I just purchased a pair of Midland GXT850VP4 (great “bubble pack” radios).
First time Ive seen CTCSS/DCS codes...what are these, whats the difference? All the other radios I have just call them “privacy codes”.
No difference.
Just in marketing.
There is no privacy per se. All it does is keeps the radio’s receive from opening unless the other radio is set to the same code.
All you need to do is turn off all codes and you can hear everyone… although they couldn’t hear you…
Hope this makes sense. It isn’t a scrambler or encryption scheme.
Thanks. The manual gave no explanation.
Sadly, this is the norm. Privacy can’t be expected, so they neglect to mention this in many cases.
Doesn’t this make you get better signals and clarify your transmissions since your party will be using a different channel than everyone else?
No, the signal does not change, and you are on the SAME frequency as anyone else on that channel.
It’s just you can only hear whomever else is running the same tines as you. Only in that way is it quieter.