X9000 Talk Back Scan Questions

[kd9000]

Hi,

I am using several Syntor X9000 radios. When programming I always activate Talk-Back Scan and the respective delay time.

However TBS does not seem to work with all control heads. (HCN1033 series)

Q.1 Is this a firmware issue between control heads? If not, what?

On one radio which TBS was working, I saw the TBS LED blink and dim. It did this several times and then TBS quit working.

Q.2 Any suggestions as to which components to check for this problem?

Thanks, Ken

[Mike B]

You have a very strange problem. My best guess, and it is only a guess, would be to look at the control head electrolytic capacitors. Some of them may have leaked which would mean the leakage is slowly eating through the printed circuit board traces. The HCN1033 are the oldest control heads made for the conventional Syntor X 9000, so it would not be surprising to find bad caps on them. The electrolytic capacitor parts list is here (use the DIP information):
http://www.open.org/~blenderm/syntorx/c ... ml#ch_trbl

If you find one or more has leaked, clean it, replace them all and repair any broken traces.

I have never heard of any problem with HCN1033 heads and TalkBack scan.

As a test, try programming TalkBack scan to just be ON (i.e. not operator selectable) and see if TalkBack scan still works. Then the control head will not have anything to do with the TalkBack. For the test, you can just set one mode for TalkBack ON and start a scan after it is selected.

Also keep in mind each and every individual mode you want to have TalkBack scan work on, must be programmed for it. If the mode you start the scan on does not have TalkBack scan programmed, then TalkBack scan will not work. Check each mode in your code plug too see if you missed any that need to have TalkBack scan set.

[kd9000]

Thanks Mike,

That looks like a good starting point.

Ken

[kf4sqb]

I have another TBSCN question. When I set my X9000 up for "operator select" TBSCN, how do I "select" the list? I did program an indicator button on the head for the function, and tried using it like setting up a scan list, but it didn't seem to work. I do also have the proper delays set up. What am I doing wrong?

[Mike B]

Just program the scan list like you normally do. All TalkBack scan will do is, if the scan is stopped on an active scan mode and you press the microphone PTT, the radio will transmit on that scan mode. This is why it is so important to have long scan resumption delays. If the scan starts back up the instant there is a tiny gap in activity, then you will loose that scan channel as far as TalkBack scan is concerned.

If TalkBack scan is off, the scan is stopped on an active scan mode and you press the microphone PTT, the radio will transmit on the selected mode (i.e. the mode you were on when you started the scan with the SCAN button), not the active scan mode.

I like to use dynamic priority with TalkBack scan on the Syntor X 9000. If I hear something interesting on a scan mode, I press the SEL button making that scan mode the secondary priority mode. Because it is now a priority mode, the scan will have a really easy time finding the mode again, even if there is a long enough delay for the scan to have resumed. Of course, I can not use primary priority with this scheme, but I can live with that. My real favorite is the Spectra Scan Off HUB, but it is not available on the Syntor X 9000.

[kf4sqb]

So in other words, Mike, I guess you are saying that the channels in the scan list are in the tbscn list by default?

Also, I have never played with the dynamic priority function. Can I set a primary priority and the sel button will re-set the secondary priority?

[Mike B]

There is no TalkBack scan list. TalkBack is just a way of changing the behavior of the PTT when the scan is stopped on an active scan mode.

Dynamic priority will only temporarily change the mode number assigned as the secondary priority scan (the answer to your question is yes). You can still use a primary priority scan while using dynamic priority. However, in the example I gave, dynamic priority was used with TalkBack to help the radio stay on the active TalkBack scan mode (i.e. helping to recover your current TalkBack mode if the scan starts back up and wanders off). If you also used primary priority, then it could override the dynamic secondary priority mode, if the primary priority mode became active, which would defeat your use of TalkBack. If you use the secondary priority mode and the primary priority mode becomes active, the Rx scan will instantly tear you away from the secondary priority mode conversation and the PTT will now Tx on the primary priority mode, not the secondary where you want to be.

Because primary and secondary priority scan modes are constantly checked, even while listening to an active non-priority or lower priority scan mode, they will override the scan hang times that TalkBack depends on to keep you on the TalkBack mode you want to talk on. That is, unless the TalkBack mode is the highest priority scan mode in the scan list or if you are not using any priority scan modes.

If you do not use TalkBack and you hear someone on scan that you want to talk too, you have to stop the scan and use the mode selector to manually find that mode again.

I always set TalkBack scan to ON in the RSS and no longer use OPERATOR SELECT. When I used operator select in the past, one time I failed to notice TalkBack was accidently turned off. When I tried to talk while stopped on a scan mode, nobody would respond to me. Then I realized what happened, turned the scan off to return to the original selected mode and apologized for my accidental "blind" Tx activity on that frequency. This made me realize that I never needed to turn TalkBack scan off anyway, so I really did not need an operator select button.

All of this TalkBack complexity is why Scan off HUB is so much better than TalkBack. However, since Scan off HUB is not available on the Syntor X 9000, we have to work with what we do have.

[kf4sqb]

Thanks, Mike. You have the answer, as always. Thats why you are the Syntor King!