Need help using SDRTRUNK with 2 RTL-SDR dongles to listen to Seattle KCERS

[johnfeher]

I am new to the SDR hobby. On the positive note, I am able to listen/decode Seattle King County/ValleyCom Simulcast (Motorola Type II SmartZone) in Auburn using UNITRUNKER software. When I switch to the SDRTRUNK, (in hopes of perhaps having more control over what talk groups I listen to) all I ever see is a fast scroll of SYNC LOSS - BITS PROCESSED [1570] and [9600] in a regular pattern. Never any actual decoding of the control channel, as far as I can see, no sound, occasionally a couple other messages scroll by. I am wondering what am I missing in the settings, what could be the cause of this. (again, I get both decoding and audio when I use the same hardware with UNITRUNKER)
I use Windows 10, recently built PC and two dongles: IEIK SDRMCX RTL-SDR, FM+DAB, DVB-T USB Stick Set with RTL2832U & R820T
I briefly tried a Linux installation with the same SYNC LOSS results.
I appreciate any suggestions to get me over this bump.

 

[justabigham]

I too live in Auburn and have played with a couple of SDR's on a laptop. Will get them out again and give it a go....

 

[rlmurray56]

SDRTrunk does not decode Motorola Smartzone systems.

 

[mattwillson]

Unitrunker has the ability to let you control what talkgroups you listen to. Due to the low resolution image it's hard for me to see but it kind of looks like your signal is off center. Try setting the correction ppm manually, granted you've determined the correct value for it.

 

[noamlivne]

If you are talking about this system: Seattle-King County Public Safety (KCERS) Trunking System, Seattle, Washington - Scanner Frequencies, then Unitrunker is the way to go. SDRTrunk cannot decode Motorola Type II SmartZone.
Unitrunker V1 Index of /download/ is excellent for this use case. You will need at least two separate RTL-SDR dongles and 2 separate virtual Unitrunker Receivers (one virtual receiver with Type=Signal that "sits" on the control channel, and the other virtual receiver with Type=Voice that jumps between the talk channels). You can set priorities to certain groups and you can Hold on a certain group (a feature that is lacking from SDRTrunk, which is best for APCO25 PII, for example).

 

[dave3825]

Unitrunker has the ability to let you control what talkgroups you listen to.

Unitrunker, DSDPlus, Sdrtrunk, OP25 and Trunk recorder all have the ability to let you control what talkgroups you listen to .

Unitrunker V1 Index of /download/ is excellent for this use case. You will need at least two separate RTL-SDR dongles and 2 separate virtual Unitrunker Receivers (one virtual receiver with Type=Signal that "sits" on the control channel, and the other virtual receiver with Type=Voice that jumps between the talk channels)

Unless Unitrunker 2.0 differs from Unitrunker V1, then that depends on the spread of the freqs on the system and what the dongle will cover. I run UT 2.0 with 2 different systems and each system uses just 1 dongle. 1 system uses 1 dongle with 1 signal vfo, 5 voice vfo's and uses 5 virtual audio cables. The other system uses 1 dongle with 1 signal vfo, 3 voice vfo's and 3 virtual audio cables.

In his case, he said he is listening to the King County/ValleyCom Simulcast site and the spread of those freqs is only 1.075Mhz therefor 1 dongle would work fine. If he was listening to the Seattle Simulcast site, those freqs span 5.65Mhz and he would need a few dongles or an Airspy.

 

[awasser1]

I am new to the SDR hobby. On the positive note, I am able to listen/decode Seattle King County/ValleyCom Simulcast (Motorola Type II SmartZone) in Auburn using UNITRUNKER software. When I switch to the SDRTRUNK, (in hopes of perhaps having more control over what talk groups I listen to) all I ever see is a fast scroll of SYNC LOSS - BITS PROCESSED [1570] and [9600] in a regular pattern. Never any actual decoding of the control channel, as far as I can see, no sound, occasionally a couple other messages scroll by. I am wondering what am I missing in the settings, what could be the cause of this. (again, I get both decoding and audio when I use the same hardware with UNITRUNKER)
I use Windows 10, recently built PC and two dongles: IEIK SDRMCX RTL-SDR, FM+DAB, DVB-T USB Stick Set with RTL2832U & R820T
I briefly tried a Linux installation with the same SYNC LOSS results.
I appreciate any suggestions to get me over this bump.

if you check the tuners tab when not locked you can adjust the gain. its preset at a lower number. try raising your gain to 495 for each dongle and see if that works for you. But like someone said this system doesn't work. But for future pacing!!

Alec
N1AJW

 

[dave3825]

SDRTrunk does not decode Motorola Smartzone systems.

But it can decode digital on a SmartZone system.

A while back I had Sdtrunk decoding about 10 digital talkgroups on a SmartZone system. There was at the time, only 4 freqs on system that carried digital voice traffic so I set it up to monitor only those 4 freqs and it worked good.

 

[johnfeher]

I appreciate all the replies on this thread. Based on the comments, I will dig a bit deeper with Unitrunker and I will also try to find another nearby system - not T II SmartZone - to test SDRTrunk with.

 

[rlmurray56]

But it can decode digital on a SmartZone system.

A while back I had Sdtrunk decoding about 10 digital talkgroups on a SmartZone system. There was at the time, only 4 freqs on system that carried digital voice traffic so I set it up to monitor only those 4 freqs and it worked good.

You might be able to listen to individual P25 channels but It will not, however, do any kind of Smart Zone trunking. It will not follow the control channels of a Smart Zone system.

 

[dave3825]

But it can decode digital on a SmartZone system.

You might be able to listen to individual P25 channels but It will not, however, do any kind of Smart Zone trunking. It will not follow the control channels of a Smart Zone system.

I don't recall saying it would do any trunking, let alone Smart Zone trunking. Just said that you can decode digital voice on a SmartZone system. Back when I did it, I don't remember being able to download the system but today you can.

 

[CanesFan95]

It looks like there's a way to use Trunk88 with DSD+: