Squelch Tail Elimination

[Destro]

Hey, on my Retevis RA25, I sometimes get that dreaded squelch tail after someone transmits from a repeater. Not all repeaters, but some are really bad, like 10-30 seconds. It will stop if I key the PTT.

I have searched all over Google to find the answer. I have found several different settings in the Retevis CPS, but I have no idea what I should set them at.

Here is a post from Reddit asking about the same issue and settings:

[LeoG]

That's not a squelch tail.  A squelch tail is a very quick loud static sound usually.  Not more than a second or so.  Unless I'm mistaken it sounds like it's something with your radio.  Especially if you have to key up the mic to get it to go away.

[Destro]

I did also take off all my RX CTCSS tones off on the repeaters. Should I put those back on?

[OffRoaderX]

4 minutes ago, LeoG said:

That's not a squelch tail.  A squelch tail is a very quick loud static sound usually.  Not more than a second or so.  Unless I'm mistaken it sounds like it's something with your radio.  Especially if you have to key up the mic to get it to go away.

 This ^

[WRYS709]

1 hour ago, Destro said:

Hey, on my Retevis RA25...

Just so you know, I have been railing against using the "Technical Discussions" subtopic, because it ranks posts by "popularity" by default instead of chronological (although, yes, someone in the "know" can manually change the order back to chronological; BUT new members, such as @Destro don't know this!).

Just as I was doing the research over in the DB20-G Topic, I came across some earlier links to discussions in Technical Discussions from years ago and when ranked by popularity, there are posts that are just plain out of context:

Not everybody "quotes" the prior topic they are responding to; sometimes they just respond to the most recent prior post and when ranked by popularity, context is lost.

In my case I use General Discussions or Equipment Reviews subtopics when I post.

[amaff]

1 hour ago, Destro said:

Hey, on my Retevis RA25, I sometimes get that dreaded squelch tail after someone transmits from a repeater. Not all repeaters, but some are really bad, like 10-30 seconds. It will stop if I key the PTT.

I have searched all over Google to find the answer. I have found several different settings in the Retevis CPS, but I have no idea what I should set them at.

Here is a post from Reddit asking about the same issue and settings:

 

It's my one complaint with my the DB20-G. It's more of a squelch issue than STE. I dont' get to play with it much, as mine has ONLY ever done it when listening to the park ranger repeaters at Yellowstone, and I'm no where near there right now haha

[Destro]

35 minutes ago, amaff said:

It's my one complaint with my the DB20-G. It's more of a squelch issue than STE. I dont' get to play with it much, as mine has ONLY ever done it when listening to the park ranger repeaters at Yellowstone, and I'm no where near there right now haha

Mine does really bad on the local Amtrak frequencies, and one or two other HAM repeaters. But all other repeaters are fine.

I was just hoping someone might know how to mess with those settings to fix it.

[amaff]

1 minute ago, Destro said:

Mine does really bad on the local Amtrak frequencies, and one or two other HAM repeaters. But all other repeaters are fine.

I was just hoping someone might know how to mess with those settings to fix it.

Not that I've seen. If you figure out what setting does it, PLEASE let us know.

I'm curious, what's your squelch set at?

 

[WRYS709]

Sorry, but with over 200 channels and scanning I have never exhibited this problem. 

Can you still return it?

[amaff]

15 minutes ago, WRYS709 said:

Sorry, but with over 200 channels and scanning I have never exhibited this problem. 

Can you still return it?

Yeah, naa, it's a pretty widely known issue with these. Mine hasn't ever done it within a couple hours of home.
But some repeaters, when they transmit, are doing...something... that causes the radio's squelch to hang open.

See also, my Yellowstone Park example. It's only ever done it, for me, with the repeaters in the park, never anywhere else I've found. Why? No idea.

 

[GreggInFL]

1 hour ago, amaff said:

...listening to the park ranger repeaters at Yellowstone...

The rangers use GMRS in the park?

[amaff]

1 minute ago, GreggInFL said:

The rangers use GMRS in the park?

No, of course not. They have their own frequencies / repeaters. But last I checked, GMRS radios are allowed to listen to non GMRS stations.

Before the trip, I programmed in the repeaters for the park areas we were going to be in, with transmit disabled.

[GreggInFL]

Just now, amaff said:

No, of course not. They have their own frequencies / repeaters. But last I checked, GMRS radios are allowed to listen to non GMRS stations.

Got it.

[WRYS709]

27 minutes ago, amaff said:

Yeah, naa, it's a pretty widely known issue with these. Mine hasn't ever done it within a couple hours of home.
But some repeaters, when they transmit, are doing...something... that causes the radio's squelch to hang open.

See also, my Yellowstone Park example. It's only ever done it, for me, with the repeaters in the park, never anywhere else I've found. Why? No idea.

 

Can you reference a repeater in SoCal that triggers this “problem”?

I’d be happy to take a drive…

Yellowstone… not so much!

[Destro]

1 hour ago, amaff said:

I'm curious, what's your squelch set at?

 

I believe I have it at 5 now.

[amaff]

2 minutes ago, Destro said:

I believe I have it at 5 now.

I'd be curious to know if turning it all the way up would 'fix' it. That's not ideal, obviously, but it would be a data point, on whether or not it had much of an effect.