SDRtrunk recordings & talkgroups.

[AngWay]

While using SDRtrunk i'v noticed some things that i just don't understand. I'll attach some pics showing but how come at the bottom of the first pic i have two TG's showing up side by side i'v never seen it do this before is it a bug or is it suppose to do that?

In the alias tab i have like 6 TG's that i listen to i set the first one to priority 1 and set the rest as priority 2 now just to clarify does that mean the TG with priority 1 will always be first meaning if TG with priority 2 is going on and the TG with priority 1 becomes active then the priority 2 TG will go silent? " hope i explained that right" lol.
and what if i set all 6 TG's to priority 1 will it just become one big mess?

And in the preferred tuner part when u set a control channel to listen to if say i have 2 dongles and i just leave them both set to none will it matter or is it best to set eacy control channel to a preferred tuner?

I noticed that encrypted TG's still show up in the now playing area is that taking up room on my SDR is it still processing that TG, what if i unmuted the encrypted TG and set the priority to like 99 would that make any difference?

I noticed SDRTrunk saves recordings as .mp3 files is their a way to make it save to .wav files?

Many thanks to everyone.

 

[Enforcer52]

i have two TG's showing up side by side i'v never seen it do this before is it a bug or is it suppose to do that?

I have noticed this also when two different TGIDs are patched together by the dispatcher.

In the alias tab i have like 6 TG's that i listen to i set the first one to priority 1 and set the rest as priority 2 now just to clarify does that mean the TG with priority 1 will always be first meaning if TG with priority 2 is going on and the TG with priority 1 becomes active then the priority 2 TG will go silent? " hope i explained that right" lol.
and what if i set all 6 TG's to priority 1 will it just become one big mess?

I don't set priority channels myself, but if you set a channel to 1 and the others to 2, then yes the 1 channel has priority over the other ones. Since SDRTrunk plays the transmissions in order of receiving them, I find priority just messes up your listening in my opinion.

And in the preferred tuner part when u set a control channel to listen to if say i have 2 dongles and i just leave them both set to none will it matter or is it best to set eacy control channel to a preferred tuner?

SDRTrunk will select a tuner based on the band width available in start order so it depends on what you have in your playlist and what order you are starting them in. I listen to two different towers in two cities that are on the same TXWARN system, but too far apart in bandwidth for 1 tuner. They are set to #1 and #2 in the start order, if not then my conventional systems end up splitting up the tuners in an inefficient way. But I also designate the first two tuners to them to ensure that the tuners I want are used.

The conventional channels will all work on 1 tuner if I figure out the middle band width channel and set that one to preferred tuner 3 first, then all the other conventional channels will load on the third tuner if they are set to prefer the 3rd tuner. If I don't do this then they will end up being split over two tuners.

Then I have 3 more tuners that the two P25 systems use as needed when receiving transmissions.

I noticed that encrypted TG's still show up in the now playing area is that taking up room on my SDR is it still processing that TG, what if i unmuted the encrypted TG and set the priority to like 99 would that make any difference?

Unmuting and setting to 99 will just have you listening to scrambled transmissions. Leave them muted even though they show up.

I noticed SDRTrunk saves recordings as .mp3 files is their a way to make it save to .wav files?

.mp3 files are compressed and therefore save hard drive space, .wav file can be very large, so depends on how much hard drive space you have and how long you keep recordings.

Hope this helps, someone else may have a better explanation of things, but this is what works for me.

 

[RMason]

While using SDRtrunk i'v noticed some things that i just don't understand.

If you don't have it, the SDRTrunk User Guide is here: User Manual

I'll attach some pics showing but how come at the bottom of the first pic i have two TG's showing up side by side i'v never seen it do this before is it a bug or is it suppose to do that?

The two talkgroups are patched together. (See "Patch Call" in the Event column) The transmission is being broadcast to both talkgroups simultaneously.

In the alias tab i have like 6 TG's that i listen to i set the first one to priority 1 and set the rest as priority 2 now just to clarify does that mean the TG with priority 1 will always be first meaning if TG with priority 2 is going on and the TG with priority 1 becomes active then the priority 2 TG will go silent? " hope i explained that right" lol.
and what if i set all 6 TG's to priority 1 will it just become one big mess?

I don't use priority. I listen using Trunking Recorder. My understanding is that SDRTrunk will switch to a higher priority channel when it is received.
The default is for all channels to have the same priority. If multiple channels have the same priority, whichever is received first should win. It should not switch from a talkgroup to another with the same priority until the first transmission ends.

I noticed that encrypted TG's still show up in the now playing area is that taking up room on my SDR is it still processing that TG, what if i unmuted the encrypted TG and set the priority to like 99 would that make any difference?

SDRTrunk will tune to all active talkgroups - including encrypted channels. There is no way to avoid this.

I noticed SDRTrunk saves recordings as .mp3 files is their a way to make it save to .wav files?

This is set in SdrTrunk User Preferences.

User Preferences -> Audio -> Record​

The preference editor allows you to select the default format for audio recordings.

• MP3 - the default recording format for all audio recordings.
• WAVE - an alternate recording format.

See: How-to make .MP3 files with SDRTrunk ? #2

 

[BinaryMode]

Off the bat, but it's my understanding and observation with SDRTrunk that seeing all those talkgroups at the same time are just talkgroups transmitting at the same time but on other tower voice frequencies. The control channel is telling you these other talkgroups are active on the tower at the same time, but your SDR can only tune one voice frequency at a time.

But yes, there are patched talk groups too. Maybe that's what you are seeing, but if they are different agencies/users it's doubtful. For example, you see public works and fire talkgroups at the same time. That's certainly not a patch. They're just talking on the tower at the same time. Been a while since I used OP25, but I believe the same can be observed in there , too.

Ah, I see the image now. Yeah, under Event it's a patched talkgroup.

 

[BinaryMode]

SDRTrunk will tune to all active talkgroups - including encrypted channels. There is no way to avoid this.

If I'm not mistaken, that's true of DSD+ without a carefully made list of talkgroups to avoid. Skimming over the SDRTrunk manual it looks like one would use "Aliases." Playlist Editor

 

[AngWay]

I have noticed this also when two different TGIDs are patched together by the dispatcher.


I don't set priority channels myself, but if you set a channel to 1 and the others to 2, then yes the 1 channel has priority over the other ones. Since SDRTrunk plays the transmissions in order of receiving them, I find priority just messes up your listening in my opinion.


SDRTrunk will select a tuner based on the band width available in start order so it depends on what you have in your playlist and what order you are starting them in. I listen to two different towers in two cities that are on the same TXWARN system, but too far apart in bandwidth for 1 tuner. They are set to #1 and #2 in the start order, if not then my conventional systems end up splitting up the tuners in an inefficient way. But I also designate the first two tuners to them to ensure that the tuners I want are used.

The conventional channels will all work on 1 tuner if I figure out the middle band width channel and set that one to preferred tuner 3 first, then all the other conventional channels will load on the third tuner if they are set to prefer the 3rd tuner. If I don't do this then they will end up being split over two tuners.

Then I have 3 more tuners that the two P25 systems use as needed when receiving transmissions.



Unmuting and setting to 99 will just have you listening to scrambled transmissions. Leave them muted even though they show up.



.mp3 files are compressed and therefore save hard drive space, .wav file can be very large, so depends on how much hard drive space you have and how long you keep recordings.

Hope this helps, someone else may have a better explanation of things, but this is what works for me.

Great that answered alot of my questions

Here is another question u might can help me with, in SDRTrunk i am locked onto 3 control channels and i get duplicate calls like for instances lets say talkgroup "VSP Wyt 2" is shows up twice but also on each of those control channels i get different talkgroups so i have to leave both control channels on so i can also hear all my talkgroups but that one talkgroup is showing up on all 3 channels is they're a way to stop that talkgroup ... it's really annoying when the same talkgroup repeats it'self

And if i'm locked onto two different control channels and i'm getting these duplicate calls if i make another alias and add it to one of those control channels and go mute that same TG in that new alias will that work and stop that TG from showing up twice?

 

[AngWay]

If you don't have it, the SDRTrunk User Guide is here: User Manual

The two talkgroups are patched together. (See "Patch Call" in the Event column) The transmission is being broadcast to both talkgroups simultaneously.


I don't use priority. I listen using Trunking Recorder. My understanding is that SDRTrunk will switch to a higher priority channel when it is received.
The default is for all channels to have the same priority. If multiple channels have the same priority, whichever is received first should win. It should not switch from a talkgroup to another with the same priority until the first transmission ends.


SDRTrunk will tune to all active talkgroups - including encrypted channels. There is no way to avoid this.


This is set in SdrTrunk User Preferences.

User Preferences -> Audio -> Record​

The preference editor allows you to select the default format for audio recordings.

• MP3 - the default recording format for all audio recordings.
• WAVE - an alternate recording format.

See: How-to make .MP3 files with SDRTrunk ? #2

How does trunking recorder work with sdrtrunk, doesn't sdrtrunk already play and record everything already? i'm just confused on that i guess. i did try rdio-scanner and i got it working and everything but in the end all i was doing was piping the audio from sdrtrunk into rdio-scanner kinda like with dsdplus and sdr++ or op25 and the web GUI.. am i missing something here is it used for something totally different and i just don't understand?

What reading i have done on trunking recorder can it decode by it'self ?

Many thanks

 

[Enforcer52]

in SDRTrunk i am locked onto 3 control channels and i get duplicate calls

Go to View>User Preferences and set all buttons to ON.

doesn't sdrtrunk already play and record everything already?

Yes, unless you are streaming to some service that you need RDIO it is not necessary. I stream to Broadcastify and only use SDRTrunk.