astro smart zone access chirp

[jedi_saber]

I am operating on a few 800 and UHF astro smartzone systems and I have noticed something rather peculiar on both the XTS3000 and the astro saber in use when keying up.

Most of the time I get the familiar talk chirp that sounds like a low pitched nextel PTT that I am sure everyone here knows. But other times, on the same talk group, all I get is a highpitched quick beep, like those emitted on sabers etc that warned you of unsecure transmissions or a pre-transmission MDC sidetone. Either way, I can attain access to the system, but I was puzzled as to why and when it would give me a chirp or a beep at times. It seems to only run like this on the portables - the mobiles always chirp on key up.

Any clues to solve the mystery?

[amds]

Sounds like you have TX CLEAR ALERT TONE enabled. On a trunking system (with XTS3K/Digital Saber) the PTT access tone sounds like this:

"high high low"

When you're secure, it would go:

"high high high"

If you don't like this, disable the feature in the radio-wide secure menu.

[wavetar]

I've seen what you're talking about, lots of times. It happens when the system is about to give you a 'busy' tone, but then a channel frees up & it then decides to allow access...it all happens within hundreths of a second...and it messes up the radio. It sort of runs the busy into the talk permit tones.

I can't say it doesn't happen with mobiles, but portables are what I'm working with most of the time, so that's where I've noticed it.

Todd

[N4DES]

Does it happen mostly when you in a conversation or on an initial PTT with no other traffic occuring? You could be doing a PTT too fast and the channel hasn't dropped yet if the system is set for transmission trunking.

[jedi_saber]

Thanks for all the insights. Glad this isn't only happening to me!

It is weird, because there is no rhyme or reason to it. I only key up once when trying to talk (so no fast keying) and hit or miss. Don't think it has much to do with programming of unsecure-alert, because, when the trunking chirp comes up and I talk, there is no unsecure warning.

To answer Mark's question, sometimes I get the beep on the initial key up and then into a conversation, I get the chirp and vice versa. What is notable however, is that when a transmission starts with a chirp, the TX LED stays lit about 2 seconds after you let go of the PTT, whereas with the transmit beep, the red LED goes out the moment you let go of the PTT.

[apco25]

Most trunked radios "hang" if you just tap the PTT instead of holding it giving you the few seconds of TX hang.