carsonbm
Member
When does one know when to use the CTCSS and DCS tones? :evil:
Scanning Help Please
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1. Whenever there is a PL tone listed in some reliable reference like the database here.
2. When you're monitoring a frequency and you've got an instant decode PL radio like the Pro-92/96 or some of the Bearcat models. You can then immediately enter the tone by pressing a button.
If there are no other stations close enough to cause interference, or you want to listen to multiple agencies on the same frequency, don't enter tones. If there's another agency on the same frequency that you don't want to listen to or there's another form of interference like a lamp dimmer, use a tone. Lastly, at least on a Pro96, having a tone on a frequency almost completely eliminiates the squelch tail, which i find more pleasant to listen to.
2. When you're monitoring a frequency and you've got an instant decode PL radio like the Pro-92/96 or some of the Bearcat models. You can then immediately enter the tone by pressing a button.
If there are no other stations close enough to cause interference, or you want to listen to multiple agencies on the same frequency, don't enter tones. If there's another agency on the same frequency that you don't want to listen to or there's another form of interference like a lamp dimmer, use a tone. Lastly, at least on a Pro96, having a tone on a frequency almost completely eliminiates the squelch tail, which i find more pleasant to listen to.
And to amplify on that... when you want to monitor only a specific agency on a freq, its good to use the CTCSS/CDCSS information, and to monitor different agencies.. put the freq in multiple times with each agency's tones. Or if you want to verify the usage,.. noting the tones is a great way to do this. Also if there are no tones listed and you find the right tones, please submit them to the db here. This kind of info is VERY MUCH appreciated by the admins. When traveling, if you know the tones in usage , it makes it easier to monitor specific agencies, and eliminates you hearing any interference **MOST of the time**. (Sometimes in different areas, you will find the same tones in use by other agencies on a freq.) A CTCSS/CDCSS capable scanner is a must have for those doing serious monitoring/searching. Almost ALL of the newest scanners being made now feature a CTCSS/CDCSS feature, this includes the simpler HH's and the top of the line digitals. (At last)
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
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Hi Guy,
The great majority of the time, knowing tones is only useful for transmitting purposes....you have to transmit the system's tone in order to have the group hear you or get into the repeater.
For listening only, you're always hearing everything that's broadcasted so it doesn't really matter wether you know the tone or not. That's why so many scanners and receivers don't even have a feature for entering in a pl (ctcss) tone. PL (private line) is a motorola invention btw.
Mostly, nobody really has any business knowing a user group's tone unless they have a legitament reason for transmitting into their system.
Business and public safety tones should be listed in the FCC database under their license...which is a matter of public record and accessable on the web.
Having a tone capable receiver is helpful if say.....you live on high ground or near a border and can monitor two or more public jurisdictions. Some of them may be using the same frequency for something or other. They use tones so they won't hear or interfere with each other.....if you only want to listen to county #1 but not county #2's traffic, then you can program in C1's tone and that will be all you'll hear.
And these little business band handheld radios that have multiplied like bunnies and are all over cities and towns being used in hotels, Wal Marts, recreation parks ect.....you may have many users in a relatively small area all using the same frequency........which is doable as they're all using a different tone so they don't interfere with each other......but if you're receiving with no tone separation...then you'll hear them all and that could become a jumbled mess.
How to find their tone? Some radios.....and it's a very common feature with most every VHF and UHF ham radio these days...have a feature called TONE SCAN which will automatically identify the tone being used on a transmitted signal. Very handy.
Ham radios, handhelds and mobiles are mostly all under $200 these days and you know that fancy scanners can run well over that. These ham rigs make great scanners and they're worth having one just for the Tone Scan feature if nothing else........and you may even want to get you ham license that way to. It's easy.
The great majority of the time, knowing tones is only useful for transmitting purposes....you have to transmit the system's tone in order to have the group hear you or get into the repeater.
For listening only, you're always hearing everything that's broadcasted so it doesn't really matter wether you know the tone or not. That's why so many scanners and receivers don't even have a feature for entering in a pl (ctcss) tone. PL (private line) is a motorola invention btw.
Mostly, nobody really has any business knowing a user group's tone unless they have a legitament reason for transmitting into their system.
Business and public safety tones should be listed in the FCC database under their license...which is a matter of public record and accessable on the web.
Having a tone capable receiver is helpful if say.....you live on high ground or near a border and can monitor two or more public jurisdictions. Some of them may be using the same frequency for something or other. They use tones so they won't hear or interfere with each other.....if you only want to listen to county #1 but not county #2's traffic, then you can program in C1's tone and that will be all you'll hear.
And these little business band handheld radios that have multiplied like bunnies and are all over cities and towns being used in hotels, Wal Marts, recreation parks ect.....you may have many users in a relatively small area all using the same frequency........which is doable as they're all using a different tone so they don't interfere with each other......but if you're receiving with no tone separation...then you'll hear them all and that could become a jumbled mess.
How to find their tone? Some radios.....and it's a very common feature with most every VHF and UHF ham radio these days...have a feature called TONE SCAN which will automatically identify the tone being used on a transmitted signal. Very handy.
Ham radios, handhelds and mobiles are mostly all under $200 these days and you know that fancy scanners can run well over that. These ham rigs make great scanners and they're worth having one just for the Tone Scan feature if nothing else........and you may even want to get you ham license that way to. It's easy.
Beaver, I'd like to take comment with a couple of your statements...
I have a PL/DPL on nearly everything that I have programmed. Saying that it's not needed isn't really appropriate. As I stated in my other thread, I do a lot of traveling, so having a PL on the freq's allows me to glance at the alpha-tag and see who I'm listening to for sure. Why do you think more and more scanners, over time, have started coming out with this feature?
PL's are not assigned by the FCC, rather, they are coordinated through an individual in the state that works with these things. I can speak of this first hand, as my county went from VHF-Low to VHF-High two years ago, and had to change input and output PL's about four times until they stopped interfering with several other counties throughout the state.
Check the FCC website, and you'll see the PL info is not listed anywhere.
Hope this helps...
ReceiverBeaver said:
I have a PL/DPL on nearly everything that I have programmed. Saying that it's not needed isn't really appropriate. As I stated in my other thread, I do a lot of traveling, so having a PL on the freq's allows me to glance at the alpha-tag and see who I'm listening to for sure. Why do you think more and more scanners, over time, have started coming out with this feature?
PL's are not assigned by the FCC, rather, they are coordinated through an individual in the state that works with these things. I can speak of this first hand, as my county went from VHF-Low to VHF-High two years ago, and had to change input and output PL's about four times until they stopped interfering with several other counties throughout the state.
Check the FCC website, and you'll see the PL info is not listed anywhere.
Hope this helps...
With apologies:
With the intense Tropo Ducting in my area of the country (Southeast), having a scanner with CTCSS/CDCSS capabilities is as must.. and also as I stated, for the traveling, its a great thing. A scanner is effected just like a commercial grade reciever by interference vias ducting, and skip. With the proper tone info, just like on a commercial radio, a scanner cuts out you hearing the interference. Over the next ten or so years, with APCO-P-25 digital becomming the norm, this will eliminate the interference issues. But untill say 2020, there will still be plenty of conventional analog systems, using CTCSS/CDCSS, and it makes it so much easier to monitor if you have a capable scanner. And also with the proliferation of unliscensed systems in use, as an admin, CTCSS/CDCSS information is a MUST HAVE for confirmation of aforementioned systems. When someone sends me info on a system that is in use, and it can't be confirmed by me personally, if the tone info is included, it makes it life much easier. Also there are a LOT of new systems comming online, and using the tone info to confirm them is a good thing. As to the FCC and tones... I also can confirm its not FCC that assigns these, its local coordinators.
With the intense Tropo Ducting in my area of the country (Southeast), having a scanner with CTCSS/CDCSS capabilities is as must.. and also as I stated, for the traveling, its a great thing. A scanner is effected just like a commercial grade reciever by interference vias ducting, and skip. With the proper tone info, just like on a commercial radio, a scanner cuts out you hearing the interference. Over the next ten or so years, with APCO-P-25 digital becomming the norm, this will eliminate the interference issues. But untill say 2020, there will still be plenty of conventional analog systems, using CTCSS/CDCSS, and it makes it so much easier to monitor if you have a capable scanner. And also with the proliferation of unliscensed systems in use, as an admin, CTCSS/CDCSS information is a MUST HAVE for confirmation of aforementioned systems. When someone sends me info on a system that is in use, and it can't be confirmed by me personally, if the tone info is included, it makes it life much easier. Also there are a LOT of new systems comming online, and using the tone info to confirm them is a good thing. As to the FCC and tones... I also can confirm its not FCC that assigns these, its local coordinators.
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