Hello! My school uses a MotoTrbo VHF Digital Trunked radio system that I would like to monitor. By looking at one of the Motorola XPR 4550 (VHF) base station radios in use at my school, I saw the "Unsecure" logo (see below), which I believe means that encryption is not being used and is therefore something I don't have to worry about decoding specifically:
I've been looking at the MotoTrbo page on RadioReference, which indicates that by using Digital Speech Decoder (DSD) and the proper input source from a required discriminator tap, I should be able to have my computer decode the MotoTrbo/DMR signal so that I can monitor it that way.
I currently have a Uniden BCD436HP scanner which I know can't scan MotoTrbo/DMR transmissions on its own, and it doesn't have a built-in discriminator tap output. I'm not very interested in taking that expensive scanner apart or modifying it at risk of breaking it.
My Question is: I know that my school is using a digital trunked MotoTrbo/DMR system in the VHF range. Since digital scanners are so expensive and the decoding would be done using DSD on my computer anyway, would it be possible to buy an inexpensive VHF analog scanner, solder in a discriminator tap, and then use that with DSD on my computer to monitor the digital MotoTrbo/DMR audio signals?
If so, any particular recommendations for inexpensive scanners that would do the trick?
If not, any ideas on what I can do to monitor the radio traffic?
Many thanks!
I've been looking at the MotoTrbo page on RadioReference, which indicates that by using Digital Speech Decoder (DSD) and the proper input source from a required discriminator tap, I should be able to have my computer decode the MotoTrbo/DMR signal so that I can monitor it that way.
I currently have a Uniden BCD436HP scanner which I know can't scan MotoTrbo/DMR transmissions on its own, and it doesn't have a built-in discriminator tap output. I'm not very interested in taking that expensive scanner apart or modifying it at risk of breaking it.
My Question is: I know that my school is using a digital trunked MotoTrbo/DMR system in the VHF range. Since digital scanners are so expensive and the decoding would be done using DSD on my computer anyway, would it be possible to buy an inexpensive VHF analog scanner, solder in a discriminator tap, and then use that with DSD on my computer to monitor the digital MotoTrbo/DMR audio signals?
If so, any particular recommendations for inexpensive scanners that would do the trick?
If not, any ideas on what I can do to monitor the radio traffic?
Many thanks!