Pro-106 Issue - Audio Missed with PL Tones Enabled

[stlouisx50]

I noticed the other day while inside that I could hear a local officer on the input frequency (PL tone enabled) as he was close by, but could not pick up dispatch or himself on the main dispatch frequency.

This had me puzzled so I wondered if it it was interference causing a weak signal, but this was not the case. I tested this by going to the tune feature and programing in the frequency with tone search enabled. I was able to hear them on their frequency with 5/5 bars

So I looked and found that I had the tone & frequency programed properly and not locked out, the squelch was to it's minimum level , but still could not pick them up.

The only solution was to disable the PL tone which allowed reception again.

 

[W6KRU]

Instead of disabling PL, I would set it to search to verify the PL being used.

 

[stlouisx50]

That's what I said I did while putting the unit in Tune Mode. It's the same PL tone that RR Database shows, so that is not the issue.

 

[W6KRU]

Sorry, I sped red right past that. Are you sure the modulation is correct? Could it be NFM instead of FM or vice versa?

 

[stlouisx50]

Sorry, I sped red right past that. Are you sure the modulation is correct? Could it be NFM instead of FM or vice versa?

Not a problem =)

Good question, I just checked and it was set to Auto

 

[W6KRU]

If the modulation was wrong it could cause a problem with detection of the tone but the search decoded it correctly. I'm having trouble coming up with ideas since the search decodes correctly.

 

[zzdiesel]

Try the attenuator on that freq with the tone. I have use it here on 3 or 4 different ones.

 

[kruser]

I've seen this exact issue on my actual GRE and the RS clones.

If I'm not mistaken, there is a thread or two on the topic but they may be in the GRE forum.

I think the PSR800 may have the problem also as I think that is the one I discovered my problem on.
I do know it does not always occur and it seemed that signal strenght may have played a part in the problem. Very strong signals maybe caused the scanner to skip right over the channel when scanning while weaker signals worked fine is ringing a bell for some reason.

 

[zzdiesel]

Yes, the PSR-800 has this problem. I have several on it that I have the tones turned off or I don't hear them.

 

[kruser]

Yes, the PSR-800 has this problem. I have several on it that I have the tones turned off or I don't hear them.

I think that is exactly what I ended up doing, turning the tones off.
Not the ideal solution when you have other distant users on the same frequency but it's better than hearing nothing!

 

[krokus]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.973 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

I noticed the other day while inside that I could hear a local officer on the input frequency (PL tone enabled) as he was close by, but could not pick up dispatch or himself on the main dispatch frequency.

Under the "better the stupid question asked, than not asked." premise: The "main frequency" is the repeater output?

Is the scanners stopping on that frequency, but just not passing the audio, or not stopping on the frequency? Are you certain the input and output CTCSS tones are the same? (I saw that you said it was showing the same as the website, but not which tone, if they are different.)

 

[jdm911]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B176 Safari/7534.48.3)

Another vote for antenuation. Has helped me in same case

 

[N1BHH]

A lot depends on your position, where your antenna is. Every little thing affects how you receive a signal, especially when you are indoors with an OEM antenna, or any antenna. Building materials attenuate signals, as do refrigerators and microwave ovens and just about everything there is.

 

[stlouisx50]

I was stationary when this occurred , the unit was sitting on a table. The repeater output is what I was referring to as the main frequency. The Input and repeater do have the same PL tone as I have verified this.

The theory of the scanner overloaded by a strong signal could be the case.

As far as distant signals coming in when the PL having to be turned off. I suppose the ATT and using a squelch would cancel the need of the PL being used. However I have never every been a fan of using the ATT button on any unit I have used. I have found ATT to really downgrade any reception that I have had.

Thanks for the replies.

Jason

 

[kruser]

However I have never every been a fan of using the ATT button on any unit I have used. I have found ATT to really downgrade any reception that I have had.

Thanks for the replies.

Jason

Same here. Half my fun is in trying to receive distant systems on ALL bands and not just skip on VHF Low. Using the attenuator function does not help in this case!

I like it that they do include the function but I wish it were a step attenuator that the user could adjust the level instead of the normal factory -20dB loss. Hit ATT on many of the distant systems I monitor will wipe them out, poof, gone.
And external variable attenuators suck in my eyes. Some work OK on VHF frequencies but they often cause unreclaimable loss at 700 or higher.
I do have some 50 ohm switchable attenuators from a AMPS cell site that do a good job but you attenuate the entire radio which is not ideal when it is just interference on a single frequency that you would like to attenuate.

So yes, I'd like to see the manufacturers put in user adjustable step attenuators that can be set per channel. Something with even a bit more range like 0 to -30dB would be fine for most troublesome noise.

 

[n8zcc]

I noticed the other day while inside that I could hear a local officer on the input frequency (PL tone enabled) as he was close by, but could not pick up dispatch or himself on the main dispatch frequency.

The only solution was to disable the PL tone which allowed reception again.

Could the issue be as simple as the repeater is not passing or is not generating a CTCSS tone?

 

[stlouisx50]

The Icom-R3 had that ATT feature , but that thing is pretty much obsolete to me. The features it had were extremely nice.