Easiest setup for TRS monitoring

[evan]

I am interested in monitoring two sites of a large trunked system, approximately 30 frequencies. I want to use a dedicated computer to do this and record all traffic.
My issue is, I am not very tech savvy. I know this is a broad question but if money is no issue, what is the easiest setup as far as operating system (I am comfortable with windows and mac OS), which SDR to use (and how many), and which software?
Are there any plug and play options available? Thanks

 

[lwvmobile]

Well, I'll ask the first question everybody else asks when somebody asks this question. Which specific systems did you have in mind to track and record? It would give us a better idea of what kind of set up you might need and present some options to you.

 

[AM909]

By "record all traffic" do you mean recording the voice calls themselves, or do you want just the metadata (date, time, IDs, etc.)? What about other types of traffic (data, registrations)? Is encryption a factor?

 

[iMONITOR]

My issue is, I am not very tech savvy. I know this is a broad question but if money is no issue, what is the easiest setup as far as operating system (I am comfortable with windows and mac OS), which SDR to use (and how many), and which software?
Are there any plug and play options available? Thanks

Does it have to be an SDR? Why not a simple Uniden scanner radio and run ProScan on your computer? While SDR's are fun to play with I think an actual scanner radio will give you more options and flexibility.

 

[AM909]

Does it have to be an SDR? Why not a simple Uniden scanner radio and run ProScan on your computer? While SDR's are fun to play with I think an actual scanner radio will give you more options and flexibility.

If you want to record all traffic?

 

[iMONITOR]

If you want to record all traffic?

What would an SDR record that a scanner would not? The OP said:
"I am interested in monitoring two sites of a large trunked system, approximately 30 frequencies"
How would an SDR handle that better than a scanner?

 

[AM909]

SDRTrunk and UnitTrunker record multiple voice channels at a time, no?

 

[evan]

I want to record the Lexington and Richland County sites from the SC Palmetto 800. Every talkgroup, all voice traffic. Much like the Radioreference calls platform does, but I have no desire to broadcast it online. A traditional scanner will not work since it can only monitor one TG at a time.
I think SDRtrunk is my best bet, the setup just seems overwhelming. And it sounds like I will need multiple SDRs?

Palmetto 800 Trunking System, Various, South Carolina

Palmetto 800 Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

 

[boatbod]

One of your biggest challenges is going to be the sheer bandwidth you want to capture - Richland is 9.3Mhz and Lexington is 7.4Mhz - so the only way you are going to be able to record all traffic is to have a wide enough bandwidth SDR to grab the entire chunk of spectrum encompassing both systems and then have virtual receivers for every traffic channel. An Airspy R2 is good for 10Mhz, but it'll need to be paired with a beefy PC to cope with the processing demands.

TrunkRecorder might be worth looking at from the software side.