Reaction Tuning Question

[letarotor]

I've tinkered on and off with UniTrunker since its introduction, recently taking another serious look, and I really like the way this program has matured. I've managed to get it running and decoding, but am having trouble getting the program to reaction tune a second scanner. I am using a discriminator tapped RS PRO-2051 into the sound card and want to reaction tune a BC-245XLT through a serial port Comm 1 if that is even possible. I can't seem to figure out the correct settings in the Receiver/Signal Screen. None of the frequencies in the list turn green regardless of priority settings (so perhaps 2nd scanner has to talk back to the program???). Presently, the program is decoding my local EDACs and Motorola systems fine using "Signal" or "Both" and BC-245XLT on the "Model" line. The following Signal Settings brings up the Site screen and starts system decoding :

Audio Port: Sigma Tel Audio
Sample Rate: 96000
Sample Bit: 16
Channel: Mono

For Control (which I presume is for configuring output to reaction tune scanner?) I've tried using the following or variations thereof with no success:

COMM1
9600
8
1
Odd

Any suggestions as to proper settings would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Mark

 

[BenScan]

Mark and Others, Here are some of the setup windows from my working Unitrunker configuration.

In my cases the Receiver on left, a BCT15X, is using the serial port of the scanner and the Uniden Inline method to decode the trunk control channel. The old BCD796D is the "reaction tuned" one, which is also controlled by another serial port on the same computer. When the right priority traffic is detected on the BCT15X, Unitrunker tunes the BCD796D to the frequency of that talkgroup. Make sure you have the right Type, Models, and Roles selected for each receiver, and that the Baud Rates and other com settings match what is in the scanner connected.

Additionally, if you're doing ProVoice, make sure that's checked. I'm not sure if it need to be done on both receivers, but that works for me.

To test, as you change the Park frequency, you should see the Control receiver change frequency.

Happy Scanning,
Ben

 

[letarotor]

I'm not having any luck creating a second "Receiver" window and assigning it as "Control". I've attached screen shots so please any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
Mark

 

[SCPD]

Does the BCT8 run at 9600 baud?

 

[letarotor]

Im back to my BC-245XLT. Just checked the book and I can choose baud rates, with 8 bit length, 1 bit and parity none. Still no dice. Here are my latest settings. Also, I'm certain there is nothing tying up COM1. Any other ideas Rick? Thanks Mark

 

[SCPD]

Does either radio move to the park frequency when the receiver panel is set to "running"? Let's take a look at the tuner log for the '245 and BCT8. That should tell us whether program and radio are at least on speaking terms.

Also, check your main options page. Is listening enabled? What is the overall listening threshold? Do any group IDs qualify as "listenable" under this threshold? Also, make sure the "Listen" checkbox is not checked for any talkgroup. There's a bug related to this.

 

[letarotor]

Working after re-boot

Rick, just shut program down, did a re-boot of the computer and re-started the program. With 19200, 8, 1, and parity set to None, the BC-245XLT just came to life and is following the frequencies on the screen that are now turning green. Its working now much to my surprise. Thanks
Mark

 

[letarotor]

Also, thanks for the tip on the "Listening" block. That might explain some issues I'm having with some talkgroups on a particular system I'm trying to monitor. And thanks again publically to Ben for suggesting creating two "Receiver" windows, one for the "Signal" scanner and one for the reaction tuned or " Control" scanner. I definately wouldn't have thought to do that.

Rick, I'm really missing the "priority" indicator in this version of the program. Is there some way to bring that back on the Site page? One of Trunker's greatest features is the ability to prioritize talkgroups and radios to only hear only what you want to hear on a system. In many cases, Trunker/UniTrunker beats a real scanner in this regard. The retro program made that info easy to see and quickly change. Thanks.

Mark

 

[SCPD]

Hi Mark;
I hadn't thought of having different listening thresholds on a per-site basis so you're stuck setting the threshold from the main options tab.

From the site window, you're two clicks away to the main program window.

Method 1
Click Home icon on site window.
Click home icon on system window.

Method 2
Click receiver icon on site window.
Click home icon on receiver window.

With either method, click the options tab and scroll down to the listening section.

 

[letarotor]

Priority Column

Hi Mark;
I hadn't thought of having different listening thresholds on a per-site basis so you're stuck setting the threshold from the main options tab.

From the site window, you're two clicks away to the main program window.

Method 1
Click Home icon on site window.
Click home icon on system window.

Method 2
Click receiver icon on site window.
Click home icon on receiver window.

With either method, click the options tab and scroll down to the listening section.

Rick,
That is an interesting point, but perhaps I didn't word my question very well. What I was referring to was the lack of the "Priority" column on any Site page in UniTrunker. The Retro version had this column on the main page directly following the frequency so you could see immediately what priority was assigned to a talkgroup that popped up. The only way to tell the priority of a talkgroup now is to click on the group while it is active and edit it or click on the main page icon (pic of house in upper left corner) and go to the Groups tab and edit each TG individually. But the bottom line is you can’t look at the screen and see what priority is assigned to a talkgroup like on the original Trunker v3.8.3 (Retro). I really miss that because sometimes the program glitches and switches to another active talkgroup and you can't tell if its because of a bad signal or a higher priority (lower numbered) talkgroup becoming active.

One of the greatest features of UniTrunker/Trunker has always been the ability to prioritize talkgroups/Radio IDs for monitoring and set/change threshold level on the fly as the action is unfolding. Its a much better system than is used in scanners; like the ID SCAN vs ID SEARCH method used by Uniden or the 20 system groups used by GRE. For instance if you have, say three or four never want to miss TGs (a survelllance or undercover group for instance) you set those IDs to number values at 1 thru 3 so they never get missed. If a TG with lower assigned number activates, the program reaction tunes scanner to the higher priority or lower number valued TG.

Is there some way to incorporate that column back into the program?

Thanks

Mark

 

[SCPD]

What I was referring to was the lack of the "Priority" column on any Site page in UniTrunker. The Retro version had this column on the main page directly following the frequency so you could see immediately what priority was assigned to a talkgroup that popped up.

Right, gotcha.

Is there some way to incorporate that column back into the program?

Yep. Just added that to the list. I'll add two columns - for source and target priorities.

Listening logic quickly gets convoluted when you take both parties' settings into account (which is why I think it will require two columns).

Example: two calls A and B come through; call A has a target priority of 30 while call B has a target priority of 50. Both calls have a source priority of 50. Call B wins, right? What if Lockout is checked for the source ID for call B? What if the source priority of call A was 25 instead of 50?

If an ID has been locked out, perhaps the priority column should display that instead of the numerical priority.

We'll see where this goes ...

 

[letarotor]

Thank you, Rick. Since its a universal setting, would it be easier to add a block that displays the set Source Priority say after the affliliation, calls, pages, patches, and scroll check boxes in the line between the frequencys and detail log? Also like the idea of displaying lockouts in the target priority column. Will look forward to those additions if they are possible.

Mark

 

[SCPD]

would it be easier to add a block that displays the set Source Priority say after the affliliation, calls, pages, patches, and scroll check boxes in the line between the frequencies and detail log?

You mean a checkbox to enable the column(s)? I thinking about adding two columns. You can hide/show the columns just as any other column.

I'll probably add more stuff alongside those checkboxes someday, but that will be for additional filtering of the history log.

 

[FlashP]

For your question about priorities, the classic Trunker logic works fine: the effective priority is the minimum of the source and target values (where lower number = more important in Trunker).

 

[SCPD]

Perhaps I can get away with one column - the effective priority of the IDs. The logic is comparable to DOS Trunker. I had further complicated the logic by adding a Listen check box. This was the opposite of the Lockout. I should rip it out since it adds very little benefit.

 

[letarotor]

Unitrunker wrote: "You mean a checkbox to enable the column(s)? I thinking about adding two columns. You can hide/show the columns just as any other column."

No not a check box, just a window displaying the Source Priority. That would prevent you from having to create a second column. Because correct me if I am wrong: the only way to change the Source Priority is on the Universal page under "Options". The Target Priorities can be changed two ways: by clicking on the active talkgroup, or by editing the number in the "Groups" tab on the Site page.

Unitrunker wrote: "Perhaps I can get away with one column - the effective priority of the IDs. The logic is comparable to DOS Trunker. I had further complicated the logic by adding a Listen check box. This was the opposite of the Lockout. I should rip it out since it adds very little benefit."

Thats the ticket and more what I had imagined. Like the older Trunker where we just remembered what Source Priority we had set. On my Retro Trunker screens I have everything I want to listen to set to a value of less than 50. But if things get really busy on a system I can change that number to say 20. So Source Priority is really not as big a deal as knowing each TGs Target Priority as it popps up.

Unitrunker wrote: "I'll probably add more stuff alongside those checkboxes someday, but that will be for additional filtering of the history log."

Great ideas, thanks Rick.

Mark

 

[SCPD]

Hi Mark;

Because correct me if I am wrong: the only way to change the Source Priority is on the Universal page under "Options". The Target Priorities can be changed two ways: by clicking on the active talkgroup, or by editing the number in the "Groups" tab on the Site page.

The source priority is the listening priority of the user. Very much like talk groups - it can be edited from the Users tab on the System window or in a pop-up User window.

When I mentioned two columns, I was referring to the listening priorities of the "source" (eg. the transmitting subscriber unit) and the "target" (the talkgroup or another radio in the case of a unit-to-unit or "I-call").

To recap terminology ...

Source Priority - priority you've assigned to the source or the call. eg. the caller.
Target Priority - priority you''ve assigned to the target of the call eg. the callee.
Listening Threshold - that's the priority you've set on the main Options tab.

 

[letarotor]

Thanks for defining those terms. Documentation doesn't splain that. So basically a column for talkgroup priorities and one for radio ID priorities, correct? That's even better, so definately yes to the two column idea.

Mark