Close Call RF Capture

Summary: How Close Call finds nearby strong transmissions directly, its four modes, and where it works well and where it struggles.

How Close Call Differs from Searching

A normal search has to tune to each frequency in turn and check whether it’s active. Close Call works the other way round: it detects the presence of a strong, nearby RF signal directly and tunes straight to it – no sweeping required. That makes it well suited to finding out what’s being used around you at a specific location, like a shopping centre or a sporting event, without needing to already know what to search for.

It works best for isolating a single strong local transmitter – a handheld or mobile radio – in an area without much other RF activity. In a busier RF environment (multiple transmitters, pager towers, traffic control equipment), it can struggle to isolate the transmission you actually want, or find something else instead. It’s also less reliable against a highly directional transmitting antenna, several transmitters active in the same area at once, or broadcast television signals.

Close Call Modes

Func + Hold opens the Close Call menu, with four modes:

• Close Call Off – disabled entirely.
• Close Call DND – checks for a Close Call hit only in the gaps between your current transmissions, so it never interrupts what you’re listening to.
• Close Call Pri (Priority) – checks every 2 seconds regardless, which can interrupt.
• Close Call Only – runs continuously and exclusively, ignoring normal scanning/searching until you exit it.

Using Close Call Only Mode

Toggle which of the six frequency bands are searched with keys 1-6 (at least one has to stay on). When a hit is found, the scanner alerts you (beep and/or flashing display, both configurable) and shows the frequency – press Hold to stay on it, or any other key to just view it before it moves on. From there you can store it into a channel (Pgm/E), lock it out temporarily or permanently (L/O), or start a Quick Search from that exact frequency. Press Scan to leave Close Call Only mode.

The Close Call Hits Bank

Any hit found in any Close Call mode is automatically kept in a temporary bank called Close Call Hits – up to the last 10 – which can also be scanned alongside your normal banks if you switch it on. These temporary entries are cleared whenever the scanner is power-cycled, so store anything you want to keep permanently into a real channel.

Close Call Settings

From the Close Call menu: Close Call Bands turns each of the six searchable bands on or off; Close Call Alert controls the beep and the flashing backlight separately; Set Delay and CTCSS/DCS Search work exactly as they do for ordinary searching, and share the same setting with it.