Software Suggestion

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JustN

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Apr 27, 2009
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25
Afternoon-

Looking for suggestions on software to use for Control Channel decoding... My main goal is to monitor a local 800mhz Motorola system to put together a list of Control & Voice channels. My main scanner is a BCD996xt with the sound and serial ports connected to my Desktop PC.

I tried mtrunker32, but it appears that a data slicer is needed -- I can get about 70% accuracy using this application at best (though other programs like Unitrunker and UniTrunker get 100% accuracy), it reports the local system as being a Type II Astro system. At 70% accuracy I get a system type and that's all.

I have tried Pro96Com and it works great for the local P25 State-Wide system, but does nothing for the local Motorola system.

I have tried UniTrunker for Windows and it seems to work OK, but doesn't tell me much -- I know some of the programs will report Active Control Channels (which I do see in UT), but doesn't report Alternates, etc...

Am I missing some software somewhere? Is there something more in-line with the BCD996xt hardware, maybe that uses a direct feed from the control channel output?

J-
 

Highpockets

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Joined
Dec 31, 2003
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3,836
Location
Toms River, New Jersey
Afternoon-

Looking for suggestions on software to use for Control Channel decoding... My main goal is to monitor a local 800mhz Motorola system to put together a list of Control & Voice channels. My main scanner is a BCD996xt with the sound and serial ports connected to my Desktop PC.

I tried mtrunker32, but it appears that a data slicer is needed -- I can get about 70% accuracy using this application at best (though other programs like Unitrunker and UniTrunker get 100% accuracy), it reports the local system as being a Type II Astro system. At 70% accuracy I get a system type and that's all.

I have tried Pro96Com and it works great for the local P25 State-Wide system, but does nothing for the local Motorola system.

I have tried UniTrunker for Windows and it seems to work OK, but doesn't tell me much -- I know some of the programs will report Active Control Channels (which I do see in UT), but doesn't report Alternates, etc...

Am I missing some software somewhere? Is there something more in-line with the BCD996xt hardware, maybe that uses a direct feed from the control channel output?

J-

Try Trunk88, read about it here:

Trunked Radio Decoders - The RadioReference Wiki

And you can DL Win32Trunk88.Zip Here:

Index of /~phoenix/wap/TRUNK88

Also a little help on getting started here:

http://forums.radioreference.com/1163971-post4.html
 
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JustN

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Joined
Apr 27, 2009
Messages
25
Thanks Steve, that seems to be working very well it's up and displaying grants, etc...

I do see two error messages, however -- "System Type 65535 is invalid (should be 1,2,4,8 or 16)" and "Current site is not sending SysID command". I changed the System Type setting in the CTL file to "System Type = 2" as it explained, but that doesn't seem to work... And I'm not sure about the current site not sending a SysID command.

It also appears that even with the other programs, moving back to Windows XP has brought a major improvement. I tried running Trunk88 on my Windows 7 PC (which is where I ran all of the other applications) and wasn't able to decode any data -- on XP, I'm running with a Cur Acc of 100%.
 

JustN

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Apr 27, 2009
Messages
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Also -- it seems to me that Trunk88 is reporting only Digital communications on the system I am scanning... When a Digital TG is activated, Trunk88 shows the frequency, etc.. -- but when an Analog comes up, Trunk88 never hears about it....
 

slicerwizard

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Sep 19, 2002
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Location
Toronto, Ontario
I do see two error messages, however -- "System Type 65535 is invalid (should be 1,2,4,8 or 16)" and "Current site is not sending SysID command". I changed the System Type setting in the CTL file to "System Type = 2" as it explained, but that doesn't seem to work...
You need to set the value in the system's CTL file, not in TRUNK88.CTL


And I'm not sure about the current site not sending a SysID command.
That's not an error message. It's just telling you that the site isn't sending a standard SysID broadcast. A few sites out there are like that.


It also appears that even with the other programs, moving back to Windows XP has brought a major improvement. I tried running Trunk88 on my Windows 7 PC (which is where I ran all of the other applications) and wasn't able to decode any data -- on XP, I'm running with a Cur Acc of 100%.
Probably a sampling rate error. It'll be addressed in future releases. You could also try different sampling rates.


Also -- it seems to me that Trunk88 is reporting only Digital communications on the system I am scanning... When a Digital TG is activated, Trunk88 shows the frequency, etc.. -- but when an Analog comes up, Trunk88 never hears about it....
Sounds like an incorrect or missing System Type.
 
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