Troubleshooting etrunker with data slicer

[mhzscan]

Just bought a used Sony Vaio with a serial port and copied over a working folder of etrunker that was installed in a previous computer. Data slicer is good since its been working fine on another desktop. Reception of CC is excellent, i'm a mile from the tower. I formatted the laptop and installed Windows XP Pro, the serial port is set to COM1, with the following default settings:

Bits per Second: 9600
Data bits: 8
Parity: None
Stop bits: 1
Flow control: None

Autoexec is pointing to C:\etrunk\trackenv.txt. The Trackenv.txt is as follows:

TRACKSLICERPORT=COM1
TRACKSLICERPIN=CTS
TRACKSLICERMODE=INVERT
TRACKSCANPORT=COM1
TRACKDIGITAL=1

When I run etrunker, my status shows sig?inv. I have alternated between invert and normal with no luck. Same with the slicer pin. I though I may have a bad serial port so I tried the slicer utility. When i run slicer 1, I see there is activity and the following results:

COM1: DTR=Low RTS=high (Normal)
Active pins: CTS
CTS alternates rapidly between High/Low.

I have upgraded the BIOS, still no luck. I read somewhere that depending on the data slicer, it may require sufficient power to it. Will look at the DOS windows properties, see if I have missed something. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[pro92b]

Etrunker runs very poorly in Windows DOS if at all. If you must have Windows on the computer, wipe the drive and install real DOS in a 1 GB partition. Then install Windows and allow it to configure the PC to dual boot. An alternative is to format a USB jump drive in DOS and use it to boot the PC when running Etrunker. I use this method with a Thinkpad T43 and it works well. Your PC needs to be able to boot from a USB stick for this to work.

 

[mhzscan]

I've used eTrunker successfully in the past on an XP, Vista 32bit, and Server 2003 32bit machine. The reason i wanted XP was because I was hoping to run etrunker and TrunkerDM 24/7 in the same box and have network access to bring over the data. I'm currently running etrunker on a XP desktop, but need to get something that consumes less power and take up less space. Thanks though.

 

[SCPD]

Have you looked at Eric's ewtrnk? It's built to run on Windows. No slicer required. Uses the same text files for trunking data.

 

[mhzscan]

I'm not familiar with Eric's ewtrnk, I couldnt find it in the wiki. Does it go by another name?

 

[mhzscan]

OK, I think I got it. Found it here, http://forums.radioreference.com/304271-post63.html . Software looks promising, any documentation out there for it?

Tried it on the laptop, but now getting a wantWIn status. Does this work with the a data slcier & discriminator tap. I currently have a Pro-43 with a tap on it. I also have a bcd396XT, but would prefer to use the older scanner for this. Thanks!

 

[mhzscan]

Ok, I've answered my own question. I use an audio cable with adapter to connect the tap from my Pro-43 to the MIC input on my laptop. Ewtrk is now capturing data! However my signal went from 99% to 23%. I've increased the volume on the Mic input, but no improvement. Data is lagging as well but that may be due to the loss of signal. What now? I like running this version over DOS.

 

[SCPD]

Make sure you have the latest. Use the original Trunker documentation as a starting point.

Run an oscilloscope program to see the waveform. Turning the volume up or down may help. You may also need to insert a resistor between radio and computer.

 

[mhzscan]

Thanks unitrunker, I've found the built in help in the ewtrnk.exe. Trying out different computers, i figured out that this port doesn't work in 64bit. For an oscillation program, i guess I could use your built-in one in unitrunker, do you have another recommendation for an oscillator app? Thanks!

 

[SCPD]

Lots of 'scope programs. UniScope is a separate app bundled with Unitrunker.

Some google'd examples:

Oscilloscope

Visual Analyser 2011 XE

Soundcard Scope