p25 repeater and dsd+

[rjschilder]

So I was thinking this morning of another way to use this software. Instead of passing the tapped audio, you could pass the decoded audio from dsd+ directly to a p25/dmr/mototrbo/nxdn radio and re-encode / transmit. This would re-encode the audio before transmission. In essence it's making a repeater out of one working digital radio. As long as you have (or can make) a serial cable to control the TX it theoretically should work. Any comments on that idea?

--Ryan KC9GMY

 

[rjschilder]

WinDigiPeater v0.5 Beta

Ok folks,

The link below is to a zip file with the installer / readme for my first release of this program (WinDigiPeater v0.5 Beta). I tried to attach it, but there is a 195KB limit.

I'm open to suggestions. The program crashes on exit, I'll fix that at some point.

If you find it useful, let me know!

windigipeater_0_5_beta - Download - 4shared - ryan s


-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[rjschilder]

Just for giggles I tried my app with SDR#, Virtual Audio Cable, and a rtl-usb stick. Works like a charm. Guess that eliminates needing a discriminator tapped audio source.

-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[rjschilder]

I found some MotoTRBO in my area to test the app with. I had to update some code, but it appears to correctly transmit now when voice is decoded by dsd+. I'll rebuild/ post to 4shared tonight.

-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[rjschilder]

Link to download WinDigiPeater 0.6. Updated DMR/MotoTRBO code to properly handle TX while dsd+ is decoding voice.

winidigipeater_0_6_beta - Download - 4shared - ryan s

If you installed 0.5, uninstall it via Add/Remove Programs (or Programs and Features for Win7/8/8.1).

-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[ronenp]

how can i download the file ?

I cant seem to be able to download it
ecerytime i try it download me softwarecalled ilvid
Thanks forward
Ronen - 4Z4ZQ
Ronen Pinchooks (4Z4ZQ) WebSite

 

[rjschilder]

That's odd, it worked fine for me (just tried it). Don't click on that first green "Free Download" button, it's just an ad (and I see it is for iIvid, whatever that is). Click the link above, then the "Download" button to the left of the "share" button. This will open a new page, then click the "Free Download" button (it looks grey). The zip file popped up on the bottom of my screen right away. If you still can't get it let me know and I can work something out for you.

--Ryan KC9GMY

 

[wiredwrx]

Thanks for the link. Gonna try the thing out. Looks very promising.

 

[rjschilder]

Thanks for the link. Gonna try the thing out. Looks very promising.

Sounds good! Let me know how it goes!!

-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[wiredwrx]

So, a couple of questions,

What is the pinout for the com port?
First you say
-Serial cable connected to TX radio (audio, PTT, gnd).

Than you say
This application has currently been tested with the following setup: -Radioshack pro-95 disc tap > laptop line in (48khz) > Laptop audio out > 9600bps data input of Yaesu FT-7800R.

Which pin carries audio? The second seems to indicate that Audio is from the soundcard out, and not the serial line.

Can you change the RTS pin to ground instead of +5 when PTT. Maybe make that selectable.

Can you explain a little what the latency and buffer settings do. Of course, I understand what latency and buffer mean, but what do they affect when running the application.

And last, perhaps the option for multiple NACs, perhaps 2 or 3, would be nice.

If you are still waiting for some DSD logs for NXDN and DMR, let me know. I can capture some tonight. I am in a dense radio jungle, with lots to choose from.

Michael

 

[rjschilder]

So, a couple of questions,

What is the pinout for the com port?
First you say
-Serial cable connected to TX radio (audio, PTT, gnd).

Than you say
This application has currently been tested with the following setup: -Radioshack pro-95 disc tap > laptop line in (48khz) > Laptop audio out > 9600bps data input of Yaesu FT-7800R.

Which pin carries audio? The second seems to indicate that Audio is from the soundcard out, and not the serial line.

Hi There,

I don't think I typed the "serial cable (audio, ptt, ground)" correctly. There are two seperate cable

The setup I tested uses audio directly from a discriminator tap port I wired into my old Pro-95 scanner. It is simply a 3.5mm audio cable from the scanner disc tap to the line in my laptop.

From the laptop, i have a 3.5mm audio cable wired to a small project board. The project board is also wired to a 6-pin mini-din connector that plugs into data port of the FT-7800R.

If memory serves correctly, I believe the tip of the audio cable is wired to the project board, and then to the 9600bps IN on the FT-7800R. The ring is wired to nothing, and the sleeve is wired to ground on the project board, and then to the ground on the FT-7800R.

The USB -> Serial adapter is also wired to Ground on the project board (whatever pin that is on a 9 pin serial cable), and the RTS is wired to the project board, and the to the PTT pin on the FT-7800R.

So for a mini-recap:

Audio in from disc tap audio source -> line in on PC

Audio output from PC:

Tip -> project board -> Correct pin on 6-pin mini-din connector (9600BPS INPUT)
Ring -> not used
Sleeve -> project board (ground)-> Correct pin on 6-pin mini-din connector (GROUND)

USB->Serial Connector
Ground Pin -> project board (ground)
RTS pin -> project board -> Correct pin on 6-pin mini-din connector (PTT)

The 6-pin mini-din is connected to the back of the FT-7800R and contains audio, ptt, and ground.

Hopefully that helps a bit. Audio out is a seperate cable from the laptop and doesn't run through the serial cable. The serial cable is only for PTT control.

Can you change the RTS pin to ground instead of +5 when PTT. Maybe make that selectable.

I can certainly give it a shot! If I can, making it selectable is trivial.

Can you explain a little what the latency and buffer settings do. Of course, I understand what latency and buffer mean, but what do they affect when running the application.

Really the only thing that the latency setting does is tell the application how long to delay the replay of the input audio.
So if you leave it at 200ms and the program detects audio to TX, it will store the input audio for 200ms (giving the TX radio a moment to key up) and then replay the audio through the soundcard.
I left the buffer settings in for advanced users that may care to tweak the buffer size. I haven't found any reason to do so as of yet.

And last, perhaps the option for multiple NACs, perhaps 2 or 3, would be nice.

Sounds like an easy request!

If you are still waiting for some DSD logs for NXDN and DMR, let me know. I can capture some tonight. I am in a dense radio jungle, with lots to choose from.

If you could send a few of each my way i'd appreciate it. Something with voice and color/ran codes in use.

I'll post a new version as soon as I can. Probably tomorrow night.

Thanks!
-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[wiredwrx]

Cool. I understand the wiring now. Receiver discriminator audio to Soundcard In. Soundcard out to audio in on the transmitter. Serial cable RTS pin is PTT (currently +5v when active) and ground.

I will try and grab some DSD logs for an NXDN and MotoTRBO system ASAP.

Thanks, this stuff is very promising.

 

[rjschilder]

Cool. I understand the wiring now. Receiver discriminator audio to Soundcard In. Soundcard out to audio in on the transmitter. Serial cable RTS pin is PTT (currently +5v when active) and ground.

I will try and grab some DSD logs for an NXDN and MotoTRBO system ASAP.

Thanks, this stuff is very promising.

You got it! Just make sure the TX radio is set to 9600bps and not 1200bps. Thanks in advance for grabbing the logs!! I'll probably have time to play around with it tomorrow after work, lots to do tonight.

--Ryan KC9GMY

 

[SCPD]

Just for your information, DMR is TDMA, so if you transmit into this repeater device, when it transmits back out, it will also send the noise in between each slot.
Proper DMR repeaters just fill the other slot with empty data when repeating if only 1 slot is in use. For this reason, I doubt that this repeater would work for DMR in simplex, although I'd be interested if anyone does manage it.

 

[rjschilder]

I didn't know about filling the empty slot with empty data. I do have a pair of MotoTRBO radio's arriving at my doorstep tomorrow though. I guess in my mind I figured it would work because you're in essence making a simplex DMR radio out of an analog radio and replaying the received digital stream. If the original transmitted audio can be received by another DMR radio without my app in the middle, it should still work since the other slot wouldn't have been "empty" in the first place. As always, I could be very wrong since it hasn't been tested with DMR yet.

I guess i'll be able to test it out first hand this weekend. If it works i'll post here and put up a youtube video.


Thanks for the info though!

--Ryan KC9GMY

 

[ronenp]

Cant install on XP

It say that it require DOTNET 4.5 but microsoft say that dotnet 4.5 is not for XP and therefore dont allow me to install
and the doc of the program say it only require dotnet 4.0
and even with dotnet 4.0 it say it require 4.5 to run
So who is right ?
please advice
Thanks Forward
Ronen 4Z4ZQ
Ronen Pinchooks (4Z4ZQ) WebSite

 

[rjschilder]

hmm. Maybe it is dotnet 4.5. I'm using Visual Studio 2013 on Win 8.1, so i'd be willing to bet it's 4.5. I'll update the documentation. In my first post I did put "Just for fun I threw together a repeater program in c# that works on Windows 7/8", and I haven't done any testing on XP at all.

I'll see if there is anyway to set the requirement back to 4.0, although i'm not positive I can do so.

-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[rjschilder]

looks like i can change the targeted dotnet version to 4.0. i'll rebuild and post a new version tomorrow for you.

-Ryan KC9GMY

 

[ronenp]

Thank you in advance

Ill look forward to get it ....
Ronen - 4Z4ZQ
Ronen Pinchooks (4Z4ZQ) WebSite

 

[rjschilder]

Ok give this one a shot, I put the dotnet version to 4.0 so you can try it out. I'll try to keep all future releases at 4.0 as well. Like I said, I haven't tested on XP at all so hopefully it works for you!

windigipeater_0_6_dotnet4 - Download - 4shared - ryan s

-Ryan KC9GMY