SDR

[ThePhotoGuy]

Recently bough an SDR device, RTL2832U. I have been hoping to use this to run Unitrunker instead of wasting a radio to run Unitrunker. Curious if anyone else is using it in Maryland?

I am trying to figure out how to calibrate it also...

 

[troymail]

I use a couple of dongles but I haven't done much beyond linking up SDR Sharp and DSD+. That was pain enough for me.

 

[Mr_Boh]

Yes I am. On the RTL-SDR site there's a pretty good guide for using it with Unitrunker. My recommendation is to start with SDR# and get comfortable with the waterfall display of your local freqs and how you correct for the "drift" that happens.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

I use a couple of dongles but I haven't done much beyond linking up SDR Sharp and DSD+. That was pain enough for me.

Neat little device (and cheap ). Will have to figure it out when I have some spare time...

 

[troymail]

Yes... I just followed various steps/instructions here:

rtl-sdr.com - RTL-SDR (RTL2832U) and software defined radio news and projects. Also featuring Airspy, HackRF, FCD, SDRplay and more.

 

[ThePhotoGuy]

Yes I am. On the RTL-SDR site there's a pretty good guide for using it with Unitrunker. My recommendation is to start with SDR# and get comfortable with the waterfall display of your local freqs and how you correct for the "drift" that happens.

Yes... I just followed various steps/instructions here:

rtl-sdr.com - RTL-SDR (RTL2832U) and software defined radio news and projects. Also featuring Airspy, HackRF, FCD, SDRplay and more.

Thanks, I will have to check it out.

 

[Mr_Boh]

Thanks, I will have to check it out.

When you get into Unitrunker just start with monitoring the control channel until you're comfortable. Voice following adds a layer of complexity, and a larger layer of complexity for P25 audio.

 

[marksmith]

I monitor about a dozen sites in Maryland with Unitrunker, but only one dongle, not the voice following two dongle setup.

The key is to get the offset on the dongle determined so you can properly tune the control channels. I use the Sharp application for this, tune in a known control channel, and then play with the offset until it is the clearest. Then I set Unitrunker's receiver for that offset. This results in Unitrunker being properly tuned. You can uncheck the mute selection on the receiver when you set the offset to verify the improvement in tuning. Each dongle is a little different. I have 3 and none are the same.

So, once you fire up Unitrunker, go to the receiver, and set up a receiver for the dongle. Enter the setup, and start the receiver. Once it is running, it should open up a monitor window for that system, populating all the frequencies and starting to show active talkgroups and radio ID's

You can click on either and using the label field, name them wit text descriptions.

Mark
536/436/WS1095/HP1/HP2/996T/996XT/996P2/396XT/325P2/PSR800/15X/others