Capacity plus (Cap+) programming

Vermonster · Oct 7, 2021

I know Capacity plus is not officially supported, but I'm trying to evaluate the extent to which it works.
I'm on the road in Boston for the marathon, where a Cap+ system is used for a substantial portion of the event communications.

I'm wondering if anyone has fooled around with Cap+ enough on the P25RX-I to know whether one needs to enter the LCN frequency once or twice on the DMR tab (I've selected Con+ Control radio button at the bottom). The terminology around LCN/LSN/Ch etc. sometimes gets mixed up across platforms. Here is what I am seeing for the AllComm Hopkinton site, which has 2 frequencies I have entered them on the DMR tab as:
-LCN1 Frequency programmed as 453.0125
-LCN2 Frequency programmed as 451.5000

However, in the console window I can see reference to "LCN3 is rest channel" when a signal is received on 451.5000. My assumption is when the program references LCN3, this is really what I would normally think of as LSN3/Ch3 (which shares LCN2 with LSN4/Ch4, on different slots).
For example, in DSD+ I would expect the event log to show:
"453.0125 is first Cap+ repeater (Ch1 and Ch2)"
and the DSDPlus.frequencies file would be edited to show something like:
Cap+, 1234, 1, 1, 453.0125, 0.0, 0
Cap+, 1234, 1, 3, 451.5000, 0.0, 0

Eventually I will figure this out, but there is almost no voice traffic today and I have some downtime, so I wonder if anyone has advice.

Vermonster · Oct 9, 2021

Well, I'm stumped. I've tried everything I can think of to get even moderate function for Cap+ systems. I have not given up yet, as I expect the heavy radio traffic during the marathon on Monday will provide more opportunities, but at present I'm out of ideas. I appreciate if anyone has thoughts. Note that I spent some time monitoring a Con+ (Connect Plus) system and that seems to work well.

Today I've run the BT P25RX-I side-by-side with DSD+ FL on the Boston site of the All Comm system. I can see in the logfile that the BT appropriately recognizes and follows the rest channel, and it "sees" the voice call, but apparently does not recognize it as such and decode the voice. Here are comparisons of the logfile from DSD+ FL and BT on the same call (on TG11), where DSD+FL produces audio and BT is silent:

DSD+FL
Cap+ Site=1 RestCh=4
+DMR slot1 BS DATA DCC=13 CSBK Cap+ RestCh=4
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=13 Voice Hdr Cap+ TXI GC TG=11 RID=2075 RestCh=3
+DMR slot1 BS DATA DCC=13 CSBK Cap+ RestCh=3 ActiveCh:TG=4:11
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=13 Voice Hdr Cap+ TXI GC TG=11 RID=2075 RestCh=3
Cap+ Site=1 RestCh=4
+DMR slot1 BS DATA DCC=13 CSBK Cap+ RestCh=3 ActiveCh:TG=4:11
2131 radio records saved; 5 aliases
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=13 Voice Hdr Cap+ TXI GC TG=11 RID=2075 RestCh=3
+DMR slot1 BS DATA DCC=13 CSBK Cap+ RestCh=3 ActiveCh:TG=4:11
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=13 Voice Hdr Cap+ TXI GC TG=11 RID=2075 RestCh=3
Cap+ Site=1 RestCh=3
+DMR slot1 BS DATA DCC=13 CSBK Cap+ RestCh=3 ActiveCh:TG=4:11
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=13 Voice Hdr Cap+ TXI GC TG=11 RID=2075 RestCh=3
+DMR slot1 BS DATA DCC=13 CSBK Cap+ RestCh=3 ActiveCh:TG=4:11
+DMR slot2 BS DATA DCC=13 Voice Hdr Cap+ TXI GC TG=11 RID=2075 RestCh=3

BT
DMR, sys_id 0x0001 freq: 461.675000, sig 1 rssi: -85 dBm $Cap+ LCN 4 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 4 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 4 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 4 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 4 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0
DMR 2021-10-09-15:38:36 DATA_SYNC: tsbk_ps 34, sys_id 0x0001 freq: 461.675000, sig 1 rssi: -85 dBm $Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0
rssi: -85 sa 1 ue 1 freq 461.675000 rfg 38 agc -42.8 $Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0
rssi: -85 sa 1 ue 1 freq 461.675000 rfg 38 agc -42.7 $Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0
rssi: -85 sa 1 ue 1 freq 461.675000 rfg 38 agc -42.6 $Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 3 is rest channel. LCN1 11, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0

btt · Oct 9, 2021

Thanks for posting the log comparison. Please try version 10-09_1548 and see if it decodes voice with the DMR Cap+ system.

btt · Oct 9, 2021

I forgot to explain how to set it up for testing. On the DMR page, set your 3 CC frequencies for LCN1, LCN2, and LCN3. These do not correspond to the LCN1 - LCN6 for the Cap+ log. In your log example, LCN1 is group 11, this will use Slot 0 of the LCN1 frequency. If the active group was LCN6 in the log, that would be the frequency defined in LCN3, slot 2. Another way to look at it:

LCN1 LCN2 LCN3 LCN4 LCN5 LCN6 (Cap+ log)
LCN1-slot1, LCN1-slot2, LCN2-slot1, LCN2-slot2, LCN3-slot1, LCN3-slot2 (3 freqs defined in DMR tab config in BTConfig)

Vermonster · Oct 10, 2021

@btt
Thanks so much for the effort. Unfortunately the firmware update to BTConfig-2021-10-09_2054
failed. Initial firmware flash went through, and got as far as restarting the unit, at which point windows 10 drops the USB connection (as expected) but does not reconnect, instead giving a USB not recognized warning (device manager shows "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)"
Same behavior on two computers and when using 10 second button hold at startup.
I have downloaded BTConfig-2021-01-31_recovery_firmware.exe from Github, but thought I would wait for you to check in before I use that.

btt · Oct 10, 2021

I'm running 10-09_2054 version here with DMR mode. I don't see anything in the recent changes that would cause this type of issue. Something may have gone wrong during the firmware update. The recovery firmware may be the next step if you tried it on multiple machines.

Vermonster · Oct 10, 2021

btt said:
I'm running 10-09_2054 version here with DMR mode. I don't see anything in the recent changes that would cause this type of issue. Something may have gone wrong during the firmware update. The recovery firmware may be the next step if you tried it on multiple machines.

OK, trying that now.

Vermonster · Oct 10, 2021

Recovery firmware reset device correctly.
Exact same behavior with 2054 as seen with first attempted flash; sending the firmware image seems to happen, but when resetting, Windows does not recognize device and thus you never get to the popup box asking if you want to continue with the firmware update.

Had to use recovery firmware again, and correctly installed 09-30_1053, which seems to be working OK.

Question, when 1053 firmware correctly installed I think it changed the reference frequency. My label shows 39999907 but the box in the BT software shows 39999885. Should I enter the Ref Freq from the label and write the Config?

I'll wait for another testing version of the firmware to come out, as the failure with 2054 seems pretty consistent.

Thx again for your efforts.

btt · Oct 10, 2021

The recovery firmware completely erases the flash including the reference frequency configuration. You should update that from the label, or you can also monitor the estimated ref frequency on the signal insights tab and use that.

Vermonster · Oct 10, 2021

I must be blind as I don't see an estimated ref frequency on the signal insights tab, so I just wrote the value from the label.

After I make brunch for my kids I'll try setting the operating mode to P25 and trying the update to 2054 again and report back.

btt · Oct 10, 2021

I forgot that the Estimated ref frequency on signal insights only shows up when running in P25 mode. It also takes samples for a couple of minutes before it will display it.

Mike_G_D · Oct 10, 2021

I'm afraid I am seeing the same problem - it started the update then halted on searching for the unit. Powered down and restarted both the unit and the software and nothing. First time that failed for me (where a complete power down and restart wouldn't fix it).

I'm not trying to use the DMR changes - just my regular P25 stuff. Just wanted to try the latest firmware. Something is definitely hinky in terms of Windows (I guess) with this version.

I'll try the reset first and if no joy there I guess I'll have to use the recovery firmware. Since this is the first time the update process has gone this badly for me I'm new at its use. I assume instructions on the site or in manual?

-Mike

Vermonster · Oct 10, 2021

I can confirm still having this issue. Now 3 different windows machines, several USB cables, tried placing the P25RX in various modes before attempting update. Erased roaming flash before attempting update.
Same error occurs with 2054 and next released 0740.

Used recovery firmware and I am back on 1053.

Mike_G_D · Oct 10, 2021

Ok, reset procedure worked for me. However, I tried multiple times to install latest version and every time it would hang at the discovering device after the first flash. Device would just have power LED lit and no function - no audio/decode as far as I could tell. But regular reset procedure works - power down, hold button in while powering up until LED's light, etc. So I can recover. Finally just installed latest stable (9_25_1115) so working with that now. It had been working fine with 9_30_1053 until I tried to update to latest, just FYI. So obviously something in the 10-10_0740 seems to have broken the update process, at least for me running Windows 10.

-Mike

Mike_G_D · Oct 10, 2021

Got it back to 09_30_1053. Got a bit scary as many of my settings were lost and I could not click on the write config buttons because they weren't showing! I've seen this to some degree before - problem with display scaling, I think, as I like to use 125 % for my old eyes but some programs (including BTConfig) don't display properly. Had to go to 100% and restart BTConfig to finally have the write config buttons available again and fix my settings.

But at least good now. I think I will stick with 09_30_1053 for now until this issue is confirmed resolved! Wanted to try the new roaming settings and the system info output but, oh well, stuff happens!

-Mike

btt · Oct 10, 2021

Sorry guys. I don't know what happened here. I will continue to look into this issue.

Vermonster · Oct 11, 2021

After some initial monitoring, it's clear that audio is only being decoded for LCN1 Slot 1.
In addition, there are some strange references to Slot 0 and Con+ (even though this is a Cap+ system).
See log snip below.
The only reference to "Voice Grant: LCN=" in the log from the last hour of monitoring starts with "Con+" and the LCN=# is only ever LCN=1, never any other #.

0Cap+ LCN 6 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0Cap+ LCN 6 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0
Cap+ Voice Grant: slot 0, group 220, lcn 1
DMR: TGroup: 220 sys_id 0x0001 (unknown tgroup) 220 (unknown loc) 220 $
DMR freq: 451.700000, rssi: -86 dBm, TGroup: 220, Desc: (unknown tgroup) $
Con+ Voice Grant: LCN=1, slot 1 , radio_id 1, group_id 220 lb 1 pf 0 burst_type 3 freq: 451.700000
Cap+ Voice Grant: slot 0, group 220, lcn 1
DMR: TGroup: 220 sys_id 0x0001 (unknown tgroup) 220 (unknown loc) 220 $
DMR freq: 451.700000, rssi: -86 dBm, TGroup: 220, Desc: (unknown tgroup) $
Con+ Voice Grant: LCN=1, slot 1 , radio_id 1, group_id 220 lb 1 pf 0 burst_type 3 freq: 451.700000
Cap+ Voice Grant: slot 0, group 220, lcn 1
DMR: TGroup: 220 sys_id 0x0001 (unknown tgroup) 220 (unknown loc) 220 $
DMR freq: 451.700000, rssi: -112 dBm, TGroup: 220, Desc: (unknown tgroup) $
Con+ Voice Grant: LCN=1, slot 1 , radio_id 1, group_id 220 lb 1 pf 0 burst_type 3 freq: 451.700000
Cap+ Voice Grant: slot 0, group 233, lcn 1
DMR: TGroup: 233 sys_id 0x0001 (unknown tgroup) 233 (unknown loc) 233 $
DMR freq: 451.700000, rssi: -87 dBm, TGroup: 233, Desc: (unknown tgroup) $
Con+ Voice Grant: LCN=1, slot 1 , radio_id 1, group_id 233 lb 1 pf 0 burst_type 3 freq: 451.700000********
********
->(VOICE), freq: 451.700000 sig 1 rssi: -87 dBm Slot: 1 TGroup: 233, Desc: (unknown tgroup), $ **
**********
*
->(VOICE), freq: 451.700000 sig 1 rssi: -87 dBm Slot: 1 TGroup: 233, Desc: (unknown tgroup), $ *********

btt · Oct 11, 2021

At least there is some progress with some voice being decoded. I fixed the slot 0, and incorrect Con+ information in the latest version, but it won't change the functionality. I need to look around and see if I can find more information on how Cap+ works. On the lines that look like this: Cap+ LCN 6 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0, do you ever see anything beside 0 for LCN2-6 ?

Vermonster · Oct 11, 2021

btt said:
On the lines that look like this: Cap+ LCN 6 is rest channel. LCN1 0, LCN2 0, LCN3 0, LCN4 0, LCN5 0, LCN6 0, do you ever see anything beside 0 for LCN2-6 ?

No. And as far as I can see LCN1 also shows nothing other than 0.

btt · Oct 11, 2021

I found why it always shows 0 for the LCN activity. Please try 10-11_1220.

Capacity plus (Cap+) programming

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Similar threads