Need help programing a "pure" APCO25 trs

[W4UVV]

I have a new PSR600. I successfully have programed area several 800 mhz. and the Va. STARS vhf trs system. They work fine. The city of Petersburg, Va., a few miles from my location has a "pure" 800 mhz. APCO25 trs. I can receive it fine on my Uniden 996T. Signal strength is not an issue as I have tower mounted antennas and am located 2-3 air miles from one of the simulcast sites. When I do a diagnostics analyze tune on the CC I receive a 99% confidence signal level, correct SID, NAC, confirmation it is a P25 trs, etc. and a solid "T" icon indicating a trunked system.

The Petersburg trs is the only trs in the selected VS folder. When I select the "scan" mode the "T" icon rarely displays as compared to the other trs I scan where it almost displays solidly. Only when the infrequent "T" icon displays and Petersburg transmits and both happen to time sync in a scan do I hear the transmission. When I do a manual selection of the default voice channel the signal is fine with good audio. All parameters were reset to factory defaults. I cannot find anything wrong with my other settings. Sight checking the object field shows the trs is being mapped. All talkgroups for Petersburg are in the appropriate talkgroup file. Multi site is set to "off" although I have tried all selections. I do not have a signal overload situation.

It appears that the 600 is not decoding all of the CC information in the "scan" mode. Does anyone have any idea why this one only "pure" APCO25 trs will not properly decode in the "scan" mode recognizing it as as a trunked system continuously or suggestions as to why or what else to try? A local acquaintance has a PSR 500 and it decodes Petersburg fine. He cannot find anything wrong with my settings on the 600. The 600 is supposed to have the latest CPU and firmware versions but I cannot locate the keyboard entries to check them.

I am using Butel ARC500 software for file editing and transfer. If no one can help me I guess I will have to contact tech support and possibly return the scanner. I cannot find a telephone number for them on the GREAmerica website.

 

[DonS]

The TSYS object is set as "P25 Auto"?
How is the TSYS object's "Multi-Site" item set (it should be "Off")?.
How about the "Dwell" (should be "0")?
"T Tables" (should be "Default")?
Do you have all of the control channels entered? (The RR DB lists four).

If you're getting 99% decode when looking at the control channel in TUNE mode, then the scanner's hardware is working fine.

 

[W4UVV]

The TSYS object is set as "P25 Auto"?
How is the TSYS object's "Multi-Site" item set (it should be "Off")?.
How about the "Dwell" (should be "0")?
"T Tables" (should be "Default")?
Do you have all of the control channels entered? (The RR DB lists four).

If you're getting 99% decode when looking at the control channel in TUNE mode, then the scanner's hardware is working fine.

Tnx for the response....

TSYS System Type is "P25 AUTO".
TSYS Dwell is "0"
TSYS T Tables are "Default"
All Petersburg trs frequencies are entered. 857.4875 mhz. tends to be the default CC frequency and 855.7125 mhz. the default voice frequency.

I just emailed GRE Tech Support. The 600 CPU/DSR baselines are the latest. Factory defaults were reset. The CC diagnostics are correct with a 99% "confidence" level...4 solid signal strength bars....solid "T" icon display..SYSID... NAC...P25 trs id. Manually listening on the voice frequency the signal and the audio are great. But for some unknown reason(s) in the scan mode the "T" icon only infrequently displays and only when there is a time sync between the "T" icon and Petersburg transmiting in a scan cycle does the signal decode and display. It appears that the 600 software is not correctly processing all of the CC info from this "pure" APCO25 trs and has a problem consistently identifying the trs as a trunked system. Petersburg is the only trs in the VS folder. My 996T is set to scan only Petersburg so I know when Petersburg is transmitting for comparison purposes. I cannot identify anything wrong with my setup entries. Hopewell trs works fine. The only difference is it is a "regular" 800 mhz. trs.

 

[DonS]

What about the "Multi-Site" setting? If not "Off", you could see very intermittent CC decode.

 

[W4UVV]

It's off

What about the "Multi-Site" setting? If not "Off", you could see very intermittent CC decode.

Multi-site is set to "off" although I tried all options with the same result.
.
As I stated Petersburg, Va., a new 800 mhz. trs...about 2 years now in operation is a "pure" APCO25 trs. Hopewell, a city adjacent to me on the east side uses a "regular" 800 mhz. trs. I programed it exactly like Petersburg only as a MOT800/900 mhz. type obviously with its own TSYS and talkgroups and it works fine. Even the state STARS vhf trs APCO25 system for the Richmond site works fine and it was programed as P25AUTO. I don't know what the problem is but I don't need another "mystery of life" situation. Hopefully GRE tech support can help. If not, I'm returning it for a warranty repair.

 

[DonS]

If you can enter a CC frequency in "Tune mode" and get 99% decode, then a warranty repair won't help. The hardware is working just fine.

Maybe if you could download a .BIN file from the scanner and post it here (renamed to end in .TXT, or something else the site will accept), someone could take a look at it.

 

[W4UVV]

If I knew how to I would

If you can enter a CC frequency in "Tune mode" and get 99% decode, then a warranty repair won't help. The hardware is working just fine.

Maybe if you could download a .BIN file from the scanner and post it here (renamed to end in .TXT, or something else the site will accept), someone could take a look at it.

Easier said than done. CC Dump is selected "yes" as a global setting and I just manually sight checked it via front panel entries. But when I attempt download the CC dump info on 857.4875 mhz. for the Petersburg trs using Butel ARC 500 software the 600 defaults to a wait state for cloning and the ARC500 download window stays open. Per page 118 of the user's manual discussing downing CC Dump "Start a terminal program or your third party application software". Unless there is a terminal program in Win XP or a free one somewhere I can download or advise me what I am doing wrong in Butel ARC500, I don't know to download the CC Dump data. If you have any suggestions or step by step procedures I'll try.

 

[DonS]

By ".BIN file", I was referring to a copy of the scanner's programming that you can retrieve via the "demo app" included on the CD that came with the scanner.

 

[W4UVV]

I'll try

By ".BIN file", I was referring to a copy of the scanner's programming that you can retrieve via the "demo app" included on the CD that came with the scanner.

I will try.

 

[W4UVV]

making progress

I will try.

ok...I successfully loaded the demo software and created the bin file for Petersburg CC. I selected "start" and to download from the scanner to the PC. But I am not sure about a couple of things. Currently the scanner is not in a scan mode. It is manual on the CC frequency. Should it be in the scan mode? Additionally there is what appears to be a status download circle graphic to the right side of the scanner window. I have cycled through several colors on various download attempts. Should it be "green" continuously or is "red" or "orange" ok...I even saw black.
Out of curiosity I exited the CC dump download and used Editpad Lite to view the bin file contents. There is data present but not a large volume. I don't know what is worthy. I will attempt obtain a decent sample.

 

[W4UVV]

Here it is...I think

Hopefully attached is the Petersburg trs CC Dump. I let the download run for about 10 minutes. I sight checked it with Editpad and it may or may not be helpful. It doesn't look like there is much info there. Conversely I may not have done the CC dump download correctly. If not advise me what I did wrong.

 

[DonS]

Disconnect somewhere...

I'm not talking about attaching a "CCDump" of the system, especially while a) DSPDump is turned on and b) you're in TUNE mode on the CC frequency.

I'm referring to using the "demo app" on the CD included with the scanner to download a ".BIN" file that contains all of the scanner's programming. This ".BIN" file is obtained by 1) running the program "PSR-500_600Demo.exe" from the CD, 2) entering the appropriate COM port # in that program, 3) clicking the "START" button, and 4) clicking the "Recv from PC/IF" button.

 

[W4UVV]

no luck

Disconnect somewhere...

I'm not talking about attaching a "CCDump" of the system, especially while a) DSPDump is turned on and b) you're in TUNE mode on the CC frequency.

I'm referring to using the "demo app" on the CD included with the scanner to download a ".BIN" file that contains all of the scanner's programming. This ".BIN" file is obtained by 1) running the program "PSR-500_600Demo.exe" from the CD, 2) entering the appropriate COM port # in that program, 3) clicking the "START" button, and 4) clicking the "Recv from PC/IF" button.

Per your instructions exactly I have attempted 5 times to obtain a meaningful data bin file. All other trs in VS02 folder are locked out. VS02 was loaded and scanned. Petersburg was the only active trs. Using the demo.exe software I got a good connect, good start and good "receiving data from PC" message and dynamic RSSI and Zeromatic values and cycling Petersburg trs frequencies displaying. However, subsequent sight checking of the bin file shows little data of use after the header line. I saw nothing displayed that related to the Petersburg trs programing. Mostly it was useless data that included some talkgroup objects from other locked out trs in that folder. Any suggestions?

 

[fmon]

VS02 is Florida unless you have replaced it with one you have created and stored to that location.. I think Don is trying to get you to load the current scanner to the bin file.

 

[W4UVV]

VSO2 files

VS02 is Florida unless you have replaced it with one you have created and stored to that location.. I think Don is trying to get you to load the current scanner to the bin file.

The trunked systems I have created so far currently are stored in VS02. All TSYS and TGRP for those systems are set to "lockout" except the Petersburg TRS. VS02 was loaded to main memory for scanning. I subsequently executed the steps in demo.exe using Butel ARC500 and saved to a bin file. If I am doing something wrong advise me.

 

[fmon]

subsequently executed the steps in demo.exe using Butel ARC500 and saved to a bin file. If I am doing something wrong advise me.

That is what Don ask you to do. Next he suggested to rename the file by adding .txt after .bin then upload here using Manage Attachments.

 

[W4UVV]

PSR600 still cannot consistently id this "pure" APCO25 trs

Per your instructions exactly I have attempted 5 times to obtain a meaningful data bin file. All other trs in VS02 folder are locked out. VS02 was loaded and scanned. Petersburg was the only active trs. Using the demo.exe software I got a good connect, good start and good "receiving data from PC" message and dynamic RSSI and Zeromatic values and cycling Petersburg trs frequencies displaying. However, subsequent sight checking of the bin file shows little data of use after the header line. I saw nothing displayed that related to the Petersburg trs programing. Mostly it was useless data that included some talkgroup objects from other locked out trs in that folder. Any suggestions?

I spent 5 hours on the phone last Friday with Fmon who lives about 50 miles south of me but out of reception range for the Petersburg trs. He also has a PSR600 and Butel ARC500 software. For testing ONLY scanlist01 was used with no VS files and ONLY the Petersburg trs was uploaded. Concurrently in testing I was listening to the Petersburg trs on my 996T..good reception. Again in the manual mode all CC signal info displayed was excellent, 99% level, good NAC, SID, P25 id, etc. BUT when the scan mode was selected the "T" icon infrequently (i.e. rarely) displayed recognizing the transmission as a trunked signal. ONLY in a scan cycle in that millisecond when the 600 software did recognize the signal as trunked AND when Petersburg transmitted did I receive a good signal demodulation. Otherwise, there was no signal decoding.

Attached are two files. The "PETERSBURGTRSDOWNLOAD.TXT" is the file downloaded from Scanlist01 using Butel ARC500. The "PETERSBURGBIN.TXT" is the Petersburg trs in Scanlist01 using the demo.exe software receive from the scanner to the PC per the instructions.

GRE tech support responded by email last week suggesting trying dwell times of "10" and "20". This was done with no change in performance. I even tried "200" with no change in performance. The only thing I have not done is attempt to reinstall CPU 1.6 and DSP 1.3 software versions that I am very reluctant to do. Presently I have exhausted all troubleshooting options I can think of. All other trs I programed in the PSR600 work fine. But as I stated Petersburg supposedly is a "pure" APCO25 trs and unfortunately is the only "pure" trs within my reception area. All I want the PSR600 to do is perform as advertised. My Uniden 996T receives Petersburg fine. Maybe somebody somewhere can help me.

 

[DonS]

Have you tried turning off the "NFM" option in the TSYS?

 

[mikey60]

I spent 5 hours on the phone last Friday with Fmon who lives about 50 miles south of me but out of reception range for the Petersburg trs. He also has a PSR600 and Butel ARC500 software. For testing ONLY scanlist01 was used with no VS files and ONLY the Petersburg trs was uploaded. Concurrently in testing I was listening to the Petersburg trs on my 996T..good reception. Again in the manual mode all CC signal info displayed was excellent, 99% level, good NAC, SID, P25 id, etc. BUT when the scan mode was selected the "T" icon infrequently (i.e. rarely) displayed recognizing the transmission as a trunked signal. ONLY in a scan cycle in that millisecond when the 600 software did recognize the signal as trunked AND when Petersburg transmitted did I receive a good signal demodulation. Otherwise, there was no signal decoding.

Attached are two files. The "PETERSBURGTRSDOWNLOAD.TXT" is the file downloaded from Scanlist01 using Butel ARC500. The "PETERSBURGBIN.TXT" is the Petersburg trs in Scanlist01 using the demo.exe software receive from the scanner to the PC per the instructions.

GRE tech support responded by email last week suggesting trying dwell times of "10" and "20". This was done with no change in performance. I even tried "200" with no change in performance. The only thing I have not done is attempt to reinstall CPU 1.6 and DSP 1.3 software versions that I am very reluctant to do. Presently I have exhausted all troubleshooting options I can think of. All other trs I programed in the PSR600 work fine. But as I stated Petersburg supposedly is a "pure" APCO25 trs and unfortunately is the only "pure" trs within my reception area. All I want the PSR600 to do is perform as advertised. My Uniden 996T receives Petersburg fine. Maybe somebody somewhere can help me.

If you could get a capture of the CC Dump data from that control channel, it might help us to help you...

Here's how to get a clean data stream...

Press PGM
Press FUNC
Press F3 (GLOB)
Press FUNC and then Down Arrow (Moves you to the bottom of the menu)
Set DSPDump to No
Scroll up 1 item to CCDump and set that to Yes
Press F1 (Save)

Press Tune
Enter the Frequency for the currently active control channel.
Connect the scanner to your computer
Load a terminal program (such as Hyperterm)
Set the serial port to the port used by the USB cable, and set the port to 115200,8,N,1

You should start seeing data streaming in. Start a capture of that using whatever your terminal program uses to save the information and upload that. Please try to get 30-60 seconds of data.

Hopefully there will be a clue in that data...

Mike

 

[DonS]

I don't know that a CCDump from TUNE mode will help much. Based on what he's said so far, TUNE mode works just fine (solid 'T' icon, system info on LCD). It's when trying to actually track the system in SCAN mode that he has a problem.

In the [messed-up] BIN file he uploaded, I noticed that he has the "NFM" option selected in the TSYS. That almost certainly isn't selected in TUNE mode, and could very likely cause problems when trying to actually SCAN the system.