OP25 (boatbod) suddenly stopped working

[DC31]

I have been running OP25 (boatbod) on a Raspberry Pi 4 using a Nooelec SMArt stick quite successfully for the past few months. Suddenly, in the past few days it has stopped working with no changes made by me. I have tried a second stick and a different antenna with no change in results. Formerly my Constellation plot showed four very tightly clustered groups in the corners. Now, the plots are scattered all over. I am running rx.py rather than multirx. Here is the command that formerly worked and now fails:

./rx.py --nocrypt --args "rtl" --gains 'lna:36' -S 960000 -l "http:0.0.0.0:8088" -X -q 0 -v 1 -2 -V -w -U -T trunk.tsv 2> stderr.2

Here is stderr.2:

Using Python /usr/bin/python2
gr-osmosdr 0.1.4 (0.1.4) gnuradio 3.7.13.4
built-in source types: file osmosdr fcd rtl rtl_tcp uhd miri hackrf bladerf rfspace airspy airspyhf soapy redpitaya freesrp
Using device #0 Nooelec NESDR SMArt v5 SN: 00000001
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
gain: name: LNA range: start 0 stop 0 step 0
setting gain lna to 36
supported sample rates 250000-2560000 step 24000
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
Using two-stage decimator for speed=960000, decim=10/4 if1=96000 if2=24000
op25_audio:pen_socket(): enabled udp host(127.0.0.1), wireshark(23456), audio(23456)
p25_frame_assembler_impl: do_imbe[1], do_output[0], do_audio_output[1], do_phase2_tdma[1], do_nocrypt[0]
01/25/23 07:51:45.823151 Reading whitelist file
01/25/23 07:51:45.823407 added talkgroup 3697 from whitelist.txt
01/25/23 07:51:45.823523 added talkgroup 3701 from whitelist.txt
01/25/23 07:51:45.823625 added talkgroup 3703 from whitelist.txt
01/25/23 07:51:45.823723 added talkgroup 3705 from whitelist.txt
01/25/23 07:51:45.823820 added talkgroup 3707 from whitelist.txt
01/25/23 07:51:45.823920 added talkgroup 3709 from whitelist.txt
metadata update not enabled
using ALSA sound system
audio device: default
Listening on 127.0.0.1:23456
python version detected: 2.7.16 (default, Oct 10 2019, 22:02:15)
[GCC 8.3.0]
Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
01/25/23 07:51:46.949613 control channel timeout
01/25/23 07:51:48.040730 control channel timeout
01/25/23 07:51:49.130322 control channel timeout

it seems that op25 cannot lock onto the control channel. Any suggestions on where I should be headed to troubleshoot this further?

thank you.

 

[wgbecks]

A couple of things. Your rx.py command line arguments contain a conflict between -U and -w options. Perhaps this was an error in your
post, but in reality, you have to use one or the other of the two options. I am going to assume this was an error in typing your post based upon
the control channel timeout messages.

Some P25 TRS regularly rotate primary and alternate control channel frequencies while other do not except in the case of an equipment failure
or system maintenance. Does you trunk.tsv file contain all known primary and alternate control channel frequencies?

It would be extremely helpful to post FFT and Mixer plots to help identify if there are any signal level or tuning (frequency compensation)
issues in an effort to diagnose the problem.

 

[DC31]

A couple of things. Your rx.py command line arguments contain a conflict between -U and -w options. Perhaps this was an error in your
post, but in reality, you have to use one or the other of the two options. I am going to assume this was an error in typing your post based upon
the control channel timeout messages.

Some P25 TRS regularly rotate primary and alternate control channel frequencies while other do not except in the case of an equipment failure
or system maintenance. Does you trunk.tsv file contain all known primary and alternate control channel frequencies?

It would be extremely helpful to post FFT and Mixer plots to help identify if there are any signal level or tuning (frequency compensation)
issues in an effort to diagnose the problem.

thanks, you hit the nail on the head. it looks like they changed control frequencies. I had two of the four frequencies in the list. Adding the other two helped.

Now my plot:

 

[wgbecks]

The plots look great! You might want to look at the HTTP Console (Dashboard) to confrm current and alternate CC's broadcast on the system
against those you've already populated in your trunk.tsv file.

 

[DC31]

Thanks for the assistance. It helps when I am about a mile from the tower site and almost line of sight.

 

[azduststorm]

When op25 stops working I just trash it and start from scratch. Doing it that way, wont give you a headache or make you mad trying to figure out why it crashed.

 

[wgbecks]

When op25 stops working I just trash it and start from scratch. Doing it that way, wont give you a headache or make you mad trying to figure out why it crashed.

Nor will it ever lead to finding root cause and getting it fixed!