What Analog Business Band Repeaters Are You Monitoring That Are Still Not Using PL Or DPL?

[JASII]

As posted above, what analog business band repeaters are you monitoring that are still not using PL or DPL? I know that some amateur radio and GMRS repeaters are still transmitting without, but I am referring specifically to business band repeaters.

The reason I ask is because I was monitoring 461.175 this morning in the Twin Cities MN area. It sounds like a school bus company. There was no PL or DPL. One suspicion that I had is it is old equipment that missed the narrow-banding requirement. I am sort of baffled why in 2025 someone wouldn't program a repeater to transmit a PL or DPL.

 

[d119]

There's a lot of carrier squelch simplex activity on VHF-lowband. It's out there. It's also possible they're using something like a conventional LTR configuration (it exists!) where there is no PL or DPL, but rather LTR signaling.

Is it also possible this is their home channel of a bigger LTR trunked system? Some LTR systems don't rotate unless certain criteria are met to "trunk".

 

[JASII]

I haven't ruled out the possibility that it is a part of an LTR system. I am using a Uniden SDS100 to listen to it and I think it would show some data if it were a part of an LTR system. However, the signal is weak enough that it might not be decoding that.

On a related note, a friend of mine volunteers for the Salvation Army. Some time back he told me that they have a UHF mobile in his apartment and we wanted to know what frequency it was using. So, on a quiet night I suggested that he give me a 10 count as I searched the UHF bands. It took a bit, but I finally heard him and, sure enough, it was on a UHF LTR system that is only shared by a couple of other organizations. One or two of them were school bus companies, too.

 

[N9JIG]

If you hear regular short key-ups of the repeater with no voice traffic it is likely an LTR system. We have a couple left in my area on UHF and they do not transmit PL codes. I did set one up in a scanner for LTR reception and it seemed to work fine but I never followed up on that.

 

[mmckenna]

Not business, but I did run across a repeater listed on mygmrs.com that showed carrier squelch on the input. A real A.H. way to make sure no one uses "their " repeater pair. Gotta wonder about people that think that way….

 

[k7ng]

Not business, but I did run across a repeater listed on mygmrs.com that showed carrier squelch on the input. A real A.H. way to make sure no one uses "their " repeater pair. Gotta wonder about people that think that way….

There are more out there...

 

[12dbsinad]

Not business, but I did run across a repeater listed on mygmrs.com that showed carrier squelch on the input. A real A.H. way to make sure no one uses "their " repeater pair. Gotta wonder about people that think that way….

If they are running wideband I'm sure they enjoy hearing the kiddos playing around on FRS radios 12.5 away...

 

[cubn]

There's a steel factory near Indianpolis that I can't decode a PL/DPL on one of their repeater frequencies.

I assume they're just using some non-standard tone that my Uniden cannot decode.

 

[IC-R20]

There's a steel factory near Indianpolis that I can't decode a PL/DPL on one of their repeater frequencies.

I assume they're just using some non-standard tone that my Uniden cannot decode.

I used to do that with my baofeng and Alinco handhelds. I can punch in 62.5 Hz and the scanners and SDR# plugins won't readout a tone. Though you'll hear it on the undiscriminated audio and can readout with a music tuner.

 

[IC-R20]

If it really is conventional analog and not a LTR it would also be worth trying to find and check the input frequency. I've found some businesses and a lot of ham repeaters that are CSQ on the output but do have an input tone.