SDS100 ARMER MN Expectations

[egftechman]

Which is better to run SDR’s, windows or Linux? Have used Ubuntu in the past so know a little about Linux and installation. I usually install dual boot. Have used RTL about 5 years ago but didn’t care for it. Maybe time to revisit it.

I prefer Linux, but SDRTrunk will work on either.

 

[Robdobb]

Which is better to run SDR’s, windows or Linux? Have used Ubuntu in the past so know a little about Linux and installation. I usually install dual boot. Have used RTL about 5 years ago but didn’t care for it. Maybe time to revisit it.

Windows 10 home is what I run on

 

[Robdobb]

If you are sitting at home, you should be able to just sit on one site and hear everything around you. The more sites you have programmed the more time it's cycling through listening for traffic on each site. Pick one site and maybe the next closest one to you and have the entire ARMER TG database loaded and you should hear everything around you.

I run 5 sites, Hewitt, Henning, New York Mills, Aldrich and Sebeka, they all run flawlessly on my 2 sdr's, but I'm gonna buy 2 more to add!

 

[mmtstc]

Which is better to run SDR’s, windows or Linux? Have used Ubuntu in the past so know a little about Linux and installation. I usually install dual boot. Have used RTL about 5 years ago but didn’t care for it. Maybe time to revisit it.

I can accomplish everything i desire using Windows 10 on a 2017 iMac with 32 Gb RAM and a 4.2 Ghz processor. I primarily use Unitrunker, but occasionally use SDRtrunk for some niche things. SDRtrunk has better audio decode and will also identify the encryption algorithm, but i like the GUI and functionality of Unitrunker much better as I do predominately traffic analysis and not listening.

 

[wogggieee]

That's the beauty of running SDRs, you can receive "all" the channels simultaneously. I monitor 4 sites on two different systems (MN ARMER and ND SIRN) with 3 RTL-SDRs. I've seen my SDRTrunk decoding up to 12 channels at one time before....Biggest issue is filtering out duplicate transmissions on from multiple sites. Sometimes if you are listening to a large number of talkgroups, during a busy period the transmissions will queue up and you'll have a bit of latency on the playback, but it quickly resolved when things slow down. RDIO Scanner end up being a great frontend for SDRTrunk. I just have SDRTrunk receive EVERYTHING and chose what I want to listen to on RDIO Scanner (also feeds a Broadcastify linear steams, Broadcastify Calls, OpenMHz, and a couple of private Icecast streams that I rarely use anymore now that I can run RDIO Scanner everywhere)
Also, the SDRs end up being much less expensive. An off-lease i7 desktop computer can be had for like $100-200, $35 for each RTL-SDR, Debian Linux is free (SDR Trunk will run on Windows also), and it does all the reception, recording, streaming, running RDIO Scanner server, etc. in the one box.

This is exactly what I've done. Built a linux machine with three airspys constantly monitoring and recording three different sites for about the cost of one uniden scanner. Never missing anything is a game changer with SDR.

 

[wogggieee]

Which is better to run SDR’s, windows or Linux? Have used Ubuntu in the past so know a little about Linux and installation. I usually install dual boot. Have used RTL about 5 years ago but didn’t care for it. Maybe time to revisit it.

I think that kind of depends on what you have/have access to. Others have mention SDRtrunk which I'm pretty sure is cross platform. I use trunk recorder which I'm pretty sure is linux only. I have a linux machine running headless with 3 airspys for mine. I built it for the purpose so I made it somewhat small but powerful enough for what I need.

 

[MidwestRadioGuy]

I know this thread is old now, but in case anyone comes across it I've found what I think is the best way to program the SDS100

I do think as others have mentioned the SDR is the best and cheapest route for scanning. I don't think you can really replicate that with any other product except perhaps with multiple SDS which is pretty expensive, and still lacks a lot of capabilities.

After a lot of trial and error what I did was load up each ARMER system for my region in Sentinel into a favorite lists. As we know sentinel loads all the sites for an area, which can amount to quite a few. I just wrote them to the scanner and left it at that.

Next I found this program called ARC536. I just used the trial. I'll probably buy pro eventually, but the demo worked for me.

ARC536 lets me create a new favorites list. From there I can go into the lists created by Senitnel and pull out just the talk groups I care about and put them in a new list. I did that for multiple areas, taking care to note which site they belong to. You can easily copy and paste just like a spreadsheet. I don't know of any way to do this in Sentinel, but this program makes it very easy. I think I spent an hour or two total, even with the learning curve of a new program.

What you have to make sure to do is add a site for the Sentinel group you pulled from, and input the control channels. Nothing will work without those. They're available on radio reference here; the ARMER channels have a "c" next to them. You can just put the control channels into one big site and name it whatever you want but I broke them out for sanity and organization.

Last, I went through and hit avoid on all the talk groups I don't care about or those that are encrypted.

Now it scans fast and I really don't get much of anything I don't need or care about. I added my most immediate area and then counties 30-40 miles away as a separate list so I can narrow it down when there's a local event. I can hit those but I'm probably going to get a discone antenna for best performance.

Anyway, a lot of good information here, and I appreciate all the input on this. Now to start working on my SDR setup...

 

[ofd8001]

A little difference of opinion here:

There is no harm or inefficiency created by including all of the frequencies associated with a site. You are putting a lot of faith in control channels being listed perfectly correct in every instance. Plus if you use only the "C" channels, they could be using an Alternate or "A" channel.

I've got the whole ARMER system including numerous Unit IDs and still have lots of "room" left in the Favorites List.

Also a good number of talkgroups are allowed to affiliate with multiple sites. So you could be excluding conversations that you may be interested in hearing.

My theory is to program every talkgroup I might be interesting in listening to. If they are carried on a site I can receive, I'm good and can hear them. If they are not carried on a site I can hear, I simply don't hear them.

Scanning a trunked system is a different thing than a conventional system. That means the scanner does not actually "listen" to each talkgroup to see if there is traffic. Rather, it is listening to the control channel and noting the talkgroup having a channel grant. Then it checks your scanlist to see if the talkgroup is there. If so, then the transmission is heard.

 

[Robdobb]

Hi folks, I am trying to temper my expectations in regards to scanning ARMER in MN.
I am comparing the apps specifically "Police Scanner" app
I am pretty familiar with the SDS at this point, I am on latest firmware, have enabled correct service types, set location, set favorites list to use location, etc.

I do pick up quite a few things, but I do miss a LOT compared to the scanner apps.
For example I often see a lot of the LAW DSP which I assume are law dispatch centers come through on the app that do not come through on my scanner.
I have attached an example of a missing one.
I have TODD, WADENA, OTTERTAIL, CASS ARMER all added to the favorites list, as well as statewide interop.
My question is there anything specific I am missing for MN, like some simulcast sites or anything else that I need that could potentially be causing the missed scans?
Should I expect to be able to get pretty close to mirror the scan of the apps?
Thanks so much

If you need help let me know, im in Wadena