Which statement describes the correct setting for manual adjustment of the squelch control?

• A. Adjust squelch to the minimum level necessary to barely suppress background noise.
• B. Set squelch to the maximum level to eliminate all noise.
• C. Turn squelch off completely.
• D. Increase squelch only when weather alerts.

Answer: (A)

Squelch controls when the audio path opens, so you only hear a transmission instead of constant background noise. The best setting is the minimum level that still mutes that idle hiss. In practice, listen on a quiet channel, raise the squelch until the faint noise disappears, then back it off a notch so a weak incoming signal can still be heard. This keeps the channel quiet when no one is transmitting but allows weak signals to come through. Setting it higher than that or leaving squelch off would either mute useful signals or let noise through. Weather alerts are a separate feature and don’t require changing the squelch setting.