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KG5HHS

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I have no knowledge of SDR. I'm looking for a place to start. I'm considering it as an alternative for monitoring multiple systems to include: An 800mhz P25 Phase II system, two VHF P25 Phase I systems, A VHF P25 Conventional system, two UHF DMR Conventional System, and Several VHF & UHF Analog conventional systems. I have the following questions:
1. What type of hardware will I need to purchase?
2. What kind of software will I need to purchase?
3. Will I need different hardware/software for the different systems?
4. Will I be able to host a feed with SDR?
 

ChrisABQ

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I have 2 RTL SDR dongles ($50 total), VB Cable (free), Unitrunker (latest release - free) and DSD+ 1.101 (free). That's all I need to receive EDACS ProVoice and P25 Phase 1
 

KG5HHS

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Thank you for your reply. Can you please explain what all the different softwares are for and why the need for two of the dongles.
 

ChrisABQ

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You need 2 dongles, one the stays on the control channel and one that picks up the voice signal. These digital systems are trunking systems where each click of the mic moves the conversation to a new frequency. This is what Unitrunker is for. DSD+ is used to decode the types of digital system you are looking to decode, whether it be Edacs, P25, DMR or others. You can find all this information and program downloads by searching for them in Google.
 

KG5HHS

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Ah okay, thanks for explaining. So do these programs work together? Also, where can I go to find a list of all of these programs and what they decode?
 

elraval

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Barcelona, Spain
http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-radio-scanner-tutorial-decoding-digital-voice-p25-with-dsd/

This is my go to site for all things SDR. It's a valuable repository of info. You should check their quick start guide on installing RTL-SDR drivers and SDR#.

The link above is for their tutorial on decoding digital voice. I followed the instructions there and was decoding DMR in no time in my town with no more than a dongle and the stock antenna that came with it.

In the site store they sell a nice dongle with a metal case, TCXO and SMA connectors. You can find cheaper ones around the web but I've been buying theirs as retribution for the effort they put on their blog.

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Covack

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God's Country
I receive trunked P25 using only one dongle and Unitrunker/DSD+. If all channels are not very far apart (say 2 MHz), one dongle is enough, as Unitrunker has the capability to create several VCOs. Also, VCable (free) is neccessary. Follow the instructions given here: The Easy Setup Guide for RTL-SDR Trunking with One USB Dongle | ULTRA TechLife

Plus1 on this setup
In unitrunker
I use one dongle with no problems,
1st vco is signal and 2nd vco is voice

open dsd plus after unitrunker scans in some signal's ( they will populate
You should be good
 

elraval

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Barcelona, Spain
I haven't put my fingers on trunked systems, and Unitrunker, yet. And here in Europe there aren't P25 systems that I know of.

Does Unitrunker work with trunked DMR also?

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KG5HHS

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I just ordered two cheap RTL-SDR dongles (R820T2+RTL2832U chip) with the antenna's. I don't really need them as I have figured out solutions to monitoring everything I'm interested in monitoring where I live (Aviation, City PD/FD on P25 Phase 2, County SO/VFD on P25/Analog Conventional & Local businesses using DMR). I just figured it would be fun to play with. I am however interested in trying to monitor the city FD's station alerting. I know they use zetron alerting. Inside each of the stations are Zetron Model 6's. The data can be heard on a uhf frequency. Is this something that can be done?
 
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