Crossband operation

Crossband operation means sending and receiving radio signals across different frequencies. Imagine you and your friend have two walkie-talkies of different colors. One is yellow, and the other is blue. You are standing in different rooms and want to talk to each other. But your walkie-talkie can only send and receive signals on the yellow color frequency, and your friend's walkie-talkie can only send and receive signals on the blue color frequency.

So to talk to your friend, you and your friend decide to use crossband operation. You send your message on the yellow walkie-talkie, but instead of your friend picking it up on the blue walkie-talkie, you have the message go to another device called a repeater. The repeater takes your signal and sends it out on the blue frequency. Your friend's walkie-talkie receives the signal and sends their response back to the repeater on the blue frequency. Then, the repeater sends the response back to your yellow walkie-talkie on the yellow frequency. This is crossband operation.

The same thing happens with radios that people use to contact emergency services, like police, fire department, or ambulance. These radios can communicate on different frequency bands, and crossband operation can ensure that their messages get to where they need to go. It's like a game of telephone between the walkie-talkie, repeater, and radio. But it's important to use crossband operation carefully and only for important messages, as it can take longer and use more energy.