WX alert via tone out

[scanman1958]

I thought within the last month or so someone posted a question about using the tone out function along with the NOAA 1050hz alert tone and if it was possible. I can't seem to find that thread. I wanted to look it over and maybe make a posting on it. I have a question about it also.

If anyone can find it could you post a link to that thread if you can.

Thanks.

 

[Voyager]

Not sure I remember the thread, but just program in the local weather frequency with a Tone A of 0 Hz and tone B of 1050 Hz and it will work on the general alert (not the SAME alert - which means you will alert on any alert sent from that station).

 

[QDP2012]

Maybe this thread? Minitor Pager with NOAA WX

Hope this helps,

 

[scanman1958]

Thank you for your replies. I believe they have helped me.

The link to the Minitor question was the one I was thinking about. I guess I should have been more specific as I was relating my questions to the 396xt tone out capability.

I did check the 'easier to read' manual for tone out set up. I do have many tone outs already set up but not like the NOAA tone(s). I tried leaving one tone as '0' and the other with the 1050hz tone but I think I got it mixed up. And the long and short single tone also confused me a little as all my tone outs already set up are two tone.

So then I decided to set up the tone out in 'search' mode but that kind of backfired. Those three (or so) scratchy noises that come before the actual alert tone were found and it was pretty obvious that they would not work as the numbers came up as ..... A. 3161.9 and B. 3153.3 (probably close enough to be the same tone)

So I am going to reprogram my tone out with the 0 on the A tone, and 1050hz on the B tone as suggested. It is fun playing with this and trying to get it to work but it is a long process because the weather service only on tests once a week. So I will see what happens next Wednesday at 11am.

Thanks again. I hope to have positive results next week. (if I remember to do the testing that is. I may forget and have to wait two weeks) Ha!!!

 

[scanman1958]

Well.....I did as instructed but had no luck. I entered 0 for tone A and the wx tone 1050.0 for tone B. The scanner remained silent. I guess I can keep trying different combinations. Maybe next time I will try the 1050 tone in A and 0 for B. Who knows. Maybe it just won't work. I wonder if UPman is reading up on this and has an idea or tow. Just playing around and trying to learn. That's what we do here right? And super serious scanning too.

Have a good day everyone.

 

[wtp]

why not both ?

to add to the mix what about a+b as 1050
i have left the radio on weather alert and it will wake the dead.

 

[QDP2012]

You might have already tried this...

If the Minitor pager used the B-tone as a long-tone which would have the same duration as an A-B two-tone signal, then maybe the scanner needs the alert freq in both A and B. Maybe the scanner does not do a long-B tone, just short A-B two tone. Maybe if they were both the same, it might mimick a long-B.

Just an idea; no clue if it will work or not.

Hope this helps,

EDIT: It looks like wtp typed faster than me, with the same idea.

 

[SteveC0625]

It's all about tone timing. A/B tones are generally 1 second/3 seconds. If your WX station puts out the 1050 tone for 4 seconds, then put it in both slots and it should work fine.

In the old days, the same tone in A and B was called a "diagonal tone" and was generally reserved for group calls. It was called that because the tone charts back then always had the A/B the same combination in a diagonal pattern.

When you set your radio for A/B decoding, it expects to hear a tone in each time slot. Entering a zero in either slot basically tells it not to decode.

 

[scanman1958]

Thanks everyone. Great ideas. I will keep playing and staying out of trouble. At least I will try.

 

[Voyager]

The alert tone is 8 seconds long which is exactly the timing spec of a Motorola Group page. Slot A of 0 Hz and B of 1050 Hz should work perfectly. Were you on that slot when you were monitoring an alert? You have to be on that FTO slot for it to work - or one with the same frequency AND mode.

Setting both A and B to the same frequency may NOT work, as there is only one tone and the scanner might wait for the second instance which will not happen.

How you do know it didn't work? (details please)

 

[scanman1958]

I know that it didn't work because I programmed the tone out in my 396xt for that specific sequence of 0 for tone A and 1050.0 for tone B. I had the scanner set to go off for the weekly test and it remained quieter than a mouse even though my two Midland wx alert radios were blaring loud and clear right next it.

I have tried about three different set ups so far and none of them have worked. I think they are all listed in the history of this topic. I even set the tone out to "search" for the tone(s) but received something like a 3000hz or bigger tone which I knew was wrong. I have many FD tone outs set up already so I know that the programming works and that the radio does work correctly for tone outs.

I am also wondering if anyone else has tried this and if it has worked for them?

 

[Voyager]

You were sitting on the WX FTO slot, right? And you heard the 1050 Hz tone on the Midland units?

Also, make sure the delay is set to INFINITE or the FTO will reset in 2 seconds (default).

Last, I'm not sure if they still send the tone out on the weekly test. It might be the SAME data only.

You likely got the 3000 decode on search from the SAME data they send out which is sent before the alert tone.

 

[Voyager]

Just has the BCT15X alert on FTO for the weekly test using FTO.

Settings:
Frequency = local NOAA frequency
Mode = FM
Slot A = 0 Hz
Slot B = 1050 Hz
Delay = Infinite

So, it does work when programmed as I described.

 

[scanman1958]

Not sure what is going on. I have programmed my 396xt tone out for the noaa alert tone at least three different ways. All of them at the suggestion of everyone here. Thanks. But it still will not work for some reason........for me.

I have many tone outs programmed that DO work. I just can't seem to make this work. Great job that you got it to work on your scanner. I am at wits end. 45 yrs in scanning and I think I am stumped.

Thank you again for all your suggestions.

 

[UPMan]

Just to reconfirm, you are leaving the scanner set to that tone-out slot and in tone-out standby mode, correct? It will not check this slot if you are on a slot that has a different frequency and other RF settings.

 

[scanman1958]

Let me see. I am using ch 8 of the 10 programmable tone out channels. Freq is 162.550. Set to FM. A=0.0. B=1050.0. Delay set to infinIte. AGC off.

I should know what I am doing. I monitor and use other tone outs on the other 9 programmable channels. They work.

As I said before this is mostly for fun and experimentation. I would really like it to work but.........

I just can't figure it out.

 

[scanman1958]

Mmmmmm. That's odd.

It worked this week ! ! ! I have no clue what I did or what setting I may have changed or even a decimal point moved but it worked today during the weekly test. I even set up the same settings on my 996xt and it worked the very first time I programmed it.

I guess I can chalk this one up to operator error or the loose nut behind the wheel.

Thanks again to all that helped and maybe in the next week or two I will come up with some other odd thing to try and keep me out of trouble.

 

[Voyager]

Sounds like you may not have had the WX FTO slot selected.