Fire Tone Out Question

[fdnyfish]

I'm guessing the Fire Tone Out is measured and not using standard tones.

I get different readouts for the same fire company (single dispatch)

I'm also using Com Tekk Multi Decoder on my PC, and I have that set to standard tones, and the readings are always right on the spot.

So If i programmed my local fire tones into the 436HP, but the scanner is decoding them by measured, chances are it wont alert

Is there a way to have the 436HP just use standard Motorola tones?

 

[N5AMS]

There is a tone signaling chart that has helped me in the past you can use that to get the exact tones you need for your department

Aaron Siller
| N5AMS |
| BCD996XT | BCD436HP | HP-1 Extreme | BCD996T | TYT MD380 | FT-8800 | VX8GR | UV82L |*
TX Admin for*repraterbook.com

 

[troymail]

To my knowledge, fire tone out uses standard Motorola tones.

For example: http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Anne_Arundel_County_(MD)_Fire_Tone_Outs

 

[fdnyfish]

I have the chart, but I'm saying that the scanner is giving me tones that are not on the chart

 

[N5AMS]

I know it does that to me also just use the tones that is rounded to the nearest tone on the chart

Aaron Siller
| N5AMS |
| BCD996XT | BCD436HP | HP-1 Extreme | BCD996T | TYT MD380 | FT-8800 | VX8GR | UV82L |*
TX Admin for*repraterbook.com

 

[SteveC0625]

I have the chart, but I'm saying that the scanner is giving me tones that are not on the chart

Try using something more accurate to decode the tones. Audacity for the PC is very good. Radio ID for smartphones is also very good.

There are other tones besides Motorola QC-II that were/are very commonly used throughout the US and Canada: Plectron, Fast Plectron, Motorola QC-I, GE Type 99, and Reach to name a few. This chart contains a lot more info than just Motorola tones: https://www.midians.com/pdf/tone-signaling-charts.pdf

 

[fdnyfish]

My point is, even if I have the correct tones, and put them in the scanner, if the scanner is not receiving/decoding them correctly, will it even alert me?

I'm gonna pop a few in and try it out

 

[JACIII]

Yes. There is a margin of error built in. I noticed similar behavior when I was searching for tones. After I found a tone chart I programmed in the "correct" tone frequencies and it alerts just fine.

 

[ofd8001]

If one uses Fire Tone Out Search to discover the alerting tones, the display may show something other than the "Standard" tones.

That search should get you in the ballpark to where you could refer to a tone chart to see the "Standard" tones. (Google Midlan Electronics standard paging tone chart).

So assuming you have programmed the correct receive frequency and the correct alerting tones (Tone A & Tone B) used by the entity you wish to be "alerted" to, your scanner should alert when you put the scanner in Fire Tone Out Standby. (Some folks have thought Fire Tone Out "alerts" during normal scanning, but that isn't the case).

 

[DaveNF2G]

FTO Search has about a 4% error. The higher the tone frequency, the more different the displayed tone can be.

FTO alerting works fine if you put in standard tones.

 

[N9JIG]

Here is a list of the standard tones. Compare the A and B tones and you can probably figure out the actual tones used. Most of the time they are taken from the same manufacturer's tones.