Tone or TSQL?

General Discussion
1

I am putting a vhf channel in a radio for a Hunt Club, 173.****, using tone or tsql 88.5. No repeaters involved, using chirp just curious if there is an advantage to use tone or tsql??

Thanks

2

It is actually the same thing. Tone transmits a sub-audible tone of the selected frequency so it can open the squelch of radios set only to open the squelch if it detects that frequency. This tone is commonly called a CTCSS tone. The receive circuit of the radio still opens on ANY transmission. (In other words, Tone mode uses a CTCSS tone such as 88.5 to transmit and no tone to receive.)

TSQL is Chirp’s way of specifying a CTCSS tone mode in BOTH transmit and receive. If you go down a couple of columns in some radio models, you can actually split CTCSS and DCS tones (digital tones) but that would be extremely rare. If you use CTCSS tones such as 88.5 and if that split column exists on your radio model, make sure it is set to NOT split. (In other words, set it to tone>tone.) If your tone column is set to TSQL, when you enter 88.5, it places an 88.5 tone in both receive and transmit. If set to Tone, it only places the 88.5 tone into the transmit and not receive. It is all more a matter of the language Chirp uses to achieve the same end and perhaps speed up column entries for some people.

Many radios also have the option to use a digital tone (DCS) instead of an analog (CTCSS) code. Quite frankly, there is no practical difference.

In the real world, there may be some older radios and perhaps slightly fewer cheap family radios that can use DCS, so in a really crowded area, there may be less interference. (Just remember that tone or PL tones simply prevent you from hearing other radios; they do NOT allow multiple users to use the same channel.) I have also found on some radios that DCS codes do a better job of eliminated an annoying squelch tail. But in practical terms, there is not much difference between analog CTCSS codes like your 88.5 code, and digital DCS codes.

Hope this helps. Use Tone to program 88.5 into the transmitter and TSQL to program 88.5 into both transmitter and receiver.

3

If you are the nosey type, then hearing everything solves those weird interference issues as you hear everything = sp sending a tone for those that need it to open their squelch is critical, but setting Tsquelch that only impacts your radio is maybe not so important.