Repeater Vs. TalkAround

[btritch]

I have a question that maybe someone can help with.

I have heard and have experienced that if you have two radio's side by side and are using a repeater and key one of them up, You hear the audio over the other one and not squealing or feedback on the other one. However, If you have Two radios side by side and you key one of them up and get feedback or squealing through the other one, Does that mean that it's on a Talkaround from radio to radio frequency and not through a repeater.

I ask this because we are using radios at work and I'm trying to find the frequency to listen to at home and at work. I noticed today when two of them are close together and you key one up, You get feedback or squealing through the other one, Does that mean that they're on a talkaround from radio to radio frequency?

I do know they're UHF 400 MHZ frequencies but they're not licensed, Does that mean they're on the 400 MHZ Business Class Frequencies? I first thought they were on the local UHF 400 MHZ Commercial Tower Space But That wouldn't cause feedback on another radio though because if it was a repeater it wouldn't, Am I right on that?

Can someone help? If they squall close together they're on radio to radio and not a repeater, Right?
And If They're UHF then it's most likely the 400 MHZ UHF Business Class? Right On That Also?
Can Someone Help?
Thanks!

 

[Thayne]

You can have feedback on a repeater or talkaround, it just might have a slight delay on a repeater before it starts, and in both cases the volume on the receiving radio must be loud enough that the transmitting radio can "hear" the receiving radio audio to cause feedback.

If they are UHF they would have to be 450-470 and the FRS-GMRS frequencies are in that range.

 

[mdulrich]

I just wanted to second the motion that you can get feedback through a repeater.

Mike

 

[btritch]

Well Shoot, That's not gonna help me out then, We got Kenwood 3200 L Handhelds And They're UHF. They're probably business class radio frequencies but there's a commercial UHF tower site too they could also be on... Thanks for the help anyway guys.

 

[Alarms50]

I did a search for the 3200L and came up with this http://www.buytwowayradios.com/Products/Kenwood/manuals/TK-2200L-3200L-manual.pdf link. Page 21 & 22 of the owners manual lists the freq's that are preprogrammed in these radios.

 

[btritch]

I did a search for the 3200L and came up with this http://www.buytwowayradios.com/Products/Kenwood/manuals/TK-2200L-3200L-manual.pdf link. Page 21 & 22 of the owners manual lists the freq's that are preprogrammed in these radios.

I will tell you this much, I found out today they only have one channel programmed into them, When you turn the knob to another channel other than 1 it blocks it, there's nothing programmed, Does that mean they're custom programmed?

 

[rvictor]

Since you apparently have access to the transceivers, this seems like a simple matter. You can use the procedure in the manual to find the frequency and tone set for each channel. Just follow the instructions on page 30.

Even if you couldn't do this, it would seem that a simple scan of the possible frequencies would yield the answer in a very short time.

And if, by some chance, these really are custom programmed, you should still be able to find the frequency with a simple band scan of the two bands that they are made to operate on.

I suspect that if you follow the procedure on page 30, the radio will literally tell you the answer.

Dick

 

[GTR8000]

I must be missing something here, because the solution to your quest to find the frequencies is such a simple one. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you own a PSR-500 handheld, yes? Why don't you just bring the scanner to work, turn on the Spectrum Sweeper, and key the radio up? That will give you the frequencies and any PL/DPL that might be in use in a matter of seconds, no guesswork or reading a manual (heaven forbid) involved.

Since there are 56 possible UHF frequencies you can use with those radios, not to mention the 122 different PL and DPL choices, using the scanner's Spectrum Sweeper function is clearly the way to go here instead of guessing.

Incidentally, these radios are not repeater-capable, so forget about the whole "repeater vs. talk-around" thing, it's irrelevant. They only operate in simplex mode, which means the RX and TX frequencies will be the same for each programmed channel.


EDIT: I just read rvictor's post, and his method should also work, although you'll need to reference the user manual to match up the table/frequency codes.

 

[rvictor]

Spectrum Sweeper would be fine, but don't put the radio right next to the scanner or you risk damage to the scanner.

Probably safer to just use the procedure in the manual and have the radio tell you what's programmed for a particular channel. Don't even have to bring the scanner to work and attract any attention as to what you are doing.

Dick

 

[DickH]

I will tell you this much, I found out today they only have one channel programmed into them, When you turn the knob to another channel other than 1 it blocks it, there's nothing programmed, Does that mean they're custom programmed?

If I recall correctly, you asked a similar question last year. Unless I'm mistaken, you also mentioned that the Chief was a relative, yet he would not tell you the freq. If that's the case, you have a much bigger problem than any of us can solve.

 

[btritch]

If I recall correctly, you asked a similar question last year. Unless I'm mistaken, you also mentioned that the Chief was a relative, yet he would not tell you the freq. If that's the case, you have a much bigger problem than any of us can solve.

That was for the city FD here, The one I'm looking for is the ones we use at our work, The factory I'm at, They're not related, Sorry about about that, I should have made that clear from the beginning. They just started using them a couple of months ago. While I don't use them I'd like to find out what frequency their on to hear at home after I'm home to see what's going on and to just be nosy to see what they are on. Since they are not repeater capable and they may say something about me carrying a radio in there, Page 30 will be my next choice! Thanks to all you guys for the help!

I'll post what I find...

 

[SCANdal]

It helps when the radio is in a case on someone's hip and they're using a speaker mic

Spectrum Sweeper would be fine, but don't put the radio right next to the scanner or you risk damage to the scanner.

Are the PSRs that delicate that a certain distance must be maintained away from the transmitting unit to protect the scanner? Boy, I'm glad I'm using the Uniden BCD396T for Close Call work. I've stood an inch away from portable radios being keyed up in environments where multiple radios are on the air to make sure I grab just the signal I want.

SCANdal

 

[rvictor]

Are the PSRs that delicate that a certain distance must be maintained away from the transmitting unit to protect the scanner? Boy, I'm glad I'm using the Uniden BCD396T for Close Call work. I've stood an inch away from portable radios being keyed up in environments where multiple radios are on the air to make sure I grab just the signal I want.

SCANdal

I don't know how much power at what distance will cause damage. There are a number of posts in the antenna forum about scanners that have been wiped out by mobile rigs with antennas too close to the scanner antenna. Of course, the mobile rigs are typically higher power than HTs. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem like a good idea to put them right next to each other. I don't think that it is in any way unique to the PSRs.

Dick

 

[btritch]

Well I did some more investigating today and I've found out they are Kenwood 3200-L Portable Handheld Radios, There are only 3 on that frequency being used, only one of those three have a shoulder speaker attatched, I tried the technique on page 30 today to try to get it to tell me what it was, however I couldn't get it to tell me anything, But I was using the one with the shoulder mike attached.. I'm going to get ahold of one of the others Monday that doesn't have it and see if that works...Otherwise looks like it's spectrum sweeper or do without. I may have did it wrong but I did what it said, Turn It off, Press Talk, Turn it on but it never prompted the orange light...Hmmm...Well I'll keep trying or just forget it, Thanks for all the help though guys.

 

[DickH]

That was for the city FD here,

So what is that "secret" FD freq.? We're all dying to know.

 

[btritch]

So what is that "secret" FD freq.? We're all dying to know.

I've not found it yet either, My guess is it's going to be on the commercial UHF tower site like the city pd and sheriff's office is, but I've not confirmed it yet..Soon as I do I'll post it, I'm still working on that one..