BTech GMRS-V1 Selective Calling programming CTCSS vs DCS

[Guest Guest]

Hi everyone,

 

Call sign: WRDH829 

 

Tried creating an account but apparently the site isn't seeing my call sign yet.  It is new.   I received my radios today and getting them set up and have a few questions that I hope someone can help. 

 

A little background - my primary reason (excuse to the spousal unit) is to use the radios when we are vending at art festivals. Some of the events we vend at, are in areas with little/no cell coverage and we need to be able to reach each other. 

 

1) A GMRS set up for dummies guide anywhere?

2) Wide FM vs Narrow FM?  The radios came preprogrammed with NFM on all channels.  Any +/-'s to choosing wide vs narrow? Since the low channel numbers are shared between GMRS and FRS, and FRS is only broadcasting narrow, how does that affect GMRS if I am broadcasting wide?

3) CTCSS and DCS  - I don't see any discussion about the why would I choose one over the other?  I assume you use these codes so that our radios would stay silent unless they receive the matching code.  But is there a reason to select DCS vs CTCSS?

4) Power level for the GMRS channels - any reason not to transmit on the higher power (other than battery life)?  

 

Thanks - I appreciate any advice and look forward to joining the group.

 

Fred

 

[fredgiii]

Hi everyone,

 

I am new to the radio scene and now have my GMRS license and a couple of radios.  Trying to get set up and to be honest the documentation sucks!  My basic needs may be slightly different.  We are using the radios to communicate at festivals where there is no cell coverage.   In the manual, they talk about selective calling.  If I understand correctly, we set up the tones in both radios so that they only respond if the other radio broadcasts it's triggering tone.  But it is not clear at all about the differences between tone burst, ctcss and dcs.  Are there trade offs between them? Is there a reason to choose one over another?  How is this set up in CHIRP?  I tried setting up one channel to test but it was clearly not working.  I searched and found some information, but when I tried setting Tone Mode to DTCS, I could set the DTCS Code but the DTCS Rx Code disappeared and vice versa.  Again, there isn't much as far as documentation on which columns need to be set and why you should pick one over the other.  Any guidance would be helpful.

 

Thanks

Fred

[RickW]

Hi Fred,

 

I have not used chirp with our V1's because we don't have a lot of need for programming many tones. I would normally use CHIRP for programming receive only frequencies that one might want to monitor such as NOAA weather, protective services, etc.

 

The V1 has the tone burst for transmitting and is used in Europe because some repeaters require the 1750 Hz tone burst. Most users in the U.S. would choose either CTCSS or DCS. Coming from a long time ham radio background, I tend to use CTCSS tones, but you could use DCS as an alternative. 

 

Perhaps someone else can point out whether they have experienced better results with one selective calling system over the other.

 

BTech has a good video that may help if you have not seen it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrG0El1KkIM 

It walks you through the menu options.

[Jones]

If you want maximum range and sensitivity, don't use tone squelch at all... but be prepared for interference.

 

CTCSS is the original tone squelch system designed by Motorola, and trademarked as "Private Line" or "PL" tone. Everyone else copied it.  DCS or "DPL" and Motorola calls it, is an improvement over the original, with more codes, and less false-triggering on receivers.

 

If you are just wanting to talk to your own group, and not get outside chatter, I would go with DCS, and pick a 3 digit code that means something to you so you can remember it.  It can't be just any 3 digits, it must be a valid code in the drop-down list of CHIRP, or in the programming functions of the radio.

 

Make sure all radios are set to the same channel, and that they all have the same DCS code programmed in for TX and RX, and you'll be good to go with minimal interruptions or interference.

[Downs]

Hi everyone,

 

I am new to the radio scene and now have my GMRS license and a couple of radios. Trying to get set up and to be honest the documentation sucks! My basic needs may be slightly different. We are using the radios to communicate at festivals where there is no cell coverage. In the manual, they talk about selective calling. If I understand correctly, we set up the tones in both radios so that they only respond if the other radio broadcasts it's triggering tone. But it is not clear at all about the differences between tone burst, ctcss and dcs. Are there trade offs between them? Is there a reason to choose one over another? How is this set up in CHIRP? I tried setting up one channel to test but it was clearly not working. I searched and found some information, but when I tried setting Tone Mode to DTCS, I could set the DTCS Code but the DTCS Rx Code disappeared and vice versa. Again, there isn't much as far as documentation on which columns need to be set and why you should pick one over the other. Any guidance would be helpful.

 

Thanks

Fred

Here try this guide

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://wiki.radioreference.com/images/0/0a/CHIRP_tone_programming.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj8idSwuoLiAhURKqwKHSlAChQQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw1WwaQbSsZPbM62mksPtEsr

 

 

 

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