Using CTCSS or DCS Tones

[CDN_Sparks]

I am setting up a new set of radios for a volenteer group and am curious to know if this is possible.

They purchased 8 Wouxun kg-uvd1p radios and have them all set to the same "channel", they are wanting to use the SOS feature which transmits a little sound to help people know something is up but want to know if they can idetify which radio pressed the button, can I use CTCSS or DCS Tones to work sort of as a caller id for the radios and have the other radios display a name for that tone?

 

[mrweather]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: CTCSS and DCS are squelch signalling methods that keep a radio quiet unless a signal having the same CTCSS or DCS code as the receiving radio is received in which case the radio will unsquelch and you'll hear the transmission.

What you want is ANI or "automatic number identification". Many commercial radios have this function which gives a unique ID to each radio. Icom' s D-Star has something similar but only works with other D* radios.

 

[W2NJS]

No, a radio can only be set to receive a single, fixed CTCSS or DCS signal at a time, and that function is set within the receiving radio and not outside of it. There are more sophisticated (and a lot more expensive!) radios available that can do what you want to do but they use different ID methods, none of which use CTCSS or DCS in any form.

 

[CDN_Sparks]

Well i have done some more digging in the manuals and have found something that might work, it is called ANI ID Code Transmit. I have turned it on and have heard the tone on the recieving radio but it does not decode the id and I dont see any where to program it, Has anyone used this feature? The other option I can use if the radio cannot decode them itself would my Grecom scanner work to capture and ID the radios? we are looking to see which radio is talking incase someone as an emergency and hits there SOS button we can ID who it was quickly.

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Well i have done some more digging in the manuals and have found something that might work, it is called ANI ID Code Transmit. I have turned it on and have heard the tone on the recieving radio but it does not decode the id and I dont see any where to program it, Has anyone used this feature? The other option I can use if the radio cannot decode them itself would my Grecom scanner work to capture and ID the radios? we are looking to see which radio is talking incase someone as an emergency and hits there SOS button we can ID who it was quickly.

As far as I know (but I don't know about the PSR-800) the GRE radios will not do DTMF decode. I know the PSR-500 and PSR-600 don't.

I have heard the Wouxun radios are a real pain to program from the front panel. Are you trying to do it that way or via the software? I've never messed with one, but everybody I've talked to says that the software is definitely the way to go.

Another thought, just because the radio has ANI transmit, it doesn't mean it will have ANI decode. I've owned a Vertex VX-180 for the past six years. It has ANI transmit but no decode. Perhaps the Wouxun radios you have are the same.

What you need is a DTMF decoder. There are many software solutions available out there, and for DTMF, most don't require a discriminator tap. Just feed audio out of the radio into a sound card and decode away.

Perhaps radios with MDC-1200 are in order for your organization... :wink:

 

[CDN_Sparks]

I use the software to program and its is not that bad at all, though I have not used the software on my Yeasu 6R. It looks like they have the transmit but not the decode. What type of solutions are out there for quick decode of these codes, that are easy to use and portable as we need to see who hit it on the move. For give my ignorance but what is a MDC-1200? This is a volunteer group so funds are very limited.

 

[gewecke]

I use the software to program and its is not that bad at all, though I have not used the software on my Yeasu 6R. It looks like they have the transmit but not the decode. What type of solutions are out there for quick decode of these codes, that are easy to use and portable as we need to see who hit it on the move. For give my ignorance but what is a MDC-1200? This is a volunteer group so funds are very limited.

The vx6r will not do what you want, I have one.
Just assign all your members a ID number and have them use that. Simple is better (and cheaper) :wink:

73,
n9zas