Hardware:Tone Out
From WPASCANNER
[edit] Fire Tone Out Tutorial & Guide
Uniden has released several scanners which will monitor for a two-tone seqential or 1+1 page and alert similar to Motorola Minitor's and other pagers/monitors used by many agencies in public safety. This is a welcome addition to the feature of a scanner especially for those that are active either as volunteers or professional on call in public safety.
Uniden calls their feature "Fire Tone Out" and is very similar in operation to the weather alert mode. The user can program in upto ten (10) paging tone pairs to be alerted to any of these 10 pairs on one single frequency.
If you have ever wanted to be able to only get alerted when your local SWAT, HaMat, fire department, ambulance, etc. are dispatched to a call with out listening to alot of other communications on the channel then this radio will be a big asset to you.
[edit] Just what is this Fire Tone Out and how will I know if I can use it?
Do you hear 1-2 tones or multiple sets of 2 tone pairs sent out on a frequency you monitor? Then your a canidate to use the FTO mode.
[edit] Which Scanners Support FTO
At present the Uniden/Bearcat BC396T, BC996T, BR330T, and BC15T support the FTO mode.
[edit] What tone formats DO NOT work with FTO
- DTMF
- Knox (Modified DTMF)
- Tone Automatic Number Identification (ANI) like 5/6 Tone
- QuickCall I (2+2) Paging
- Hexadeicmal Sequential Coded (HSC)
[edit] What tone formats WORK with FTO
The following TWO TONE SEQUNTIAL formats WORK:
- QuickCall II (1+1)
- Reach
- Plectron
- GE Type 99
- Bramco
This site will help you understand the types of paging the occurs, and how to get the information you need to make the FTO mode work. This site will not explain how to use or setup the FTO. For that information you will need to consult your owners manual or technical support for Uniden. (NOTE: This site is NOT connected or affliated with Uniden in any form.)
[edit] Examples of two tone paging
[edit] Will the unit scan and monitor for pages at the same time?
NO. The radio must be dedicated to the process of alert mode or scanning, one or the other, but not both at the same time. So you can scan your normal systems & channels and then when you only wish to be interupted by active calls you can switch to FTO mode and wait for alerts.
Until recently you had to add outside two tone decoders from the commercial providers like Selectone, Midan etc. to to get this feautre and it required modifying the radio to do so. Or you could buy used Minitors on Ebay.
[edit] Can the unit scan multiple channels/frequencies for alerts?
NO. The radio can only monitor for FTO on ONE FREQUENCY/CHANNEL at a time. The unit also can NOT monitor a trunked system for tone outs.
[edit] Are there any issues with the FTO mode?
Early BC396 had a bug with decoding low tones on channels with PL/CTCSS present. This seems to effect tones in the 300-400Hz range from being decoded and thus the FTO not alerting. Some will be quick to point out that sending PL/CTCSS on a channel is not the "standard" operating mode. Unfortunately what occurs in the real world is for the PL/CTCSS tone to be sent if the channel uses this for its normal mode of operation. Uniden issued a firmware update that should correct this issue. If you have an early BC396 be sure you have updated the firmware.
[edit] What do I need to make the FTO mode work?
You need the tone pairs or pairs used for each of the alerts you want to monitor. Example would be 349.0 / 389.0
[edit] Does the FCC online database contain this information
NO. The FCC does not maintain a database of this information. The choice of pager formats and tones and PL/CTCC, DPL etc. codes are left to the licensee.
So just how am I going to get this information. This is where your local scanner resources web site or mailing lists will provide the information for your area. Like on this siste you can find information on Cambria, Westmoreland and Washington county tones.
If your county/agency is not listed then you can determine this information your self from a few pieces of information. Now having the information you need is another matter. The sources for geting the information are:
- Console Programming
- Encoder Code
- Pager/Monitor Cap Code
- Pager/Monitor Reed Numbers
- Pager/Monitor to open to get frequencies
- Recording of the tones and anyalizing to get the tones
Some persons are going to be fortunate to have access to the information used to program the dispatch consoles, encoders, & MIB's used to send the paging information out. Some have provided this information direct from their programming data. This not the average scanner user.
Next if you have an actutal pager/monitor from the agency then you usually determine the tones used by the capcode on the pager IF they used the standard capcode plan AND the number listed is actually a capcode not a serial number or identification number like member number etc..
The second option you have with physical access to a pager is to open the unit up and read the tone frequencies off the reeds in the unit (Minitor I &: II only! Minitor III, IV, & V REQUIRE RSS to read the programming and this is tightly licensed software from Motorola.).
The last resort, and the only option available to many in the scanner community will be to use a recording of the tones and some software to determine what the tone frequencies are for your agency.
If you fortunate enough to have the the programming info then it normally will be in frequency information you need. You could possibly have the encoder code used on Centracom consoles, if its a 4 digit code and the agency(s) uses Motorola Centracom consoles. This can be turned into the desired tone frequencies. These will need to be submitted via the Update form to be decoded and sent back to you. The software for this is not in the public domain at this time. If your not sure if the code is a Centracom encoder code it can be submitted and the returned tones if valid can be attempted. Some 4 digit codes are not the same, such as Orbacom codes like 3164, while it looks like one its actuall just a quick look up for the console thats user assignable.
You may also see lists/data with something like: Station ABC Tone A: 112 Tone B: 161. These are reed numbers used by Motorola to number the various paging reeds and can be turned into their repsective frequencies using the chart below:
| Reed / Tone Number Cross Reference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key # | Reed Group 1 | Reed Group 2 | Reed Group 3 | |||
| 0 | 110 | 330.5 | 120 | 569.1 | 189 | 1092.4 |
| 1 | 111 | 349.0 | 121 | 600.9 | 138 | 288.5 |
| 2 | 112 | 368.5 | 122 | 634.5 | 108 | 296.5 |
| 3 | 113 | 389.0 | 123 | 669.9 | 139 | 304.7 |
| 4 | 114 | 410.8 | 124 | 707.3 | 109 | 313.8 |
| 5 | 115 | 433.7 | 125 | 746.8 | 160 | 953.7 |
| 6 | 116 | 457.9 | 126 | 788.5 | 130 | 979.9 |
| 7 | 117 | 483.5 | 127 | 832.5 | 161 | 1006.9 |
| 8 | 118 | 510.5 | 128 | 879.0 | 131 | 1034.7 |
| 9 | 119 | 539.0 | 129 | 928.1 | 162 | 1063.2 |
| Reed / Tone Number Cross Reference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key # | Reed Group 4 | Reed Group 5 | Reed Group 6 | |||
| 0 | 140 | 321.7 | 150 | 553.9 | 190 | 1122.5 |
| 1 | 141 | 339.6 | 151 | 548.8 | 191 | 1153.4 |
| 2 | 142 | 358.6 | 152 | 617.4 | 192 | 1185.2 |
| 3 | 143 | 378.6 | 153 | 651.9 | 193 | 1217.8 |
| 4 | 144 | 399.8 | 154 | 688.3 | 194 | 1251.4 |
| 5 | 145 | 422.1 | 155 | 726.8 | 195 | 1285.8 |
| 6 | 146 | 445.7 | 156 | 767.4 | 196 | 1321.2 |
| 7 | 147 | 470.5 | 157 | 810.2 | 197 | 1357.6 |
| 8 | 148 | 496.8 | 158 | 855.5 | 198 | 1395.0 |
| 9 | 149 | 524.6 | 159 | 903.2 | 199 | 1433.4 |
| Reed / Tone Number Cross Reference | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Key # | Reed Group 10 | Reed Group 11 | ||
| 0 | 170 | 1472.9 | 200 | 1930.2 |
| 1 | 171 | 1513.5 | 201 | 989.0 |
| 2 | 172 | 1555.2 | 202 | 2043.8 |
| 3 | 173 | 1598.0 | 203 | 2094.5 |
| 4 | 174 | 1642.0 | 204 | 2155.6 |
| 5 | 175 | 1687.2 | 205 | 2212.2 |
| 6 | 176 | 1733.7 | 206 | 2271.7 |
| 7 | 177 | 1781.5 | 207 | 2334.6 |
| 8 | 178 | 1830.5 | 208 | 2401.0 |
| 9 | 179 | 1881.0 | 209 | 2468.2 |
For a capcode, which should be THREE (3) DIGITS like 126. Then you can decode this by breaking the capcode down as follows:
The first digit, 1, identifies the tone group that the tones come from. In this case it would be tone group number 1.
The second digit, identifies that the first tone of the page will be tone 2 from the group identified.
The third digit, identifies that the second tone of the page will be tone 6 from the group identified.
So for the example of 126 the tones would be:
This chart breaks down for the GENERAL CODE PLAN the tones used based on first digit of the CAPCODE.
| General Code Plan | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Digit of Cap Code | Tone Group for Tone A | Tone Group for Tone B |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | 4 | 5 |
| 8 | 5 | 4 |
| 9 | 2 | 4 |
| 0 | 4 | 2 |
| A | 3 | 3 |
For a complete break down of the tone groups see the Tone page for a chart with the tone groups listed.
The above is for the General Cap Code Plan, which is the most widely used. There is an Alertnative Cap Code Plan that can be used, but is not widely used.
If you have reached this point then you probably have none of the easy information to get the tone frequencies excep the brute force mode. Record and analyze the tones sent over the air.
Just a few years ago this would have required that you have some test equipment that not too many non electronic persons would have around the house. Today all you need is your scanner, some simple cables (earphone/speaker to line level adapter cable RS #42-2152) and adapters that even Radio Shack still carries, a computer and some software.
First you need to get your computer and scanner ready to record. This is as simple as running an audio patch cable from your scanner to your PC's sound card LINE IN. If your scanner has a line level or tape out jack as well as an external speaker jack in the back then use the line/tape out to connect to the computer. If you only have an external speaker jack then should use the Radio Shack speaker to line level conveter Part # plus an audio patch cable. Another item you may also wish to employ is a ground loop isolator to elimiante the potential of picking up a hum and possibly damaging your PC or scanner.
Connect the patch cable from the scanner and then to the line level adpater if used then to the ground loop isolator then to the LINE LEVEL IN on your sound card.
Now you need software to record the transmissions. There are two excellent and FREE programs to do this one is XCorder and the other is ScanREC. These can be downloaded from their respective sites. You can even use the Windows Sound Recorder if you wanted. The problem with using Sound Recorder is that needs a lot of hand holding to get it to record. The two listed programs can operate on their own and record for hours and use only the disk space needed for actual audio. I have tried both programs they both work equally well for this task. They both perform equally, and I suggest you try them both and use which ever one your most comfortable with.
Next you need to program the scanner to receive your tranmissions for the agency you want to decode. Put the scanner into manual mode, pick the channel and LET IT SIT in MANUAL MODE. If your scanner is capable and your agency uses PL/CTCSS mode I strongly urge you to use it to cut out any unwanted transmissions. DO NOT PUT the radio into scan mode. Leave it in manual selected on the channel you want to record.
Start up the recorder software you have selected and let it record for the
channel for a few hours. Set it up and let it go while your at work or out
doing errands etc.. Then you will have plenty of recordings to work with.
Once you have some recordings its time to turn them into the data you need for the FTO to operate, the tone frequencies.
By using some software that measures frequencies, or frequency counter software you will have the information to use for the FTO mode.
There are a number of pieces of software out there that will do this. One that has been widely touted for some use is the "counter.exe" that is available at: This is free software and there is nothing wrong with it, but the program tends to be inaccurate in measuring the tones. In some cases this could lead to the wrong choice for tones that are spaced close together. Fortunately there is some other software that measures frequencies for another purpose. Musical instrument tuners are the perfect choice for this task. I have located THREE (3) FREE programs that perform the desired frequency counter operation. In addition some have additional features like an oscilloscope mode and give you actual musical note information. While the note information is of little use, the oscilloscope display can be helpful.
The programs are:
Two other programs that are availble as demos which will work are Adobe Audition (30 day trial) and Oscilometer which will run for 15 seconds before requiring it to be reset. These are options should you wish to use them or already have Audition installed (which you probably are not reading this in that case any way as you will have the tools needed.)
Using either Windows Sound Recorder or another WAV file player like WinAMP select one of the WAV files you recorded using the recorder software above. Then start the selected frequency counter program.
As the recoding plays you will see the tones displayed on the counter program. You can find the nearest tone in the charts. The program may not be exactly on to the decimal point every time, but should be within reason, and the programs above are far more accurate than the counter.exe program floating around.
Another program that has been introduced is the ComTekk Two Tone Decoder ($39) is specifically designed to decode the tones for use with the FTO feature.
[edit] Tone Information for Western Pennsylvania
[edit] Allegheny County
[edit] NewComm Area
[edit] Cambria County
[edit] Fayette County
[edit] Somerset County
[edit] Washington County
Washington County Paging Tones
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