[Milsurplus] 2 meter mil rigs in a ham world

[Glen Zook]

The main problem is that the majority of amateur radio repeaters do not transmit the CTCSS tone.  Due to the nature of the audio recovery in most FM receivers the CTCSS tone is "stripped" and then reduced even more by a rejection filter that is part of just about every CTCSS decoder.  The CTCSS tone has to be reintroduced into the transmit audio and most, but not all, amateur radio repeaters do not do this.

Therefore, one would have to receive a signal on the input frequency to the repeater to be able to determine what the actual tone is.

Remember, that a receiving decoder is not necessary to copy the repeater.  An encoder is necessary for opening the receiver of the repeater but has nothing to do with receiving the signal from the repeater.

Glen, K9STH

Website:  http://k9sth.com


--- On Fri, 9/25/09, W2HX <w2hx at w2hx.com> wrote:

I've been playing with a PRC-128 with the high-band option (covers 2 meters) and in my area I can't really use it with amateur repeaters because of the CTCSS requirement. I've also been thinking about looking for a URC-110 for my car for 2 meter ops (also looking at a yaesu).
 
Several folks on the list have suggested using an outboard CTCSS tone generator/tone squelch board.  This would seem to be my only option and there seemed to be several available on the market. The one thing that always stuck in the back of my mind was the fact that I would have to remember what tone to use when switching repeaters. Also, when traveling, I might not want to pull out a repeater directory at 60 mph!
 
Well, I found two very interesting products and I thought others might be interested (hence the post here these are also applicable for pre-CTCSS amateur rigs).  Both products are from PIEXX.com (not affiliated with them).
 
The first is a standard encoder/decoder but also has a small LCD display that will read the CTCSS tone and display it for you. But the neat part is it will also automatically set the transmit tone for you too. So by simply listening on the frequency and hearing the repeater, your tone will be set, no fumbling while driving.  VERY interesting!
 
Here is the product and the manual to it:
 
http://www.piexx.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=47

http://www.piexx.com/tonelcd/tonelcd.pdf