Minitor Pager Q's

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bwhite

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I recently acquired a Minitor IV pager for Carr Co.
The manuals that come with it and it's charging station are a bit sparce.....
Question 1: When I turn it off and put it in the unit to charge I'm still alerted when a call comes in. I thought off was off.
Question 2: Seems like even at it's lowest volume setting in the charger it is pretty darn loud in a quiet room, does that sound right? I've had to plug a pillow speaker in it's jack to reduce the volume.
Thanx all.
 

jpsmith2

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Answer 1: Off should be off. Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but it is the volume knob that acts as the on/off switch, not the ABCD knob.
Answer 2: There is a setting that could be enabled on your pager called "Fixed Alert" which means the tone alert is at maximum volume regardless of the position of the volume control.
 
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jerk

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jpsmith2 said:
Edit: If it's an amplified charger, like the one in the link below, then it will be pretty loud even if Fixed Alert isn't enabled. If it's the standard charger that the pager sits in vertically, then it could be the Fixed Alert setting... which can be changed by anyone who can do programming.

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4052&stc=1&d=1152846161
Also, there are non-standard alerts and lengths, but I have not played around with them, so don't know what they do how they make it sound.

But Minitor III, IV and V all have the option of Fixed Alert or not. Minitor II were ordered that way, and I think can be changed by moving a jumper.

AL
 

bwhite

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Its the amplified type, you're right, even all the way down it's too loud.....a design flaw I guess. Thanx for the info.
 

scannerman700

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B.White,

I have the same set up too. and When my pager is turned off and it is in the Charger it does alert me, but turned off and not in charger it does not alert me. I think the deal with some Minitor 4's is If you got some kind of power source such as a charger(plugged into the wall) its going off and power turned off and sitting on the table them it's not going off.
I have the amplified speaker too, it is set up in my bedroom with a 25ft wire(customized that myself) and my speaker is mounted onto my sealing.
 

bwhite

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Getting more interesting as the posts continue.
I'd a thought off meant off, but, musta been designed by Bill Clinton.
 

ocguard

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Hmmm, interesting indeed. So you're saying that if a Minitor IV is in an amplified charger, and the power of the pager is turned OFF (volume knob completely counter-clockwise past the detent) it will still alert? Very strange.

As far as the volume issue, I always found with my Minitor II in the amplifed charger that there was a fine tuning necessary of the volume knob on the pager, and the one on the charger. I found that the easiest way to perfect it is to turn the pager volume nearly all the way down (not off - strange that I even have to specify that) and then use the charger volume to find a good level.

Now, if you're pager is set to fixed alert volume, this will not help too much with the alert sequence, but should allow you to find a comfortable level for actual voice audio.
 

Dank

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ocguard said:
Hmmm, interesting indeed. So you're saying that if a Minitor IV is in an amplified charger, and the power of the pager is turned OFF (volume knob completely counter-clockwise past the detent) it will still alert? Very strange.

Actually this technology (the pager alerting even when off) is not completely new. I remember when I was in Germany 10 years ago and I was driving along in my rental car. The radio was turned off and all of a sudden, WOW! It came on at a high volumne and I couldn't turn it down. I told my host family about this and they explained that there was a radio alerting system that would automatically activate to tell motorists of incidents in the local area.
 

bwhite

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Although I haven't played with it much more,
What I think happened is that I "thought" it was off because it seems to click when the volume is rotated counter clockwise, but, it actually takes a bit more force than most radios to get it to OFF. I guess I was trying not to force it. I've been ensuring it is off recently and haven't heard anything, but then again our station isn't high in call volume. Thanx for the info.

Also, Dank,
I think there is some US technology that I cannot recall the name of where Uncle Sam wants to be able to take over all media for stuff like Emergency Broadcasts.....might be along those lines.
 

Donald2557

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Minitor II, III, IV and V

There should be no question about off being "really" off. The volume control / on - off control will remove battery voltage from the pager if it is turned completely counter clockwise.....unless of course the control has failed.....which would seem unlikely.
 

bwhite

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Looks like my volume/on/off knob is a little iffy.
The rotation between off and on isn't real distinct.
I'm living with it, to turn it off I now make sure I go hard counter-clockwise.
Thanx
 

gcgrotz

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bwhite said:
Also, Dank,
I think there is some US technology that I cannot recall the name of where Uncle Sam wants to be able to take over all media for stuff like Emergency Broadcasts.....might be along those lines.

That system is already in place. Your cable head-end has a device attached to each channel it puts on the cable that does it. All radio and TV stations have it. Some tunnel systems that have re-generated cable radio in the tube also have it so they can take over all the radio stations on the dial to alert you of incidents (unless you have you scanner on...)

Weather radio alert brodcasts can be tied in as well, i.e. Amber alerts.

As far as I know, there is no system to turn on your car radio although it has been discussed for television. But then you could just unplug it.
 

gcgrotz

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bwhite said:
Looks like my volume/on/off knob is a little iffy.
The rotation between off and on isn't real distinct.
I'm living with it, to turn it off I now make sure I go hard counter-clockwise.
Thanx

There ya go, but see what an interesting discussion we've had?
 
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