QC-II signaling on APX

[sjxts3000]

I'm sure I'm programming this wrong, but trying to get a QC-II decode on a fire tone-out. My aim is to have the personality in the scan loop and only un-mute on proper tones (example, tone xxxx.x and yyyy.y) . It's not doing that....it's un-muting on anything on the frequency. I've never programmed QC-II decode so I'm sure I'm doing this wrong.
Is there a write-up or primer on how to do this correctly? I've scoured the APX CPS help and still can't get this to work.
Basically, I'm trying to eliminate the need for a Minitor pager and just use the APX radio for the same objective (except recording, that is).

[sjxts3000]

OK, I think I might have found the problem, but I might have to wait til tomorrow to test when the morning ring-down takes place.
I had the "Call Aert Rx/Tx" set to "Disabled" and had accidentally enabled "Decode" for the "Select Call Rx/Tx". I swapped them and will test.

Is there anything special on the conventional personality I need to set? I've got it to Rx-only and CSQ.
And I've got the Signaling (Non-ASTRO and Tone Signal List) and "Non-ASTRO Call" (Call Alert) sections set correctly.

[sjxts3000]

Well shoot... that still didn't fix it. It's un-muting on anything on the frequency.... I only want it to un-mute on QC-II paging for my tones.
Any help would be greatly appreciated (and thanks in advance)

[wavetar]

Try it with the Sel Call, and your unmuting rule set to "AND". Try it both in and out of scan mode to see if it reacts differently.

[wavetar]

If it works properly in 'regular' mode, but still unmutes in scan mode, try checking off "carrier detect required" in the Scan Wide screen. Not sure if it will make a difference as the help isn't very detailed on it, but it may.

[sjxts3000]

I actually had it initially set on the Selective Call setting for "decide" "AND".... then I changed it to the Call Aert setting for Decode and got the same non-desired result. I need to get this set when scanning a scan list in "carrier detect required" mode. Is there no way to do this? I only want that frequency to un-mute on the desired tones when scanning other channels in the scan list. There must be a way to do this. Anyone here got this working who can confirm settings?

[motorola_otaku]

First question: is GA09000 in your flashcode?

Second question: is the system QCII deviation good? APX (and XTS radios even moreso) are extremely tight on tone deviation tolerances and won't unmute if deviation is too high or low, even where Minitors and other manufacturer's radios will. BTDT with a legacy Kenwood/Zetron system.

[sjxts3000]

First question: is GA09000 in your flashcode?

Second question: is the system QCII deviation good? APX (and XTS radios even moreso) are extremely tight on tone deviation tolerances and won't unmute if deviation is too high or low, even where Minitors and other manufacturer's radios will. BTDT with a legacy Kenwood/Zetron system.

Yes on both questions. I just can't get it to unmute ONLY on the tones... it unmutes on everything.

[motorola_otaku]

From the top...
-Create a conventional system and set it to Quick-Call II. Don't enter any tones in it. Select Call/In-Call Reset needs to be set to Auto or Manual depending on your desired behavior. I would recommend Auto with a 30 second Auto Reset Time based on what you've posted here.
-Under your Conventional Personality:
--Set Signalling Type to Quick-Call II and the System Number to the system you just created.
--Tone Signalling List should be set to your tone list under Radio Ergonomics->Tone Signalling Configuration->Tone Signalling List. The list can hold up to 100 tones, but will only unmute on the first 10 IF you check Unmute Enable.
--Under Non-Astro Call, set Call Alert RX/TX to Decode (all other options should be red-flagged) and check In-Call User Alert Enable. Leave the Selective Call RX/TX options alone.
-Add a menu or button option for Voice Mute. Here's the big caveat with APX QCII operation: you cannot program a conventional or trunked personality to be muted by default... you HAVE to mute with the Voice Mute button/menu first. Hard limitation, no workaround.

Try this and post your results.

[sjxts3000]

From the top...
-Create a conventional system and set it to Quick-Call II. Don't enter any tones in it. Select Call/In-Call Reset needs to be set to Auto or Manual depending on your desired behavior. I would recommend Auto with a 30 second Auto Reset Time based on what you've posted here.
-Under your Conventional Personality:
--Set Signalling Type to Quick-Call II and the System Number to the system you just created.
--Tone Signalling List should be set to your tone list under Radio Ergonomics->Tone Signalling Configuration->Tone Signalling List. The list can hold up to 100 tones, but will only unmute on the first 10 IF you check Unmute Enable.
--Under Non-Astro Call, set Call Alert RX/TX to Decode (all other options should be red-flagged) and check In-Call User Alert Enable. Leave the Selective Call RX/TX options alone.
-Add a menu or button option for Voice Mute. Here's the big caveat with APX QCII operation: you cannot program a conventional or trunked personality to be muted by default... you HAVE to mute with the Voice Mute button/menu first. Hard limitation, no workaround.

Try this and post your results.

Thanks! I'll try this and report back. That's one crazy hard limitation which seems like such a lame oversight on /\/\'s part. Can't they just make it do the same as a Minitor?
So basically, when I hear the first traffic on the channel, click VMUT and from there out it should then only un-mute on the proper tones?

[motorola_otaku]

So basically, when I hear the first traffic on the channel, click VMUT and from there out it should then only un-mute on the proper tones?

You don't have to wait for voice traffic, just hit VMUT as soon as you select the channel (and don't want to hear anything.)

[sjxts3000]

So basically, when I hear the first traffic on the channel, click VMUT and from there out it should then only un-mute on the proper tones?

You don't have to wait for voice traffic, just hit VMUT as soon as you select the channel (and don't want to hear anything.)

OK...therein lies the problem. I don't sit on this channel all the time. I'm on a different conventional personality and this desired QC-II channel is in the scan list. I'm assuming VMUT will not work unless I'm on the QC-II channel only?

[motorola_otaku]

So basically, when I hear the first traffic on the channel, click VMUT and from there out it should then only un-mute on the proper tones?

You don't have to wait for voice traffic, just hit VMUT as soon as you select the channel (and don't want to hear anything.)

OK...therein lies the problem. I don't sit on this channel all the time. I'm on a different conventional personality and this desired QC-II channel is in the scan list. I'm assuming VMUT will not work unless I'm on the QC-II channel only?

Correct. No scan with this setup. You can scan and get QCII decode and alert tones, but you can't have it muted.

[sjxts3000]

Correct. No scan with this setup. You can scan and get QCII decode and alert tones, but you can't have it muted.

Dang...then I won't bother. I'm sure all of this works beautifully when not scanning and parked on the frequency. But I was hoping this would work like a Minitor pager (so as to eliminate the pager altogether).
Everyone who helped and contributed to this thread, thank you much....I think I have my answers now.

[motorola_otaku]

I'm sure all of this works beautifully when not scanning and parked on the frequency. But I was hoping this would work like a Minitor pager (so as to eliminate the pager altogether)...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what your end goal is, but what you're trying to do with the APX can't be done with a Minitor either. A Unication G4 *might* be able to scan while muted, but I've never tried one on conventional.

[sjxts3000]

I'm sure all of this works beautifully when not scanning and parked on the frequency. But I was hoping this would work like a Minitor pager (so as to eliminate the pager altogether)...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what your end goal is, but what you're trying to do with the APX can't be done with a Minitor either. A Unication G4 *might* be able to scan while muted, but I've never tried one on conventional.

Thanks, I do realize that the pager cannot scan. I’m just trying to eliminate the pager by being able to scan a muted frequency that will only unmute when the tones are recognized.

[radioactive69]

I have done this (few years back in 2016) with scanning. One zone has the QCII channels without the voice mute and the "pager emulation" zone
that can be muted in scan with operator select priority, by the channel knob location. As long as the dispatch/paging channel was set as priority it would unmute while scanning other non-priority channels in the scan list. It was firmware version R15 or R17 era. I can probably still find the codeplug for details if someone pops up after my nov.2021 post now.