DSDPlus Help Monitoring CAP+ With Single SDR and DSD+

[RaleighGuy]

Not having any CAP+ systems near me I have not been able to see how they work using DSD+ and a single dongle. We have a temporary CAP+ system near me now that I'm trying to monitor and have a question about behavior. I'll mention this system has not gotten busy yet and it is only a marginal signal strength, so it is difficult to figure this out by myself.

I'm using a single dongle and have all the frequencies (14) listed as they should be in the DSD+ files. I'm placing the FMP24 on the control channel for the system and after a little while it automatically switches to the rest frequency, where it tells me rest channel lost. Is this the way it should work, and will it pick up anything if it is not on the control channel and lost rest channel? If not, how can I keep it on the control channel?

Any help and suggestions appreciated.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Is this checked? If yes, then set your CC Hunt channel dwell time for CAP+ to whatever the time period between data bursts in the rest channel is and it should hopefully pick up the next one when it shifts

 

[RaleighGuy]

Is this checked? If yes, then set your CC Hunt channel dwell time for CAP+ to whatever the time period between data bursts in the rest channel is and it should hopefully pick up the next one when it shifts

It is set, but it stays on the silent rest channel.

 

[dave3825]

I'm using a single dongle and have all the frequencies (14) listed as they should be in the DSD+ files.

Just to confirm,

d) for each known system frequency, create a channel record in the DSDPlus.frequencies file

Initially, use invalid channel numbers

Example:

; Mayberry PD North

Cap+, 9999, 1, 99, 450.5000, 0.0, 0
Cap+, 9999, 1, 99, 451.2625, 0.0, 0
Cap+, 9999, 1, 99, 454.9125, 0.0, 0
Cap+, 9999, 1, 99, 455.5000, 0.0, 0

 

[RaleighGuy]

Just to confirm,

I was using 0 instead of 99 should I change it?

 

[dave3825]

I was using 0 instead of 99 should I change it?

I have always used 99 in each entry until channel numbers are revealed.

 

[RaleighGuy]

I have always used 99 in each entry until channel numbers are revealed.

I've made the change to 99, unfortunately I think I'm just a little too far away from the system, not getting a good lock on it.

 

[dave3825]

Ah, those pesky distant signals. I added these to my arsonal.

400-470

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FC7JVQG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

698-894

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EC804SO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[RaleighGuy]

Ah, those pesky distant signals. I added these to my arsonal.

400-470

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FC7JVQG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

698-894

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EC804SO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks @dave3825 I'll grab one...Oh wait...

 

[dave3825]

FWIW, I always found distant signals to come in better in late evening and early morning while most other rf near me is not active. Also during band openings.

Thanks @dave3825 I'll grab one...Oh wait.

Those are the two I have. I do know there were at least two other brands in the 400-470 a week ago when I was browsing. Just make sure you get one with free returns is it does not work good.

 

[RaleighGuy]

Those are the two I have. I do know there were at least two other brands in the 400-470 a week ago when I was browsing. Just make sure you get one with free returns is it does not work good.

No, I understand and was joking. Yes, those would work good and are worth recommending, but the system I am hoping to grab is a STA for a weekend music fest, not something that would be worth spending the money and install time for.

 

[dave3825]

In that case, grab a soldering iron and some copper wire and build you one of these. @M105 got me hooked and I now have a few.

772 Mhz Moxon antenna project.

I was introduced to the Moxon antenna at an amateur radio club recently. Since I had been looking around for an easy to build directional antenna to monitor the local 770 MHz P25 system I decided to run the numbers for 772Mhz and see how big the antenna would be. It turned out to be small...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[HandiScratchy]

No, I understand and was joking. Yes, those would work good and are worth recommending, but the system I am hoping to grab is a STA for a weekend music fest, not something that would be worth spending the money and install time for.

Guess you'll have to take your sdrs portable and get closer

 

[RaleighGuy]

@dave3825 still having issues up close, when I put it on the control channel it changes to the rest channel and just sits there, ignoring comms on the other channels. Any suggestions?

;DV 2024

Cap+,9024,1,99,451.4,456.4,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,451.4625,456.4625,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,451.825,456.825,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,451.875,456.875,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,451.925,456.925,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,451.9625,456.9625,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.05,457.05,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.2,457.2,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.3,457.3,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.4,457.4,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.45,457.45,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.675,457.675,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.7125,457.7125,0
Cap+,9024,1,99,452.85,457.85,0

 

[dave3825]

If you park on any of the voice channels, does it display any first cap+ repeater ch 1&2, second cap+ repeater ch 3&4 info? It will also store it in the event log. I sometimes enter the freqs into fmp24 scanner and let it run a while and review the event log later and update the channel numbers. I lock out the ones that display the channel numbers leaving only those I still need.

 

[RaleighGuy]

If you park on any of the voice channels, does it display any first cap+ repeater ch 1&2, second cap+ repeater ch 3&4 info? It will also store it in the event log. I sometimes enter the freqs into fmp24 scanner and let it run a while and review the event log later and update the channel numbers. I lock out the ones that display the channel numbers leaving only those I still need.

I'll need to try this, thanks. It hasn't gotten very busy yet, but I'll work on this. Also, appears to be two sites in one, found a second control channel with activity and DCC 13, while the other CC has little to no traffic right now on DCC 10.

 

[RaleighGuy]

If you park on any of the voice channels, does it display any first cap+ repeater ch 1&2, second cap+ repeater ch 3&4 info? It will also store it in the event log. I sometimes enter the freqs into fmp24 scanner and let it run a while and review the event log later and update the channel numbers. I lock out the ones that display the channel numbers leaving only those I still need.

Once I entered a few ch numbers it has started to scan through them, rather than stopping, and identified them. Thank you for the help, this was my first cap+ system (and it will be gone in a week )