Baofeng BF-88E Series Owner's Manual page 21

Only one user at a time can talk during radio communications. Therefore, it is important not to transmit when you are
receiving a communication and use the transmission mode sparingly to allow other users to talk. Transmission consumes a
significant amount of energy and should therefore be used sparingly to prolong the battery life. If you are unable to contact a
station that you have no problems in receiving, the station may be using CTCSS tones or DCS codes.
Monitor
The Monitor feature is for excluding (opening) the Squelch, in order to listen to signals that are too weak to keep the Squelch
permanently opened. Hold down the Side Key 1 to enable such function.
Scan
This function can be activated only by means of the optional programming software. To enable the Scan function, all 16
channels must be programmed. If you turn on the radio on channel 16, the scanning will automatically start. Whenever any
signal is detected, the scanning will stop on a busy channel. If the PTT is pressed, you will transmit on the latest busy channel.
Channel 16 is the priority channel; therefore if you don't pick up any signal when you press PTT, the radio will transmit on
channel 16.
Squelch
The Squelch function suppresses noises on free channels and allows receiving even weak signals. BF-88E has 10 different
Squelch levels that can be set by programming software: 0 means that the Squelch is turned off; from level 1 to level 9 you
will have different levels of noise reduction. The higher is the level, the louder will be the Squelch. By default, the Squelch
level of BF-88E is set on level 4. Make sure you do not set an excessively high squelch level because in this case you may not
be able to receive weaker signals. On the other hand an excessively low Squelch value could enable the Squelch even when
no signals are present. Squelch must always be adjusted when no signals are present. The Time Out timer is settable from 30
sec to 270 sec. only through the programming software. This feature is disabled by default.
CTCSS/DCS tones
CTCSS and DCS tones are similar to access codes and enable the radio to communicate only with the users that are tuned on
the same channel and have set the same code. For each channel, you can set up to 50 CTCSS tones and 210 DCS codes. The
CTCSS/DCS tones are a sort of "access codes" and enable the radio to communicate only with the other users set on the
same frequency and on the same CTCSS/DCS tone. Undesired signals coming from other stations set on the same frequency
but with different CTCSS/DCS tones won't be received.
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