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10.3 Programmable equipment
The current trend is for many of the functions of radio
equipment – even down to the control buttons on the front panel – to
be software controlled. In one manufacturer’s equipment the only
screwdriver-adjustable control is that for setting maximum deviation;
this is insisted upon by the Radiocommunications Agency for use in
the UK.
Software control enables radio sets to be cloned so that once a
single piece of equipment is programmed with its frequencies, power
output, selective calling, etc., the whole of a fleet of mobiles can be
identically programmed in a short time. Some of the functions can
be programmed by the user, but not all, and different manufacturers
permit different degrees of programming.
The functions are ...