BCDx36HP DMR Preview 2 Available

[werinshades]

I haven't tried it with any DMR system yet; but it has worked for me before with LTR and EDACS. It needs voice traffic in order for the frequencies to be figured out (and, fair warning - if you broke your systems up so that each frequency was in a separate site, this won't work - you need to put all freqs for a system back into one site before you try this).

Yes I did. Back to 1 Site, all frequencies in..except that pesky "rest channel" that has not produced any voice. I'm up to 3/5. When it finds the order, will it revert back to scanning? I've never used this feature before.

 

[Jay911]

When it finishes, it will say something like "All LCNs found, would you like to save?" and you should hit Yes (E), at which point it will write the proper LCN order into the site data. After that point you can resume scanning.

You may need to include that rest channel, but might as well give it a try without since you've already begun. The rest channel has data bursts on it that say what activity is going on throughout the system. In fact, its presence (or absence) in the site may be why people have so much trouble with the LCN finder. Make sure you report back on your success so others know what to do.

 

[UPMan]

That's interesting news but how do we set it up, I am trying to follow a system where frequency 1 is LCN 1 and 2, frequency 2 is LCN 3 and 4 and frequency 3 is LCN 5 and 6.

The scanner refuses to let you add the same frequency twice and I've tried just about all combinations I could think of eg setting LCNs as 1,2,3 / 2,4,6 / 1,3,5

Just like Con+ systems, Cap+ systems use LCN, not LSN in the scanner. What you describe are the LSN (slot numbers).

LCN = Highest LSN/2 (i.e. 1, 2, 3 in your above example).

LCN finder will work, but requires enough traffic on the system to "push" the rest channel around. On a slow system, the rest channel can go for hours or longer without ever changing...which can mean it can take a very, very long time to determine all the LCNs.

I spent about 5 hours monitoring the Bass Enterprises system, and it only ever used 2 of the 4 frequencies.

 

[werinshades]

When it finishes, it will say something like "All LCNs found, would you like to save?" and you should hit Yes (E), at which point it will write the proper LCN order into the site data. After that point you can resume scanning.

You may need to include that rest channel, but might as well give it a try without since you've already begun. The rest channel has data bursts on it that say what activity is going on throughout the system. In fact, its presence (or absence) in the site may be why people have so much trouble with the LCN finder. Make sure you report back on your success so others know what to do.

I cancelled original search, went back and entered "rest channel" that's not producing voice. Restarted LCN finder...so far...Found 1/6. Does this have a "time out" or continues until I stop?

 

[Jay911]

It'll continue until either you stop it or it finds all the channel positions.

 

[SCPD]

It would be nice if Preview #3 or #4 were also included in a Sentinel update - this manual enter on the 536 is a pita!

Thanks for the clarification on LCN analyze. This seems to be working with 2 LCN's found on the one system I am monitoring.

 

[W5JCK]

It would be nice if Preview #3 or #4 were also included in a Sentinel update - this manual enter on the 536 is a pita!

Thanks for the clarification on LCN analyze. This seems to be working with 2 LCN's found on the one system I am monitoring.

Yep, what I've been saying too. I copied the entire SD Card to my computer as a backup just in case something goes horribly wrong. Not sure if I could actually restore that way though, but sure can't restore DMR systems from Sentinel yet. I'm too leery about using ARC536 to save and edit the systems. I had really bad mojo with that app back in 2014. It kept trashing databases. I hear they are having issues with it now too as far as DMR systems go. Too pricey anyway. Fortunately I had the Sentinel backups and just re-installed from that, but we can't do that without a Sentinel that works with DMR. As I understand it now, Sentinel will eat your DMR systems.

 

[W4ELL]

It would be nice if Preview #3 or #4 were also included in a Sentinel update - this manual enter on the 536 is a pita!

Programming by hand builds character, puts hair on your chest, and blisters on your fingers.

I actually don't mind it much at all. Of course, I have been abbreviating ALOT more and a few of my test DMR systems are SYSTEM1, SYSTEM2, and so on. I look at it as keeping me in practice for when I find that pop up DMR frequency/system and I don't have a computer handy.

 

[W5JCK]

Programming by hand builds character, puts hair on your chest, and blisters on your fingers.

I actually don't mind it much at all. Of course, I have been abbreviating ALOT more and a few of my test DMR systems are SYSTEM1, SYSTEM2, and so on. I look at it as keeping me in practice for when I find that pop up DMR frequency/system and I don't have a computer handy.

Not the way I look at it. Manual programming is a PITA if your eyesight is poor and/or your shoulders are old. Besides, I have two scanners and I have no desire to program both, so I only got the upgrade for the BCD536HP. Plus I have several hundred, if not a few thousand, user IDs I want to enter for several systems. I won't even attempt that until Sentinel is ready.

 

[werinshades]

Paul just posted an update on his page...thanks, this is very helpful:


"For a Capacity Plus system to find another LCN, there must be at least two simultaneous comms on the system. On a slow system, it could take many hours to determine all the LCNs.

If the control channel signal is lost for more than 10 seconds, the LCN finder will reset".


This is why I asked about a "time out" feature. I stepped away and everything started at 0/6. I'm currently at 3/6...added "non-voice rest channel" to see if that makes a difference. I'm not sure if this matters, but when I cancelled out and restarted, I left the LCN's as is..but had no activity. I reset them back to 0 and it started finding the LCN's.

 

[bearcat]

Not the way I look at it. Manual programming is a PITA if your eyesight is poor and/or your shoulders are old. Besides, I have two scanners and I have no desire to program both, so I only got the upgrade for the BCD536HP. Plus I have several hundred, if not a few thousand, user IDs I want to enter for several systems. I won't even attempt that until Sentinel is ready.

Paul made it clear there will not be Sentinel support. I highly doubt they will make Sentinel final until the final release. Too much rework writing the software with every change they make. I wouldn't do it if I were them either.

 

[woodpecker]

Just like Con+ systems, Cap+ systems use LCN, not LSN in the scanner. What you describe are the LSN (slot numbers).

LCN = Highest LSN/2 (i.e. 1, 2, 3 in your above example).

LCN finder will work, but requires enough traffic on the system to "push" the rest channel around. On a slow system, the rest channel can go for hours or longer without ever changing...which can mean it can take a very, very long time to determine all the LCNs.

I spent about 5 hours monitoring the Bass Enterprises system, and it only ever used 2 of the 4 frequencies.

I'm seeing the rest channel rotate around all 3 frequencies (6 channels) with DSD+ and seeing voice traffic on at least 2 of the 3 frequencies simultaneously, however, the LCN finder stays showing "Found LCN 1/3"

 

[W5JCK]

Paul made it clear there will not be Sentinel support. I highly doubt they will make Sentinel final until the final release. Too much rework writing the software with every change they make. I wouldn't do it if I were them either.

I'm well aware of that, I'm not complaining, I'm merely wishing aloud. There is really no need for self-appointed forum police to come out of the woodwork every time someone wishes aloud or makes a casual comment.

 

[bearcat]

Sorry I truly thought you may not know. I apologize. I will refrain from further such behavior in the future.

 

[bearcat]

Missed in the release notes (engineering just let me know this). CAP+ now requires correct LCN, just like CON+ and DT3. That could explain some of the issues you've been having.

Since Paul's update, I ran LCN finder on one of the systems here. It found the LCNs and it matched what we had already found with DSD. The CAP+ is still not following the conversation completely, but there is some activity. A note of interest is that maybe it is missing the complete TGID. The system uses TGIDs in the 200 range. 251 and 252 are very active. Every now and then I am seeing TGID 51 or 52 with no audio. I do not believe that they are valid TGIDs on the system. Maybe that is why it cannot follow the conversation. Just a guess.

 

[W4ELL]

Not the way I look at it. Manual programming is a PITA if your eyesight is poor and/or your shoulders are old. Besides, I have two scanners and I have no desire to program both, so I only got the upgrade for the BCD536HP. Plus I have several hundred, if not a few thousand, user IDs I want to enter for several systems. I won't even attempt that until Sentinel is ready.

I didn't say I never wanted Sentinel support.
I also have 2 scanners and I plan to do the same with my local HAM repeaters as far as entering USER IDs/Call Signs

My point is, while we are in the discovery phase of the firmware without Sentinel, it hasn't been too bad entering it all manually. It is good practice and something I think everyone should know how to do in a pinch.

 

[KR3LC]

Successfully updated to preview 2

So far no issues. Listening to one CAP+ system and one single frequency user. On the CAP+ I am a bit distant from it and with it being a 460 MHz system using just a rubber duck it is hit or miss. I hear it but I don't know if the scanner is fully following a conversation yet. On the single frequency user I'm hearing it just fine.

I look forward to a Sentinel update but I find entering from the radio a good retraining exercise.

Rick - KR3LC

 

[werinshades]

Paul just posted an update on his page...thanks, this is very helpful:


"For a Capacity Plus system to find another LCN, there must be at least two simultaneous comms on the system. On a slow system, it could take many hours to determine all the LCNs.

If the control channel signal is lost for more than 10 seconds, the LCN finder will reset".


This is why I asked about a "time out" feature. I stepped away and everything started at 0/6. I'm currently at 3/6...added "non-voice rest channel" to see if that makes a difference. I'm not sure if this matters, but when I cancelled out and restarted, I left the LCN's as is..but had no activity. I reset them back to 0 and it started finding the LCN's.

Just an update, LCN Finder was all over the place on the CAP+ system I monitored. I ran the LCN Finder on three separate occasions, as it kept losing the control channel (per Paul's update). Each time it came up with a different order, so I reverted back to the original version...which ironically is lowest to highest. Prior to that, it wasn't trunking the system at all, and it's quite busy. As soon as I returned the LCN's to their original order, it started trunking again. I still might be off by an LCN here or there, and that I can experiment with. For the most part, it's pretty close and might explain some skipped transmissions?

I know CAP+ is still being worked on, so I'll wait for either the next Beta release or public release, whichever comes first. Thanks all involved for this...

 

[woodpecker]

Just like Con+ systems, Cap+ systems use LCN, not LSN in the scanner. What you describe are the LSN (slot numbers).

LCN = Highest LSN/2 (i.e. 1, 2, 3 in your above example).

LCN finder will work, but requires enough traffic on the system to "push" the rest channel around. On a slow system, the rest channel can go for hours or longer without ever changing...which can mean it can take a very, very long time to determine all the LCNs.

I spent about 5 hours monitoring the Bass Enterprises system, and it only ever used 2 of the 4 frequencies.

Paul, I've just done another debug run, I'm not getting any voice traffic at all out this 3 frequency Cap+ system while in trunk scan mode, the debug log refers to LCNs from 0001 to 0006 not just 1-3 as programmed, here are some snippets, not in time order, by telling the scanner the 3 frequencies are LCN 1,2,3 does it translate this into these 6 LCNs or is programming incorrect?

I have given up with LCN finder on Cap+ it never got past 1/3

0047199 Data Type: 3 CSBKO: 3E Protect: 0 C-CH: 0002 FID: 10 Call Type: 06 LCN: 0001

0040024 Data Type: 3 CSBKO: 3E Protect: 0 C-CH: 0002 FID: 10 Call Type: 06 LCN: 0002

0088076 Data Type: 3 CSBKO: 3E Protect: 0 C-CH: 0001 FID: 10 Call Type: 06 LCN: 0003

0082916 Data Type: 3 CSBKO: 3E Protect: 0 C-CH: 0002 FID: 10 Call Type: 06 LCN: 0004

0041681 Data Type: 3 CSBKO: 3E Protect: 0 C-CH: 0002 FID: 10 Call Type: 06 LCN: 0005

0040084 Data Type: 3 CSBKO: 3E Protect: 0 C-CH: 0002 FID: 10 Call Type: 06 LCN: 0006

 

[ab2ms]

I'm trying to program a DMR one frequency and put in the frequency then left CC as search, slot any and ID search on. Listening to DSDplus I hear one talk group, but the scanner shows DMR with no audio. It's obvious it is picking up the transmission and has good signal. I created the channel "ops" on talk group 2 as I found on DSD+ and now have audio although I seem to miss an occasional transmission. Did I miss something to search for unknowns? I can hear one talk group now, but that's it.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk