OST and CSQ on an old RELM handheld...

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rrnewuser

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Hello,

I have a few RELM RPV599A handhelds.

I have the programming cable and the software, and have loaded my own programming - everything is going very well and works great.

However, the county has given me a new channel list to program, and several of the channels have a RX CTCSS listed as "CSQ" and some other have a TX CTCSS listed as "OST".

But in the RELM programming software, my only options for CTCSS are simply none, or a frequency.

What are my options here, and will these radios even work, given these channel requirements ?

Thanks.
 

ecps92

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Sounds like what BK has (multiple tones in a list)

Google Tells me
OST = Optional Selection Tone, this allows the user, by preprogrammed key, to temporarily select a CTCSS/DCS tone


Hello,

I have a few RELM RPV599A handhelds.

I have the programming cable and the software, and have loaded my own programming - everything is going very well and works great.

However, the county has given me a new channel list to program, and several of the channels have a RX CTCSS listed as "CSQ" and some other have a TX CTCSS listed as "OST".

But in the RELM programming software, my only options for CTCSS are simply none, or a frequency.

What are my options here, and will these radios even work, given these channel requirements ?

Thanks.
 

rrnewuser

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Mar 3, 2014
Messages
30
Ok, so for the CSQ channels, I am fine - I am basically setting them in the RELM software to have no CTCSS tone, so ... that's the same thing, yes ?

What happens on the OST channels if my RELM is simply set to transmit no CTCSS at all ?
 

ramal121

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What happens on the OST channels if my RELM is simply set to transmit no CTCSS at all ?

Without a tone (transmit CTCSS set to none) you probably will not open squelch on another radio or access a repeater if that is used on the channel.

You will sometimes find several repeaters in different locations and they all have the same receive/transmit frequencies. The way to pick the repeater you want is to transmit a unique CTCSS tone. Each individual repeater will respond to a tone programmed for its input.

An easy way to access these repeaters is to make a single channel with the common frequency and then add OST (operator select tone) function to the channel. By pressing the OST button, the user can select the correct tone from a list to be able to talk through a repeater of their choice.

If your radio does not support OST (and I suspect that old Relm doesn't) you would have to duplicate each repeater location on its own separate channel with the different transmit tone to cover all possible areas. That will eat up channel real estate but is the only way to do that.
 

rrnewuser

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Mar 3, 2014
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THank you - very helpful. I will indeed have to eat up channel real estate that way, due to lack of OST button.

But on the receive side, was I correct that:

CSQ == CTCSS set to "none" ?

Thanks.
 
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