Best way to search 454 Mhz Orlando

[dkcorlfla]

There is a lot of digital going on between 451 to 455 Mhz in the Orlando area. Really could use some tips on the best way to try and figure out what it is.

There is a steady signal at 454.308855, must be a control channel but so far my searches have not come up with anything.

 

[RaleighGuy]

There is a lot of digital going on between 451 to 455 Mhz in the Orlando area. Really could use some tips on the best way to try and figure out what it is.

There is a steady signal at 454.308855, must be a control channel but so far my searches have not come up with anything.

Have you checked the RR database? If it is not in the section for your county try the FCC licenses. That said I suspect your PPM might be off slightly, as I don't believe 454.308855 is on frequency.

 

[nd5y]

There is a steady signal at 454.308855, must be a control channel but so far my searches have not come up with anything.

It's probably 454.3, 454.30625 or 454.3125 if it's legitimate. That range is Part 22 paging.

Part 22 Paging Channels - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

 

[Hit_Factor]

Not too much listed in the FCC DB, should be easy to figure out. I suspect that freq isn't correct, check your PPM adjustments.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Utilize the benefits of your premium subscription & research your findings with RR's Frequency data search to see if they're listed in the RRDB. Even if you enter it into the search exactly as you had it dialed in: 454.308855 (though invalid for FCC) the search should still retrieve valid results rounded up or down to the nearest valid frequencies

Using said search it's highly probable your screenshot shows:

Freq Out	Freq In	Tone	Callsign	Description	Category	Agency/County	State
454.30625				Highland Wireless - Suntalk Linked System (470 Connect Plus)	Orlando (Nova)	Orange	FL

 

[dkcorlfla]

Utilize the benefits of your premium subscription & research your findings with RR's Frequency data search to see if they're listed in the RRDB. Even if you enter it into the search exactly as you had it dialed in: 454.308855 (though invalid for FCC) the search should still retrieve valid results rounded up or down to the nearest valid frequencies

Using said search it's highly probable your screenshot shows:

Freq Out	Freq In	Tone	Callsign	Description	Category	Agency/County	State
454.30625				Highland Wireless - Suntalk Linked System (470 Connect Plus)	Orlando (Nova)	Orange	FL

Thanks, that might be it. No I do not have DSDplus as I believe it is a Windows program and I'm on Linux. I'm trying to research what my options are for DMR. I have a BCD996P2 and it looks like an $60 upgrade would get me DMR. That might be my best option.

I will keep researching.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

No I do not have DSDplus as I believe it is a Windows program and I'm on Linux

I've been a Linux user for decades myself. I cloned my previous Windows OS with all my scanner programming apps via Vmware Converter onto a backup hard drive then use Virtualbox to run Windows as a VM. Works great to run Windows apps on native Linux. Wine works for some apps but not others

 

[nd5y]

Wine works for some apps but not others

The old public version of DSDPlus runs on WINE on Debian and Ubuntu based distros. I don't know if fastlane does.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

The old public version of DSDPlus runs on WINE on Debian and Ubuntu based distros. I don't know if fastlane does.

Fastlane launches for me via Wine but keeps erroring out with weird sound input messages. Not going to bother getting into the nitty gritty with troubleshooting since it runs fine on my Windows VM...

 

[dkcorlfla]

Have you checked the RR database? If it is not in the section for your county try the FCC licenses. That said I suspect your PPM might be off slightly, as I don't believe 454.308855 is on frequency.

View attachment 176337

Look like you where correct on the frequency is off on my Airspy or the the SDR++. When I set it on the Orlando NOAA WX station 162.475 I had 162.473.962 on the display. I went back using RTL-SDR v3 and GQRX with the Orlando WX showing 162.475 and the digital channel was 454.321.300 this may still be off some but I believe it is close.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

and the digital channel was 454.321.300 this may still be off some but I believe it is close.

Follow the recommendation I gave you in post #5. Entering it exactly as you dialed it into the search query gives you the closest valid result(s). Simple as that.

Freq Out	Freq In	Tone	Callsign	Description	Category	Agency/County	State
454.31875				Florida FleetTalk	Bithlo-2	Orange	FL

Additionally it may be worth setting your snap interval to something like 6250 so your SDR will tune to the closest 6.25khz step when dealing with UHF

 

[dkcorlfla]

Update: it has been an interesting learning experience. After lots of messing around I was able to upgrade my BCD996P2 so it now decodes DMR. (It was way harder then it should have been).

To test it I first did a quick manual entry on the scanner for the local UHF ham radio DMR repeater and after a while I heard check ins so I knew it was decoding.

Next I programed a batch of frequencies around 454.100 > 454.500 as conventional just to see if the scanner would lock on one and sure enough it did on 454.300 at first all I head was the steady DMR signal but then to my surprise I heard voices. None of the talk groups have been set yet but it's starting to work

Next I went back and set GQRX to use the Airspy SDR and it was dead on when check on the Orlando WX so it looks like the frequency error I'm seeing is confined to SDR++ and so far I have not been able to figure out how to correct it.

I went back and re-checked the steady DMR signal and GQRX says it's at 454.3068

Now I need to figure out how to do a manual data entry for DMR with ARC XT PRO because it's running on Windows 10 and I don't dare let it access the internet.

Think that's enough for now, break time

 

[batdude]

if you have an AirSpy I would recommend you use DSD+ for this type of monitoring. DSD+ will decode DMR, NXDN, etc. and makes it very easy to "see" the band. edit: Using the supplied FMPA software (I think you have to have fastlane for that)

 

[dkcorlfla]

if you have an AirSpy I would recommend you use DSD+ for this type of monitoring. DSD+ will decode DMR, NXDN, etc. and makes it very easy to "see" the band. edit: Using the supplied FMPA software (I think you have to have fastlane for that)

Might have to do that as I'm not having any luck getting the DMR stuff programed using direct manual on the scanner or by using ARC XT PRO so far it seems way harder then programing my DMR HT.

 

[dkcorlfla]

Update 2: I was able to install SDRplus and DSDplus (old public version) on my dual boot offline Windows 10 computer without any issues. The DSDplus really does show the big picture and I have found new groups not listed in the RR database. The log files do show a lot of info that helped me program the scanner.

It was also interesting having the scanner running and using the SDR++ and DSDplus at the same time with the SDR on one of the trunk frequencies the scanner found while the scanner was set to the control.

Now if I could just figure out how to program a simple non trunk one frequency ham DMR repeater (another post)

 

[devicelab]

You need to search in 6.25 khz steps for DMR. NXDN signals typically use 2.5khz steps. NFM will use 12.5khz steps. Don't ignore the simplex channels too. 450-470 is the business band.