Tait TB8100, User Manual

Page: 15 / 254

TB8100 Service Kit User’s Manual
Channels 5
Channels
A TB8100 base station consists of the equipment needed to operate on just one
channel . However, using the Service Kit you can program up to 255 channels
into a single base station. This is confusing, until you realize that ‘channel’ has
different meanings. The one channel is the transmit and receive frequency pair
and the 255 channels are different channel configurations, each with its own
number and name. You select one of these channel configurations and the base
station operates according to all the settings defined by it. These include a
transmit and receive frequency pair, a transmitter power output, a channel
spacing, and many other configurable items.
Channel Table
Each base station has a channel table. This is the database that stores the channel
configurations. It is a good idea to maintain a single channel table for your
system. This means that you can use almost the same
configuration file for all
base stations. To configure a new or replacement base station, all you need to
do is copy the standard configuration file and select a different default channel.
This simplifies maintenance. Alternatively, you can use the Export and Import
functions to copy channels from one base station to another.
Default Channel You need to tell the base station which channel to use. The usual way to do
this is to use the Service Kit to select one channel in the channel table as the
default channel. When the base station starts up for the first time, it selects the
default channel unless it is connected to external equipment that selects the
channel.
Current Channel The current channel is the channel that the base station is actually using.
Usually, this is the default channel. However, external equipment can use
digital input lines to choose another channel. Moreover, Task Manager can
instruct the base station to change channel. It can even select another channel
to be the default. Monitor > Monitoring > Channel displays the current
channel.
Note: If the base station is reset, it starts up on the default channel,
unless external equipment defines another channel.