Newbie question

[dragon_slayer79]

Hello all, I've been digging around on RR and in Google for a while now trying to learn what decoding has to offer, but I can't seem to find just a basic explanation of what it is or what is has to offer.

I'm sure this has been asked before many times somewhere so if you know of the page please share a link.

Otherwise all I'm wanting to know is the basic description of what decoding has to offer me. What are you seeing/hearing that you don't get without decoding? Not trying to be lazy or anything just didn't want to start tearing into my scanner experimenting and voiding the warranty on it only to discover that decoding is something that I'm not even interested in doing.

Thanks to anyone that is willing to offer a little info to a newbie.

[rwier]

I don't have a clue what you are talking about?

[rwier]

Oops, you are a RR Feeder and not a noob? My mistake, sorry, I'm outta here, lol!

[ecps92]

The real question first is decoding of what?

a.) Encryption = Illegal
b.) Various other formats that a scanner can't ? See "DSD" Thread/wiki
c.) Trunking ? [unitrunker, trunker, trunker88, etrunker etc] to obtain info to add to the RR DB that generally is never provided by the casual user
d.) Acars?

and there are plenty of others...

Let us know..

Originally Posted by dragon_slayer79

Hello all, I've been digging around on RR and in Google for a while now trying to learn what decoding has to offer, but I can't seem to find just a basic explanation of what it is or what is has to offer.

I'm sure this has been asked before many times somewhere so if you know of the page please share a link.

Otherwise all I'm wanting to know is the basic description of what decoding has to offer me. What are you seeing/hearing that you don't get without decoding? Not trying to be lazy or anything just didn't want to start tearing into my scanner experimenting and voiding the warranty on it only to discover that decoding is something that I'm not even interested in doing.

Thanks to anyone that is willing to offer a little info to a newbie.

[dragon_slayer79]

Originally Posted by ecps92

The real question first is decoding of what?

a.) Encryption = Illegal
b.) Various other formats that a scanner can't ? See "DSD" Thread/wiki
c.) Trunking ? [unitrunker, trunker, trunker88, etrunker etc] to obtain info to add to the RR DB that generally is never provided by the casual user
d.) Acars?

and there are plenty of others...

Let us know..

I'm aware of what decoding encryption is and that it's illegal. Not interested in that. I don't need to do to jail over a hobby gone too far.

And I have seen people on here talk about Acars I think that's something to do with planes but have no idea what they are hearing/seeing with this.

In my most recent attempts at digging around I was seeing mostly seeing stuff in relation to your "B" and "C" answers above. Like decoding control channels and other stuff like that.

Would be nice if there was a website that would explain the basics of decoding and all the things that you can decode (category wise) within reason and the type of stuff you'd see/hear if you did.

As you can see I really haven't a clue what I'm talking about here so bear with me as I'm trying to learn.
Thanks.

[ecps92]

There is plenty of documentation in the Wiki, all depends on what you are specifically looking for [There is plenty of it out there, for the reading]

Category:Software Applications - The RadioReference Wiki
Trunked Radio Systems - The RadioReference Wiki

Originally Posted by dragon_slayer79

I'm aware of what decoding encryption is and that it's illegal. Not interested in that. I don't need to do to jail over a hobby gone too far.

And I have seen people on here talk about Acars I think that's something to do with planes but have no idea what they are hearing/seeing with this.

In my most recent attempts at digging around I was seeing mostly seeing stuff in relation to your "B" and "C" answers above. Like decoding control channels and other stuff like that.

Would be nice if there was a website that would explain the basics of decoding and all the things that you can decode (category wise) within reason and the type of stuff you'd see/hear if you did.

As you can see I really haven't a clue what I'm talking about here so bear with me as I'm trying to learn.
Thanks.

[fxdscon]

Originally Posted by dragon_slayer79

I'm aware of what decoding encryption is and that it's illegal. Not interested in that. I don't need to do to jail over a hobby gone too far.

And I have seen people on here talk about Acars I think that's something to do with planes but have no idea what they are hearing/seeing with this.

In my most recent attempts at digging around I was seeing mostly seeing stuff in relation to your "B" and "C" answers above. Like decoding control channels and other stuff like that.

Would be nice if there was a website that would explain the basics of decoding and all the things that you can decode (category wise) within reason and the type of stuff you'd see/hear if you did.

As you can see I really haven't a clue what I'm talking about here so bear with me as I'm trying to learn.
Thanks.

Not sure if these will interest you, or if they apply in your area, or even if they are what you are thinking about.

Signal Software from COAA

I use ShipPlotter, and PlanePlotter, the latter has info on ACARS,

and here's some more about ACARS:

ACARS - Free ACARS decoder for Linux & Windows - acarsd

[dragon_slayer79]

Thanks for the links everyone. That is what I was looking for but could not find on my own. Sounds like it might be a neat thing to try out some day but no at this point in time. Thanks again!

[ilgrant]

You can learn alot by decoding the control channel. If you have stumbled onto a control channel you can discover the other frequencies that are associated with the system, if it is networked and if it is functioning correctly. Some programs even show when the emergency button is pressed.