scannerowner
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Why do you need tones programmed? I guess I don't know what you are trying to accomplish?
Missouri Point to Point
- Thread starter repairman222
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Let's say you have 2 agencies using the same frequency and each one uses a different tone and you only want to hear one and not the other.
repairman222
Member
scannerowner
Member
CSQ will ensure you hear everything on it, which will be the select few who still use it. CSQ stands for Carrier Squelch.
I'll give you an example. If you buy a FRS radio from Walmart and program a "sub channel" in it, then you have a PL/DPL tone. Most, I think are PL tones. If you kept that in, you'll only hear those on the same setup as you. If you programmed no "sub channels" then it'll be CSQ and you'll hear all traffic on it, even those that are using "sub channels."
Make sense? I'd leave it in your scanner as CSQ and hear all the departments using it.
I'll give you an example. If you buy a FRS radio from Walmart and program a "sub channel" in it, then you have a PL/DPL tone. Most, I think are PL tones. If you kept that in, you'll only hear those on the same setup as you. If you programmed no "sub channels" then it'll be CSQ and you'll hear all traffic on it, even those that are using "sub channels."
Make sense? I'd leave it in your scanner as CSQ and hear all the departments using it.
repairman222
Member
I'm sorry I meant squelch mode for Point to Point, Should it be set to CTCSS, DCS OR Search? Also should I search for Value, cause if found I can program it in my radio. Thanks sir.
scannerowner
Member
Just leave it off. If you search then you can see what agencies are using tones, but I'd leave it off.
I often leave mine on search if not actually programming a tone. Tone Search doesn't slow down scanning any at all and if a tone is found that's unlisted, it goes into my notes but not programmed into the radio.
It's really more of an "I gotta know" thing for me though and mostly used just to see if someone is using tone squelch or not.
As far as the radio getting it wrong, it does not really matter to me as I don't enter found tones into memory anyway. I also never use the auto memory write feature on the models that offer that. If the scanner does decode a tone incorrectly, it would not be written into memory.
The models that have the Auto memory write feature would store an incorrect tone if the scanner detected it wrong.
If I had a model with a bad habit like that then yep, tone search would stay off if I ever used the auto memory write feature!
Even on conventional analog channels that have known accurate tones listed, I usually use CSQ or Search. If there happens to be another user on the frequency that I really don't want to hear, then I may use my users tone to block the unwanted user but that's rare and even more rare today with many going to a digital mode these days.
Like I said though, using tone search mode is my preferred method as I usually like to hear everything possible that may pop up on any given frequency which also includes any tones detected that the radio may display.
A great reason to leave it off or in search mode is for those times the band experiences a rare band opening with stations heard from a hundred or more miles away. If I had tone squelch enabled and set to a tone, I'd probably never know the band had opened up and I'd miss all the action.
Finding a tone in use during a rare band opening can also help ID the distant user as long as their tone has been entered and is correct in the RRDB. This could be a good reason for using tone search if you like figuring out signals that you know are distant and not normally heard.
CTCSS tone search on the older models like the BC780XLT was almost useless as it had to scan through every possible tone one tone at a time which took maybe 30 seconds or more. Nobody talks that long! If the user was using DCS squelch, the old 780XLT model would decode the correct tone instantly but not so with PL tones. For those older models, I usually set to CSQ only or off, whichever it says in the radios menu.
I concur here. If you want to hear what's on Point to Point you only want carrier squelch. I can't think of any agency that used CTCSS on Pt to Pt (or 155.730 for that matter). CTCSS, etc., is to EXclude things you do NOT want to hear. Just leave it at CSQ and be done.
St Louis County PD did send a PL tone on 155.370 some time ago now. But... they only used the tone when they were sending their callsign in CW over the point to point frequency.
I honestly think they did that so users could use the tone in reverse and mute the audio when the tone was detected so everyone in range did not need to hear the CWID every 15 or 30 minutes.
I never saw the tone used during normal point to point voice traffic.
Their use of the CWID on point to point was a pain in the rear. Scanners were made that could use PL tones like they were meant to be used but nobody made a scanner that muted the audio on a tone match. Many of Uniden's current and recent models do allow PL tones to be entered and used in reverse and mute the audio when the tone is detected these days. I wish they had that feature years ago for the counties obnoxious CWID broadcast.
Looking through my old notes,
I'd also logged the use of the PL tone 156.7 on 155.730 but I only noted it in use by one county. I think the dispatch radio for that county may have used CSQ on their receive side so they would hear others calling them. I'm not positive on that but I can remember others talking to that county that did not have a tone in use.
That same county was kind of an oddball with their use of 155.730 as they also used voice inversion scrambling on 155.730.
Looking at my notes further just now, the 155.730 user appears to have been a township within a county and not the entire county. I have a note with it telling me I never figured out who the user was that used the tone plus voice inversion. That one will remain a mystery now.
Since this thread was started, I monitored 155.370 and 155.730 for tones but I did not detect any tones used after a few hundred voice calls.
The county is still sending their CWID on point to point but it seems they really tamed it down so it's not sent near as often. There's also no tone sent with the CWID any longer. Analog point to point traffic here is also simulcast on the counties P25 system but I can't recall ever hearing the CWID on the P25 systems point to point talkgroup. They must have a way of keeping the cw callsign off the P25 system.
In Jefferson City when on analog years ago, their PD also used CTCSS to avoid having to hear their CWID, which I agree would have been both annoying and disruptive if there were something more of interest and I'm talking about the vehicle radios. Many of the reserves had their own radios in POV's, mostly Midland, and they were easy to program. Since Cole county and all others around had dedicated frequencies, they only used 155.730 with other county dispatches or car to car if another county crossed into yours. Smaller counties used Sheriff's Net as their primary dispatch. Rarely we'd have to watch the console when the dispatcher had a nature call and one of us was in the office.
It seemed easier back in the old days.
. KNIL603. I can hear it in my sleep and that was a LONG time ago. 155.580 was primary back then.- Status
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