What are pl/dpl?

[WRQM273]

I got permission to use the repeaters that are near my house and my work, they sent me pl and dpl numbers. But i dont have pl or dpl in the menu options on my Wouxun kg-935g. I have tx-ctcss and rx-ctcss. Im starting to beat my head against the wall not understanding this. Everyone keeps talking about needing the ctcss tones to use them. But i got pl/dpl tones. One of them fits on the ctcss, for RX, but the TX number is above the max value that is aloud for the tx ctcss in my radio. Please point out the simple thing im missing.

[Radioguy7268]

PL stands for "Private Line"  - which was Motorola's term for ctcss (continuous tone coded signalling squelch). It's a sub-audible tone that's generally between 80 and 300 Hertz.  It seems you have already figured out how to plug that in.

DPL is Digital Private line - which most manufactures call DCS - Digital Coded Squelch.

I'm not familiar with the Wouxun product line, but other people here are, and I'm sure someone will tell you how to plug that DPL code into your radio in order to access the repeater.

If the repeater you are planning to use has PL on the one frequency, and DPL for the other (probably higher) frequency - that's termed a "split tone". Not all radios are capable of using split tones - but you might be in luck with the KG-935g.

[nokones]

5 hours ago, WRXB215 said:

Not exactly a cheap radio so I'm surprised at the lack of tones.

I'm guessing that your radio does not program the actual CTCSS freq or the DCS code and more than likely using a programming number i.e. CTCSS tone freq. 67.0 Hz is tone #1 etc.

You should refer to the user's manual regarding programming the squelch tones.

[WRQM273]

16 minutes ago, Radioguy7268 said:

PL stands for "Private Line"  - which was Motorola's term for ctcss (continuous tone coded signalling squelch). It's a sub-audible tone that's generally between 80 and 300 Hertz.  It seems you have already figured out how to plug that in.

DPL is Digital Private line - which most manufactures call DCS - Digital Coded Squelch.

I'm not familiar with the Wouxun product line, but other people here are, and I'm sure someone will tell you how to plug that DPL code into your radio in order to access the repeater.

If the repeater you are planning to use has PL on the one frequency, and DPL for the other (probably higher) frequency - that's termed a "split tone". Not all radios are capable of using split tones - but you might be in luck with the KG-935g.

Thank you! I got the numbers put in and will test when im out of my work building, hard to even get a cell signal inside. 

[MichaelLAX]

5 hours ago, WRQM273 said:

I got permission to use the repeaters that are near my house and my work, they sent me pl and dpl numbers...

It never hurts, when asking for help, to give all the useful information, including the PL and DPL numbers they sent you.

You could even bore us with the name of the repeater, its location and frequency, too! 

[WRQM273]

4 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

It never hurts, when asking for help, to give all the useful information, including the PL and DPL numbers they sent you.

You could even bore us with the name of the repeater, its location and frequency, too! 

 Except both of the repeaters that I was granted access for sent a note saying to not share their information with anyone.  I gained access to both through myGMRS website.

[MichaelLAX]

2 hours ago, WRQM273 said:

 Except both of the repeaters that I was granted access for sent a note saying to not share their information with anyone.  I gained access to both through myGMRS website.

That means to not share their Tones.

Do any of these look familiar?

[WRQM273]

2 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

That means to not share their Tones.

Do any of these look familiar?

Yes, but i spend more than half my day at work up in Waukesha, so the one ive been trying to program manually while waiting for the proper programming cable is Armor 1. I believe i have it programed correctly. I just did not know what the PL/DPL he gave me were since everyone talks about tones and ctcss. I attempted to make contact on the drive home with anyone, i maybe got a response but could not hear them so im not sure. 

[MichaelLAX]

From the Manual, it looks like Menu Function 10 (CTCSS) and 12 (DCS or DPL) are the functions to use to manually set the Tones.  Have you tried these?

[WRQM273]

45 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

From the Manual, it looks like Menu Function 10 (CTCSS) and 12 (DCS or DPL) are the functions to use to manually set the Tones.  Have you tried these?

Yes, i have put them in. There was some confusion because PL is CTCSS and DCS is DPL.

[WRYF300]

wrqm273 did you ever figure it out. im new too and in the same situation you were in when you put this question out 

[nokones]

PL means Private Line which is a Motorola term for CTCSS which stands for Continuous Tone Code Squelch System. It is a function tone to squelch your receiver or open up a receiver and is analog in Hertz, i.e. 141.3 Hz which is the GMRS travel tone. DPL is also a Motorola term for Digital Private Line also known as DCS Digital code system which is a digital coded squelch system that sends a digital coded bit stream to do the same thing as the analog tone system. The first DPL code on the list is 023 and the last is somewhere in the mid to high 700s. By the way, Private does not mean your radio communication is Private. It just a nuisance eliminator function so you don't hear other radio traffic if you don't want to.

The cheap consumer radios don't use the actual tone frequencies or digital codes for the specific tones/codes. They use a programming number i.e. the programming number for the 67.0 Hz CTCSS is "1" and the programming number for the first DPL is also "1" for most of the cheap radios. Some cheap radios continue with the numbering scheme after the last analog tone.

[WSCW611]

I have a questions about the Input / Output DPL tones. The tones listed on the repeater I am trying to use are 156DPL and 466 DPL. My GMRS radio (Rocky Talkie 5 watt) only goes up to 155 dsc. Does this mean I can't use the repeaters? Is there something else I'm missing? 

[WRXB215]

Not exactly a cheap radio so I'm surprised at the lack of tones.

[SteveShannon]

17 hours ago, WSCW611 said:

I have a questions about the Input / Output DPL tones. The tones listed on the repeater I am trying to use are 156DPL and 466 DPL. My GMRS radio (Rocky Talkie 5 watt) only goes up to 155 dsc. Does this mean I can't use the repeaters? Is there something else I'm missing? 

156 DPL is in your radio.  Your radio calls it Privacy Code #63.  As Kenny said you have to look at the page in the manual for the DCS and then select the Privacy Code that corresponds to the DCS.  The “Privacy Code” is in the left column and the DCS is listed in the right column:

[WSDA417]

Thanks for the post here. This helped me solve my problem equating DPL to DCS code and plugging it in my radio. I’m up and running now thanks

[Socalgmrs]

I don’t know about your exact radio but many radios especially ones that are not of good quality are limited on number of pl or dpl tones they have.   Do those radios even support split tones?     

[nokones]

16 hours ago, WSCW611 said:

I have a questions about the Input / Output DPL tones. The tones listed on the repeater I am trying to use are 156DPL and 466 DPL. My GMRS radio (Rocky Talkie 5 watt) only goes up to 155 dsc. Does this mean I can't use the repeaters? Is there something else I'm missing? 

Yes, and you need to RTFM to find out what you are missing. The user's manual is self-explanatory regarding programming both CTCSS & DCS into your specific radio. I am not going to go into detail here in this forum on how to do that because you will never learn yourself unless you make the effort to read the manual.

Your radio has the ability to program all the standard CTCSS & DCS tones and codes and split tones. Also, you need to learn and if the repeater and/or the other radio you are communicating with is set for narrowband or wideband operation and set your channel to match that emission.