Something else very odd about the repeater output. When my PSR-600 is set to decode conventional PL tone, it won't stop on the channel. I've narrowed it down to the signal strength. Being a mile away from the repeater when I use a rooftop antenna, the 600 won't stop when the channel is active. Use the telescoping indoor antenna and it stops. But it only does it with this repeater. I can take the 600 mobile to another conventional repeater using PL tone and sit right under the tower and the 600 will stop. Wish I didn't have to sell my old Aeroflex test set, I might have been able to see what if anything was riding along with the signal or tone itself that causes the PSR-600 to act up. My old Uniden isn't bothered and stops with PL on. Same with all my amateur gear. So for now I turn the PL off. I liked to use PL so I didn't hear the station ID.
Let me inject some comments here that may lend to understanding some of the issues.
There are few good radio techs out there today that still understand just how to set repeater audio today. In many cases they set the audio too hot and you hear a bunch of background noise when no one is talking, like long pauses between words. This just compresses the passed through audio and starts to distort what you hear going through the repeater.
With narrow banding just about complete, many of the repeaters now have too low of audio being passed through. Again the radio techs don't seem to know just what level to set the repeaters at.
The PL decode has been mentioned. In the process of narrow banding, the PL level also gets lowered. If the basic radio adjustment is not correct, the PL encode will be low. This is common on many of the newer Motorola radios. Seems like the boys at the plant never took the time to set the test system up correctly and this is the results. I have seen radios where the max deviation on the old +/- 5.0 KHz setting barely make audio at 4.0 Khz. This is way on the low side, but that is the way the manual says to set it. I don't agree, but unless you ignore the recommended settings, that is what you end up with.
Many of the scanners on the market today were not designed for the narrow banding that is taking place today. The issues are just what your talking about. Low audio recovery, problems with trying to use PL decode to mute the receiver and strong signal overload.
With the amount being charged for these scanners, you would expect better results. But they are pushing off a poor front end design that results in overload from strong signals not even near the frequency your trying to listen to. As long as people put up with the poor performance and keep buying this kind of crap, the companies supplying this poor product won't change the design. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Only in this case, your not getting what you pay for.
