Tutorial Pagers POCSAG and FLEX

Pager messages are still sent in the clear by hospitals, fire services and utilities.

Privacy first. Pager messages can contain private information, and some countries restrict listening to them. Check the rules where you live before you use this mode.

Steps

1. Choose POCSAG or FLEX (group Pagers). Defaults: POCSAG 466.075 MHz, FLEX 929.6625 MHz; enter the frequency of a pager channel in your area. One 25 kHz channel is decoded.
2. Press Start. The screens are Messages and Statistics.
3. Choose how POCSAG messages are read (Message type): Auto reads each message both ways and shows text when it looks like text, else digits; By function follows the standard (function 0 numeric, 1 to 3 alphanumeric); or force text or digits. Right-click an address to fix the reading for that address.
4. Turn off 2400 baud if only a slower speed is on air, to avoid false decodes.
5. Use the filter box to show pages whose address or text contains something, and copy the matching pages to the clipboard.

FLEX locking on a bad frame information word was improved in 0.2.6.

Related: POCSAG, FLEX, Multitone paging.