TriSquare Features
Contents
1. Softkey 2 UP Down Volume and Scroll Button Call Back Button 10 Lock Next Button 11 0 9 Alphanumeric Keypad 12 Microphone 13 Speaker Rear View Call Outs include 14 Belt Clip 15 Battery Compartment Door 16 Charging Contacts Backlit LCD Call Outs 17 Audible amp Vibrate Icon 18 Test Message Icon 19 VOX Icon 20 Keypad Lock Icon 21 Battery Low Icon 22 Channel User Interface 23 Softkey Labels 18 19 20 21 L 17 CONTACTS KS OA 23 Jib E Ve PRIVATE CH GEORGE MENU 22 Figure 1 A page from the TriSquare user manual depicting some of the TSX300 s many features and controls are practically immune to channel over crowding and interference TriSquare trademarked the names eXtreme Radio Service and eXRS for its new technology and made plans to overtake the stagnating FRS GMRS radio market in just two to three years with a line of portable FHSS transceivers starting with its flagship TSX300 Photo A and its entry level TSX 100 which has a very limited feature set but is about one third the price TriSquare also laid plans to establish eXRS as a de facto standard for licensing to other companies These are ambitious goals but TriSquare is gambling that its patent pending eXRS technology and the many new features it makes possible will be a big hit with a general public accustomed to cell phone features and ergonomics and who desire a pr2. fre quencies are as well as their order the receiving radio s need only know when to start hopping to remain synchronized The receiver starts hopping when the pre amble signal is received and stops hop ping 20 seconds after no signal is received The transmitter s microphone audio is dig itized modified by a DSP algorithm to extract only the most useful information summed with a digital timing and position signal and time compressed to allow proper hop framing and provisioning of the control data caller ID private call etc within each frame The receiver s DSP extracts the modified audio performs digital noise reduction and expands it back to the original voice signal timing slightly delayed after processing This scheme is less DSP intensive than full fledged vocoders such as VSELP Vector Sum Excited Linear Predictive used by Motorola s DTR series of two way 902 928 MHz FHSS radios see The Motorola DTR410 22 POP COMM March 2008 Scan Our Web Site TriSquare Photo B The TSX300 2VP Value Pack includes two TSX300 two way radios and a complete set of accessories two VOX PTT headsets two NiMH battery packs a dual desktop drop in charger with AC adapter and illustrated users manual Radios and accessories are also available individually so you don t have to buy unwanted replacements Frequency Hopping Radio December 2007 Pop Comm As a result the TSX300 s audio reproduc
3. of users including many large Bernard Bates holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Penn State University His interests include volunteering radio communica tions and lunar astronomy and small businesses blatantly violated FCC regulations by using GMRS chan nels without obtaining the required 75 license or by using FRS channels for business purposes At the same time many FRS GMRS radio users became increasingly aware of the glaring feature disparity between their simple two way radios and their feature rich cell phones which offered private and interference free voice communica tions text messaging caller ID call wait ing contacts lists hands free operation ringtones vibrating alerts etc Engineering A Solution In 2004 TriSquare started engineering a solution Its years of experience design ing DSP Digital Signal Processing and SDR Software Defined Radio tech nologies into consumer two way radios and the falling cost of digital components needed to implement these technologies convinced the company that it was feasi ble to build feature rich FHSS two way radios for the consumer market to sup plant FRS GMRS DSP and SDR tech nologies allow advanced features and functions to be designed and implement ed in software and then duplicated in firmware at far lower cost than using many dedicated electronic components Fortunately the FCC had issued its Part 15 247 regulations whic
4. the masses What I Liked There s a lot to like in the TSX300 see Figure 2 and its many features make it an exceptional price performance value It s clear that much thought went into the design of this ss ciTriSquare a k n X IGITAL LONGEST RANGE TOBILLION INTERFERENCE FREE CHANNELS DIGITAL 2 WAY RADIO oL06y ti ecUR TECHN Photo C The TSX300 2VP Value Pack in its retail packaging It s a sign of the times when a complete and highly sophisticated FHSS voice data radio communications system is sold on retail peg displays for less than 100 Until recently two way radios with similar advanced technology cost thousands of dollars and were generally available only to government and military users radio and its accessories Following are some features I par ticularly liked e Exceptional communications privacy e No interference from other users e Advanced technology made easy e All accessories included e Geek coolness appeal e Good ergonomics e No license required e Non volatile memory e NiMH or alkaline batteries What I Disliked The more features any product has the more likely there Il be some nitpicking so here s mine e Ringtones cannot be assigned to specific callers and the five ringtones are similar sounding and unimaginative e NOAA weather receiver is insensitive and cannot receive weak er distant stations e Text messaging character set is missing s
5. wirelessly cloned to anoth er TSX300 held next to it Selected Contacts the full Contacts list or the entire radio configuration can be cloned This feature can save lots of time and aggravation for a group of users or a business needing to program several radios for interoperability Plus there s no cloning cable to buy or lose Neat NOAA Weather Receiver The built in NOAA weather receiver works but is not very sensitive It receives strong local stations fine but not weaker distant NOAA stations that most scanners and dedicated weath er radios can pull in The 900 MHz antenna probably has lots to do with this Still it s a nice extra feature in strong signal areas but I wouldn t trust my life with it hiking or camping in the remote wilderness far from any NOAA stations Documentation As with any feature rich digital consumer electronics prod uct reading the manual is worthwhile The most basic two way radio features are intuitive enough to use right away The 35 page owner s manual is well written and walks the user through the TSX300 s many features with illustrated step by step instructions but the small booklet isn t much bigger than the radio itself so its small print may be hard for some people to read Fortunately it can be downloaded in PDF format from TriSquare s website and enlarged as necessary It s interesting reading if you re simply curious about the coming trend of FHSS two way radio for
6. By compari son several dozen FRS GMRS users within the same talk range could render their bands unusable Channel over crowding as we know it could become a thing of the past Operational Range There are many variables that deter mine the effective range of two way radios but TriSquare took the high road by refusing to make any specific distance claims unlike so many FRS GMRS vendors that make outlandish claims like range up to 25 miles and more Instead TriSquare guarantees its eXRS radios will meet or exceed the range performance of other UHF HTs Testing confirmed this claim with range comparable to a pair of 2 watt 70 cm amateur radio Handie Talkies in simplex mode Outdoors over flat terrain the TSX300 s effective range was about one and a half miles and over three miles from hill to hill These radios performed particularly well inside tall office buildings From the 55th floor of Philadelphia s Liberty Place tower usable voice and text communica tions with another TSX300 in the lobby was achieved Whether the 900 MHz sig nals bounced around inside the structure or outside and back in is unknown but nei ther a pair of FRS GMRS radios nor the aforementioned pair of 70 cm amateur HTs could accomplish this Perhaps the TSX300 s 33 cm band wavelength which is much shorter than the lower frequencies used by those other two way radios pass es more easily through a tall building s metal frame
7. TECH SHOWCASE An Innovative License Free Alternative To FRS GMIRS The Trisquare TSX300 900 MHz FHSS Handheld Transceiver Is Positioned To Dominate The Consumer Two Way Radio Market by Bernard Bates opComm s November 2007 cover P story Digital Two Way Radio Technology Reaches Consumer Market covered the emerging trend of new 900 MHz FHSS Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum radios becoming a serious license free alterna tive to FRS GMRS radios Picking up where that article left off this article will review one such radio the TriSquare TSX300 This new handheld transceiver sets a new price performance standard using innovative digital technologies to offer many features we re accustomed to see ing only in PCS cellular handsets It s about time two way radio users and hob byists started benefiting from these exciting new personal communications technologies FRS GMRS Problems Create Opportunity Back in 1999 TriSquare was a major OEM manufacturer of FRS GMRS radios for several companies marketing under various well known brand names As the popularity of FRS GMRS radios sky rocketed over the next five years the mar ket approached saturation and profit mar gins dropped to unsustainably low levels And not surprisingly the widespread use of 50 to 80 million FRS GMRS radios cre ated severe congestion on the 22 FRS GMRS channels at crowded events metropolitan areas and elsewhere Tens of millions
8. about 45 hours of 5 5 90 use My test results were consistent with those ratings Physical Features And User Interface The TSX300 s appearance and user interface blurs the distinctions between two way radios and cell phone handsets see Figure 1 It not only looks a lot like some cell phones it also shares many of their features The housing is rugged ABS PC plastic and slightly larger than a second generation non flip PCS cellular handset Its sides curve slightly inward and are ribbed to fit comfortably in your hand so you can operate the full keypad one handed with your thumb For day night readability the 16 button keypad has silver painted translucent sili cone keys which are laser etched with numerals and all letters of the alphabet An Up Down button and two Left Right Softkeys allow selection of dynamical ly displayed functions and menu options similar to how many cell phone menus work Above the keypad is the large backlit bitmapped LCD that displays up to seven lines of text and icons depending on the screen and function being viewed Other TSX300 cell phone like fea tures include SMS like text messaging with message waiting indicator ring www popular communications com March 2008 POP COMM 21 TriSquare TSX300 Features e 900 MHz FHSS Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum technology less interference and potentially better propagation than FRS GMRS e 10 billion virtual channels good priv
9. acy not easily monitorable e License free unrestricted personal amp business use e NiMH battery pack or use 3 AA alkaline cells e Wireless cloning of contacts amp configuration e NOAA weather receiver no SAME decoder e Hands free VOX w 3 sensitivity levels e VOX PTT headset w boom microphone e Private one to one or one to many voice text communications e Real time communications no appreciable vocoder latency e Backlit LCD bitmapped w up to 7 lines of text amp icons e Backlit 16 button alphanumeric keypad with 2 Softkeys e Keypad lock e Roger beep e Keybeep e Removable swivel belt clip e One year manufacturer s warranty TriSquare TSX300 Specifications e FCC ID O9GTSX300 e Transmitter 1 watt ERP FHSS 906 275 923 750 MHz e 700 hopping frequencies 25 kHz spacing 400 msec hop e 10 billion virtual channels unique frequency hopping patterns e Transmission protocol Half duplex TDMA e 4 0 kHz FM RF deviation nominal e 3 0 kHz compressed audio bandwidth nominal e Receiver nominal specifications e Sensitivity 12 dB SINAD 124 dBm e Contact List 100 names up to 8 alphanumeric chars e SMS like text messaging up to 80 chars e Page call alert ringtone or vibrate e Caller ID w name e Call waiting w name e Non volatile memory e 5 ringtones not assignable e Transmitter timeout 0 120 sec e Battery meter w low battery alert e Dual drop in desktop trickle charge
10. everal commonly used punctuation characters like the semicolon colon quota tion marks 24 POP COMM March 2008 Scan Our Web Site e Text messaging message triple beep alert is too brief and quiet and the vibrating alert is too brief compared to cell phone hand sets vibrating alerts e VOX sensitivity is low the most sensitive of three settings isn t very sensitive Features l d Like To See e NOAA SAME decoder with alarm e Increased NiMH battery mAh capacity e Charging Charged indicator on drop in charger e Rubber overmolding for better grip and drop protection e USB PC interface for storing different radio configurations firmware updates and for dispatching text messages from a con nected PC which could be automated e User definable ringtones assignable to specific callers e Repeater capability no restrictions under FCC Part 15 247 e Transmitter lock for use as a room or baby monitor Final Thoughts The TSX300 is a very cool two way radio with unprecedent ed privacy and other features The more I used it the more I liked its design and capabilities This is an excellent first generation implementation of consumer FHSS two way radio technology and is an exceptional value price features performance While the extensive digital feature set may be overkill for some users it s a good balance between what s possible and what people will really use If the general public discovers it can e
11. h authorize unlicensed 1 watt FHSS voice and limit ed data transmissions in the 902 928 MHz ISM Industrial Scientific and Medical band ifcertain challenging tech nical requirements are met Was apractical solution buried in these obscure FCC regulations Since FHSS can effectively create a nearly unlimited number of virtual radio channels by using many different hopping sequences Photo A The TSX300 eXRS eXtreme Radio Service Handheld Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum FHSS Transceiver Never before has so much sophisticated radio communications technology with so many advanced features been available in a two way radio priced for consumers it could solve the severe channel over crowding and privacy problems vexing tens of millions of FRS GMRS radio users Because ISM spectrum is unli censed FCC licensing requirements wouldn t be an issue eXtreme Radio Service Is Born Armed with its two way radio engi neering expertise and these new FCC reg ulations TriSquare filed 33 U S patent claims and bowed out of the FRS GMRS OEM market in 2005 to focus on what it saw as a huge market opportunity for low cost license free short range two way voice and text messaging products that 20 POP COMM March 2008 Scan Our Web Site TSX300 Owner s Manual Front View Call Outs include Antenna PTT Button Accessory Headset Jack Power On Off Button LCD Display Softkey 1
12. ivate two way radio solu tion with similar features Complete Package Pop Comm asked TriSquare to send me an early production TSX300 2VP Value Pack for review see Photos B and C whichis a retail peg display pack age containing two TSX300 radio trans ceivers two PTT VOX headsets two NiMH battery packs two swivel belt clips a dual desktop drop in charging bay with AC adapter and one illustrated user s manual After installing the two 4 8V 750mAH NiMH battery packs and drop ping the radios into the dual desktop trick le charger for the night I noted it had built in protection against overcharging and short circuiting batteries The charg er takes about 12 hours to fully replenish battery packs that are fully discharged The next morning about 11 hours later the radio s LCD battery gauge indicated they were fully charged A nice feature is the option to use three standard AA alkaline cells instead of the included NiMH pack so in an emergency you re never at the mercy of the slow trickle charger Additional NiMH battery packs are sold separately in case you want to keep a spare set charging and ready for action at all times The plastic battery cover fit loosely but TriSquare informed me this was an early production problem that has since been fixed Rated NiMH battery life is 15 hours based on a 5 5 90 duty cycle 5 transmit 5 receive 90 standby while standard AA alkaline cells should provide
13. njoy private and inter ference free two way radio communications with an opera tional range comparable to FRS GMRS but with many more useful features TriSquare s patented eXRS technology might just catch on and become the new preferred medium Conveying the benefits of this advanced technology to average consumers might be challenging in the face of notorious false claims made by FRS GMRS resellers i e fantastical range claims and so called Privacy Codes which provide no privacy at all But TriSquare is ahead of the curve with its TSX300 Its innovative and unprecedented range of features stands apart from all other consumer two way radio offerings There s noth ing remotely like it except perhaps Motorola s DTR business series which offers fewer features less privacy and costs sev eral times as much Pricing And Warranty Suggested retail price for the TSX300 2VP Value Pack is 99 99 but some online resellers are advertising it for even less It has a one year limited manufacturer s warranty against defects More information can be found on TriSquare s website at www trisquare us Two Way Radio Privacy For The Paranoid There are lots of reasons people might want private two way radio communications including for personal or family mat ters proprietary business operations secret hunting and fishing spots outdoor action strategy games political social direct actions etc With CB MURS FRS GMRS radio
14. ogan This is not your father s two way radio TriSquare suggests using your 10 digit telephone number as your unique My Radio 10 digit channel code because it s unique and easy to remem ber But if communications security COMSEC is a concern such a publicly available number would be a poor choice One hundred Group Channels i e Contacts can be entered and labeled with up to eight alphanumeric characters such as George Basecamp Warehouse Security and A Team Theory Of Operation The TriSquare TSX300 is a hybrid digital analog two way radio designed to make the best and most economical use of both technologies Its proprietary eXRS FHSS scheme uses 700 frequen cies spaced 25 kHz apart between 906 275 and 923 750 MHz Heavy con centrations of cordless telephone traffic around the top and bottom of the license free 902 928 MHz ISM band led TriSquare engineers to avoid interference on those frequencies as well as with the most commonly used portions of the 33 cm amateur radio band which is allocat ed on a shared secondary basis many of TriSquare s engineers are hams Depending on which 10 digit channel code is chosen an embedded pseudoran dom number generator algorithm selects a different set of 50 frequencies to hop and cycle through every 20 seconds Each 400 millisecond hop frame contains both voice and data Since each radio knows based on the channel selection what the hopping
15. r e Standard 2 5 mm headset jack e Adjacent channel rejection 50 dB e Audio output 10 THD 330 mW e S N ratio 60 dB e NOAA WX sensitivity 12 dB SINAD 118 dBm nominal e NOAA WX selectivity adjacent channel 60 dBm nominal e Battery types NiMH 4 8V 750mAH or 3 AA Alkaline cells e Battery life NIMH pack 15 hrs AA alkaline cells 45 hrs 5 5 90 duty cycle e Dimensions 4 3 4 x 2 x 1 1 4 inches HWD not incl 1 inch non removable antenna e Weight 4 oz 113grams without batteries Figure 2 TriSquare TSX300 features and specifications tones or silent vibrate alert hands free operation caller ID with name call wait ing with name and voice text privacy See Figure 2 for a complete list of TSX300 features and specifications The TSX300 comes from the factory with its default My Radio channel set to 0 but you can assign any channel from 0 to 9999999999 that s 10 billion chan nels The radio will constantly monitor that channel regardless of what Group Channel you happen to be using Group Channels or Contacts are used for com municating between groups of people and are not the same as the My Radio chan nel on your or others radios which are always used for Private Channels It s a little confusing at first but after reading the illustrated step by step manual and navigating through the fairly intuitive menus it becomes clear To paraphrase an old advertising sl
16. s all of that is easily and likely to be overheard on a handful of public chan nels Worse your kids could be subjected to unsavory messages by strangers or even lured by criminals monitoring those chan nels Granted this is not a widely documented problem but why risk it if you don t have to Until very recently privacy and consumer two way radios were contradictory terms Now there s a paradigm shift that people will have to get used to For instance with 10 billion eXRS channels you won t be able to find and make new friends like you can by randomly overhearing people on CB MURS FRS GMRS channels or be able to scan and listen to what they re saying and doing COMSEC can be a double edged sword Arguably TriSquare s eXRS technology might offer the general public more short range COMSEC than landline or cellu lar PCS network phone calls which can now be remotely and instantly monitored by many people at local state and federal gov ernment agencies thanks to CALEA Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act and the Patriot Act Not that most of us worry about that sort of thing but being off the network can offer peace of mind to the paranoid among us If it s privacy you want you may feel reassured knowing how unlikely it is that another eXRS radio user could monitor your communications without knowing your radios 10 digit channel codes An eXRS channel code is somewhat like a simple encryption key wi
17. th 10 billion 10 permutations far more than any other eXRS radio user could try manually in a lifetime Neither scanners nor other manufacturers two way radios can receive eXRS FHSS radio signals further reducing the like lihood of interception The characteristic of FHSS that rapidly slices and scatters a signal to appear as noise across a wide swath of radio spectrum makes it inherently difficult to track and demodulate Still if you re really paranoid you should know that a well equipped and determined eavesdropper could use a highly spe cialized surveillance receiver like the WJ 8654 Microceptor to track and demodulate eXRS FHSS radio signals More afford able fast sweeping receivers like those from Optoelectronics aren t quite fast enough to track and demodulate a 400 msec FHSS signal But if you re worried about that you probably won t be using inexpensive consumer two way radios anyway It s safe to say the TriSquare TSX300 offers unprecedented two way radio communications privacy to consumers who can feel safe from eavesdropping by all but the most determined and well funded spooks Reprinted with permission from the March 2008 issue of Popular Communications Copyright 2008 CQ Communications Inc March 2008 POP COMM 25 www popular communications com
18. tion sounds less synthetic and isn t severely distorted by non speech background sounds It s also near real time audio so there s no annoy ing delay caused by vocoder latency Audio Quality TSX300 audio is quite intelligible but sounds slightly fuzzy like low bitrate compressed audio Speech sounds rela tively natural compared to the synthetic speech sound of some vocoders and has ample volume except in very noisy envi ronments where the included PTT VOX headset can be used Hands free VOX has three sensitivity settings and works in either speakerphone or headset mode although the most sensitive isn t very The included PTT VOX headset fits comfort ably around your earlobe and into your ear canal and has an inline PTT VOX mode switch and momentary PTT button By de facto design convention the TSX300 works with many third party audio accessories such as XLT Communications line of single 2 5 mm plug speaker mics earbud mics and throat mics designed for Motorola and Cobra FRS GMRS radios Channel Overcrowding Solved FRS channel overcrowding and mass unlicensed use of GMRS channels has frustrated many FRS GMRS radio users over the years but TriSquare s eXRS technology could alleviate that According to TriSquare and the Kansas State University engineering study it commissioned more than 00 000 eXRS users within talk range can enjoy unin terrupted communications in the 902 928 MHz ISM band
19. work and window frames Obviously the TSX300 would be an excel lent business radio in a multi floor office building where other two way radios can t cut it and where COMSEC is a concern www popular communications com March 2008 POP COMM 23 On the road between automobiles the TSX300 s range was reduced to less than a mile probably due to signal attenuation by vehicles steel bodies and other obstructions Text Messaging Upper case text messages of up to 80 characters can be sent between TSX300 radios Four custom text messages can be stored for repeat sending plus there are six permanent canned text messages to choose from YES NO OK WHERE ARE YOU CAN YOU TALK CAN T TALK RIGHT NOW A triple beep and or vibrate alert tells you when a text message is received and a message waiting envelope icon is displayed until the message is read Text messages are sent in the blind there s no error correction or handshaking to acknowledge a message was received accurately or at all Half duplex synchronous data transmission makes this impossible in real time but it would be nice if the TSX300 could automatically transmit an ACKnowledgement signal to the sender after receiving a text message If the radios are within range text message delivery shouldn t be a problem Oddly the character set s punctuation is limited offering just amp Cloning The settings of one TSX300 can be
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