Is there more than one type of trunking?
A. There are two basic types of trunking, centralized and de-centralized, and there are several varieties of each. Basically, centralized trunking logic is performed at the tower site and de-centralized logic is performed in the mobile units. Centralized systems typically take 300 milliseconds from the time you key the microphone until you acquire a channel. Once you unkey the microphone you may or may not get the same channel (repeater) the next time you go to talk. Regardless, it always takes 300 milliseconds (typically) to acquire a (new) channel, provided one is available. De-centralized systems are much slower to acquire a channel, taking up to one second or slightly more. However, with a de-centralized system once the channel is acquired subsequent communication is instantaneous. Centralized systems are typically located at one tower site because the logic requires the equipment to be physically together. De-centralized systems are typically located at multiple sites because the
