Trunk88 Mode Question?

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Northerner71

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I have been running Trunk88 for over a year now, I love all of the amazing updates and can not say enough about the program. My question is, on the top of the screen it says mode: data monitoring. Are there other modes? Thanks in advance.
 

WyoWabbit

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Jun 19, 2007
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Location
Casper, WY
I was wondering, I use TRUNK88 for monitoring the control channel only (no control of a second radio), so...is this message for this type of use? Are you using TRUNK88 to control a second scanner? Maybe the message changes when you are??? Tom
 

Northerner71

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Apr 1, 2008
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Northern Ontario
I am using trunk88 the same way you are. I do not use a second radio. I wondered the same thing though, it may show things differently if you use it as a controller.
 

slicerwizard

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Toronto, Ontario
Yes, the Mode display gets a bit more interesting when you do more than just "Data Monitoring"

The Mode display is covered in these old notes:

Code:
Voice Following

- TRUNK88 can be configured to control a second receiver to provide prioritized
    voice comms monitoring.  Use the Edit Defaults command to set up the
    following parameters:

    - Number of Receivers

        - This parameter should always be set to 2, even if you're not driving
            a second scanner (it tells TRUNK88 that the first receiver is
            only being used to provide control channel data).

    - Voice Receiver Serial Port

        - This parameter should be set to the correct comm port for your
            second receiver.  Valid settings are zero (no voice receiver)
            and 1 to 255 (COM1 to COM255).

    - Voice Receiver Baud Rate

        - This parameter should be set to match the baud rate used by your
            voice receiver.  Valid baud rates are 9600, 19200, 38400,
            57600 and 115200.  Note that some receivers do not support
            all of these baud rates.

    - Voice Receiver Model

        - This parameter tells TRUNK88 what scanner model you're using to
            track voice comms.  Valid values are:

              - 245 (BC245XLT)
              - 246 (BC246T)
              - 396 (BCD396T/XT)
              - 996 (BCD996T/XT)
              - 780 (BC780XLT)
              - 785 (BC785D)
              - 895 (BC895XLT)

            If you are using a model that is not listed, but which is
            compatible with the serial control protocol used by the
            245/780/895 scanners, set Voice Receiver Model to 780 or 895.

            Support for additional scanner models will be added as users
            request it, but requestors must be prepared to provide the
            relevant details of the scanner's serial control protocol
            and must be willing to provide testing and feedback.

    After setting the above values, you can press F4 to initiate trunk following.


- Features / Settings / Hotkeys

    - The following settings control how TRUNK88 follows voice comms.
        These settings can be applied to all systems by using Edit Defaults
        to modify the default settings.  Use System Menu / Edit Settings to
        make system-specific tweaks.

    - Descending Priorities

        - This parameter controls which way is up (higher) in the comms
            priority realm.  If Descending Priorities is set to zero (off),
            higher numbered priorities take precedence over lower numbered
            priorities (e.g. priority 50 is "higher" than priority 10).
            If Descending Priorities is set to one (on), the opposite
            is true (priority 10 is "higher" than priority 50).

            Note - priority values can range from zero to 255.

            Important Note:

              As TRUNK88 sees new radio IDs and creates records for them,
              it sets their priority values to "very low"; the actual numeric
              value assigned (zero or 255), is based on the state of the
              Descending Priorities parameter when the radio record was created.

              If you toggle Descending Priorities on or off, all of your
              preexisting "low priority" radios will become "high priority",
              since you're changing the meaning of zero and 255.

              To restore the priority levels of these radios to their normal
              low values, after toggling Descending Priorities, use
              (S)ystem Menu / Fix (R)adio Priorities to correct the inverted
              priorities.

    - New Priority

        - This parameter controls the priority value assigned to new
            talkgroups as TRUNK88 encounters them.  You might want high
            priorities assigned to new groups to aid in identifying them.

    - New Bank

        - TRUNK88 supports the concept of "banks" for talkgroups;
            Each system has 32 banks (A to Z and 1 to 6) that can
            be individually enabled or disabled.  Each talkgroup
            can be linked to one or more banks.  Voice following
            for a talkgroup is blocked if none of its banks are
            enabled.  Banks are toggled on and off with the
            Alt A-Z,1-6 hotkeys.

            The New Bank parameter controls which bank TRUNK88
            assigns new talkgroups to as they are encountered.
            Valid values are zero (no bank assigned) and
            1 to 32 (bank A-Z,1-6).

            For example, a value of 14 would assign all new talkgroups to
            bank N (for "new"), or you might use 21 for bank U ("unknown"), etc.

    - Cutoff Priority

        - This parameter establishes the dividing line between comms that
            will be tuned to and those that will not.  Any voice comm
            with a priority lower than the Cutoff Priority will not be
            tuned to.  Cutoff Priority can be raised with the F10 hotkey
            and lowered with the Shift-F10 hotkey.

    - TG Delay Time

        - This parameter controls how long TRUNK88 will wait after a voice
            comm ends before it looks for other active comms of equal or
            lower priority to tune to.  Units are 1/10 sec, so for a delay
            time of 2 seconds, set TG Delay Time to 20.

            Note - this is not a per-talkgroup setting; it affects all
            voice comms.

            This delay time can be enabled and disabled with the F3 hotkey.

    - Invert Tuned Comms

        - When the voice scanner is tuned to an active comm, TRUNK88
            displays a flashing '>' symbol in the channel status column
            (normally, this is the column to the left of the Talkgroup Name
            field).  This doesn't provide much of a visual clue to which
            voice comm you're hearing.  If Invert Tuned Comms is set to 1,
            the foreground and background colors of the Talkgroup Name field
            are reversed on the channel that the voice scanner is tuned to.

    - Flash Tuned Comms

        - This parameter is similar to the Invert Tuned Comms setting;
            if Flash Tuned Comms is set to 1, the talkgroup name field
            for the currently tuned comm will flash.

            Invert Tuned Comms and Flash Tuned Comms can both be enabled
            if you're into that sort of gaudy excess.
continued...
 

slicerwizard

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Messages
7,643
Location
Toronto, Ontario
...continued
Code:
Additional Elements

    - Talkgroup Priorities

        - The priority level (0 to 255) of each talkgroup can be adjusted
            via the Edit Talkgroup interface.  One would normally assign
            higher priorities to more important/interesting groups.

            TRUNK88 will preempt lower priority comms to monitor higher
            priority traffic.

    - Talkgroup Priority Options

        - Every talkgroup record has a priority override field that can be
            toggled to:

              "L/O" - group locked out

              "Pri" - very high priority

              "---" - use talkgroup's numeric priority field

            Use the spacebar to cycle through the choices.

    - Talkgroup Delay Options

        - Each talkgroup has a configurable delay setting; the choices are:

              "NoD" - no delay: TRUNK88 will tune to next comm immediately

              "Del" - delay:    TRUNK88 waits until until the interval defined
                                by TG Delay Time has expired before tuning to
                                other equal or lower priority comms

              "---" - default:  TRUNK88 will use TG Delay Time
                                (unless it has been disabled with the F3 key)

            Use the spacebar to cycle through the choices.

    - Talkgroup Banks

        - Edit Talkgroup can also be used to change the bank assignments
            of individual talkgroups.  One could use bank F for fire groups,
            bank P for police, etc.  More than one bank can be assigned to
            a talkgroup; for example a District 1 fire group could be in
            banks F and 1 while a District 1 police group could be in banks
            P and 1.  This lets you control what you hear: fire only (bank F)
            or police only (bank P) or only District 1 comms [fire and police]
            (bank 1)

    - Radio Priorities

        - As radio records are created, they are assigned a very low priority.
            The priority level of each radio ID can be adjusted via the
            Edit Radio interface.  Normally, the effective priority of a
            voice comm is the highest priority of any component of the call.
            E.g. for a group call, priority = max(TG priority, RID priority).
            For a private call, priority = max(Source RID pri, Target RID pri).

            If you give a radio a very high priority, TRUNK88 will preempt
            other comms when that radio is active.

            Note: If a talkgroup's priority override field is set to "L/O",
                  radio priorities have no effect; TRUNK88 will never
                  automatically tune to a locked out talkgroup, even if
                  a high priority radio is active on it.

    - Channel Time Limit

        - If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having one
            or more trunk voice channels that you just can't receive well
            enough to provide intelligible comms (e.g. the signal is too
            weak or it's wiped out by constant interference), you can
            "lock out" the offending RF channel(s) by going into
            System Menu / Edit Channels and setting each problematic
            channel's Time limit value to 1.

            TRUNK88 will not tune the voice receiver to trunk channels
            that have been locked out.  When a tuning action is blocked
            due to a locked out channel, TRUNK88 will display a slashed
            zero character (ASCII 237) in the channel's status column.

    - Set Hold TG

        - You can force TRUNK88 to hold on any talkgroup or patch with the
            Set Hold TG command.  You can either enter the talkgroup/patch
            number or use the up/down cursor keys to scroll through the
            talkgroup/patch list.  TRUNK88 will tune to a held talkgroup
            even if the group is locked out or not part of any active bank.

            When you hold on a talkgroup, "H<TG#>" is displayed in the
            Monitoring Mode Display field until the hold is released.
            You can release a hold by holding on talkgroup zero or by
            pressing F2.


Hotkeys

    - F1: Hold on current comm

        - If you press F1 while the voice scanner is tuned to a comm,
            TRUNK88 will hold on that group call, private call or
            interconnect until you release the hold.  If no trunk traffic
            is being monitored when F1 is pressed, TRUNK88 holds on the
            last monitored trunked comm.

            Pressing F1 again while holding on a comm toggles between
            hard (only tune to held comm) and soft (tune to other comms
            while held comm is inactive) hold modes.

    - Shift-F1: Repeat last hold

        - You can reinstate the last hold by pressing Shift-F1.
            It doesn't matter if that comm is currently active or not;
            TRUNK88 just reestablishes the previous hold and waits
            until the selected group call, private call or interconnect
            is seen again.

    - F2: Scan / release hold

        - The F2 key logic is similar to a scanner's SCAN key.

            If TRUNK88 is holding on a comm, pressing F2 will release the hold,
            but does not force the voice scanner off that comm if it is
            currently active (unless a higher priority comm is also active)

            If TRUNK88 is NOT holding on a comm when F2 is pressed,
            any currently monitored comm is effectively locked out briefly
            while TRUNK88 looks for other comms to tune to.

    - F3: Toggle talkgroup delay mode

        - This hotkey enables and disables the TG Delay Time hold timer.
            When the timer is enabled, TRUNK88 implements a hold delay at
            the end of every voice comm (except for group calls that have
            their delay option set to "NoD" [no delay] )

            When the timer is disabled, TRUNK88 does not implement a delay
            at the end of every comm, except for group calls that have their
            delay option set to "Del" (always delay).

            When F3 toggles the TG Delay Time mode on, a "D" is displayed
            in the Monitoring Mode Display field.

    - F4: Cycle monitoring mode

        - If an interesting comm is heard while the voice scanner is scanning
            its own programmed systems, you can press F4 to disable TRUNK88's
            trunk following.  TRUNK88 will not attempt to tune the voice
            scanner until you press F4 again.

    - Shift-F4: Toggle Private Call Priority mode

        - Normally, the priority of private calls and interconnects is
            determined by the priorities of the radios involved in these
            calls; pressing Shift-F4 gives all private calls and interconnects
            very high priority until you press Shift-F4 again.

    - Alt-F4: Toggle radio ID mode

        - When radio ID mode is activated, any comms made by unID'd radios
            (radios with no alias text) are given very high priority;
            this tends to make the voice scanner tune to these comms
            immediately, which gives you a good chance to snag a unit ID.

    - Ctrl F4: Toggle TG ID mode

        - Same as Alt-F4, but for unID'd talkgroups.  Good for figuring out
            those tough groups.

    - F5: Lock out current TG

        - This locks out whatever talkgroup the voice scanner is currently
            tuned to.  If no group comm is currently being monitored,
            this hotkey has no effect.

            You can review which talkgroups you've locked out by using the
            L/O Review keys (PageUp and PageDown) in the Edit Talkgroup function.

    - F6x2: Clear all lockouts

        - If you hastily locked out a heap o' talkgroups to focus on a select
            few, you can unlock them all by pressing F6 twice.  All groups
            will have their lockout flag cleared.

    - (Shift)F10: Adjust cutoff priority

        - These keys adjust the value of the Cutoff Priority parameter.
            F10 raises the cutoff level (e.g. blocks more comms) and
            Shift-F10 lowers the cutoff, which lets TRUNK88 tune to lower
            priority comms.

    - Alt A-Z,1-6

        - These hotkeys enable and disable the 32 banks.  You can enable
            and disable the tuning of many groups by toggling banks on or off.
            The status of all 32 banks is displayed in the Banks Display field.
            Normally, a talkgroup will never be tuned to if none of its banks
            are enabled.  The exception to this rule is when you have ALL 32
            banks turned off.  When you do this, TRUNK88's bank control logic
            is disabled; this lets you control voice scanner tuning by
            priority levels only.


Monitoring Mode Display

  The Monitoring Mode Display field shows what the voice following logic
    is currently doing.  If the global delay mode (toggled by F3) is active,
    a 'D' character is displayed at the left side of the display in the
    normal, hold and skip modes.

  Note: If you haven't modified the layout of line 2 on your TRUNK88 display,
        you should be able to set the Width of the Monitoring Mode Display
        to 26 characters; that will give it some room to display talkgroup
        names, and it'll stop before it overwrites the System Date field.

  normal display (not holding on any comm):

    Mode:

     or

    Mode: D

  talkgroup hold display (user pressed F1, holding on talkgroup 1277):

    Mode: H1277 East Command Tac3

  PC hold display (F1 hold on private call between RID 123 and RID 456):

    Mode: HPC123-456

  IC (phone patch) hold display (F1 hold on RID 555 interconnect):

    Mode: HIC555

  delay mode display (comm has ended; in delay period defined by TG Delay Time):

    Mode: h1277 East Command Tac3
    Mode: hPC123-456

  skip mode display (user pressed F2 (scan) and TRUNK88 is temporarily
  locking out the currently tuned comm while it searches for other active comms):

    Mode: s1277 East Command Tac3
    Mode: sPC123-456

  trunk following disabled display (user has pressed F4):

    Mode: Data Monitoring


Program Title Bar Display

  As TRUNK88 tunes to voice traffic, information relating to the tuned audio,
    such as talkgroup and radio aliases, is displayed in the program's
    title bar.  If you position TRUNK88's title bar at the top of your desktop
    and keep other program windows slightly below it, you can see at a glance
    what traffic TRUNK88 has tuned your voice receiver to, even if you're
    working in another program, browsing the Internet, etc.
 
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