SDRTrunk Decoding of transmissions

[ChrisABQ]

I have been using SDRTrunk for 2 years now and have never really heard an answer for this:

Question: Does SDRTrunk automatically decode every transmission even those where the alias is NOT selected to Listen, Record or Stream. OR is it skipped totally except for showing up as occupying a channel slot. I'm wondering if CPU is being utilized by decoding alias I have not set to hear. Using latest 0.6.0 Final version.
Thanks

 

[DSheirer]

Yes, it decodes everything.

 

[ChrisABQ]

Wouldn't it make sense to not decode something that you don't want to hear?

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Feature request was submitted for this back in May, 2022. No movement made on it

feature: Hide/Drop Calls from the Now Playing view that don't have Aliases/Muted · Issue #1235 · DSheirer/sdrtrunk

For a trunked system - Simplify the activity of the Now Playing view by hiding or dropping calls that don't have an alias or are set to Listen:off in the playlist editor. The idea behind this - I d...

github.com

 

[ChrisABQ]

Thanks Whiskey

 

[WX4JCW]

im trying to figure out when say an encrypted channel is active and takes up a slot, do the priorities even work

 

[DSheirer]

Wouldn't it make sense to not decode something that you don't want to hear?

Yes, maybe, if you assume that everyone uses the software the same way, everyone is only interested in calls/audio, everyone has an alias list that's fully/correctly configured, etc.

I could expose lots of configuration options and put the onus on the user to configure the software correctly ... and then field countless questions about why the software doesn't work correctly for them.

The reality is that folks use the software in many different ways and the more configuration options you expose to the user, the more complicated the software becomes to use. The learning curve for new users is already steep, so I try to keep the default behavior/configuration as open as possible and I try not to make assumptions about how anyone will use the software.

cheers,
Denny

 

[belvdr]

Yes, maybe, if you assume that everyone uses the software the same way, everyone is only interested in calls/audio, everyone has an alias list that's fully/correctly configured, etc.

I could expose lots of configuration options and put the onus on the user to configure the software correctly ... and then field countless questions about why the software doesn't work correctly for them.

The reality is that folks use the software in many different ways and the more configuration options you expose to the user, the more complicated the software becomes to use. The learning curve for new users is already steep, so I try to keep the default behavior/configuration as open as possible and I try not to make assumptions about how anyone will use the software.

cheers,
Denny

That’s fair. One option may be to include a checkbox to only decode what is configured and leave it unchecked by default so everything is decoded.

Many applications I use have a checkbox to enable advanced features so you have to enable that first before exposing such an option.

Either way, it is your software and I appreciate the effort you have put into it.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

The learning curve for new users is already steep

Not nearly as steep as oh say DSDPlus. Been using that app for probably about a decade at this point, there's still cryptic aspects of it that I can't wrap my brain around. Keep up the good work with SDRTrunk!

 

[WX4JCW]

i got to admit SDRTrunk has the best audio out of the box

 

[ChrisABQ]

That’s fair. One option may be to include a checkbox to only decode what is configured and leave it unchecked by default so everything is decoded.

Many applications I use have a checkbox to enable advanced features so you have to enable that first before exposing such an option.

Either way, it is your software and I appreciate the effort you have put into it.

This would be ideal.

 

[GTR8000]

I could expose lots of configuration options and put the onus on the user to configure the software correctly ... and then field countless questions about why the software doesn't work correctly for them.

Hmm, perhaps a compromise would be to allow command line arguments in the batch file to unlock advanced options for advanced users, leave the GUI simplified. Or the basic/advanced view toggle in the GUI.

I would sure like to see some advanced options like completely ignoring encrypted calls/don't waste resources or bandwidth decoding, as well as the ability to "lock" a dongle to a lower and upper limit (or absolute center frequency) without having to create dummy channels to accomplish this.

 

[ChrisABQ]

I agree with all of GTR's suggestions. If data channels can be locked out, why not ENC and TG's that have no intent of listening to. Dongle locking would be fabulous on busy urban 2 tier frequency systems. I would gladly add some code to the bat file to enable these features, I already limit memory usage using DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS.

 

[bob550]

Not nearly as steep as oh say DSDPlus. Been using that app for probably about a decade at this point, there's still cryptic aspects of it that I can't wrap my brain around. Keep up the good work with SDRTrunk!

I'm with you Whiskey! I've tried DSDPlus on multiple occasions with no success. With SDRTrunk, I followed the excellent instructions on a Youtube series from Ryan Owens and got it running without fail. In fact, as I sit here typing this I'm listening to SDRTrunk. The performance on my local Simulcast systems is flawless!