PL Tone Question

Hello, in looking through the Data Bases on the web site I see a lot of PL Tones listed . In reading some of the post and watching some of the videos , I can see some people feel that in entering PL Tones information in a scanner may not be needed.

I know and understand the part that a PL Tone plays on (Transmit) but is it really necessary on receiving a signal in a scanner ????
Does a signal being Conventional or Trunking have any thing to do with using them ????
TNX-----Tracker44

On conventional channels, PL tones assist with preventing interference and intermod from being heard. In some cases different PL Tones are used on the same frequency to act like separate channels. Security may use one PL tone while housekeeping may use a different PL tone all on the same frequency. If you only want to monitor security you would put in the PL for security.

In most cases PL tones are not required unless a person wants to eliminate interference.

Shawn

Trunking uses other items (SysID and Connect Tones for Analog, and NAC's for P25) systems.

PL, DPL and NAC help in blocking out near-by users on other tones.
More Helpful in the Business band aspect where you may have 2-30 different companies sharing the same Repeater (each one has a different PL or DPL)

For the Public Safety monitoring, it helps when you have
a.) Interference you want to mask
b.) Adjacent channels bleeding over
c.) a User on another tone, further away, but still within your Reception Range.

ie: My Local PD in the 453 Band, I can hear 6 other Agencies (One over 90 miles away) regularly, and only want to hear my PD.

Many users will not use PL, due to not having an issue with a. b. or c... which is why many don't SEARCH for or USE PL/DPL or now NAC for the P25 systems

Tracker44 said:

Hello, in looking through the Data Bases on the web site I see a lot of PL Tones listed . In reading some of the post and watching some of the videos , I can see some people feel that in entering PL Tones information in a scanner may not be needed.

I know and understand the part that a PL Tone plays on (Transmit) but is it really necessary on receiving a signal in a scanner ????
Does a signal being Conventional or Trunking have any thing to do with using them ????
TNX-----Tracker44

Click to expand...

TNX every one, I will keep that in mind as I start to program the scanner. At this point I really dont seem to have much of a problem with stations bleeding over on each other.
I will try using them if I start hearing some Intermod . I can see what you are saying about the interference .
TNX again------Tracker44

On some conventional systems, using a tone in your scanner can also eliminate the annoying squelch tail at the end of transmissions. It depends on how the techs have the repeater set up, and it works better on some scanners than others. The only way to determine if this works with a given system is to program the tone in and listen for a while.

I've seen cases where an agency might use different PL tones for different repeaters in their coverage area. These are conventional systems of course, and usually are large counties with mountainous areas. They may need 3 or 4 repeater locations to cover the whole county, and each may output on a different tone. In this scenario you could potentially miss a lot of traffic by using a tone in your scanner. You could either go "tone free", or if you know all the tones, make a separate channel in your scanner for each tone.

ecps92 said:

Trunking uses other items (SysID and Connect Tones for Analog, and NAC's for P25) systems.

PL, DPL and NAC help in blocking out near-by users on other tones.
More Helpful in the Business band aspect where you may have 2-30 different companies sharing the same Repeater (each one has a different PL or DPL)

For the Public Safety monitoring, it helps when you have
a.) Interference you want to mask
b.) Adjacent channels bleeding over
c.) a User on another tone, further away, but still within your Reception Range.

ie: My Local PD in the 453 Band, I can hear 6 other Agencies (One over 90 miles away) regularly, and only want to hear my PD.

Many users will not use PL, due to not having an issue with a. b. or c... which is why many don't SEARCH for or USE PL/DPL or now NAC for the P25 systems

Click to expand...

GeZeus, what roof top antenna do you have? Sorry for the hijack.

At home, I don't need any PL/DPL on anything, except on one freq that has some sort of phone patch on it, and the busy signals that continue on and on drive me crazy. At work, it's a whole 'nother story, if I don't have PL on about 100 of my conventional freqs, the squelch constantly opens and all that comes out of the scanner is hiss. So, I run the tones at home and work.

Right now ? Nohing (bad Winter to install)

Just dual band Duckies on Car Window mounts hanging on a coat-hanger.

As an example I can hear

453.2250 - Quincy PD, Devens Development
453.2500 - Quincy PD, Plymouth DPW, Devens Development, and the CAP (Community Action Vans) from Laconia NH

IT's not always Height at the Reception Point

VHF is even better

Here in New England coverage from the Mtn Top / Hill Top and Tall Building Repeaters is amazing - always has been. 33.900 was always R9 down into Boston from NH, 159.9000 is still great on VHF and from time-time 456.4750 the UHF Link to Waterville was aimed just right to boom right down 93 into the South Shore

scottyhetzel said:

GeZeus, what roof top antenna do you have? Sorry for the hijack.

Click to expand...

I use tones whenever possible because of where I live. Sometimes I pick up agencies from CT or NJ that interfere with local frequencies so I put in the local tone, which blocks out the other agency.

I also have some local comms that use NO tone but adjacent states use the same frequency WITH a tone, so I program that tone in and use the "exclude tone" feature. Works like a charm.