About
The new TransOceana Radio Control function is a Windows® based software application and hardware audio switching matrix that provides a flexible yet convenient system for controlling multiple radio-telephones. Up to 100 radios can be configured into a user defined matrix control panel for viewing status and changing channels. Multiple consoles can share the same radios.
Radio Control Handler
The Radio Control Handler is a Windows® based software application that can run on an industrial PC, desktop PC or laptop. The handler interfaces the operator console Radio Control function to one or more external audio matrix modules for routing audio signals to and from multiple radios. The radio handler can support multiple operator consoles which can all share the same radios. The handler controls all audio routing from one or more microphones or headsets to the radios. The handler also controls all audio routing from the radios to one or more speakers or headsets. PTT keying and channel changing are controlled by the handler through various radio handlers. The handlers can also monitor the status of the radios and update the operator consoles.
Operator Console Radio Control Panel
- Multiple radios can be quickly accessed from a single panel that can be placed anywhere on the PC desktop.
- The panel can be displayed in any row and column configuration.
The radios can be of different types including MF, HF, VHF and can be receivers only, transmitters or transceivers. They can be mixed of any type and number. The radios can be ordered any place in the matrix.- Each radio can have its own descriptive name. Each radio indicator will display the radio name, channel and signal strength.
- If the radio is ‘selected’ then its background will appear yellow.
- If the radio is transmitting its background will appear red.
- Clicking on a radio is used to select the radio and to change the channel.
The radio channel can be entered directly using the keypad, or a pre-defined channel can be selected by pressing one of the macro keys. The user can create custom macro keys by entering a text name for the key and the channel it is assigned to.
A channel translate table for each radio is used to translate user channels or text into radio channels. For example, a button could be configured as “WRK 1″ and assigned to CH 26. Each radio is
configured with the valid radio channels for that radio. The operator cannot change the channel to any other channel not assigned. This feature works even if the radio does not support channel lockout. Each radio is also accessible from the H/W devices panel in the operator console:
- Each radio panel in the H/W devices list can be assigned to the Radio Control panel matrix. The user can specify which radios in the list will be added to the Radio Control matrix.
- The radio panel in the H/W devices will indicate the same information as the Radio Control panel but provides more information about the radio including fault conditions if available from the radio.
- Each operator console can be configured independently to which radios are monitored and displayed. Multiple microphones are supported as well as multiple speakers.
- The operator can route the audio from one radio to multiple speakers or a single speaker. The same with microphones.