Scan Issues with XTS/XTL on Conventional System

[rzq4x4]

Our Department currently has XTL5000 and XTS5000 that we use daily and have never had any issues with them. They are programmed primarily for conventional usage with one trunking bank. Everything in our immediate area is now narrowband conventional 150 mHz.

The problem we are having is our Police Department decided to go to a conventional repeater. It is a Tait repeater. The issue we are having is when our radios are scanning they will not receive anything over the police frequency. All other frequencies receive just fine with no missed traffic. The radios work fine on 6 other department's repeaters and have never had a scanning issue. Now, if you take the radio off of scan and place it on the police frequency it will receive everything.

I thought it was a programming error on my part and have changed the muting and unmuting parameters. It still does not pick anything up with the muting changes. I tried setting the police frequency to the priority channel and it still will not receive while scanning. I then thought it maybe was our firmware version since all our radios were purchased at the same time. It turns out tonight that the Sheriff's Department with XTL/XTS's new radios are having the same problem we are as well as another department. I tested this all day and found that some of our old CDM1550's would also be selective on when to unmute while scanning. I reprogrammed a portable XTs and XTL and removed the tone squelch (192. and everything works great while scanning.

The police chief and radio shop that installed the police repeater claim it's not their problem. They use Tait mobiles and portables and have had no issues. They are blaming the Motorola Radios. Does anybody have any suggestions so we might be able to get this issue resolved. It is almost becoming an officer/firefighter safety issue.

Thanks and let me know if you need anymore information.

John

[Jim202]

Our Department currently has XTL5000 and XTS5000 that we use daily and have never had any issues with them. They are programmed primarily for conventional usage with one trunking bank. Everything in our immediate area is now narrowband conventional 150 mHz.

The problem we are having is our Police Department decided to go to a conventional repeater. It is a Tait repeater. The issue we are having is when our radios are scanning they will not receive anything over the police frequency. All other frequencies receive just fine with no missed traffic. The radios work fine on 6 other department's repeaters and have never had a scanning issue. Now, if you take the radio off of scan and place it on the police frequency it will receive everything.

I thought it was a programming error on my part and have changed the muting and unmuting parameters. It still does not pick anything up with the muting changes. I tried setting the police frequency to the priority channel and it still will not receive while scanning. I then thought it maybe was our firmware version since all our radios were purchased at the same time. It turns out tonight that the Sheriff's Department with XTL/XTS's new radios are having the same problem we are as well as another department. I tested this all day and found that some of our old CDM1550's would also be selective on when to unmute while scanning. I reprogrammed a portable XTs and XTL and removed the tone squelch (192. and everything works great while scanning.

The police chief and radio shop that installed the police repeater claim it's not their problem. They use Tait mobiles and portables and have had no issues. They are blaming the Motorola Radios. Does anybody have any suggestions so we might be able to get this issue resolved. It is almost becoming an officer/firefighter safety issue.

Thanks and let me know if you need anymore information.

John

Before anyone goes pointing fingers in either direction, it would be a good idea to investigate the CTCSS settings on the repeater output. My first guess is that it may be low. The second test I would do is to put your XTL and XTS radios on the bench and see just how they respond to the CTCSS being used and what deviation and signal level it takes to open up the radios. Yup your going to need a service monitor for this testing.

After you get done going through the steps to find out how your radios are responding, take one of the Tait radios and do the same thing with it. By normal standards, both radio company radios should perform the same.

My bet is your going to find some differences between the radio companies and this could point you in the direction of just what is going on. It could be that the Tait radios decode the CTCSS at a much lower level. It could also be that the repeater is not sending the correct level of the CTCSS. It could also be the selection in the Motorola radios of how the radio respond to the received signal. Can't off the top of my head walk you into the point in the software where you make the standard, and or selections. But I would maybe try a different selection.

Jim

[tvsjr]

The ASTRO25 line is very picky on CTCSS. I've had similar issues with a few repeaters - both public safety and amateur. Always a CTCSS problem... either deviation or slight frequency error.