Etracker and BC898T

[amusement]

I am courious about setting up a BC898T with a tap. I have a thread in the Unden forum requesting the how-to install a tap.

I was wonder if anyone else was using this confugration -- BC898T and Etracker/Trunker.

Thanks!

 

[ka3jjz]

Unless you're trying to look at the control channel of an EDACS/ESK system, or a P25 system (for which you would use UniTrunker), you wouldn't need it - but it would be interesting to know where the tap point is....73s Mike

 

[amusement]

It would be interesting to tap the BC898T and see control information on Motorolla systems too.
Thanks, Mike, for the P25/UniTrunker info.

Just for giggles...I tried to hookup the BC898T "line out" to my PC "line out" to see use some of the software listed in RR Wiki. No luck.

I'm thinking that test point 3 (TP3) is located on the back side of the BC898T main board. Or was that for the BC895XLT? Perhaps I should leave the tap for a professional to install.

 

[ka3jjz]

There's an 898 Yahoo group listed on our wiki page for that radio; that's a very likely place to find information. There are also mods groups on Yahoo, as well as the famous mods.dk website (which now really restricts you as to how many articles you can view....I guess that's the price of fame....). I would try those places first.
By the time the audio reaches the speaker or line out, it's been too filtered and conditioned to be any good for decoding at high speeds. You really do need a discriminator tap for that. Low speed stuff like ACARS is no problem.
I don't know how well UniTrunker works with P25 systems - or whether it even needs a data slicer for decoding (I suspect it would - and that would be the only mode that it covers that would require it....). I'm sure someone can jump in here with more info on that...73s Mike

 

[amusement]

I believe it would need a 4-phase (or something like that) digital slicer to pickup P25.

I am a member of BC898T group. Dog gone it! I should have posted this question there.

Thanks again!

 

[amusement]

BC898T Discriminator Tap

Well, I did it. I tapped my BC898T IF. And damn it works.
*10K ohm resistor -- to protect against shorts from the plug
*2.5mm phone connector from radio shack
*Also used the ground from the metal case

Tapped into LND12 to receive IF signal

 

[ka3jjz]

Isn't that the exact same tap point as the 785 and 796? That's very interesting. You should upload this image (hopefully with a little better resolution - at least on my laptop it's a tad fuzzy) up to the Wiki, and link it in the 898 page. No doubt someone else will, at some point, ask the same question.

Well done 73s Mike

 

[amusement]

BC898T has the same tap point as BC780XLT. Here's a modified image.

 

[amusement]

Unitracker observing Motorolla Smartnet

After playing with the settings I finally get the program and the tap setup properly. Here's my results.

 

[amusement]

Made a WIKI article

http://radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/BC898T_Discriminator_Tap

It's linked to Uniden BC898T WIKI.