PSR-600 Attenuation question

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rwilcox1951

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I'm hoping someone can help with this. One of the VHF channels I monitor has been very noisy lately to the extent of being really annoying. I locked it out for a few days but yesterday unlocked it to see if the noise had been eliminated. The frequency is 155.50 (NYSP ComData). I activated the attenuation button (global attenuation ) and the noise went away, but sensitivity was lost on other frequencies. I got thinking about this and looked in "Program" mode and remembered that I could attenuate just that one channel. I activated attenuation through program mode and it did nothing to eliminate the noise. Is the level of attenuation different globally as opposed to individually?
 

Ensnared

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Global Attuenuation

I'm hoping someone can help with this. One of the VHF channels I monitor has been very noisy lately to the extent of being really annoying. I locked it out for a few days but yesterday unlocked it to see if the noise had been eliminated. The frequency is 155.50 (NYSP ComData). I activated the attenuation button (global attenuation ) and the noise went away, but sensitivity was lost on other frequencies. I got thinking about this and looked in "Program" mode and remembered that I could attenuate just that one channel. I activated attenuation through program mode and it did nothing to eliminate the noise. Is the level of attenuation different globally as opposed to individually?

First of all, if I'm understanding this correctly, you've programed & monitored a data channel? You've heard voice transmissions on this frequency? I believe this frequency is used for MDT. Since I'm unfamiliar with whether or not MDT can be monitored or even if it is legal to do so, I cannot advise. I've always heard you can't monitor such, but again, I could be wrong.

From what I understand, you can remove the global attenuation and attenuate specific channels as a function of this change.

Here is a reference: Easier to Read Pro-106/197/PSR500/600 Digital Scanner Manual

As a rule of thumb, I never program data channels due to the annoyance & inability to decipher.
 

rwilcox1951

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The NYSP refer to this channel as "ComData" but it is a voice channel used for DMV info. It uses a PL of 110.9. My question was more to the difference between global attenuation and attenuation on an individual basis. I assume attenuation is measured in decibels. Is the level of attenuation different depending on which mode the PSR-600 user selects?
 

detroit780

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Attenuation

Global attenuation attenuates Globally. Meaning when selected everything is attenuated.

Attenuating on an individual basis only attenuates those channels you attenuate.
The same amount of attenuation either way.




The NYSP refer to this channel as "ComData" but it is a voice channel used for DMV info. It uses a PL of 110.9. My question was more to the difference between global attenuation and attenuation on an individual basis. I assume attenuation is measured in decibels. Is the level of attenuation different depending on which mode the PSR-600 user selects?
 

rwilcox1951

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I didn't notice the letter "A". I'll play around some more. I'm not hearing any noise at all today so I've deselect the attenuation. Thanks for the replies. I wondered about attenuation levels since I noticed some quieting when set globally, but none when set individually.
 

rwilcox1951

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I played around some more. When attenuation is selected in program mode for an individual channel the "A" does not display and attenuation doesn't appear to be happening. It does appear when selected globally and attenuation occurs.
 
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DaveNF2G

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This might be redundant, but be sure Global attenuation is off. Otherwise, no matter what channel you are looking at when you turn on the attenuator, it will come on for all channels.
 

ScannerSK

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When attenuation is selected in program mode for an individual channel the "A" does not display and attenuation doesn't appear to be happening.

I would try turning the attenuation off/on by pressing the ATT button on the keypad (below the PROG button) when you are on the frequency you want to attenuate. This way you can hear the difference instantly between when the attenuation is off verses when it is on. When it is on for that channel the "A" will appear in the screen.

Shawn
 

rwilcox1951

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I'm really sorry. Somehow this has gotten off target. Maybe I wasn't clear or didn't properly explain what was happening.
When I select attenuation globally, I experience the expected reduction in sensitivity across all programmed frequencies. I get it. This is expected, but not the solution to my intermittent problem.
When I select attenuation individually, the "A" doesn't appear and there seems to be no noticeable effect. The noise comes through.
If I turn off individual attenuation through program mode and attenuate globally the intermittent noise stops. Is this a problem with my radio or is this a problem with PSR-600's ?
 

ScannerSK

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The problem appears to be that your radio is not allowing attenuation on a single channel. The "A" will appear in the screen when a single channel is being attenuated. The "G" and the "A" will appear when all channels are being attenuated.

The easiest way to test attenuation on a single channel is by pressing the attenuation button on the keypad. If it is working, you will see the "A" appear and disappear from the display as you press the attenuate button on the keypad.

If the attenuate button on your keypad does not work possibly there is a problem with the scanner. Maybe reloading the firmware will help?
 

ScannerSK

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Turn off the global attenuation, that way it can be set on a per channel basis by simply pressing the Attenuation button on the channel you want:

Easier to Read Pro-106/197/PSR500/600 Digital Scanner Manual atten

The member already has global attenuation turned off. The problem is that attenuation is not working on a single channel when global attenuation is turned off.

Either the attenuation is being set up incorrectly for that channel in the program menu or the scanner has issues. When a specific channel has attenuation active the "A" will appear in the screen which is currently not taking place. The member states he has turned on attenuation for a specific channel however the display states attenuation is not turned on for that channel (the "A" is not appearing in the display).

The best way to test attenuation on a single channel when global attenuation is turned off is with the attenuate button on the keypad.
 

rwilcox1951

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Ok. A heads up on what happened. I finally figured this out.
I placed the radio in Manual mode and pressed Program. I then pressed F3 (Global). I scrolled down to AttenMode and saw that it was set on Global. I changed this to Normal. Next in the scroll down menu is Global Atten. This was set to off so I left it alone. I saved the settings and exited. Now when I place that channel on Manual and press the Att key, the "A" appears in the display when the radio stops on that channel. Problem solved. Thanks to all who responded.
 
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