Falsing occurs when a receiver's detection threshold is breached by stray electrical noise, static, or adjacent channel interference, tricking the equipment into acting as if a genuine transmission arrived. This can cause a radio's squelch to momentarily open and blast static, or a digital decoder to register a phantom keystroke. Engineers mitigate falsing by adjusting squelch levels or adding error-checking protocols.
Heard on the job
The repeater keeps falsing every time that neon sign across the street turns on.
Insider tip
If a radio falses frequently, the squelch threshold is likely set too low for the local noise floor.
Also heard as
- falsing