Date: 04/13/09 20:41 burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: run8ed
I'm trying to get a recording of the distinctive radio signoff keytone (not sure what to call it) that used to be at the end of all BN locomotive radio transmissions. From what I remember, this tone has a certain sequence according to the specific locomotive number and may have been a motorola radio. There is a certain term used for this signature signoff--but I don't remember what it is called. If anyone could tell me it would really help my search of the internet to record the sound.
Thanks for any help --Ed
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Date: 04/13/09 22:33 Re: burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: bnsftrucker
Kinda like an end of transmission tone? some radios in some GP's and SD40-2's has that and some Motorola portables has that too, it has to be programmed into the radio.
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Date: 04/13/09 22:45 Re: burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: tinytrains
It is probably a digital burst to give the radio ID. It is common in police radios so transmissions can be traced.
Scott
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Date: 04/13/09 23:08 Re: burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: bnsftrucker
It's lik a squelching chirp.
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Date: 04/13/09 23:20 Re: burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: ble692
bnsftrucker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's lik a squelching chirp.
Its annoying, thats what it is...
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Date: 04/14/09 00:09 Re: burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: Jaanfo
ble692 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bnsftrucker Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > It's lik a squelching chirp. > > > Its annoying, thats what it is...
*Bedeedp*
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Date: 04/14/09 02:17 Re: burlington northern radio signoff signal Author: David.Curlee
I've been listening to BN/BNSF radio for nearly 40 years and don't have a clue what these dudes are talking about. Whenever a train keys up a dispatcher there are tones involved but it's just to get the dispatcher on the monitored rail channel. Perhaps these tones are heard in certain territories with multiple repeaters. I've heard these exit tones on my travels following the UP around the country. This is super hardcore railfanning insaneness.
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It was a "police radio" tone burst made by BNSF radios everytime the microphone was keyed. Compounded by the extremely high volume the locomotive radios have to be turned up to.
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The tone you heard was a specifically encoded code called MDC600 by Motorola. Its only purpose was to identify the specific radio transmitting. During radio programming, you could instruct the radio to send out this tone: At the start of a transmission (keying up the mic) At the end of a transmission (de-keying the mic) Both start and end of transmission. If the radio was instructed to send the code upon start of transmission, its only common sense that you could not be talking while this code was being sent. So Motorola had a warning tone sent out the speaker while the code was being sent after you keyed the mic. After the code was sent, the warning tone would cease and you then knew what you said was being transmitted. This warning tone could be shut off if you wanted..it was quite unpleasant.
This signalling was very popular with law Enforcement, Taxi companies, etc. For example, Dispatch sends out an APB that all officers are to copy. Instead of transmitting to each officer and taking 2 hours to do so, they would broadcast the info once, and each officer would just key his radio briefly and it would register in the office that each one recieved the message. If an officer didnt key his radio then dispatch would know to call the one who didnt respond back. If an officer was in trouble, all he had to do was key his radio several times and it was like a SOS. Taxi companies had trouble with people playing "Grab Ass" on the radio, and a lot of unnecessary transmissions. After the code was turned on Dispatch knew who keyed thier radio and sent rasberrys, said F U!!, or was just horseplaying. Say Bob was laughing at Fred for getting a shit call from Dispatch and he said "HAHAHAHA" on the radio. Before nobody knew who said it. After the code was turned on , Dispatch would call Bob and say..Whats so funny Bob? Got to be a popular accessory and at one time all Motorola radios were equipped with this feature. (Portables too) You could get an option for the decoder and the front of the radio would display the number of the transmitting radio. Then Everybody knew who was transmitting.
I hated this tone....Some asshole in Bakersfield yard once kept doin that shit repeatedly....Just quick keying the mic to get that damn burst to play over and over....Happened for like 15 min straight! Cocksucker!
The way radios are "grab assed" over the years, this tone is now defunct as if you took a radio out of BNSF 9999 and put it in BNSF 123, good luck figuring out who is fuckin around on the radio....
Maybe BNSF has gotten away from it as I havent heard one of these bursts in qutie some time...
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