Raspberry PI as a P25 Scanner

[JDrisc3480]

I am putting this here because a lot of cities and counties are switching over to P25 and thought this would be a less expensive alternative to an actual digital scanner that I cannot afford. I saw a post on another website from a person who has a Raspberry PI setup as a P25 scanner. The problem is that he did not go into any detail as to what other equipment he is using or how it is setup. I am curious if this is even possible and if so what other equipment is needed. Has anyone done this that can give me some insight on how to make this work?


Thank you,

73

Jim KM4USC

 

[fourthhorseman]

Ras-Pi may be cheaper, but the set up is involved.

Try OP25..Google that and Raspberry pi,
use the Pi, B3+ it will involve loading the rtlsdr
drivers..ect...

getting the pieces to play nice is the big dilemma..
linux is easy, but the learning curve is harsh.

then you have the option use with a monitor on your desktop,
or fit a TFT on it to allow use on the go.
Also, if carrying around the Pi...you will need to set up a power bank,

Cheaper, Yea..not by much..ras-pi may be 100..150 to set up well.
p25 capable hand held,,200..250...

 

[popnokick]

.... and since it wasn't listed specifically in fourthhorseman's reply, you'll also need to buy an RTL-SDR USB receiver stick, which plugs into the RasPi USB. The RasPi itself has no radio receiver components.

 

[zapman987]

Ras-Pi may be cheaper, but the set up is involved.

Try OP25..Google that and Raspberry pi,
use the Pi, B3+ it will involve loading the rtlsdr
drivers..ect...

getting the pieces to play nice is the big dilemma..
linux is easy, but the learning curve is harsh.

then you have the option use with a monitor on your desktop,
or fit a TFT on it to allow use on the go.
Also, if carrying around the Pi...you will need to set up a power bank,

Cheaper, Yea..not by much..ras-pi may be 100..150 to set up well.
p25 capable hand held,,200..250...

Having done this, its nowhere near 100.

30 for the Pi
10 for a case (optional)
TFT screen is 20 (optional)
10-15 for RTL-SDR USB
5 for a RTL filter (optional)

So really 40 at the lowend, 100 at the high end.

Will totally agree its a major learning curve. Ive decent linux experience but little radio experience, and mine is still a mess (most of it is software issues).

 

[nated1992]

I am putting this here because a lot of cities and counties are switching over to P25 and thought this would be a less expensive alternative to an actual digital scanner that I cannot afford. I saw a post on another website from a person who has a Raspberry PI setup as a P25 scanner. The problem is that he did not go into any detail as to what other equipment he is using or how it is setup. I am curious if this is even possible and if so what other equipment is needed. Has anyone done this that can give me some insight on how to make this work?


Thank you,

73

Jim KM4USC

I do a lot on raspberrys and with scripting and setting up OP25 on a Pi makes my head hurt! Its possible it works but if your just going to set up the software at your house find a cheap desktop that will run windows 7 or Ubuntu a GB of ram and and a Pentium processor will do i recommend 2 GBs of ram and set up on it.

Windows use unitrunker and Ubuntu use OP25 buy a SDR dongle a cheap one works fine.

The actual desktop version of Ubuntus alot easier to install on for OP25

 

[hagensieker]

I know this thread is older but I run Raspberry Pi's with OP25. One streams to Broadcastify and the other is just for headphone listening. They work great. Check these blog pages out. The first one is Raspberry Pi specific and the "for dummies" link talks about how to set up the trunk.tsv and your local.tsv files.

It's really pretty easy. That being said it took me almost a year to figure it out.

https://www.hagensieker.com/wordpress/2018/07/24/op25-on-a-raspberry-pi-part-3/

https://www.hagensieker.com/wordpress/2018/07/17/op25-for-dummies/

 

[fredva]

I am using a Raspberry Pi as a scanner at home. Just a couple of points I'd make:

If you want to monitor a P25 simulcast (aka LSM) system, you'd definitely want to use the OP25 software. OP25 has the demodulator that is compatible with simulcast systems.

A lesson I learned is to use the Nooelec RTL-SDR dongles. Nooelec dongles aren't very expensive, but I started out using cheaper, no-name dongles that would eventually drift off frequency and cause the setup to stop receiving transmissions.

My Raspberry Pi scanner cost around $57, but I would note that I am using a Windows system and monitor I already had to remote into the Pi and run the software.

You can save a lot of money but as others have noted, you will have to invest some time.

 

[hagensieker]

I am using a Raspberry Pi as a scanner. Just a couple of points I'd make:

If you want to monitor a P25 simulcast (aka LSM) system, you'd definitely want to use the OP25 software. OP25 has the demodulator that is compatible with simulcast systems.

A lesson I learned is to use the Nooelec RTL-SDR dongles. Nooelec dongles aren't very expensive, but I started out using cheaper, no-name dongles that would eventually drift off frequency and cause the setup to stop receiving transmissions.

My Raspberry Pi scanner cost around $57, but I would note that I am using a Windows system and monitor I already had to remote into the Pi and run the software.

You can save a lot of money but as others have noted, you will have to invest some time.

I mention that same thing about drift in my blog. In my opinion if you have a room that has any temp fluctuation then a V3 or NooElec Smart dongle is the only way to go.

I have an Ubuntu laptop that uses an Adalm Pluto with OP25. If I turn it on in the morning it works fine however when I come home from work and the AC has been not running for a while the drift requires correction before OP25 will start.

The NooElec Nano 3's work pretty well also especially with the heat sink installed.