Expanding a Linked Capacity Plus System

Question

My company has a relatively small Linked Capacity Plus System with DR3000 repeaters. We are currently looking into growing the capacity of the system by adding more customers. We will therefore need to increase the number of repeaters at two of the RF sites, as there are currently only only two repeaters at each.

The challenges we face are:

Of the four spare repeaters on hand, one has a Capacity Plus Single Site licence but does not have Capacity Plus Multisite License. The other three have neither.

They also need to be updated (I believe firmware, code plug, and possible boot plug version).

We do not have the Motorola Radio Management software, which would help in managing the system and customer subscriber units efficiently.

Answer

For any MOTOTRBO repeater to work in a Multisite Capacity Plus (a.k.a. Linked Capacity Plus) system, it will need a Multisite Capacity Plus licence. That is: one licence per repeater.

The repeaters in the system should ideally be on the same firmware version or versions close enough to one another not to cause any problems (e.g. all repeaters on R02.10.something). Since the DR3000 is not supported anymore, you would only be able to upgrade them to R02.10.05. So my suggestion, in this specific case, would be to choose a firmware version that all can be upgraded to and leave them on that.

When upgrading the firmware, the bootloader and codeplug get upgraded automatically.

If any of the repeaters are in very old firmware, it's advisable to upgrade them in multiple jumps. For example , if a repeater is on R01.09.xx, you would need to upgrade to R02.06.xx then to R02.10.05.

Upgrading is a critical process so my suggestion is to ensure both PC and repeater are connected to a reliable power source during the upgrade. Removing power or the programming cable can break the repeater and since there are no replacement parts available from Motorola Solutions, there would be no way for you to repair it (without finding donor/NOS parts somewhere).

You can do all the configuration of a Multisite Capacity Plus system using CPS. It's not the most efficient way when compared to Radio Management and OTAP but it works fine. Just remember to keep copies of all the codeplugs with revisions (e.g. site1_repeater1_rev-a1.ctb2) so you don't get muddled up. Also, make backups and keep things like passwords; RAS and ARC4 keys safe/separate.