Unitrunker EDACS System Versus Site IDs

CanesFan95 · Sep 3, 2016

If you have an EDACS system with 2 sites that each has a different site ID, how do you set it up in Unitrunker? If you put it in as 1 system, then you only have one system ID field. Then, if you add 2 sites to that system, two more ID fields. Which one is which? It seems like you have to manually type the control channel frequency into the VCO everytime you want to switch sites. But you also have to change the system ID, otherwise Unitrunker gets confused and thinks you're on a whole new unidentified system.

SCPD · Sep 3, 2016

Use the Pick Site tool to switch sites.

UniTrunker | Pick Site

DaveNF2G · Sep 5, 2016

From a scanning perspective, an EDACS "site" and "system" are the same thing. Even if there is a large multisite system (there are some in New York), each site must be entered as a separate "system" and all common talkgroups must be duplicated for each site.

natedawg1604 · Sep 5, 2016

Unitrunker said:
Use the Pick Site tool to switch sites.

UniTrunker | Pick Site

I don't believe this works for EDACS, because AFAIK the EDACS protocol does't broadcast a System ID. I use the Pick-A-Site tool all the time for multi-site Motorola & P-25 systems, but it doesn't work with EDACS as the System ID is also the Site ID, at least by default.

Now, is there a way to manually enter a dummy system ID on multiple EDACS sites?

CanesFan95 · Sep 5, 2016

It's been working for me. If you select the system you want to monitor with the site picker, I would think you could just choose it from the drop-down and Unitrunker would track it regardless of the system ID.

natedawg1604 · Sep 5, 2016

Homeboys-Scanna said:
It's been working for me. If you select the system you want to monitor with the site picker, I would think you could just choose it from the drop-down and Unitrunker would track it regardless of the system ID.

So you can select multiple sites from within a single EDACS system?

CanesFan95 · Sep 5, 2016

I believe so. If you have more than 1 VCO in the dongle that decodes the control channel and the control channels happen to be within 2.56 MHz of each other, then you'll only need 1 dongle to monitor multiple sites. My county's system has a west and east site and I can watch em both with only 1 dongle. When you click on a VCO tab, use the site picker. Then, click on the other VCO tab and use the site picker again for a different site.

SCPD · Sep 5, 2016

This should answer a few questions ...

When the program discovers a new EDACS site - it creates a new system. The ID assigned to the system is arbitrary. Usually starts at 1 and goes up from there.

Once you've determined that two EDACS sites are part of the same system - you can use the Consolidate feature to combine them into one system. This feature is also relevant to MPT networks.

http://www.unitrunker.com/consolidate.html

An exception to the above is if two or more sites share the same site number. Sites must be unique. To cope with this - use the Delegate feature to link the two systems. They will share the same groups and users.

http://www.unitrunker.com/delegate.html

The site picker does little more than let you choose a site to start decoding and bypass all the discovery steps.

CanesFan95 · Sep 5, 2016

How do you use the Consolidate feature? I can't seem to get it to work on the Florida SLERS system which has lots of EDACS sites.

SCPD · Sep 5, 2016

Consolidate *combines* two existing, compatible systems into one. All groups, users, and sites are moved from the Source system to the Target system.

If you downloaded SLERS from the RR DB, it is likely all under one system so there's nothing to consolidate. However, if you created a new site / system under Discover mode and you know the site is part of SLERS, you can use Consolidate to move it into the SLERS system.

CanesFan95 · Sep 5, 2016

I'm trying to move the new system that says "Limbo" into the one that says "Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System SLERS". The warning in the pop-up message is chopped off and you can't see what it says. When I click OK on the drop-down, the Limbo system disappears, but the new EDACS site in the "Limbo" system never gets pulled into "Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System SLERS". It just opens up a new window for the "Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System SLERS" system, but the only site showing is the site I already had in there before (the 44 Clearwater Site). I'm trying to add a new ones to the 44 Clearwater Site, but they don't get added. It's like they just vanish.

SCPD · Sep 5, 2016

The warning message should read something to the effect that the operation isn't reversible. To protect yourself, go to the Archive tab and click "Save". If you later regret the consolidation - use the Take Me Back feature to restore your data to an earlier revision.

CanesFan95 · Sep 5, 2016

I don't see any tabs called Archive anywhere. But the consolidate doesn't even work though. When I use it, the new "Limbo" system disappears but nothing gets added to the target system that you choose in the drop-down. It all just goes away altogether.

EDIT: Oops, I just found Archive. Still trying to get Consolidate to work though...

SCPD · Sep 5, 2016

Hi HB;

Sounds like it worked. Use the site picker to locate the site under SLERS. The program will use that site instead of creating a new Limbo site/system.

CanesFan95 · Sep 5, 2016

This is confusing. If I'm just searching around with a tapped scanner and find an EDACS control channel, then click the play button to begin decoding it, Unitrunker creates a new system Limbo. But sometimes the new system will say Unknown instead of Limbo. Then it decodes the site ID as part of the new Limbo or Unknown system. When I try to consolidate the Limbo system into "Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System SLERS", it doesn't work.

SCPD · Sep 5, 2016

Homeboys-Scanna said:
When I try to consolidate the Limbo system into "Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System SLERS", it doesn't work.

Please explain. How does what you observe compare to what you expect?

natedawg1604 · Sep 5, 2016

Unitrunker said:
This should answer a few questions ...

When the program discovers a new EDACS site - it creates a new system. The ID assigned to the system is arbitrary. Usually starts at 1 and goes up from there.

Once you've determined that two EDACS sites are part of the same system - you can use the Consolidate feature to combine them into one system. This feature is also relevant to MPT networks.

Consolidate

An exception to the above is if two or more sites share the same site number. Sites must be unique. To cope with this - use the Delegate feature to link the two systems. They will share the same groups and users.

Delegate

The site picker does little more than let you choose a site to start decoding and bypass all the discovery steps.

Wow thank's for explaining this. I consolidated 2 EDACS sites/systems and it worked perfectly, I wish I would have read about this feature along time ago. Better late than never I suppose.

DaveNF2G · Sep 6, 2016

If Unitrunker is generating a "System ID" for EDACS, then it is not interpreting the data on the CC the way earlier Trunker versions did. The Site ID transmitted by the controller shows up in the System field in ETrunker.

SCPD · Sep 6, 2016

Hi Dave;

Yep. There are *lots* of things Unitrunker does differently.

DaveNF2G · Sep 7, 2016

LOL. Very true. I might start fiddling with it again shortly as I've had no luck finding a cheap but working scanner with a discriminator tap. Now if only UT did LTR...

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