Edacs96 Esk

[CrewRest]

I'm using UniTrunker (Very impressive, I'm switching over from Trunker). I'm gathering data on an EDACS96 ESK system (FL SLERS - I know it's not monitorable). When a user is in contact with a Group ID, the Group sometimes will change. What is happening?

Also the site I'm watching has 5 channels. So far only 4 have shown any activity. One of the channels that shows activity is colored red. So far the Control Channel has not changed but I know it will/does. In UniTrunker doesn't the Control Channel show as red?

Also :

the Channels LCN's of 0 (Red), 1, 16, and 17. I've identified 16 as 854.0125. Checking the FCC web site it does show 6 Freq's at the site, but only the data channel seems to be one of the active channels and I'm not sure of it's LCN yet.

What am I missing or not understanding?

Doug Anderson
KG4QCR

 

[SCPD]

Two questions ...

1. what is the site number for this system?
2. what info is displayed under [V]iew -> [O]ptions?

-rick

 

[n4voxgill]

SLERS almost never changes control channels. Usually the only time it is changed is for maintenance. Modern transmitters have no problem with continuous duty and rotating can cause problems.

Unless they have added more recently, the Orlando node was only using 12 frequencies and for the first 3 years I never saw the control channel change.

 

[CrewRest]

Two questions ...

1. what is the site number for this system?

The site number shows as 0, the system ID shows 11 on the top line and in [V]iew -> ys is shows B.




2. what info is displayed under [V]iew -> [O]ptions?

Do you mean Pr[o]ps?

type EDACS96
Failsoft Yes
SCAT Yes
Delay 2
Priority 7
ESK On
Signal Normal
Peers Island
Profile 2.08

Doug Anderson
KG4QCR

 

[CrewRest]

SLERS almost never changes control channels. Usually the only time it is changed is for maintenance. Modern transmitters have no problem with continuous duty and rotating can cause problems.

Unless they have added more recently, the Orlando node was only using 12 frequencies and for the first 3 years I never saw the control channel change.

Thanks, I havn't observed any change. The tech that maintains the site is a friend. He said it can change/does change, but that is probably due to a MX requirement as you state.

Thanks,

Doug Anderson
KG4QCR

 

[SCPD]

Hi Doug;

The site number shows as 0, the system ID shows 11 on the top line and in [V]iew -> ys is shows B.

Thank you.

Do you mean Pr[o]ps?

type EDACS96
Failsoft Yes
SCAT Yes
Delay 2
Priority 7
ESK On
Signal Normal
Peers Island
Profile 2.08

Yes, thanks.

Crud. There's something goofy going on here. I'd like a log file so I figure out what's different about this site. Go to [O]ptions and set "Logging" to ON. Let the program run for a spell. Make sure the red LCN 0 is present. Please email the log file to me. Unless you like accumulating log files, turn logging off when you're done to save disk space.

-rick

 

[CrewRest]

Private message sent with log

Doug Anderson

 

[blantonl]

Rick, Doug,

Remember that SLERS is using Extended Addressing - which extends one bit of the userID frame to allow for more IDs on the system.

My money says that's the issue here.

 

[DanHenry]

Additional info from two NW Florida SLERS sites (11 day test)

Rick and Doug,

I've been running the current UniTrunker watching my two closest SLERS sites and have some more info to add to Doug's observations.

Using two tapped radios I've been tracking these local sites 24/7 for the past 11 days. The Fort Walton Beach (Okaloosa county) tower uses four frequencies while the Gulf Breeze (Santa Rosa county) uses five frequencies. The CCs were stable for the first week, but do change. Fort Walton has used 3 of 4 as the CC and Gulf Breeze has used 2 of 5 as the CC.

The site # and properties for both are exactly as Doug posted.

Here's where it gets interesting!

While watching UniTrunker I've put the four voice freqs into four separate radios to try and ID the LCN order. What Doug described as the group ID changing during a conversation is actually the traffic shifting to a different frequency. LCN16 is the most commonly used and will show traffic with UT. Then UT shows LCN16 still active with a different group ID, but I'm hearing the encrypted comm on a different freq.

Here are the # of hits for Gulf Breeze. FWB has similar results.
LCN 0 = 10,750
LCN 1 = 800
LCN 16 = 97,350
LCN 17 = 2,950

All new traffic seems to be identified as LCN16. When the system gets busy LCN0 is assigned next and so on.

Things I've learned:
-The FCC licenses for SLERS are a mess. I've located CCs and ProVoice frequencies licensed under FCC types GF, YE, YF, and YP.
-A single site can have frequencies licensed to different call signs.
-CW idents are common up here. That really helps!
-Watching UT on both local systems at once is a great way to observe traffic and patches.


Doug, Thanks for posting your observations. The last time I worked with SLERS was back in November. Your post got me curious again.

Rick, Thank you again for UniTrunker!

-Dan

 

[SCPD]

While watching UniTrunker I've put the four voice freqs into four separate radios to try and ID the LCN order. What Doug described as the group ID changing during a conversation is actually the traffic shifting to a different frequency. LCN16 is the most commonly used and will show traffic with UT. Then UT shows LCN16 still active with a different group ID, but I'm hearing the encrypted comm on a different freq.

Anything you see on SLERS while ESK is turned on ... is probably crap. There's a bug in the auto-ESK. It works on San Antonio's ESK but not SLERS. Of course, adding Extended Addressing to the mix doesn't help either. I have a fix for the ESK problem but progress on EA is very slow at the moment.

 

[DanHenry]

Rick,

Even with the bug it was still a very useful tool to help me track down the voice channels and learn about the systems.

Now it's back to UniTrunker's flawless decoding of the local 800 Motorola and 385-400 military systems!

-Dan

 

[DaveNF2G]

Some of what is being reported on the SLERS system seems to resemble some of the activity on a LTR-MultiNet system. Is it possible that this particular type of EDACS has both a CC and a STATUS channel?

 

[JohnnyGalaga]

SLERS almost never changes control channels. Usually the only time it is changed is for maintenance. Modern transmitters have no problem with continuous duty and rotating can cause problems.

Unless they have added more recently, the Orlando node was only using 12 frequencies and for the first 3 years I never saw the control channel change.

But your location shows you're in TX ?

 

[WayneH]

But your location shows you're in TX ?

Maybe this is how he knows?