Uniden 396/996T and a busy/carrier light?

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I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this. Here is a "what if" scenerio:

What if you programmed a channel and the CTCSS/PL tone of a repeater has either CHANGED or the tone listed in your local freq guide is WRONG. How would you know?

I'm used to two-way radios that will give you a "busy" light upon ANY carrier detected, and some other scanners, and radios that will give you an s-meter indication even thought the speaker is muted. (Of course this is if you were in the "hold" mode.)
I love my 396 and 996, but thought this was kind strange that I would have no indicator if my PL didn't match.
Just a trap we need to watch for, in case you noticed a channel of yours seems "awfly quiet lately". :wink:

 

[DaveIN]

I see where your going with this, but I've not seen any frequencies in my list change. One of our ham repeaters turns CTCSS on when band conditions are open to prevent to repeaters to be active at once on the same frequency, and I've seen CTCSS added due to interference, but not changed. You could program the frequency again to block just the current CTCSS code/users and see if any other code turns up. If the frequency was too quiet I'd be checking it anyway.

 

[rbm]

I've had a similar concern. There have been at least three times over the last couple of years that PL or DCS tones have been changed or added around my area. About a year ago a neighboring county changed all the tones on all the fire frequencies.

So, here's how I handle it. I usually program the frequency one additional time with tone search set on. That way I'll know right away if something is changed or added.

Here's a sample frequency from one of my BCD396/BCD996 systems. This is a surveillance frequency that has quite a lot of encrypted digital transmissions on it. At one time, if they weren't using encryption, they used only the 110.9 PL. Then later, another group started using the 79.7 PL. I've also found them using no PL at times.

Channel,"BCI Tactical F-4",01555650,,FM,SEARCH,OFF,UNLOCKED,OFF,OFF,OFF,AUTO
Channel,"BCI Tactical F-4",01555650,,NFM,C1109,OFF,UNLOCKED,OFF,OFF,OFF,AUTO
Channel,"BCI Tactical F-4",01555650,,NFM,C797,OFF,UNLOCKED,OFF,OFF,OFF,AUTO

I found that setup works well for me. I will hear everything on the frequency. If the encryption gets too annoying, I'll lock out the entry with no PL tone. Although even hearing a lot of encryption lets me know that something is going on.

I only lock that entry out in the scanner and NOT in my .usd file. That way, even if I should lock it out for some reason, the next time I program the radio it's unlocked again. The BCD996 is even better because you can temporarily lockout the frequency and it's unlocked again the next time you turn the radio on.

It's a little extra typing but it has paid off for me several times.

I just happened to think of another time that it came in handy. I was traveling the turnpike and one of the TAC frequencies was being used for running a radar trap. They weren't using PL. That's the first and only time I've heard that frequency with no PL.

 

[MB]

Interesting, where I am they always use a PL of 79.7 on 155.565. What area of NY are you from?
I have seen other agencies use 110.9 on 155.565 and also no PL on 154.665.

 

[joetnymedic]

mb
not sure if you're who i think you might be (lol) but when I used to work westchester county most stuff was pl 162.2 i believe at least northern westchester did.

Joe

 

[rbm]

Interesting, where I am they always use a PL of 79.7 on 155.565. What area of NY are you from?
I have seen other agencies use 110.9 on 155.565 and also no PL on 154.665.

I'm close to Binghamton. During some recent meth raids they were using both PL's and CSQ on a number of frequencies. I attached a couple of clips to the thread below.
http://radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40772
If that doesn't get you there, search the forums for ' CNET '.

If the activity is similar in your area, you're missing some of the best stuff if you only listen to one PL. When they converge from different areas, there's no telling what they'll be using.

There is never PL when they're in digital mode. But, they also use clear voice with no PL from time to time.

On 154.665 here they use
110.9 (often), 67.0 (somewhat), and of course NONE (often).

 

[frankh]

I like to program, the input frequencies with no pl, so I can tell if anything bad is really close. Works like a charm.

 

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Lots of good tips, thanks guys!