396XT Tone-Out Question!

[N1SQB]

Ok, I will admit that when it comes to tone-outs, I am not that knowledgeable. I have the ARC-PRO program. I decided to test out this feature on my radio. I have set up the radio as much as I understood to do so with the help from a friend. The delay setting is set to infinite and the audio agc has been tested both on and off. Here is the problem: On the same frequency, the same department, I get a different set of tones every time they tone out. No two sets of tones are the same. What is the reason for this? Any guesses?

Manny

 

[scannersnstuff]

manny, here is the answer. this has been kicked around a few time's. the tone counter is not calibrated to exact spec's. also, variation's in the tone quality from the transmitter can affect the actual tone received. if you really need to know the precise tone, you can look up the received tone on a tone conversion chart. i can send you one,if you need it. the received tone fq. will be close enough to trigger the pager.

 

[scanningisfun]

Here is the Motorola Quick Call II chart. Find the tones closet to what you see on your scanner. Also check out the BCD396XT complete reference between pages 172 and 176; specifically between 173 and 175. There are some helpful hints in that section like being able to be alerted to different tone pairs on the same channel.

http://info.uniden.com/twiki/pub/UnidenMan4/BCD396XT/BCD396XT_Complete_Reference.pdf

Jacob

 

[scannersnstuff]

thanks for the chart, scanningisfun.

 

[N1SQB]

Thanks a million guys! This is new turf for me on this radio. I have a better understanding now! Thanks for the info and the chart!

Manny

 

[JASII]

Uniden 396XT Tone-Out Question!

You might even consider doing what I did recently. Parl on whatever your tone out frequency is and then let it run for a week or two under Butel ARC-XT Pro. Also, if you have another computer and radio, record the audio and then compare the audio times to the QC II pairs. It can take a little bit of tweaking, but it is fun and interesting. You might even find that the dispatcher hits certain alert tones for fire vs. medical, etc. In my area, I think it is 1000 hZ tone for fire and 800/1500 for medical. When you check your History Log you will see how the tones vary by a few hZ, but you can check the chart already posted here to match it to the EIA standard tones.

 

[scannersnstuff]

except for 2 tone slots in my minitor v, i got the other 6's data right off the scanner. no problem's with reliability yet.