Rural Electric Co-op Implements IP Over Microwave

To simplify operations, all 3 offices needed to communicate to the repeater sites individually and to hear each other. A broadcast call from any office to all 4 repeaters was also a requirement. Unlike conventional hard wired IP links, microwave links can have short periods of high packet loss due to atmospheric conditions. The additional technical challenge was to cater for these losses and be able to recover to a stable state in the event of complete drop out.

Combinations of IPRdispatch and 960SIP Consoles were used to provide the right interface for different dispatcher’s requirements. The 960SIP consoles provided a simple to use, rugged console point whilst IPRdispatch was used on existing PCs. The IPR110+ provided the audio hub of the Radio over IP communications. The unique Omnitronics Conference Mode was used to relay repeater audio to all dispatch points and all dispatch audio to other offices. This provided better radio management and more directional radio traffic to users.

Maplenet Wireless and Coupe Communications took the time to understand the client’s operational requirements, with the added focus of providing a solution that would be easy to maintain for many years to come. By using the existing Microwave infrastructure and Omnitronics building blocks, the client able to get the right balance of reliability, ‘simplicity of use’ and still fit budget constraints.