DSDplus Config help

[Falcon204]

I'm having a huge deal trying to get DSDplus to even work. I am using Unitrunker and have that working where I see all the talk groups and frequencies. Once I launch DSDplus I can see the screen scrolling with Sync25p1 NAC:1B6 TSDU but hear no audio coming from speakers.

I'm running one SDR dongle thru Unitrunker using 2 VCO's I've also tried SDRSharp and using the DSDplus plugin with the same problem no audio on decoding.

Any info that could point me into the right direction would be super. Been working on this for 2 days and pretty much looked at all the tutorials that are super old with no help on my problem

Thanks

 

[satboy8888]

Which sound card is it outputting to?

 

[slicerwizard]

I'm having a huge deal trying to get DSDplus to even work. I am using Unitrunker and have that working where I see all the talk groups and frequencies. Once I launch DSDplus I can see the screen scrolling with Sync25p1 NAC:1B6 TSDU but hear no audio coming from speakers.

Then you are feeding control channel audio to DSD+ instead of voice channel audio. You need to sort that out.

 

[satboy8888]

Then you are feeding control channel audio to DSD+ instead of voice channel audio. You need to sort that out.

Right, make sure the signal vco is routed to nothing and/or muted in signal vco tab

 

[Falcon204]

That's what I have the Signal is set to nothing and only the voice is routed to VB. Don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Most of the tutorials I followed showed to use the same settings I already have in place, but yet still no audio from DSDplus.

I've also tried this whole set up on 3 computers and same results so has to be something I'm not doing right just have to find that needle in the haystack

 

[satboy8888]

Try only sending digital signal to dsdplus, route analog to nothing. What I've done myself is set another vco as analog straight to the sound card output. You'll also want to uncheck the analog box as well so that vco ignores any analog transmission. Likewise on the second voice vco, uncheck the digital boxes so it doesn't listen to digital transmissions

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[rivardj]

Falcon,

It looks like you are trying to monitor the Louisiana Wireless Information Network (LWIN) system, correct?

I can not tell exactly which site you are listening to control channel wise, if that was known it might help. Then again it likely would not matter because I think your problem is bandwidth and using only one dongle. The RTL dongles are only good for receiving about a 2.0 MHz wide piece of the spectrum.

I think the system your are trying to monitor will require that you use a two dongle setup. The reason is that your Signal VCO is parked on 853.52500 and almost all of the voice channel frequencies in that system are more that 2.0 MHz away from 853.52500. So, when the control channel data tells the Voice VCO to go to a voice frequency outside of the 2.0 MHz bandwidth. The voice VCO is essentially muted because the dongle stays parked on the frequency set by the Signal VCO (853.52500) and can not receive anything more than 2.0 MHz away from that frequency on the Voice VCO.

I listen to the MPSCS network in Michigan. In my county I can listen with one dongle because all frequencies on my local site are within 2.0 MHz of each other. However, I use a three dongle configuration, one signal and two voice, in order to monitor as much traffic as possible. If I monitor other sites in the area I have to use at least two dongles because some of those sites have some frequencies outside of the 2.0 MHz bandwidth.

You mentioned looking at old tutorials, have you read through the information at this link:

UniTrunker | Realtek RTL2832U

I think if you put a second dongle into your configuration your problem will be solved.

One other thing, the Audio Output on your Voice VCO should be routed directly to your sound card and Squelch should be set appropriately if there is conventional audio present on the system. If the system is digital only set the Audio Output to unspecified.

Good luck!

P.S. If you get stuck after adding the second dongle ask for more help and I will put together screen shots of my configuration. All you would have to change after duplicating my configuration would be to park your signal VCO on your control channel frequency.

 

[Falcon204]

Try only sending digital signal to dsdplus, route analog to nothing. What I've done myself is set another vco as analog straight to the sound card output. You'll also want to uncheck the analog box as well so that vco ignores any analog transmission. Likewise on the second voice vco, uncheck the digital boxes so it doesn't listen to digital transmissions

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

First of all Thanks for helping me satboy8888 and slicerwizard much appreciated!

I've tried the sending only digital signal to dsdplus and no signal gets sent to dsd. I'm not sure if I need to get another SDR dongle to make it work better than just one, but I've been told it can be done just with one so *scratching my head

 

[satboy8888]

As mentioned, the frequencies have to be within the bandwidth of the dongle. The channel history lines should turn green *if* unitunker is telling the dongle to tune to the frequency. No green lines, no tuning is happening because the frequency is too far away or all the currently configured vco's are already busy.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[Falcon204]

Falcon,

It looks like you are trying to monitor the Louisiana Wireless Information Network (LWIN) system, correct?

I can not tell exactly which site you are listening to control channel wise, if that was known it might help. Then again it likely would not matter because I think your problem is bandwidth and using only one dongle. The RTL dongles are only good for receiving about a 2.0 MHz wide piece of the spectrum.

I think the system your are trying to monitor will require that you use a two dongle setup. The reason is that your Signal VCO is parked on 853.52500 and almost all of the voice channel frequencies in that system are more that 2.0 MHz away from 853.52500. So, when the control channel data tells the Voice VCO to go to a voice frequency outside of the 2.0 MHz bandwidth. The voice VCO is essentially muted because the dongle stays parked on the frequency set by the Signal VCO (853.52500) and can not receive anything more than 2.0 MHz away from that frequency on the Voice VCO.

I listen to the MPSCS network in Michigan. In my county I can listen with one dongle because all frequencies on my local site are within 2.0 MHz of each other. However, I use a three dongle configuration, one signal and two voice, in order to monitor as much traffic as possible. If I monitor other sites in the area I have to use at least two dongles because some of those sites have some frequencies outside of the 2.0 MHz bandwidth.

You mentioned looking at old tutorials, have you read through the information at this link:

UniTrunker | Realtek RTL2832U

I think if you put a second dongle into your configuration your problem will be solved.

One other thing, the Audio Output on your Voice VCO should be routed directly to your sound card and Squelch should be set appropriately if there is conventional audio present on the system. If the system is digital only set the Audio Output to unspecified.

Good luck!

P.S. If you get stuck after adding the second dongle ask for more help and I will put together screen shots of my configuration. All you would have to change after duplicating my configuration would be to park your signal VCO on your control channel frequency.

Yep totally makes sense now, I had a feeling that's what my problem is. Kinda funny because I just was reading a page that was explaining most of what you wrote just seconds after you posted and made me have a aha moment.

I'm placing an order for another dongle and see what happens.

Thanks again everyone. At least now I can stop screaming at my monitor lol *Breathe just Breathe

 

[rivardj]

I got the pictures out of order.

Note: I park all of my Voice VCOs on the local control channel frequency. This method seems to work well with my old Dell Notebook. You may park your Voice VCOs on 0.00000 MHz.

 

[rivardj]

Screwed up got the pictures out of order.....

 

[KD8DVR]

If you park voice vcos on a control frequency, you'll hear the digital noise when the dongle parks. That's where it goes when There is no voice signal present. Dsd+ needs to be set up to listen to your virtual cable and then pipe its output to your appropriate sound device (speakers). You have concentrated your efforts on Unitrunker. Have you determined dsdplus is correctly configured?

AntiSquid disclaimer: All information provided is personal opinion only and may or may not resemble actual fact.

 

[adcockfred]

If you have strong input signal, go into sound and change settings around, then use command prompt on dsd. you vb cable inputs might be limited in sound. like DVR says listen for park beep.

 

[AggieCon]

Falcon, if you can't get it going once you get your second dongle, feel free to email me at Justin@DigitalFrequencySearch.com. I'd be more than happy to remote connect in, and I bet it would take less than 20 minutes to get it going.

 

[Falcon204]

Great news! Today was like Christmas for me.. lol I got my 2nd dongle and set it up and works like a charm. Thanks everyone for all your guys help. And rivardj your settings were pretty dead on from the pictures you posted, I tweaked a little bit but your settings got me in the ballpark.

Man I tell you it's so nice to hear my local police department again, Haven't been able to hear anything for years.

Once again thanks for everyone's help.

73's to all,
Falcon

 

[rivardj]

Falcon,

I am glad to hear you have everything sorted out and have your system up and running. Have fun!

 

[KD8DVR]

Great news! Today was like Christmas for me.. lol I got my 2nd dongle and set it up and works like a charm. Thanks everyone for all your guys help. And rivardj your settings were pretty dead on from the pictures you posted, I tweaked a little bit but your settings got me in the ballpark.

Man I tell you it's so nice to hear my local police department again, Haven't been able to hear anything for years.

Once again thanks for everyone's help.

73's to all,
Falcon

Glad you went with the second dongle. Glad you are up and running

AntiSquid disclaimer: All information provided is personal opinion only and may or may not resemble actual fact.

 

[Falcon204]

Quick question, What happens if your area has 2 control channels that span out? I've noticed that if my police department keys up about time the dongle picks up the conversion it's either late or missed the call all together. Is there a better way at setting up the 2 dongles so I don't miss any of the action?

My control channels are Kenner Jefferson 853.525c 792.275c

Voice jumps from
853.52500c
857.16250
857.56250
857.76250
858.76250
792.27500c
771.26875
771.79375
773.63125
774.59375


At times it seams like I would need a 3rd dongle just to span out and not miss anything or do I have to do more tweaks to get it just right.... as of right now I have the 2nd dongle parked in the middle of the frequency span of the voice channels which seams to help a little then parking on the same control channel at the top of the list.

Any info would be great

 

[AggieCon]

Is that list from Unitrunker or RR?

I've never heard of two control channels for the same site. The park setting is irrelevant for voice unless you want to park it on a random conventional channel to hear something when there is no trunked activity.

I presume you either copy and pasted from RR or one of the channels is actually data. Or it's two separate sites. Can you post screenshots?