Industrial Electronics (448) NexEdge96 Trunked System

[BM82557]

Hello!

MTindor,

Sorry I think I missed part of your message a few threads ago. The antenna one of those indoor antennas that come with the cheap SDR dongles which is currently in the middle of my office. So it's range should be pretty limited. And being the Harrisburg is much closer than Lancaster I would think that I would only be able to see Harrisburg (But I guess anything is possible).

I was running this on a Raspberry Pi over SoapySDR to stream to a windows PC and doing the virtual cable technique to get information to DSD. This morning I spent moving the dongle to the Windows pc to see if I could get the trunktracking function to work in DSD, which I was able to do after a while. So far, I am not seeing any voice activity though, just a bunch of radio registrations for talk group 65.

" just a bunch of radio registrations for talk group 65" is the same thing I've seen today on site 11 with one on TG 89 and 3 on TG 105, very little voice activity during any of the times I've parked on site 11. This is all today --

 

[mtindor]

" just a bunch of radio registrations for talk group 65" is the same thing I've seen today on site 11 with one on TG 89 and 3 on TG 105, very little voice activity during any of the times I've parked on site 11. This is all today --

View attachment 130338

At least there is some kind of activity on at least one site, regardless of how minimal. Most of the Lauttamus T3 stuff in my neck of the woods is minimal-to-no traffic. Kind of a bummer.

Mike

 

[mtindor]

Hello!

MTindor,

Sorry I think I missed part of your message a few threads ago. The antenna one of those indoor antennas that come with the cheap SDR dongles which is currently in the middle of my office. So it's range should be pretty limited. And being the Harrisburg is much closer than Lancaster I would think that I would only be able to see Harrisburg (But I guess anything is possible).

I was running this on a Raspberry Pi over SoapySDR to stream to a windows PC and doing the virtual cable technique to get information to DSD. This morning I spent moving the dongle to the Windows pc to see if I could get the trunktracking function to work in DSD, which I was able to do after a while. So far, I am not seeing any voice activity though, just a bunch of radio registrations for talk group 65.

It's typical of a lot of sites on these type of systems to see very little activity, especially in early stages. Hopefully some day you'll see some activity on it and will be able to catch other LCNs in use. It certainly sounds like it would be Harrisburg based upon your monitoring setup and what you say about Cornwall's distance from you. But we really need to be sure about that. Knowing one or two other LCNs in use from DSDPlus screen capture or logged data will do that. Of course, who wants to sit on a dead site waiting for paint to dry -- I get it. But if you happen to run across some voice activity in the future and can mention some of the other LCNs in use, then that would be great.

Thanks

 

[bobcat1656]

It finally happened! There was voice activity! I didn't hear anything, oddly enough, because it looks like DSD didn't track it so I have no idea what the TG is used for, but here are the results at least!

Hopefully this helps!

 

[mtindor]

LCNs are Harrisburg LCNs. And freqs are correct. If you are running FMP* and DSDPlus and it's not tracking calls, you probably don't have Control-->"Combined CC/VC Monitor" set. That'll need to be set if you want to trunktrack.

Great job though. At least we know that it is Harrisburg (I know, you knew in your heart).

Mike

 

[mtindor]

It finally happened! There was voice activity! I didn't hear anything, oddly enough, because it looks like DSD didn't track it so I have no idea what the TG is used for, but here are the results at least!

Hopefully this helps!

So that was 448-8 right? Just FYI - a full screenshot that includes all of the system characteristics at the bottom is always best.

 

[bobcat1656]

Sorry. Here is a better screenshot

Yes, this was 448-8.

Another question: Does NXDN have the ability to send user friendly radio IDs over the air? I notice that some of the activity is showing [Base], [Trk 240], etc.

Thanks!

 

[mtindor]

Sorry. Here is a better screenshot

Yes, this was 448-8.

Another question: Does NXDN have the ability to send user friendly radio IDs over the air? I notice that some of the activity is showing [Base], [Trk 240], etc.

Thanks!

Yes, indeed it does. Those are programmed by the radio system maintainers. Some radios might have radio ID aliases, some may not. Pretty cool that those ones do!

Mike

 

[mtindor]

Sorry. Here is a better screenshot

Yes, this was 448-8.

Another question: Does NXDN have the ability to send user friendly radio IDs over the air? I notice that some of the activity is showing [Base], [Trk 240], etc.

Thanks!

Based upon the fact that you are getting aliases now, I'm guessing you are also able to hear the conversations, yes? The aliases are transmitted on the voice channels by the radios.

Mike

 

[bobcat1656]

Yes, I am now. The option "Voice/Data Call Following" under "Control" needed to be selected (It was not for me). Most of the transmissions seem to be short enough that by the time it switches to the voice channel, the transmission is done. Or they are just keying the radio for no reason lol

 

[mtindor]

Yes, I am now. The option "Voice/Data Call Following" under "Control" needed to be selected (It was not for me). Most of the transmissions seem to be short enough that by the time it switches to the voice channel, the transmission is done. Or they are just keying the radio for no reason lol

That's possible. Between possible testing and the mere fact that many times radio users just don't know how to use a radio, you probably will get a lot of cutoff transmissions. If there ever school buses on there, the drivers will probably be swallowing the mics and sounding crappy. That's just the clientele you get on these systems -- they don't get any training -- just "here's your radio"

NIce job on the "Voice/Data Call Following". I forgot all about that one.

M

 

[smorris]

is the Stroudsburg School District using this system in any way? Transportation is still using their analog channel full time.

 

[mtindor]

is the Stroudsburg School District using this system in any way? Transportation is still using their analog channel full time.

Wrong thread. Try this one: Industrial Electronics (Conway) NXDN Trunked

 

[PaMonitor]

My 2 year+ RID collection from L448-4:



The only TG I am hearing currently is TG:28, which was the first one I got when Horseheads came online. But they don't talk much, and I'm still not sure who they are.

 

[KevinC]

Moved to the Multi-state forum.

 

[PaMonitor]

Just had to show off my new toy(NOOELEC NESDR SMArt V5). This is this mornings activity on L448-4. They were fairly chatty last week but not much this AM. I have recorded audio of the TG 1. I believe it to be radio techs. The main conversation was "test, test, test. I've heard them on L264 as well. I'm surprised it only showed one neighbor (L448-2).

What i don't understand are network/sites L274 and L454.

 

[mtindor]

Obviously you have a strong signal, but too much gain or interference might cause it to temporarily display something like L454 or L275 before it settles on the actual network ID and site ID.

Are you using the free DSDPlus 1.01 from the website, or do you have DSDPlus Fast Lane? If you are using the free stuff, it is many years old and there are a lot of new features in the Fast Lane version. You should consider purchasing Fast Lane if you do not have it.

Also, you cannot trunk track a system if you are using SDRSharp + DSDPlus. You really should use FMP24-CC.bat and DSDPlus (again if you are using Fast Lane). You will get better decoding. I understand that it's nice to be in SDR# and see the waterfall. But if you want to truly trunk track any system with DSDPlus, you will need to use FMP24-CC.bat and DSDPlus.exe and populate the DSDPlus.Networks, DSDPlus.sites, and DSDPlus.frequencies files with the proper information..

Do post if you have questions, and I (and probably others) will try and help you out.

In SDRSharp, since you are using that currently, make sure in the AUdio section that "Filter Audio" is UNchecked. And you should probably narrow the bandwidth to somewhere between 9500 and 12500, which will help with decodes if you are using SDRSHarp.

 

[mtindor]

Also - if you notice in the DSDPlus Source Audio window the flat-topping -- you have too much audio gain coming from SDRSharp into DSDPlus. Turn down the volume in SDRSharp until you stop seeing the flat-topping in the DSDPlus Source Audio window.

For as long as you are using SDRSharp for the input:

1. keep the bandwidth between 9500-12500 for P25, between 8000-9500 for NXDN96/DMR, and between 4000-5000 for NXDN48/IDAS.
2. make sure in the SDRSharp Audio section that "Filter Audio" is unchecked
3. make sure you are not flat-topping because of too much volume in SDRSharp

If you follow those instructions, that should significantly decrease your error rate and should alleviate much of the bogus Network/System ID stuff that you see.

 

[PaMonitor]

Are you using the free DSDPlus 1.01 from the website, or do you have DSDPlus Fast Lane?

I appreciate the tips. Be advised, I've only been at this for a couple of days. For now I am sticking with SDR# and DSDPlus (the free one) until I become more advanced. I was concerned about the bandwidth, steps as well. And for now, I am only connected to the little antenna(s) that it came with. At this point I'm not too concerned with trunk tracking, although I did play around with Unitruncker.

 

[mtindor]

I appreciate the tips. Be advised, I've only been at this for a couple of days. For now I am sticking with SDR# and DSDPlus (the free one) until I become more advanced. I was concerned about the bandwidth, steps as well. And for now, I am only connected to the little antenna(s) that it came with. At this point I'm not too concerned with trunk tracking, although I did play around with Unitruncker.

Ok, but you didn't address any of the things that I said to try and help you out -- Items 1/2/3. Did you check to make sure that was all set correctly? If it is, it should alleviate most if not all ERR in the DOS window and should minimize the times when you see bogus Network/Site IDs show up like L274, etc.