pitched
tone sounds.
Emer
Dir
Scan
Call
Sel
Page
HCH
Emer
Dir
Scan
Call
Sel
Page
Ack Rcvd

19. No Ack Paging a Hospital 2 of 2
Demonstrate responding to a Call Alert page.
The page will continue until it is cleared, as is the case with an alpha-numeric pager.
Try again by pressing the PTT or Sel button.
- OR -
Press the Home or Page button to return to normal
operation.
If, after six seconds, the called unit fails to acknowledge
the alert, a low-pitched tone sounds and the display
changes to No Ack.
Try again by pressing the PTT button or Sel button.
Press the Home or Page button to exit.
No Ack

20. Call Alert Page (Respond)
Demonstrate responding to a Call Alert page.
The page will continue until it is cleared, as is the case with an alpha-numeric pager.
If you are not available when a caller sends you a Call
Alert page, a Page Rcv message is left.
The display shows Page Rcv and four tones repeat
every five seconds.
To respond to a call alert page:
Make a normal dispatch call. Press the PTT button and ask about the page.
Page Rcv

21. My ID 720100 ID Number (View Your)
This option allows you to view your own ID so that you may inform others how to reach you.
Alternatively, when an ID is not in the scratchpad, press the * button to view your ID.
Scan
Dir
Page
Call
Sel
Emer
To view your ID number:
Press the Page button momentarily.
Turn the Mode knob counterclockwise to locate the MY ID display.
The display alternates between My ID and your ID number.
To return to normal operation, press the Home, Call, or Page button.
My ID
720100

22. Private Conversation Call – Respond
If 20 seconds pass before you press the Call button, you will not respond privately to the call just received. Instead, when you press Call, you enter the Private Conversation call state.
If the system is busy when you attempt to answer the call, a telephone-type busy tone sounds and your radio’s BUSY indicator lights.
When a channel becomes available, your radio receives a call back. When this call back is received, press and hold the PTT button within three seconds to proceed with your message.
NOTE: If you do not press the Call button before pressing the PTT button, your conversation will be heard by all members of the talk group.
Scan
Dir
Page
Call
Sel
Emer
When a Private Conversation call is received, two
high-pitched tones sound and the display alternates
between Call Rcv and the home display.
To answer a Private Conversation call:
Press the Call button within 20 seconds of receiving the call.
The display shows the ID number of the calling unit.
To respond to the call, press the PTT button to talk; release it to listen.
Call Rcv
720100

23. Transmit (Conventional)
To transmit:
Lift the microphone off hook, and listen for activity on that mode.
If you hear no activity, ensure that the yellow BUSY light is not illuminated; press and hold the PTT button. The red XMIT will illuminate while transmitting.
7 0 FDTA
PTT

24. Smart PTT (Conventional Only)
Two radio-wide variations of smart PTT are used:
Smart PTT is a per-channel,
programmable feature used in
conventional radio systems to
keep radio users from talking
over other radio conversations.
When Smart PTT is enabled on
your radio, you are not able to
transmit on an active channel.
If you try to transmit on an active
Smart PTT channel, you hear an
alert tone, and the transmission
is inhibited.
Smart PTT Variation
Operation
Transmit inhibit on busy channel with carrier
You cannot transmit if any traffic is detected on the channel.
Quick-key override
You can override the transmit-inhibit state by quick-keying the radio—two PTT button presses within the preprogrammed time limit
ASTRO® Digital Spectra®/Spectra Plus Model W4

25. Direct/Talk-Around (Radio-to-Radio)
A conventional personality can be configured to always transmit on the direct mobile-to-mobile frequency. In this case, the DIR indicator is illuminated continuously while the mode is selected.
To talk directly to another unit without going through
the repeater system:
Press the Dir button.
The DIR indicator illuminates, indicating that the radio is
now transmitting directly to another unit.
To return to repeater operation, press the Dir button again.
The DIR indicator is no longer displayed.
Note: This feature is only available for conventional
channels that support repeater operation. FDTA does not
support repeater operation.
13G ICALL
DIR

26. List View (Scan)
Changes can not be made while in the view mode.
To view a scan list:
Press and hold the Scan button until the scan indicator blinks and a valid-key tone is heard.
The radio suspends scanning while a scan list is being
reviewed.
Turn the Mode knob to scroll up or down through the programmed modes and use the arrow buttons to move through the zones.
Press the Home or Scan button momentarily to exit the scan list and resume scanning.
7 A DISP

27. Scan On
The radio will not begin scanning again for a predetermined hang time after the call ends. This provides the end-user approximately three seconds to begin responding.
The scan list does not have a priority feature. This allows the radio to scan mutual aid jurisdictions and conventional channels. It also means that, if the radio is listening to an active scanned mode, it can miss a message in the selected mode.
When using scan always ensure that a radio is monitoring your assigned talk-group or channel to maximize the likelihood that a message is not missed.
To turn scan on:
Press the Scan button.
The scan indicator lights and a list of modes is scanned
for activity.
When a scanned mode becomes active, the display
changes to show the active mode name, the ‘N Pri’
indicator lights, and the radio volume returns to normal.
7 A DISP

28. Scan – Transmit While Scan Is On
To transmit on the selected channel, if another channel is active, first turn scan off by pressing the Scan button momentarily.
To transmit while scan is on:
Press the microphone PTT button at any time to transmit on the selected mode.
Note: The radio will transmit on the selected mode, not on the active mode in the scan list.
7 B OPS

29. Out-of-Range Indication
If you are out of range of the trunked system, NO PHON is displayed, and a continuous low-pitched tone sounds. Press the Home button to resume normal operation.
The out-of-range indication remains in effect until one of the following conditions occurs; the radio:
locks onto a control channel.
locks onto a Failsoft channel.
is turned off.
The radio is constantly checking the availability of the system for use.
As soon as the radio determines that it cannot detect the system the operator is notified by an out-of-range indication and alert.
Our current radio system does not provide any means of indicating to the user whether the radio will work or not until an attempt is made to transmit.
This can lead users to believe that the new system provides less coverage than the existing system when in fact it provides greater coverage and warns the user when it is out of coverage.
If your radio is out of range of the system and can
no longer lock onto a control channel,
- OR -
If your radio is in Failsoft and cannot lock onto the
Failsoft channel:
If either of the previous events occur, the end-user
can expect:
an alternating display of the currently selected zone/mode and Out Rng, and/or
a low-pitched tone sounds every six seconds.
Out Rng

30. Site Trunking
In this mode of operation, the user can only communicate with other units at the same site.
In a SmartZone system such as ours, if the zone
controller fails, the site enters into a site-trunking
operational mode.
All radios will alternately display Ste Trnk with the current
mode of display when site trunking becomes active.
Additionally, the radio also sounds a valid-key tone when
it first detects site trunking.
In this mode of operation, all console functionality is lost at ECC. This includes PTT IDs, Emergency Alarm annunciation, talk-group patching, and phone patching.
When site-trunking is active, ECC communicates with field users on backup mobile radios mounted in the ECC consoles.
The system will continue to trunk the channel so all talk-groups will still be available.
Ste Trnk

31. Failsoft 1 of 2
The Failsoft condition is indicated by a faint beeping tone every ten seconds (radio unsquelched).
When the trunking system returns to normal operation, the beeping tone stops.
If a trunking system experiences a control system failure, the radio will revert to Failsoft operation. In this mode, the radio automatically switches to the assigned Failsoft channel for the talk-group on which the radio is operating. Your display will alternately flash FAILSOFT and the talk-group to which your radio is set.
NOTE: During this event, your radio will emit a medium-pitched tone every 10 seconds.
Failsoft

32. Failsoft 2 of 2
If a system that is in Failsoft is accessed while in scan, the radio freezes scan and remains on the Failsoft frequency for a period of six seconds. This time allows the operator to monitor the Failsoft frequency for activity before resuming scanning.
The nuisance-delete feature can be used to temporarily delete the system in Failsoft from the scan list, if desired.
To continue communicating with other talk-groups,
one must:
change the mode to a different repeater frequency, and
press the PTT button to talk; release the button to listen.
Failsoft

33. Failsoft Channel Assignments

34. Key Fail Key Loss Indication
Note: Unless this training session is being offered to the fire/rescue personnel in possession of encrypted radios, the training facilitator need not share this slide.
If the periodic key-fail tone feature is enabled, and the radio is neither transmitting or receiving, six medium-pitched tones are generated every five to ten seconds. This is a reminder that the radio does not have a valid key for the current mode. The key-fail reminder will not sound when the radio is in clear mode.
When you press the PTT button, while in the coded mode
and without the encryption module containing a valid key,
the speaker generates bursts of alert tones. In addition,
The display shows Key Fail until you release the PTT
button.
When the radio is first turned on, six medium-pitched tones sound and the display momentarily shows Key Fail to indicate that the encryption module does not contain a valid key for the current mode.
Key Fail