DSDPlus Questioning About DSD+ Fast Lan e and T3 DMR System Monitoring

[rkillins]

I have DSD+ Fastlane configured and to monitor the DMR T3 MRC Systems (L6), site 12 .
I am monitoring with a two RTL-SDR setup, with one dedicated as the CC controller ('CC Monitor'), and the second the voice controller ('VC Monitor').

The radioreference site resource indicates this to be a single frequency site with a channel number of 1405/1406. I have this in my frequencies file and I am managing to decode the CC and hear voice transmissions.

I am questioning...
1) The voice transmissions are coming through via the CC Monitor. The CC Channel Activity is handling the voice comms, while the enabled VC Channel Activity window remains inactive. The per call recordings are going to the CC folder, and not the VC as a result. Is this because there's only one frequency? If I monitor another site with the same configuration that has a few frequencies, monitoring behaves as anticipated with voice going to the VC monitor, and CC quietly decoding the CC. If this is the case, can I avoid the whole second VC configuration and just use the single RTL-SDR config to act in both CC and VC ('Combined CC/VC Monitor') capacity?

2) The CC Activity Window is displaying :

Ch	Tx Freq	Pri	Target	TgtAlias	Source	SrcAlias
1405	422.7875		CC
8190

It is identifying a channel number (8190) but no corresponding frequency. Would this indicate that this site has another frequency associated with it that remains unidentified? RR only recognizes one frequency association with this site on channels 1405/1406

 

[dave3825]

Those that are going to offer you help will most likely want to know how you are starting the dongles and DSDPlus. They will also want to know the settings your using and if you modified any files.

It is identifying a channel number (8190) but no corresponding frequency. Would this indicate that this site has another frequency associated with it that remains unidentified? RR only recognizes one frequency association with this site on channels 1405/1406

More than likely there are more freqs tx'ing from the site.

Voice on cc side could have something to do with not having all the freqs defined in the freqs file.

If it were me, since you have 2 dongles, run an instance of single dongle mode on the cc and then launch a second single dongle instance and use that fmp24 to snoop around for any freqs active when the first instance is saying there is a call.

 

[rkillins]

Thank you @dave3825

I am running a two dongle system, but considering the system, I likely don't have to, and just go with a a combined CC/VC configuration.

FMP24-CC.bat

FMP24 -rc -i3 -o20001 -b12.5 -g37.2 -P-1.6 -f422.7875

DSD+ CC.bat

DSDPlus -rc -i20001 -v4 -wsl400.2 -wss100.200 -wel0.1 -wcl0.445 -wes400.520 >>MRC_control.log

FMP24-VC.bat

FMP24 -rv -i2 -o20002 -P-1.6 -g37.2 -b-12.5

DSD+ VC.bat

DSDPlus -rv -Pwav -i20002 -v3 -wsl400.210 -wss100.200 -wel172.522 -wcl528.0 >>MRC_voice.log

Once active, I enable per call recording of the CC monitor to capture the transmissions that occur on this radio. There are no voice recordings via the VC radio as it is not receiving an voice calls.

As far as the potentially missing frequency goes, I looked the known frequency of the site on the governemnt search page and found it's callsign. I then looked up the callsign, and it revealed another frequency (TAFL) not accounted for. It pretty much shares all the same details as the known frequency (TAFL), including station location, so I am going to make a guess this may be worth investigating. I've added it to my DSD+ frequency list, but it's such a quiet system, it may take days before it nets any confirmed connection. FWIW, most transmissions have been happening on the second slot of the sole frequency, which is what has led me to inquire as to why the comms were coming through on the CC monitor vs the voice monitor. Nope ... different system.

I have switched the CC monitor to Combined CC/VC mode for my current session, and stopped the VC instance of DSD+ to see what happens, but again, such a quiet system I don't know if things are working or not. I expect that voice transmissions will be through the CC channel activity window, with channel and frequency info being displayed here as encountered. No group call traffic yet on this site (CC is decoding radio requests etc). The CC is displayed, but it's channel number and frequency aren't populated. I keep thinking it should be as it's known? It will once there is a voice transmission. I monitor another site that has 3 or four frequencies, and the dual CC and VC configuration works, it's just this site with it's original one frequency entered.

 

[dave3825]

What I do is I run single dongle mode on cc with DSDPlus

Then I run sdr# with a second dongle using the fast scanner plug in and scan the range I feel the rest of the freqs are in. Have done that do with uniden scanners also.

 

[rkillins]

System finally came alive with a brief conversation ...
Channel numbers do no match what's in radio reference, therefore my frequency file, at all. Not sure where the channel numbers of 8189 and 8190 came from, when RR references the control channel of 422.7875 be be channel 1405 and 1406. Which ones are right? My frequency file reflects what is recorded in RR for this site, but monitoring the same site, on the only frequency known (the control channel), is resulting in differing information, no voice on VC as well as the NoVF flag on the VC radio.

 

[cg]

Have you edited the Frequencies file to replace Ch 1405 with Ch 8189?
I would do that and then simply try the single SDR by choosing Combined CC/VC Monitor under the Control tab.

 

[rkillins]

Have you edited the Frequencies file to replace Ch 1405 with Ch 8189?
I would do that and then simply try the single SDR by choosing Combined CC/VC Monitor under the Control tab.

No, I hadn't yet. The system people must have changed the channel numbers today. Monitoring started this morning with the CC frequency on 422.7875, but as the time I wrote that last post, had changed to 8189. Does the control channel carry the channel number and frequencies of it's neighbouring sites? If so, monitoring another site (site 2) shows site 12 as a neighbour confirming a CC channel of 422.7875 on channel 8189.
I guess I will change my frequency file and monitor a bit more before I submit a change to RR Database. I will disable the second DSD+ configuration of the voice radio, and switch the current CC mode to combined voice and control and see what questions it leaves me with.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Channel numbers do no match what's in radio reference, therefore my frequency file, at all.

Submit an update to get the Ch IDs changed for Site 12