SDRTrunk making me so mad I could scream

[PDXh0b0]

For a typical RTL device a gain of 36-39 generally works pretty well. The easy way to determine the best gain is to run GQRX while watching the control channel freq in the spectrum display, then slowly increase the device gain until just below where the noise floor starts to rise appreciably.

still some more ironing out, but it is up and going

 

[Indianabrad]

I am the OP of this thread & I don't see why anyone here didn't just say "Info on the quality of your reception and other important info can be discerned from the DOS window.".

 

[dave3825]

The setup: 1. Nooelec NESDR SMArt v4.

every time that SDRTrunk picks up a comm it will play the audio of it for about 3 seconds then in the "Event column" it will then show "Group Call - Rejected" and stop playing the audio. It does this on EVERY comm it receives and sometimes it will show "Patch Call - Rejected". I have turned off, in the setting, everything related to "Duplicate Calls", but this piece of "%&$#*!" just keeps rejecting all the comms.

How wide is the frequency spread of your control channel and all possible transmit frequencies? It's likely that a single dongle doesn't have enough bandwidth to cover the whole system.

There is no prob receiving the CC, this is not a reception prob, the data in the "message box" flows like wine at a millions scrolls per minute.

One site has a CC freq of 859.9625 and the other site has a CC freq of 859.9375

I also noticed that when it stops playing the comm, in the "details" box it says "Tuner unavailable -

Indianbrad, you really need the 2nd dongle. SDRTrunk does work great

The Monon site freqs span 8.4875 Mhz
The Rensselaer site freqs span 8.3125 Mhz

To use Sdrtrunk, you either need more dongles or you need to see if your in range of any of the sites whose freqs span less the 2.4375 Mhz. I looked before and there are a few there that would work if your in range.

I don't see why anyone here didn't just say "Info on the quality of your reception and other important info can be discerned from the DOS window.".

I would guess because you either you came in with a bad attitude or because you stated it was not a reception problem.




.

 

[ekrashola]

I have also used OP25 and it really cooks with just one RTL-SDR or NESDR. I have a RPi 3B+ using an old Nooelec TV tuner stick configured to handle the system I monitor in my office at work, running 24x7 even though I'm rarely there now.

Unitrunker 2.0 also works well but needs 2 SDRs.

For my use case SDRTrunk has been the easiest to get running - especially if you have access to the RR database and at least 2 SDRs or one SDR with enough bandwidth.

My experience is that UniTrunker does not require two dongles, and I've run multiple VCO's for each system I monitor. It does however take two VCO's; one for signal and one for voice channels in an EDACS system, fortunately we have BART on EDACS to experiment with. So a mix of different EDACS and P25 systems is no problem. I have about five control channels plugged in or added in SDRTrunk for Travis AFB and Beale as 380-400 Mhz as well as a few Federal systems in the 400-420 Mhz spectrum, though almost completely encrypted some voice slips through, and I have them assigned or preferred to one dongle. I used the Eprom editor to change the serial numbers of my dongles to make it easier to identify which is which, the utility can do more but the software may need the other info to identify the SDR model, so putting a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, on the serial number is all need be done. I also use two V4's, have two V3's, and had two Nano2+, one burned out as those run hot, in addition to a standard NooElec that came with the Upconverter to explore HF stuff, but I also got the other LNA's and other Ham it upconverters. It would be nice if SDRTrunk did not rely on the bandwidth model it's using as there should be a workaround just as with any regular scanner that is not limited by bandwidth as a result of not being able to display a segment used for trunking. If one wanted to see the extra bandwidth a second line display, whether SDRTrunk can make use of such a second display for extra bandwidth a different display and bandwidth model could be developed that mimics or virtualizes the 6Mhz of other SDR tuners.

 

[Pezking]

Is SDRTrunk even actively being maintained? The author has been AWOL for months.

 

[ChrisABQ]

As the developer receives no pay for SDRTrunk, he has been very busy with his job. If you have any issues, post them on the Google group here: sdrtrunk - Google Groups and you may hear from him directly.

 

[merlin]

For a typical RTL device a gain of 36-39 generally works pretty well. The easy way to determine the best gain is to run GQRX while watching the control channel freq in the spectrum display, then slowly increase the device gain until just below where the noise floor starts to rise appreciably.

The best gain settings are the best signal/noise ratio. Often that is not a lot of gain. there is an optimum balance of RF gain with IF gain. If like me with a lot of outband signals, turn that AGC off. The tell tale of that is a jumpy noise floor.

 

[Pezking]

I asked if he was still active because I haven’t heard from him in months. I know how to get ahold of him, the trouble is he isn’t answering.

 

[TomLine]

Lots of good suggestions here. Signal strength and high/low frequency range of the system being monitored could be easily verified with SDR# or your favorite reciever software.

 

[GTR8000]

I asked if he was still active because I haven’t heard from him in months. I know how to get ahold of him, the trouble is he isn’t answering.

He replied to an email I sent him last week. 🤷🏼‍♂️