BCD996P2 and Decoding Telemetry.

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kennyschroeder

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I noticed in my area there's quite a bit of frequencies that have the "telm" mode. Most of these Telemetry frequencies are hospital paging, or some sort of public works data like stormwater data. My question is, is there some sort of software i can use to decode these frequency's that I receive on my Uniden BCD996P2? I do not want to make any modifications to my scanner.

Thank you for your time.
 

wtp

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i like knowing things myself, but i draw the line at storm water data.
i can even hear the space station, but have not tried to decode it...yet.
there might be some that use the audio out of the radio to decode.
good luck hunting.
i do remember one for the space station packet and the radio audio out to a computer audio in.
 
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kennyschroeder

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Ok, thanks. I found PDW, which says it decodes POCSAG. So would I just grab an auxiliary cord, put it in the Ext. Speaker port and take the other end of the cord, and put it into my computers headphone port?
 

wtp

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Record-Out Jack - Lets you can connect an output jack to a VOX controlled recorder or PC sound input to record the received audio on selected channels, systems, Close Call, Fire ToneOut, and searches
REC.Out Jack: 3.5mm (1/8 in.) Stereo Type

and input it into the microphone jack on the computer

radio output to computer input.
make sure it is a stereo plug.
if you have a question about it just ask.
 

wtp

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and the output has to be 'turned on'

Set Record enables the REC jack for all channels or marked channels in the system or off. 1. Scroll to ‘Set Record’ and press E/. 2. Scroll to one of 3 settings and press E/ to save and exit. All Channel - The scanner sends the audio for all channels in the system to the REC jack, regardless of the channel’s record option setting. 48 Marked Channel - The scanner only sends the audio for channels that have the record option turned on to the REC jack. Off - The scanner does not send any audio from any channel in the system to the REC jack, even if the record option is turned on for a channel.
 

kennyschroeder

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Ok thank you. I have turned on the recording option for the channel frequency I am on, which is a city water data frequency. I have plugged the audio cable into the record port on the back of the BCD996P2, and I plugged the other end of the cable, into my computer. I am in PDW, and I have it selected to monitor POCSAG/FLEX, and in the setup menu, the configuration is set to Earphone 1, and I have the sound card option set to Microphone. I do not see any data coming onto the screen. Lastly, what do you mean by “the output has to ‘turned on’”?
 

ka3aaa

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you would be better off using a discriminator tap for pdw, just for the raw unfiltered audio data that it produces. Also the lower the volume the better so pdw isn't over driven and never decodes properly.
 

wtp

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about turning on the output, it is in the manual and i don't have that scanner.
so that is the only thing i know about it.
i guess that was it.
 

n9mxq

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You have record on, so that's piping audio to the computer. I wouldn't expect a water company telemetry system to be POCSAG.. It would probably be a commercial data format. POCSAG is just for paging
 

CanesFan95

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Wait a minute. Forget all this. I thought you need a discriminator tap mod if you're using a scanner to decode digital stuff. Otherwise, your decoding software won't get the data it needs to decode properly. And even if you could decode anything with just the audio/record output jack, you still might need to tell PDW something other than Earphone 1. When you plugged your audio cable into the computer, what was the plug actually called? Line-In? Microphone?
 

hfxChris

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Might be worth while listening to some of the audio clips on the following page, to make sure what you're hearing is indeed POCSAG:


The storm water telemetry is very likely not going to be POCSAG, but it is commonly used for hospital paging. At least it is here.
 

kruser

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Wait a minute. Forget all this. I thought you need a discriminator tap mod if you're using a scanner to decode digital stuff. Otherwise, your decoding software won't get the data it needs to decode properly. And even if you could decode anything with just the audio/record output jack, you still might need to tell PDW something other than Earphone 1. When you plugged your audio cable into the computer, what was the plug actually called? Line-In? Microphone?
That is generally true.
There are a few formats that will decode using speaker audio but the higher baud rate formats for POCSAG and FLEX both require baseband unfiltered audio. Flex is even trickier due to it being capable of four level FSK.

As far as decoding telemetry from water plants. It's probably something proprietary or even a form of SCADA depending on the signals owner.
Some things marked as TELM in the Mode column here are simple DTMF touch tones for simple control. Often used for irrigation control of gold course irrigation systems. That's ones simply to ID by ear unless the control radio is using rapid DTMF signalling which may not sound like normal DTMF to some ears.

Some of the older amateur radio formats could be decoded from speaker audio. I think Packet (APRS) is one but not sure as I do it via a modded radio. Then of course many older formats heard across the HF bands could also be decoded from speaker audio.
 

a417

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. I thought you need a discriminator tap mod if you're using a scanner to decode digital stuff.
You usually want a discriminator tap for feeding audio into a computer to decode with things like software. I have found isolated instances where particular pieces of software & hardware combinations don't require it...but if you must feed audio in, you usually want a discriminator tap.
 

kruser

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You usually want a discriminator tap for feeding audio into a computer to decode with things like software. I have found isolated instances where particular pieces of software & hardware combinations don't require it...but if you must feed audio in, you usually want a discriminator tap.
Yep, the normal audio filters used in receivers strip out the data signals needed to decode many type of data.
They usually pass just enough of the human voice frequency range and filter the rest. Some PL tones will still make it through the audio filters and can be heard by ear.
 

slicerwizard

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Decoding of FSK signalling generally needs flat audio (discriminator audio); decoding of multi-tone signalling (AFSK) can often get by with filtered audio.
 
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