blue mtn pa repeater issues

[WRVS912]

i can hit the repeater but a cant hear anyone when they transmit. so using chirp i programmed the repeater using chirp, my settings are as follows. it required a 131 dpl in and out

frequency. 462.625

tone. dtcs

dtcs code 131

dtcs pol. NN

+5 

are my settings wrong? or am i a idiot?

[WRQC527]

You might try taking off the receive tone. Maybe they don't use it, or it's not the correct one. Just a shot in the dark. And no, you're not an idiot. 

[SteveShannon]

9 minutes ago, WRVS912 said:

i can hit the repeater but a cant hear anyone when they transmit. so using chirp i programmed the repeater using chirp, my settings are as follows. it required a 131 dpl in and out

frequency. 462.625

tone. dtcs

dtcs code 131

dtcs pol. NN

+5 

are my settings wrong? or am i a idiot?

 

2 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

You might try taking off the receive tone. Maybe they don't use it, or it's not the correct one. Just a shot in the dark. And no, you're not an idiot. 

I second the suggestion by WRQC527.  Removing the receive tone allows you to receive everything transmitted by the repeater on that frequency and is a great way to diagnose whether you have the correct receive tone programmed.

If you remove the receive DCS/DTCS/DPL Code and suddenly can hear the repeater then either the tone was wrong or the polarity was wrong.

You said you can hit the repeater.  Do you mean that others hear you re-transmitted by the repeater?  If so then you’ve already done well. 

[WRVS912]

I can hear the audible tone after key up on the repeater. I ask a question on the repeater, and wait for reaponse.  then I get a signal and transmit color on my radio but silence. 

So if I turn off the recieve tone on the dtcs code do I just change the polarity or adjust the dtcs code itself 

[MichaelLAX]

What radio are you using?

Try this:

 

[WRQC527]

Turn off the receive tone completely and see if that changes anything.

[WRVS912]

I'm using a baofeng uv9G

[SteveShannon]

14 hours ago, WRVS912 said:

I can hear the audible tone after key up on the repeater. I ask a question on the repeater, and wait for reaponse.  then I get a signal and transmit color on my radio but silence. 

So if I turn off the recieve tone on the dtcs code do I just change the polarity or adjust the dtcs code itself 

Set it up the way @MichaelLAX shows in his screen shot:

Cross in the “Tmode” column

no value in the “RX CTCSS” column

DTCSS-> in the “Cross mode” column (which sets it for DTCSS on transmit and nothing on receive.

[WRVS912]

i have set the parameters. i will test and let you guys know. ty for the help. is there any reason why it would be set this way instead of regular 131dpl? i would like to understand why the diffrences as i learn. again thank you for the help.

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, WRVS912 said:

i have set the parameters. i will test and let you guys know. ty for the help. is there any reason why it would be set this way instead of regular 131dpl? i would like to understand why the diffrences as i learn. again thank you for the help.

Those tones are like filters.  If you set a tone (either CTCSS or DCS) on your receiver, your receiver opens the squelch for anything that matches.  So, if you set your receiver DCS to 131 DPL, it will not break squelch for any transmission that does not include 131 DPL.  

If you do not have your receiver set to filter out anything, it will open the squelch for any transmissions.

[MichaelLAX]

Put another way, when first testing a new radio into a repeater, especially by a Newbie, you want to eliminate as many permutations as possible so as to reduce the troubleshooting list, if you are unable to communicate with that repeater.

Given that philosophy, there is no need to filter out other transmissions on that Channel while you are testing your first attempts to transmit into and receive replies from a new repeater.

Once you know you can "hit" and receive from that Repeater, you can elect to change your reception tone to that of the repeater, especially if there are nearby GMRS' that like to use that same channel for simplex communications.  In this way, you will only hear the Repeater and not those others.

Me, I like to hear everybody, because it may be an interesting conversation, or clues to another repeater that I am unaware of. So I rarely include the receive Tone.

[MichaelLAX]

9 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Set it up the way @MichaelLAX shows in his screen shot:

Is it just me, or is my screenshot missing from my post??

[WRUU653]

@MichaelLAX 

it's gone...

just like my profile picture

 

[MichaelLAX]

3 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

@MichaelLAX 

it's gone...

I put it back!

Luckily I hadn't trashed the screenshot yet...

[MichaelLAX]

3 minutes ago, WRUU653 said:

@MichaelLAX 

it's gone...

just like my profile picture

 

You're right!  And mine is still here...

Also my favorite Laughing Emoji is among the missing, too!

[WRUU653]

3 minutes ago, MichaelLAX said:

You're right!  And mine is still here...

Also my favorite Laughing Emoji is among the missing, too!

just tried checking on an iPad and the whole site is wonky... 

 

[tweiss3]

I thought about this thread last night.

I'm guessing (only a guess), that he isn't missing anything. I think what he is seeing on the radio is the CW ID broadcasting with no tone, and therefore he won't hear it with the receive tone programmed. This is how my repeater is programmed. He isn't missing someone coming back to him, or other chatter. The reason I think this, he hears the tone squelch when he contacts the repeater.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, tweiss3 said:

I thought about this thread last night.

I'm guessing (only a guess), that he isn't missing anything. I think what he is seeing on the radio is the CW ID broadcasting with no tone, and therefore he won't hear it with the receive tone programmed. This is how my repeater is programmed. He isn't missing someone coming back to him, or other chatter. The reason I think this, he hears the tone squelch when he contacts the repeater.

That’s a really good point.

[WRUU653]

4 hours ago, tweiss3 said:

The reason I think this, he hears the tone squelch when he contacts the repeater.

This was the piece of the puzzle that was bugging me. Nice catch. 

[WRVS912]

i have taken off the rx tone and i then could hear traffic. thank you all for the helpful info

 

[WRVR664]

I have a similar problem except that I can hear people but even when I can visually see this tower I can not connect to it. I am using two radios programmed exactly the same and on both I can hear other traffic but no one can hear me. I do notice that the last field that has data is WFM, I only have the option of FM or NFM. Am I missing something?

[SteveShannon]

19 minutes ago, WRVR664 said:

I have a similar problem except that I can hear people but even when I can visually see this tower I can not connect to it. I am using two radios programmed exactly the same and on both I can hear other traffic but no one can hear me. I do notice that the last field that has data is WFM, I only have the option of FM or NFM. Am I missing something?

FM on your radio is probably the same as Wide FM or WFM. That shouldn't prevent you from connecting to the repeater though.

I suspect the reason you cannot connect to the repeater, despite being close to it, is almost certainly because you are transmitting the wrong CTCSS tone or DCS digital code.  With DCS (also called DPL or a few other things) you also have to say whether it's normal or inverted. 

Or you're transmitting on the wrong frequency. Typically you transmit to a repeater exactly 5.000 MHz higher than you receive from it.  Most commercial GMRS radios will automatically add in the offset if you're on a repeater channel. That can cause problems if you're on one of the very few repeaters that have an offset that isn't exactly 5.000 MHz.  However, this happens very infrequently.  I would be inclined to think it's a tone problem.

You don't need a tone or DCS code to receive and when people have problems receiving the first thing many of us will advise is to clear out any receive tones. But you do need the right tone when transmitting to the repeater or it will simply ignore your tranmission.