PL Tones

[marrsfiremedic]

On my uniden 296D I don't have any Fire Departments PL tones programmed in. What do they do and what more will I hear if I put them in?? Also if 2 or more FD's share the same frequency, but have different PL tones, how would it benefit me to use those tones? Would I have to enter in that same frequency 2 times for the 2 departments that use it and then put in the 2 different PL tones? The owners manual doesn't do a good job explaining. Thanks!

 

[marrsfiremedic]

Frequencies and Input

Next Question: What will I gain if I put in the "Input" frequency along with the normal frequency?

 

[KE5BCP]

http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/CTCSS

 

[BoxAlarm187]

In addition to the information provided in the Wiki, I'll try to answer some of your questions. You don't really hear more when you put a PL in, you actually hear less. This is because you'll only hear departments on a particular freq with a particular PL. You're correct that if you have two nearby FD's on the same freq, you'd have to put the same freq in your scanner twice with two different PL's in order to hear both departments.

For practical purposes, you don't gain a thing by entering the input freq.

Let us know what else you might need!

 

[johnvassel]

Think of PL Tones as a filter. Cities around the state out number the available frequencies, so often two cities or more are put on a 'channel'. Usually, they're far enough apart to avoid interference, however atmospheric changes can affect that. So PL tones allow the officers to only hear their dispatch, not any other cities traffic.
Putting the Input frequency can be handy if you have the channels. Living in the far reaches of our counties repeater system, I may be able to hear a unit easier on the input that through the repeater he's barely reaching..
Not necessary, and not often do you hear anything on it, but with all these channels available on scanners nowadays, I usually put the input freq right after the output freq.

john

 

[marrsfiremedic]

Thanks BoxAlarm187!

In addition to the information provided in the Wiki, I'll try to answer some of your questions. You don't really hear more when you put a PL in, you actually hear less. This is because you'll only hear departments on a particular freq with a particular PL. You're correct that if you have two nearby FD's on the same freq, you'd have to put the same freq in your scanner twice with two different PL's in order to hear both departments.

For practical purposes, you don't gain a thing by entering the input freq.

Let us know what else you might need!

That answered my question very well. Thanks for the input.

 

[marrsfiremedic]

Thanks John!

Think of PL Tones as a filter. Cities around the state out number the available frequencies, so often two cities or more are put on a 'channel'. Usually, they're far enough apart to avoid interference, however atmospheric changes can affect that. So PL tones allow the officers to only hear their dispatch, not any other cities traffic.
Putting the Input frequency can be handy if you have the channels. Living in the far reaches of our counties repeater system, I may be able to hear a unit easier on the input that through the repeater he's barely reaching..
Not necessary, and not often do you hear anything on it, but with all these channels available on scanners nowadays, I usually put the input freq right after the output freq.

john

Thanks John!