Baofeng AR-5RM/UV-5RM Questions

[OscarWillow76]

I own the AR-5RM and have lots of questions.

 

#1.  How come when I run the tone scan function in the menu, it never stops on the correct tone?

 

#2.  How come I have programmed the radio using CHIRP, but often I have to change the rx tone to "off" to actually hear people on a frequency?  Shouldn't I have to keep the programmed tone to hear people?

 

 

 

 

[WSEZ393]

In my experience, the tone scan function is hit-or-miss on these radios. Even when I know the tone I’m transmitting with on another radio, it still has trouble detecting the right one. 
 

And your tone understanding is backwards. When you have the tone off, you hear everyone on that frequency, tone or no tone. If you select a certain tone, then you will only hear others who are transmitting with that same certain tone. 

[OscarWillow76]

Ok, so rx tone is to BLOCK out folks who dont know the correct tone.  It doesn't prevent them from transmitting.  It blocks ME from hearing.  Got it.

[WSEZ393]

Correct! Think of it more as an “exclusion” tone rather than a true privacy tone.

[OscarWillow76]

Just now, WSEZ393 said:

Correct! Think of it more as an “exclusion” tone rather than a true privacy tone.

So why am i often hearing people only  when i turn off the programmed tone?  Folks dont care about this anymore?

[WSAM454]

If operating simplex, people will use the tone so that the only person(s) they hear are the ones that they want to hear (those using the tone)  It makes monitoring easier if you don't hear all the other traffic that you are not interested in.    If operating through a repeater it means that the only repeater you will hear is the one with the tone, all others on the same freq withing range will not be heard.   If you turn off your receive tone, then you will hear EVERYTHING on the freq.

Basically, it makes it easier to monitor a freq if only stations using the tone can be heard.  Even though,  way back, Motorola called it "Private Line"  ("PL")  and today is is usually referred to as CTCSS, it really isn't  a 'private' feature  since with the tone, they can still be monitored if you have your receive tone set.

[SteveShannon]

41 minutes ago, OscarWillow76 said:

I own the AR-5RM and have lots of questions.

 

#1.  How come when I run the tone scan function in the menu, it never stops on the correct tone?

 

#2.  How come I have programmed the radio using CHIRP, but often I have to change the rx tone to "off" to actually hear people on a frequency?  Shouldn't I have to keep the programmed tone to hear people?

#2 - If you don’t hear them when you have a tone programmed, it’s because either they are transmitting with a different tone or they are not transmitting with a tone. 
#1 - If tone scan isn’t stopping on a tone, one possible cause is that they are not transmitting with a tone.