Tones
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[edit] Tone Signalling
Various forms of audio tones are used for singalling in two way radio. This ranges from sub-audible tones to audible analog paging and automatic number identification (ANI).
[edit] CTCSS/PL
Continous Tone Coded Squelch (CTCSS) aka PL, Private Line™, & Channel Guard™ is used to differentiate each user on a single frequency. A sub audible tone is sent continuously during each transmission. Example Police Dept. 1 may use 131.8, Police Dept. 2 may use 107.2. It does not offer a "Private Channel" as many radio salesman would like the end user to belief. It is simply a way for multiple users to share the same frequency without hearing each others units. It does not allow multiple simultaneous conversations.
The chart below outlines the commonly used designators for the different PL tones.
The Wulfsburg Flexcomm is a frequency agile radio covering 30-512MHz commonly used on Aero-Medical helicopters. The tone # is programmed in when needed, and is often given on dispatch "Ground contact Engine 3-1-1 on 46 decimal 46, tone #14". This is a good way to find PL's for agencies to use with scanners capable of PL.
| Tone/Hz | Motorola | Wulfsburg | Icom | Tone/Hz | Motorola | Wulfsburg | Icom |
| 67.0 | XZ | 1 | 1 | 136.5 | 4Z | 25 | 20 |
| 71.9 | XA | 2 | 2 | 141.3 | 4A | 26 | 21 |
| 74.4 | WA | 3 | 3 | 146.2 | 4B | 27 | 22 |
| 77.0 | XB | 4 | 4 | 151.4 | 5Z | 28 | 23 |
| 79.7 | WB | 5 | 5 | 156.7 | 5A | 31 | 24 |
| 82.5 | YZ | 6 | 6 | 162.2 | 5B | 32 | 25 |
| 85.4 | YA | 7 | 7 | 167.9 | 6Z | 33 | 26 |
| 88.5 | YB | 8 | 8 | 173.8 | 6A | 34 | 27 |
| 91.5 | ZZ | 11 | 9 | 179.9 | 6B | 35 | 28 |
| 94.8 | ZA | 12 | 10 | 186.2 | 7Z | 36 | 29 |
| 97.4 | ZB | 13 | 192.8 | 7A | 37 | 30 | |
| 100.0 | 1Z | 14 | 11 | 203.5 | M1 | 38 | 31 |
| 103.5 | 1A | 15 | 12 | 206.6 | 8Z | ||
| 107.2 | 1B | 16 | 13 | 210.7 | M2 | 32 | |
| 110.9 | 2Z | 17 | 14 | 218.1 | M3 | 33 | |
| 114.8 | 2A | 18 | 15 | 225.7 | M4 | 34 | |
| 118.8 | 2B | 21 | 16 | 229.1 | 9Z | ||
| 123.0 | 3Z | 22 | 17 | 233.6 | 35 | ||
| 127.3 | 3A | 23 | 18 | 241.8 | 36 | ||
| 131.8 | 3B | 24 | 19 | 250.3 | 37 | ||
| 69.3 | WZ | 254.1 | 0Z |
[edit] DPL
Digital squelch, or DPL, uses a small sub-audible digital code versus a sub-audible tone. You can have regular or inverted codes. This results from the electronics & system used to send the digital code & how it is recovered in the radio. This is not the forum to discuss the technical operation of DPL, suffice it to say that you get 2 codes for each of the standard DPL codes, normal & inverted. The chart below outlines both.
| Code | Inverted | Code | Inverted | Code | Inverted | Code | Inverted |
| 023 | 047 | 155 | 731 | 325 | 526 | 516 | 432 |
| 025 | 244 | 156 | 265 | 331 | 465 | 523 | 246 |
| 026 | 464 | 162 | 503 | 332 | 455 | 526 | 325 |
| 031 | 627 | 165 | 251 | 343 | 532 | 532 | 343 |
| 036 | 172 | 172 | 036 | 346 | 612 | 546 | 132 |
| 043 | 445 | 174 | 074 | 351 | 243 | 565 | 703 |
| 047 | 023 | 205 | 263 | 364 | 131 | 606 | 631 |
| 051 | 032 | 212 | 356 | 365 | 125 | 612 | 346 |
| 053 | 452 | 223 | 134 | 371 | 734 | 624 | 632 |
| 054 | 413 | 225 | 122 | 411 | 226 | 627 | 031 |
| 065 | 271 | 226 | 411 | 412 | 143 | 631 | 606 |
| 071 | 306 | 243 | 351 | 413 | 054 | 632 | 624 |
| 072 | 245 | 244 | 025 | 423 | 315 | 654 | 743 |
| 073 | 506 | 245 | 072 | 431 | 723 | 662 | 466 |
| 074 | 174 | 246 | 523 | 432 | 516 | 664 | 311 |
| 114 | 712 | 251 | 165 | 445 | 043 | 703 | 565 |
| 115 | 152 | 252 | 462 | 446 | 255 | 712 | 114 |
| 116 | 754 | 255 | 446 | 452 | 053 | 723 | 431 |
| 122 | 225 | 261 | 732 | 454 | 266 | 731 | 155 |
| 125 | 365 | 263 | 205 | 455 | 332 | 732 | 261 |
| 131 | 364 | 265 | 156 | 462 | 252 | 734 | 371 |
| 132 | 546 | 266 | 454 | 464 | 026 | 743 | 654 |
| 134 | 223 | 271 | 065 | 465 | 331 | 754 | 116 |
| 143 | 412 | 274 | 145 | 466 | 662 | ||
| 145 | 274 | 306 | 071 | 503 | 162 | ||
| 152 | 115 | 311 | 664 | 506 | 073 | ||
| 032 | 051 | 315 | 423 |
[edit] Digital ANI
Digital Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is way to send information back to the dispatcher. This information can contain the radio ID, users ID, vehicle location via Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), be used as an emergency indicator or "Man Down" alert.
There are 5 digital ANI formats presently being marketed, these include Motorola MDC-1200™, GE/Ericsson GE-Star™, Transcrypt Flash Call, Control Signal, and Midian Zap. All 4 formats are proprietary & incompatible with the other. These systems also allow for stolen radios to be "stunned": to disable them, & to be activated for the dispatcher to listen in to the area around the radio.
You will know if a system in your area is using these, as it is a short digital burst that begins, ends, or both each radio conversation. Sounds like a short schreech.
[edit] Analog Tone Paging
Analog tone paging is the original form of paging or "beepers." First generation pagers were just beepers and had upto 2 addresses. Later numeric pagers were added by extensions of these tone formats. MAny of these formats have moved from paging to being used for ANI, especialy DTMF, and 5/6 Tones. Although with every thing else digital formats have encroached upon these uses as well. As well as trunked radio which includes ANI as part of the system.
[edit] DTMF Paging & ANI
Standard Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) aka Touch-Tone™ tones are used for both paging and Automatic Number Identification (ANI). DTMF is also used to activate features of some radio systems like phone patches, remote receivers/transmitters, or to activated alarms remotely.
DTMF ANI will sound like a very quick series of tones which may start, end, or start & end each radio call.
DTMF format paging sends digits for 100ms, 100ms off. Number of digits depends on system, usually at least 4 digits.
Knox format is similar to DTMF, uses different tones though, and is primarily used as a means to unlock special "Knox" boxes for fire departments.
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[edit] 5/6 Tone Paging & ANI
This format is used for both tone pager activation and for Automatic Number Identification (ANI). This format was originally developed for tone only pages using the MetroPage™ format (Metro PageBoy™ etc.). Pagers can have 2 addresses per capcode. Thus you could get two different alerts to the pager with two different meanings, Tone 1 Call Home, Tone 2 Call Office etc..
Today most of the 5/6 Tone pagers are gone, but the format lives on in ANI needs for Public Safety. ANI allows for the number of the radio to be sent on each transmission. You may have heard it as a long tone & a quick series of tones, or just a quick series of tones when each user starts a radio call.
The chart below outlines the tones used for the 6 internationally used formats. CCIR & ZVEI's are most commonly used in Europe. EIA/MetroPage is used in the US.
| Tone # | EIA | CCIR | ZVEI1 | ZVEI2 | ZVEI3/DZVEI | PZVEI | EEA |
| 0 | 600 | 1981 | 2400 | 2400 | 2200 | 2400 | 1981 |
| 1 | 741 | 1124 | 1060 | 1060 | 970 | 1060 | 1124 |
| 2 | 882 | 1197 | 1160 | 1160 | 1060 | 1160 | 1197 |
| 3 | 1023 | 1275 | 1270 | 1270 | 1160 | 1270 | 1275 |
| 4 | 1164 | 1358 | 1400 | 1400 | 1270 | 1400 | 1358 |
| 5 | 1305 | 1446 | 1530 | 1530 | 1400 | 1530 | 1446 |
| 6 | 1446 | 1540 | 1670 | 1670 | 1530 | 1670 | 1540 |
| 7 | 1587 | 1640 | 1830 | 1830 | 1670 | 1830 | 1640 |
| 8 | 1728 | 1747 | 2000 | 2000 | 1830 | 2000 | 1747 |
| 9 | 1869 | 1860 | 2200 | 2200 | 2000 | 2200 | 1860 |
| A | 2151 | 2400 | 2800 | 885 | 825 | 970 | 1055 |
| B | 2435 | 930 | 810 | 810 | 740 | 810 | 930 |
| X/C | 2010 | 2247 | 970 | 740 | 2600 | 2800 | 2247 |
| D | 2295 | 991 | 885 | 680 | 885 | 885 | 991 |
| R/E | 459 | 2110 | 2600 | 970 | 2400 | 2600 | 2110 |
| F | No Tone | 1055 | 680 | 2600 | 680 | 680 | 2400 |
| Timing | |||||||
| Preamble | 673ms | 673ms | 673ms | 673ms | 673ms | 673ms | 673ms |
| Gap | 65ms | 65ms | 65ms | 65ms | 65ms | 65ms | 65ms |
| Tone | 33ms | 40ms | 100ms | 100ms | 100ms | 100ms | 100ms |
| X Tone | 65ms | 40ms | 100ms | 100ms | 100ms | 100ms | 100ms |
The Preamble is used as a battery saving mechanism, similar to todays digital pagers, thus the pager looks for its preamble, if not heard it shuts off to standby mode.Not all systems use the Preamble, that is why its called 5/6 tone paging. You may only have 5 tones when not using the Preamble.
In 5/6 tone paging a consecutive number is never sent. thus a pager with capcode 1-12344, would be sent using the a Preamble tone of 1/600Hz, followed by a 65ms gap of silence, then 2/882Hz, 3/1023Hz, 4/1164Hz each 33ms long, the second four is transmitted using the R (Repeat) Tone of R/459Hz.
The second address of a pager is activated by sending the X tone after the pagers capcode, thus 1-12345X.
The chart above inlcudes both 5/6 Tone & HSC Tones. For 5/6 Tone pagers only Tones 0-9, X, & R are used. Tones A-F are for use in HSC Pagers and 5/6 Tone ANI systems.
[edit] Hexadecimal Sequential Code (HSC) Paging
This format is an extension of the 5/6 tone paging format to allow for numeric display pagers versus the early tone only pagers using 5/6 tone formats. An example of these pagers is the Motorola BPR-2000. This format has been replaced by newer digital formats, and is only used on Public Safety systems, private systems, and some very small common carrier systems. New pagers are not available, used pagers are still available.
For EIA/MetroPage the timing of the tones is increased to 65ms. Upto a 12 digit message may be sent.
| Tone # | EIA |
| A | 2151 |
| B | 2435 |
| C | 2010 |
| D | 2295 |
| E | 459 |
| F | No Tone |
[edit] 2 Tone Sequential Paging
This is the format most listeners will be familiar with. This format is the most common method to alert volunteer ambulance & fire departments. It has various names including QuickCall II™ & Type 99™. This format also goes by 1+1 in some radio equipment. This format uses 2 tones, A & B for standard paging, a third & fourth tones C & D are used to provide group call and second call to each pager.
This format uses a timing of Tone A for 1 second & Tone B for 3 seconds. For All Call Tone B is sent for 8 seconds, where all pagers have the same A tone. Group Call with Tone A & C, and Second Code Call with tone A & D.
The original form of this system, QuickCall I™ uses 4 tones, and is commonly called 2+2 paging. Where Tones A & B are sent for 1.25 seconds, and tone C & D are sent for 1.0 second. The 2+2 format only uses tones from the Motorola groups of A, B, & Z.
The GE version of this format uses Tone A 1.0 second, a gap of 180 ms., and Tone B 3 seconds.
The tables below outline the tones of the various groups for each series by Motorola & GE.
| Tone# | Mot. 1 | Mot. 2 | Mot. 3 | Mot. 4 | Mot. 5 | Mot. 6 | Mot. 10 | Mot. 11 | GE A | GE B | GE C |
| 0 | 330.5 | 569.1 | 1092.4 | 321.7 | 553.9 | 1122.5 | 1472.9 | 1930.2 | 682.5 | 652.5 | 667.5 |
| 1 | 349.0 | 600.9 | 288.5 | 339.6 | 584.8 | 1153.4 | 1513.5 | 1989.0 | 592.5 | 607.5 | 712.5 |
| 2 | 368.5 | 634.5 | 296.5 | 358.6 | 617.4 | 1185.2 | 1555.2 | 2043.8 | 757.5 | 787.5 | 772.5 |
| 3 | 389.0 | 669.9 | 304.7 | 378.6 | 651.9 | 1217.8 | 1598.0 | 2094.5 | 802.5 | 832.5 | 817.5 |
| 4 | 410.8 | 707.3 | 313.0 | 399.8 | 688.3 | 1251.4 | 1642.0 | 2155.6 | 847.5 | 877.5 | 862.5 |
| 5 | 433.7 | 746.8 | 953.7 | 422.1 | 726.8 | 1285.8 | 1687.2 | 2212.2 | 892.5 | 922.5 | 907.5 |
| 6 | 457.9 | 788.5 | 979.9 | 445.7 | 767.4 | 1321.2 | 1733.7 | 2271.7 | 937.5 | 967.5 | 952.5 |
| 7 | 483.5 | 832.5 | 1006.9 | 470.5 | 810.2 | 1357.6 | 1781.5 | 2334.6 | 547.5 | 517.5 | 532.5 |
| 8 | 510.5 | 879.0 | 1034.7 | 496.8 | 855.5 | 1395.0 | 1830.5 | 2401.0 | 727.5 | 562.5 | 577.5 |
| 9 | 539.0 | 928.1 | 1063.2 | 524.6 | 903.2 | 1433.4 | 1881.0 | 2468.2 | 637.5 | 697.5 | 622.5 |
| A | |||||||||||
| B | |||||||||||
| Diag. | 569.1 | 979.9 | 569.1 | 569.1 | 979.9 | 979.9 | 742.5 | 742.5 | 742.5 | ||
| Tone # | Mot. A | Code | Mot. B | Code | Mot. Z | Code |
| 0 | 358.9 | CA | 371.5 | CB | 346.7 | CZ |
| 1 | 398.1 | DA | 412.1 | DB | 384.6 | DZ |
| 2 | 441.6 | EA | 457.1 | EB | 426.6 | EZ |
| 3 | 489.8 | FA | 507.0 | FB | 473.2 | FZ |
| 4 | 543.3 | GA | 562.3 | GB | 524.8 | GZ |
| 5 | 602.6 | HA | 623.7 | HB | 582.1 | HZ |
| 6 | 668.3 | JA | 691.8 | JB | 645.7 | JZ |
| 7 | 741.3 | KA | 767.4 | KB | 716.1 | KZ |
| 8 | 822.2 | LA | 851.1 | LB | 794.3 | LZ |
| 9 | 912.0 | MA | 944.1 | MB | 881.0 | MZ |
| A | 1011.6 | NA | 10471. | NB | 977.2 | NZ |
| B | 1122.1 | PA | 1161.4 | PB | 1084.0 | PZ |
| Diag. | 979.9 | 979.9 | 979.9 |
QuickCall I codes may be used in two different forms: DZJZ-EZHZ or DJ-EH. They both have the same meaing, the first just specifices the tone series each time. The second assumes a given tone sereis is used, and known to the agencies using the system. The Diagonal Tone is not used in 2+2/QuickCall I systems, but when the A, B & Z series is used in the 1+1/2 Tone format this tone is used.
[edit] Plectron Paging
This is an early system used to alert many volunteer type organizations. This system uses a single tone sent,or two tones sent in one of two formats. The chart below are the standard Plectron tones.
Single Tone - 3 seconds of A tone
Slow Duotone - 3 seconds of A, .25 seconds of B
Fast Duotone - .75 seconds of A, .25 seconds of B
| Tone # | Freq. | Tone # | Freq. | Tone # | Freq. | Tone # | Freq. |
| 282.2 | 517.8 | 11 | 992.0 | 25 | 1820.0 | ||
| 294.7 | 540.7 | 12 | 1036.0 | 26 | 1901.0 | ||
| 307.8 | 564.7 | 13 | 1082.0 | 27 | 1985.0 | ||
| 321.4 | 589.7 | 14 | 1130.0 | 28 | 2073.0 | ||
| 335.6 | 615.8 | 15 | 1180.0 | 29 | 2164.0 | ||
| 350.5 | 2 | 672.0 | 16 | 1232.0 | 30 | 2260.0 | |
| 366.0 | 3 | 701.0 | 17 | 1287.0 | 31 | 2361.0 | |
| 382.3 | 4 | 732.0 | 18 | 1344.0 | 32 | 2465.0 | |
| 399.2 | 5 | 765.0 | 19 | 1403.0 | 33 | 2575.0 | |
| 416.9 | 6 | 799.0 | 20 | 992.0 | 34 | 2688.0 | |
| 435.3 | 7 | 834.0 | 21 | 1530.0 | 35 | 2807.0 | |
| 454.6 | 8 | 871.0 | 22 | 1598.0 | 36 | 2932.0 | |
| 474.8 | 9 | 910.0 | 23 | 1669.0 | 3062.0 | ||
| 495.8 | 10 | 950.0 | 24 | 1743.0 | 1957.0 |
[edit] Reach Tone Paging
REACH format is billed as a "High Speed" paging system very similar to the 2 Tone Sequential systems by Motorola & GE. REACH format uses a A tone of 2.0 seconds, and a B tone of 0.8 seconds. Group Call is 5 seconds. REACH tones are outlined in the table below.
| Tone # | Freq. | Tone # | Freq. | Tone # | Freq. | Tone # | Freq. | 0 | 3960.0 | 15 | 2354.0 | 30 | 1400.0 | 45 | 832.0 | </tr>1 | 3824.0 | 16 | 2274.0 | 31 | 1352.0 | 46 | 804.0 | </tr>2 | 3694.0 | 17 | 2196.0 | 32 | 1306.0 | 47 | 776.0 | </tr>3 | 3568.0 | 18 | 2121.0 | 33 | 1261.0 | 48 | 750.0 | </tr>4 | 3446.0 | 19 | 2049.0 | 34 | 1219.0 | 49 | 725.0 | </tr>5 | 3329.0 | 20 | 1980.0 | 35 | 1177.0 | 50 | 700.0 | </tr>6 | 3215.0 | 21 | 1912.0 | 36 | 1137.0 | 51 | 676.0 | </tr>7 | 3106.0 | 22 | 1847.0 | 37 | 1098.0 | 52 | 653.0 | </tr>8 | 3000.0 | 23 | 1784.0 | 38 | 1061.0 | 53 | 631.0 | </tr>9 | 2898.0 | 24 | 1723.0 | 39 | 1025.0 | 54 | 609.0 | </tr>10 | 2799.0 | 25 | 1664.0 | 40 | 990.0 | 55 | 588.0 | </tr>11 | 2704.0 | 26 | 1608.0 | 41 | 956.0 | 57 | 549.0 | </tr>12 | 2612.0 | 27 | 1553.0 | 42 | 923.0 | 58 | 530.0 | </tr>13 | 2523.0 | 28 | 1500.0 | 43 | 892.0 | 59 | 512.0 | </tr>14 | 2437.0 | 29 | 1449.0 | 44 | 862.0 | 60 | 495.0 | </tr>
[edit] Zetron Tone Paging
Zetron uses a series of tones for its Fire Dispatch & Alerting system.
The tones are outlined in the table below.
| Tone # | Grp. 1 | Grp. 2 | Grp. 3 | Grp. 4 | Grp. 5 |
| 0 | 1980.0 | 1177.0 | 1400.0 | 832.0 | 588.0 |
| 1 | 2704.0 | 1608.0 | 1912.0 | 1137.0 | 804.0 |
| 2 | 2612.0 | 1553.0 | 1847.0 | 1098.0 | 776.0 |
| 3 | 2523.0 | 1500.0 | 1784.0 | 1061.0 | 750.0 |
| 4 | 2437.0 | 1449.0 | 1723.0 | 1025.0 | 725.0 |
| 5 | 2354.0 | 1400.0 | 1664.0 | 990.0 | 700.0 |
| 6 | 2274.0 | 1352.0 | 1608.0 | 956.0 | 676.0 |
| 7 | 2196.0 | 1306.0 | 1553.0 | 923.0 | 653.0 |
| 8 | 2121.0 | 1261.0 | 1500.0 | 892.0 | 631.0 |
| 9 | 2049.0 | 1219.0 | 1449.0 | 862.0 | 609.0 |
[edit] SECODE/Digital Dial Alerting
This system is prevalent in the EMS community to "open a line" to hospitals to alert them to incoming patients from ambulance companies. The 2 standard tones used are 2805 & 1500. This system was also used by the older IMTS mobile telephones, prior to cellular.
The system sends a steady tone, and pulses this tone very similar to pulse telephone dialing.
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