[Elecraft] Experiment: how much PL tone deviation is required to reliably key repeaters?

[Fred Townsend]

Wayne when you find out the answer to your question I hope you will publish it to the community. Seems like way low below the standard works because the repeaters are low pass filtering out the speech going into the decoder.

73

Fred, AE6QL
-----Original Message-----
>From: Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com>
>Sent: Sep 6, 2014 9:36 AM
>To: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>, "KX3 at yahoogroups.com" <KX3 at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [Elecraft] Experiment: how much PL tone deviation is required to	reliably key repeaters?
>
>Hi all,
>
>There seems to be some debate about how much FM deviation is required for PL tones used to activate repeaters. There's a wide range of deviation values in use by transmitters, and various "standard" recommendations. The question is how much is needed for reliable operation in the real world. 
>
>Our objective is to set the default PL tone deviation in the K3 and KX3 to the lowest level that works in virtually all cases (let's say 98-99%, since there are always outliers). Setting it too high can result in the tone being audible in receivers.
>
>If you have a K3 or KX3 outfitted with an internal 2-meter module (or an external transverter on any repeater band), you could help us with this experiment: just try reducing the PL DEViation value to the point where you can no longer reliably key up your local repeaters. 
>
>NOTES:
>
>1. If you're doing this with a KX3, please use the current production firmware (rev. 2.18) or later. Earlier releases may not have provided an accurate PL DEV setting.
>
>2. To adjust the PL DEViation, locate the FM DEV menu entry, then tap '1' to switch to PL DEV. This applies to both the K3 and KX3.
>
>Thanks for the help--
>
>Wayne
>N6KR
>
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