P25RX P25 Phase 1/2/DMR Receiver With Bluetooth Audio Support

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ScanBoston

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That was how I was thinking it worked giving you a priority to the talkgroups you were listening too at anypoint but I now understand it isn't.
 

btt

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Status Update on availability: Boards have shipped and should arrive this week. The rest of the components are already here.
 

btt

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That was how I was thinking it worked giving you a priority to the talkgroups you were listening too at anypoint but I now understand it isn't.
Great! After you have a chance to test it, let me know if it doesn't seem to be working as expected or you have thoughts on how to make it better.
 

jje64

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The Rx looks very promising. It is not clear to me if it will "scan" between two different trunk systems or if it just will tune one at a time. It seems to me the later. Can anyone help clear that up?

Thanks
 

Mike_G_D

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The Rx looks very promising. It is not clear to me if it will "scan" between two different trunk systems or if it just will tune one at a time. It seems to me the later. Can anyone help clear that up?

Thanks
The answer to your question is "Yes" but it's not super clear how based on the UI if your familiar with "normal" scanners. If you go to the P25RX Configuration tab you will see an option to "Enable Roaming On Loss Of Signal". Make sure that is checked. Then, you will also see a setting for "Shuffle Control Channels After [your choice of number of seconds here] Seconds Of Silence (0 to disable)". Set this to whatever you want greater than 0 - I have mine normally set at 7 seconds.

What this will do is, IF you have more than one control channel listed in the "Search DB For Control Channels" settings tab it will normally choose the one you have set as the "Primary" but, if that system is quiet for the number of seconds you have chosen in the setting I outlined above it will switch to the next CC you have listed. I only have two, currently, and they are both on the same system but on different sites. I do this because I can hear both sites and not all talk groups I am interested in are normally carried on the one nearest me. So, for my setup, if the "Primary" is quiet for 7 consecutive seconds then it will switch to the other CC which is for the adjacent site and scan that one for seven seconds unless a call comes through on that system wherein the clock will reset, etc. For me, this works well and I hear a LOT of traffic on both sites.

I do wish it were a little more "normal" and controllable in arrangement such that I could set separate systems with their associated sites and set up each site in each system with "Primary" and "Alternate" CC's but I understand that this is still a work in progress and that the developer is not super familiar with hobby consumer class scanner equipment and how they are operationally arranged. For me, crude though the current setup may be, it works very well and I can't argue with the results! These kind of details are operational software in nature and can be fixed in time fairly easily relative to the actual RF performance and other details that are currently at a higher priority for attention.

That said, I have also put in CC's for completely different systems in the CC list and it has worked fine. You just can't separate systems into separate categories, zones, or scan lists yet. So CC's, regardless of which system or site they belong to, are currently all "lumped together" in one list and will be sequentially (sort of) scanned through depending on how you have setup the "Shuffle Control Channels After..." setting.

I guess you can think of it as currently dependent on system "Dwell Time" but slaved to activity level depending on how long you want the "no activity" period before moving on to last.

What I'd like to see as a major added feature is some way to select and prioritize SYSTEMS by using the SysID and maybe the WACN and NAC (configurable by user) so that I could easily switch between systems in a controllable and predictable manner rather than depend solely on RSSI level and seconds of silence. Something like having the ability to check and uncheck systems maybe in the Control Channels setup tab based on the SysID and set priority levels for those systems. That would, by itself, be a huge benefit for me and be an improvement over most traditional consumer level scanners (which tend not to use the SysID usually and only rely on separate scan lists and RSSI levels to differentiate the systems).

-Mike
 

jje64

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The answer to your question is "Yes" but it's not super clear how based on the UI if your familiar with "normal" scanners. If you go to the P25RX Configuration tab you will see an option to "Enable Roaming On Loss Of Signal". Make sure that is checked. Then, you will also see a setting for "Shuffle Control Channels After [your choice of number of seconds here] Seconds Of Silence (0 to disable)". Set this to whatever you want greater than 0 - I have mine normally set at 7 seconds.

What this will do is, IF you have more than one control channel listed in the "Search DB For Control Channels" settings tab it will normally choose the one you have set as the "Primary" but, if that system is quiet for the number of seconds you have chosen in the setting I outlined above it will switch to the next CC you have listed. I only have two, currently, and they are both on the same system but on different sites. I do this because I can hear both sites and not all talk groups I am interested in are normally carried on the one nearest me. So, for my setup, if the "Primary" is quiet for 7 consecutive seconds then it will switch to the other CC which is for the adjacent site and scan that one for seven seconds unless a call comes through on that system wherein the clock will reset, etc. For me, this works well and I hear a LOT of traffic on both sites.

I do wish it were a little more "normal" and controllable in arrangement such that I could set separate systems with their associated sites and set up each site in each system with "Primary" and "Alternate" CC's but I understand that this is still a work in progress and that the developer is not super familiar with hobby consumer class scanner equipment and how they are operationally arranged. For me, crude though the current setup may be, it works very well and I can't argue with the results! These kind of details are operational software in nature and can be fixed in time fairly easily relative to the actual RF performance and other details that are currently at a higher priority for attention.

That said, I have also put in CC's for completely different systems in the CC list and it has worked fine. You just can't separate systems into separate categories, zones, or scan lists yet. So CC's, regardless of which system or site they belong to, are currently all "lumped together" in one list and will be sequentially (sort of) scanned through depending on how you have setup the "Shuffle Control Channels After..." setting.

I guess you can think of it as currently dependent on system "Dwell Time" but slaved to activity level depending on how long you want the "no activity" period before moving on to last.

What I'd like to see as a major added feature is some way to select and prioritize SYSTEMS by using the SysID and maybe the WACN and NAC (configurable by user) so that I could easily switch between systems in a controllable and predictable manner rather than depend solely on RSSI level and seconds of silence. Something like having the ability to check and uncheck systems maybe in the Control Channels setup tab based on the SysID and set priority levels for those systems. That would, by itself, be a huge benefit for me and be an improvement over most traditional consumer level scanners (which tend not to use the SysID usually and only rely on separate scan lists and RSSI levels to differentiate the systems).

-Mike
Thank You Mike. That is a very comprehensive and clear explanation. I agree with your suggestion to improvements. My hope for usage of this device is for mobile operation. It looks very promissing.
 

Mike_G_D

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I see it is relatively "quiet" around here the last few days so I just wanted to make a few small comments.

Firstly, to the developer:

I have been using the latest "test" software/firmware versions and they seem to be stable and fine, at least through version 9/22/2020 1501. Have just recently installed the latest (as of the time of this post) 9/25/2020 1047. This latest install had a couple really small issues wherein the two new unknown talk groups it had found previous to the install got "lost" and some configuration settings got changed but nothing major and I am back up and running just fine now. Only for a short time, so far, but haven't seen any issues yet.

I haven't tested the new features yet nor the new DMR or NXDN capability. I am in the middle of a lot of chaos in my life right now and moving so time for me is limited as far as experimenting with radios is concerned, unfortunately.

That said, I use this device almost 24/7 for monitoring my local countywide 800MHz P25 P2 system and, all-in-all, I am really impressed with this thing, I have to say! I think, for the price, it's the best deal out there for UHF and above digital trunking system monitoring in simulcast environments. With DMR and now NXDN support I'd say the deal just keeps getting better.

I did just recently "plug" your device in this thread here, by the way: New Scanner Enthusiast for what it's worth.

Just a few "words of encouragement" in case that helps! I REALLY don't want to see continued development of this device and any successor models cease!

-Mike
 
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radio123

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I'm still interested in purchasing, however just wondering if you had reconsidered the decision to not ship to Canada?
 

freqseeker

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I recall seeing this product in a post and intended to look into it more. I just read the entire thread and I am very interested.
I signed up for email notifications and will purchase as soon as they are available again. Shipping will be fast as you are nearly in my backyard.
@btt your passion for your work shows! I look forward to learning the next generation of scanning.
 

btt

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As some have already noticed, there is a new "testing" version available. This version has initial support for NXDN-4800 voice. NXDN trunking support is pending and will be the next firmware effort. Thank you to those of you who helped with testing. Some may notice improvements in audio performance. You should notice an improvement in DMR reception performance.

Boards and components are all here now for production run #3. I will do my best to have more units available by the end of the week.
 

Tinkerwave

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Just discovered this thread Sunday morning and tried to order two hours later. I signed up for notice when it's available so I can order it. I'm excited!

In the meantime, I have a question. I'd like it to alert when it detects someone keys their transmitter on one of the talkgroups you've set, then immediately (i.e., about 25 ms) continue to scan all those TG frequencies for all those configured P25 talkgroups, like if you enabled alerts for FD and PD talkgroups in the city and county, and alert when it detects another radio keyed in.
 
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Forts

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So you want an alert on a specific radio ID? Then the device to follow that radio ID? I think what you are asking for is way beyond what this device (and most others) are capable of doing.
 

cg

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It sounds to me what you are looking for is activity on a certain single group to activate scanning of a preprogrammed set of talkgroups. If so I would think that would be a very limited use option for the majority of users.

chris
 

Forts

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No. For frequencies on whichever TG's you've set.

That makes no sense... if you are scanning ANY talkgroup then you are already scanning frequencies. Perhaps you just aren't that familiar with how trunked systems work, but things are scanned at the talkgroup level, not by frequency.
 

Tinkerwave

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Forts said:
That makes no sense... if you are scanning ANY talkgroup then you are already scanning frequencies. Perhaps you just aren't that familiar with how trunked systems work, but things are scanned at the talkgroup level, not by frequency.
Yes I know. I was being explicit to remove any questions. In many cases, that approach has helped, but not in this case lol
 

Tinkerwave

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It sounds to me what you are looking for is activity on a certain single group to activate scanning of a preprogrammed set of talkgroups. If so I would think that would be a very limited use option for the majority of users.
I disagree, but that's OK. Besides, I'll happily pay for that feature to be added, once @btt has his to-do list stabilized - that is, if he's interested. If you are OK to discuss it @btt, please let me know.
 

KC1UA

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That sounds like a feature that the old Probe (OS-456, OS-535, Optocom) DOS based software used to have where one frequency activated would trigger another group of otherwise not-scanned frequencies. Actually under some circumstances it could be interesting. But if at all I would expect that would be a "way down the road" option, and further, there is an option for 3rd party software developers. If this receiver really takes off maybe we'll see some options there as well.
 
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