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Icom VE-PG3 RoIP Gateway: Expand your two-way radio network across town . . . or across the world Whether you use professional “land mobile” two-way radio equipment, or your operation is based on low-cost UHF CB handhelds, you can significantly expand your network, using the internet, to cover as much of the planet as you want to! by Ross Tester I n December 2014 we brought you the details of the (then) new Icom “IP” two-way radios – radios designed to operate in conjunction with your local-area network and the Internet to dramatically lower your communications costs – at the same time offering significant coms advantages. Icom have now asked us to have a look at their VE-PG3 Radio-over-IP (RoIP) Gateway, designed to further enhance the communications coverage of a radio network. It has two operational modes: one is used to interconnect two or more RoIP networks, allowing a radio user to communicate to other radio group users over that or those networks. The second mode allows interconnection between radio systems and the public telephone network and/or external devices such as public address systems. We’ll look at both these modes shortly. Physically The VE-PG3 is not too dissimilar to a modem in appearance, with a row of indicators on the front and an array of connectors on the rear. Indeed, some of the labelling is somewhat like a modem and the rear panel has sockets for WANs (wide-area networks) and LANs (local-area networks) plus phone and line sockets. But there the similarity ends! The VE-PG3 uses the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) to communicate, via the ‘net, with similarly-setup equipment “elsewhere”. As you would no doubt realise from your own use The VE-PG3 doesn’t look too dissimilar to a modem – of course, many of its functions are much the same or similar. Essentially, it’s a Radio over IP (RoIP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) box rolled into one . . . with a few extra wrinkles of its own! siliconchip.com.au February 2017  93 of the ‘net, that “elsewhere” could be in a building next door, or at a plant a few kilometres away . . . or even many thousands of kilometres away on the other side of the world. As long as there is an internet connection available, “two-way radio” communication is available. But even more than that, using the capabilities of the VE-PG3, you’re not limited to one-on-one (or radioto-radio) communication. Some twoways use various schemes to control who can talk to whom – an individual, a certain group, or even everyone within range. The VE-PG3 RoIP gateway puts this control on steroids – and radio range simply becomes a non-issue! Want a “conference call” with group members spread around the state, country or even the world? No problem. Want to call certain people without the possibility of anyone else eavesdropping? No problem. Want some information disseminated to everyone in the organisation? No problem. Want to interrupt a conversation or conversations with emergency information? No problem. Need password protection? No problem. Want to call a phone from an analog radio? No problem – (as long as it has a DTMF keypad and encoder/decoder capability). If you think about this for a moment, you can imagine just how valuable this would be to business, to emergency services, to education facilities, to government departments . . . in fact, there is no end to the possible users of Radio-over-IP. Over the years, for example, we’ve heard many reports about the incompatibility of radio communication equipment between emergency services. It’s one area where coroners have been quite critical when needless deaths have occurred due to this incompatibility. But that could all be a thing of the past with RoIP. It simply doesn’t matter that twoway radios belonging to different services are on different frequencies. Or use different communication protocols. Or even different channels. In its simplest mode, the VE-PG3 links a radio or group of radios over the internet (or more correctly, an IP network) allowing each to talk to each other as if they were in the same radio coverage area. 94  Silicon Chip RoIP can make them all appear to be the same. Back to SIP Before we get back to the VE-PG3, a quick word about SIP, because it may be a protocol you haven’t come across. But the chances are you use it every day without knowing! That’s because SIP is also used in voice-over-IP The radios don’t even need to be the same – not even the same type or even in the same band. Again, each can talk to each, or if required, talk to a group or even every handheld (eg, emergency calls). siliconchip.com.au The rear panel of the VE-PG3 gives an inkling to its versatility. From the left, sockets for either transceivers or external signal sources; phone and two external lines; network (WAN and LAN) sockets; DC supply and an earth terminal. (VoIP), which is becoming more and more the method by which standard telephone calls are made. Users (by and large) are completely unaware of this – as long as the call gets through, what does it matter? Now SIP has made the progression to Radio-over-IP. In a nutshell, it has the same purpose as in VoIP – to negotiate, set up and tear down sessions. It doesn’t even control the communication itself – that is carried out by other protocols. The VE-PG3 contains both the SIP controller along with the RoIP controller, making advanced interconnection not only possible but relatively simple! and up to four remote comunicator stations. Two modes Price: Most of what we have talked about above was possible with the IP100H Advanced Radio System we talked about back in December 2014. Where the VE-PG3 comes into its own is that not only has a “bridge” mode, which interconnects two or more radio systems over IP network in a “unicast” transmission, allowing great flexibility in the radios used but it also has a “converter” mode, which interconnects calls between connected IP phones, analog phones and radio systems. Radio users can dial a PSTN (standard) phone number (eg, 02 1234 5678) or an IP phone number (eg, 168.5.10.3). In addition, external equipment such as a public address system, warning lights and sirens, etc can be connected and called (or activated) direct from any hand-held radio (with appropriate permissions). In converter mode, there are two Ethernet ports (for connecting to public [WAN] or private [LAN] networks; two FXO analog connections; up to four analog transceivers; up to two external devices which share the same ports as analog transceivers; and one FXS analog phone station. The system can handle up to 12 IP phone numbers, up to four IP phone stations, up to four digital transceivers The VE-PG3 has a RRP of $2145, supplied with a 120240V AC supply and a utility disc CD. A wide range of accessories and peripherals is available – including, if you need them, the two-way radios to drive the system! External equipment As mentioned earlier, the VE-PG3 has (two) external equipment connectors. These can be used for audio input/ output (eg, a public address system) and other switching (eg, lights, sirens, etc). The virtual serial port software allows you to control an external device via its RS-232C interface. Note that the VE-PG3 is compatible with the IDAS NXDN multi-site conventional/multi-site trunking system and the dPMR mode 2 system. More information We have barely skimmed the surface in this all-too brief look at the VE-PG3. ICOM have a great deal more information available . . . and they’ll be glad to talk to you and explain how the VEPG3 can bring about efficiencies you only dreamed about! Icom (Australia) Pty Ltd are at Unit 1, 103 Garden Rd, Clayton, Vic 3168. Tel: (03) 9549 7500. Website: www.icom.net.au SC And finally, you can start out with just a basic system – and keep adding the equipment you require. You may already have much of this! If you require warning signals or public address announcements, the VE-PG3 can supply these too. It must be used in “converter” mode for these functions to operate. siliconchip.com.au February 2017  95