I am on a local fire department and the county uses Kenwoods. They used to just be 100% analog and a year a go or so they switched to the NXDN function of the radios. So that means our old motorola base unit that would give an alert tone and unsquelch from when a 2-tone page came out doesn't work after the initial analog dispatch as dispatch's console switches to NXDN after it finishes transmitting. So we can't hear any other traffic once it switches to NXDN. We had a spare NX-720HG due to a vehicle being decomissioned. I programmed it with all the items and features we want and even connected it to our overhead system. It works as it should. What we would like for it to do is to activate the external speaker if the proper 2-tone is received if it isn't currently on. I could create a seperate channel, leave the external speaker on and just do that. I just didn't know if there was a way to activate the external speaker.
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Kenwood NX-720HG
- Thread starter preacher715
- Start date
ramal121
Lots and lots of watts
You can set up the radio to respond to a 2 tone call to open the speaker when paged. If subsequent transmissions revert to NXDN, then you can make the channel mixed mode and it will receive both analog and digital. 2 tone should still work with mixed mode.
This is assuming you have a conventional NXDN channel. Mixed mode will not work with a trunked channel. You'd have to do something with scan then.
How are you hooking your overhead speakers to the radio?
This is assuming you have a conventional NXDN channel. Mixed mode will not work with a trunked channel. You'd have to do something with scan then.
How are you hooking your overhead speakers to the radio?
The main dispatch channel receives in mixed mode. I have it alerting as it should and playing a tone. I took the existing audio wire out of the old motorola and soldered into the 15 pin d-sub connector using the pins in the pinout chart i found on the internet. I then set a front button to enable the external speaker. That way staff out in the bay can hear all radio traffic. That was phase 1. haha. Phase 2 i want the external speaker to turn on if it is off that way the overnight guys sleeping don't hear all other traffic on the overhead all night. I have dug around the programming software and could have overlooked something, but i'm not sure. I did some google searches and was coming up pretty empty handed. Then i was looking at said pinout chart and didn't know if I had to possibly solder a jumper around on some pins to accomplish what I'm wanting.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
I don't have the software in front of me, but the way I've done this on other radios is to set up a second "night" channel that mutes all audio unless the correct page code is received. It'll open the audio path for a call. Set your "auto reset timer" to something long enough to hear the dispatched call, then it'll go back to the nighttime mode. I think 300 seconds is as long as you can set it to. That's usually plenty to hear the call.
You can also set an alert tone if you really want a harsh wakeup call.
You can also set an alert tone if you really want a harsh wakeup call.
ramal121
Lots and lots of watts
2 tone decode cannot control the external speaker function so might as well leave that always on. mmckenna is correct, two separate channels, one for day and one for night operations. What you want to do is use Audio Control found in the zone edit window. Set the day channel for QT/DQT or Optional Signaling and this will continuously monitor the channel and still alert with the beeps. On the night channel use QT/DQT and Optional Signaling which will unmute only on 2 tone decode. Note these are zone functions so the day and night channels need to be in different zones. The time the night channel unmutes is set with the Auto Reset Timer in the 2 tone window.
With an NX-700 i think you can add a PA board that has a relay you can operate with signaling. you could make that operate an external speaker system but not something like a device plugged into the speaker jack. I'm sure on the details though.
Day zone and night zone sounds easier, but requires the users to do something everynight. It's them that's being woken up by radio traffic if they forget though so they have some modivation to remember.
Day zone and night zone sounds easier, but requires the users to do something everynight. It's them that's being woken up by radio traffic if they forget though so they have some modivation to remember.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
KAP-2 Horn Alert/P.A. relay option cable. It can trigger one of the two output based on DTMF/Two Tone/MDC/NXDN, etc.
