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What is Squelch and how do you suppress it on a two way radio?

One of the most common questions we get from our marine and business customers is what is squelch and how do you reduce it. In radio terms, squelch is the process of muting a channel when there is nothing on it. Usually, when you are on an open channel with no signal, you will hear the constant hiss of white noise which can be annoying. The squelch circuit suppresses/mutes this noise and only turns the speaker on when a transmission comes through.

On most marine radios this can be suppressed by the turn of a rotary knob or by a press up and down on an assigned button. On a two-way business radio this can be adjusted by programming which is usually done by an authorised dealer.

07/03/2019