CTCSS ?

[Martin G8JNJ]

What does the CTCSS button do, other than turn blue when pressed ?

Is this in preparation for a new feature, or is it simply not working ?

I can't find any description, notes or other documentation that outline if, or how, it should operate.

[Bas ON5HB]

CTCSS is for repeaters that send CTCSS tones, this button suppresses them upto 250 if I'm not mistaken.

Try on 2m or 70cm, it will work pretty well

However, CTCSS can be used on any band....as such it's listed.

[Martin G8JNJ]

Hi Bas,

Ah OK, my misunderstanding, I thought it was meant to decode the CTCSS tone (which would be a really useful feature).

Maybe it should be labelled "AF HPF" instead of "CTCSS"

Regards,

Martin

CTCSS is for repeaters that send CTCSS tones, this button suppresses them upto 250 if I'm not mistaken.

[Bas ON5HB]

It's only purpose is to remove the repeater tones, not to act as an HPF.
It may even change to suppress a single tone in the future instead of being a simple HPF, what it is for the moment.
The repeater output tones are realy anoying when you listen to a websdr, as such I asked for this button and it works great

Don't forget, even non-technical people listen to websdr's, they typical do not know what the buttons are.
If you lookup CTCSS in Google you will find an instant explanation.

[Martin G8JNJ]

Hi Bas,

OK, but I'm a bit confused.

It is an AF HPF at the moment, but in future it may be replaced with something like an auto notch ?

If it becomes an auto notch, could it also then display the CTCSS tone frequency ?

Knowing which tone is in use can help identify repeaters, especially on 10m. It's also useful for ID'ing business services, especially in the 30 - 40MHz frequency range.

Regards,

Martin

It's only purpose is to remove the repeater tones, not to act as an HPF.

It may even change to suppress a single tone in the future instead of being a simple HPF, what it is for the moment.

[Bas ON5HB]

In Belgium it's not allowed to monitor business frequencies without consent of the companies involved.

But beside that, I do not see how you can identify a signal based on the tone they use.
That means you need to have huge databases with all tones and frequencies.

Far easier to wait until a repeater starts sending it's call-sign
 

[Martin G8JNJ]

There are users outside of Belgium :-)

On 10m repeaters fade up and down quite quickly, as do signals on the low VHF bands, so you don't always hear an ID, but with a repeater list and a bit of detective work, you can usually figure out the most likely culprit.

Likewise, the low VHF band monitors, have big lists of users along with CTCSS and DCS tones / codes. So it makes it easier to ID and individual user. For example, the Turkish Forestry / Fire service have been audible here in the UK over the past couple of days at around 34MHz, and each CTCSS tone indicates which region is active.

Regards,

Martin

In Belgium it's not allowed to monitor business frequencies without consent of the companies involved.

But beside that, I do not see how you can identify a signal based on the tone they use.
That means you need to have huge databases with all tones and frequencies.

Far easier to wait until a repeater starts sending it's call-sign