POCSAG

POCSAG is a protocol for paging services, developed by the British Post Office Code Standard Advisory Group, whose acronym is the name of the protocol.

A Pager (short: Pager ) is a small device with an RF receiver and a decoder for POCSAG signals. Another way to display POCSAG message is (eg radio scanner or radio) to connect a receiver to a computer and to have run the decoding by software. Each paging service has its own frequency and each pager has its own address, which is also a group formation is possible.

Frequencies in Germany

The frequencies will be awarded and loud by the Federal Network Agency:

Radio amateurs have now often excess, unused wireless detectors, mostly skypers or Quix devices, rebuilt on 439.9875 MHz and can be there amateur radio news, notification of mail, personal messages, and (radio) Weather News send to the detector. More than 120 TV channels (July 2006) are especially in larger cities such as in Berlin, Hamburg, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Lahr / Black. etc. are available. They are Linux computers ( the so-called paging master) controlled that communicate with each other via the Packet Radio network of amateur radio operators, an independent and mainly based on spark gaps digital network.

In the area of ​​public safety radio POCSAG is used for digital alarming in the 70 cm band and the 2- meter band - that is, fire and rescue services get their orders, more precisely, place and occasion (some with geo- coordinates ) of the insert on sent the detector, the alarm in the 70 cm band in Germany takes place (over 800 broadcast stations ) and the alarm in the 2- m band is limited to appropriately equipped county or the respective city. However, the 70 - inch version is a commercial offer, the responsibility lies with the network operator. The 2 -meter version is the official version, which is supported by counties and county free cities, there is the responsibility of the system in one hand.

But POCSAG is no bidirectional communication with pager function such as TETRA, which is to be sought in the " authorities and organizations with security tasks " in the coming years. That is, the transmission takes place only in one direction, ie from the alarm transmitter to the receiver ( simplex).

In Austria, a country-wide pager network with POCSAG protocol is structured for the whole province of Lower Austria from 2004 next to the TETRA radio is also used in parallel and is used by 144 emergency Lower Austria under the name pagernetz.at as alerting means for rescue equipment including the helicopter or First responders and fire departments operated. In the Land of Vorarlberg is from the fire and rescue control center (RFL ) operated a pager network to which all organizations and authorities can be alerted and informed coverage with security duties. In the province of Salzburg will use a pager network for alerting since 2002 the Red Cross Salzburg.

Software for decoding of POCSAG messages

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