PTT Sidetone?
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bellersley
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PTT Sidetone?
At work we use MTX portables on simplex. We have a problem where users like to talk before they key up. I'm wondering if there's a way to enable a PTT Sidetone, just like you can enable for MDC except it wouldn't transmit any MDC. That way, we can tell users not to talk until after the beep goes away. I suppose we could enable MDC on the radios and enable DOS so you don't hear the MDC, but I'd like to see if the PTT Sidetone without MDC would work first. Thanks!
Having wanted something like this myself, I have searched for a way to do such a thing. Unfortunately, I don't think that there is any *easy* way to do it. The MDC/DOS thing would work, and if you really want to do it well, I think there is a way to turn the modulation on the MDC1200 data down all the way, so that nothing would be heard over the air (and you wouldn't need to use DOS), but I have never personally tried this. I might be thinking of LAB rss; I don't know for sure if regular RSS can do that.
Some radios can be enabled to transmit a sidetone when using singletone, or DTMF PTT ID, but the tones will still be heard over the air. Using a repeater may be able, is set correctly, to clip the data sent over the air but simplex is tough. I don't know of anyway that a sidetone can be generated without some form of signalling or PTT ID. That is the actual purpose of the sidetone to advisier the user when data has been sent and it is time to talk. So short of just using basic radio disipline and having the folks on your system wait a second or 2 before talking the MDC1200 ID would be the best way to force folks to wait. Although I still have people I work with talk over the beep regardless. However i'm not sure about the MTX but some sabers with secure net can be set to emit a "clear channel alert" when PTT is pressed. Basicly it is a beep to tell the user they are on a clear channel that is not encrypted. This beep is not heard over the air most of the time. Sometimes a small bit does slip through. Hope this helps.