DSDPlus Trunking priority says "Alias"

[brian]

I'm running the latest version of DSD+ Fastlane (2.448). I'm monitoring a NXDN trunked system (Fleettalk Carolinas). In the channel activity window, I'm seeing the word "Alias" displayed in the Priority column for some calls, instead of High/Low/numeric values. This happens on some calls, but not all calls, on various talkgroups.

In the Call Priorities menu item, I have Group Voice Calls set to Normal Handling. The calls in question I'm seeing are all normal Group calls, not Private or Data calls.

I can't find anything in the Notes file explaining this, but I may have overlooked it. I don't recall seeing this happen on P25 P1 systems. Can someone explain the significance of this, and is there a way to have the program handle priority in the "normal" way on all calls?

 

[MTL_Emergencies]

I believe DSD+ sees on the control channel that the ID talking has an OTA alias but can't display it because it is not tuned to the VF.

 

[RaleighGuy]

I'm running the latest version of DSD+ Fastlane (2.448). I'm monitoring a NXDN trunked system (Fleettalk Carolinas). In the channel activity window, I'm seeing the word "Alias" displayed in the Priority column for some calls, instead of High/Low/numeric values. This happens on some calls, but not all calls, on various talkgroups.

It also changes from Alias to the Priority level during the same call sometimes. @brian does this also happen on groups you have an ALIAS set for?

 

[RaleighGuy]

I was thinking maybe it was an informational thing saying no alias set for either TGT or SRC, but that isn't the case

 

[MTL_Emergencies]

The .... (4 dots) mean that DSD has decoded the alias partially. I think in NXDN96 the alias only comes up in the beginning of the transmission.

 

[RaleighGuy]

The .... (4 dots) mean that DSD has decoded the alias partially. I think in NXDN96 the alias only comes up in the beginning of the transmission.

That wasn't the issue we were talking about, what the OP asked about was the word ALIAS where the priority level usually shows (third column of channel activity screen). As for the dots, most alias on this system show that, and has since I started to monitor it.

 

[mcjones2013]

The ALIAS will show up in the priority when it detects a radio ID that is broadcasting an alias that it hasn't saved, and will make that the higher priority channel.

When I'm trying to map a NXDN system (not actually listen), I typically have DSDPlus running in CC/VC mode, talkgroups all on L/O, and then running it. This makes DSDPlus only tune to voice calls when there's an alias that needs to decode/save, otherwise it ignores the voice calls and any already saved aliases.

 

[RaleighGuy]

I was thinking maybe it was an informational thing saying no alias set for either TGT or SRC, but that isn't the case

View attachment 153512

The ALIAS will show up in the priority when it detects a radio ID that is broadcasting an alias that it hasn't saved, and will make that the higher priority channel.

When I'm trying to map a NXDN system (not actually listen), I typically have DSDPlus running in CC/VC mode, talkgroups all on L/O, and then running it. This makes DSDPlus only tune to voice calls when there's an alias that needs to decode/save, otherwise it ignores the voice calls and any already saved aliases.

So I was on the right track in post #4, just couldn't nail it down. Thanks @mcjones2013 hadn't noticed it before.

 

[brian]

The ALIAS will show up in the priority when it detects a radio ID that is broadcasting an alias that it hasn't saved, and will make that the higher priority channel.

This answers the question, thanks. Is there a way to override that feature, so that DSD+ always obeys the priority setting, instead of assuming I want to know the alias?

 

[mcjones2013]

Are you using a one or two dongle setup?

 

[RaleighGuy]

This answers the question, thanks. Is there a way to override that feature, so that DSD+ always obeys the priority setting, instead of assuming I want to know the alias?

Yes, I believe in the DSD window go to the control tab, scroll down to CALL PRIORITIES and un-click the top option, and make sure the rest of the options are set to the setting level you want.

 

[brian]

Are you using a one or two dongle setup?

2 dongle arrangement - CC and VC decoding.

 

[brian]

Yes, I believe in the DSD window go to the control tab, scroll down to CALL PRIORITIES and un-click the top option, and make sure the rest of the options are set to the setting level you want.

View attachment 153537
View attachment 153538

In my case, the talkgroup is not new - I have manually assigned an alias in the .groups file. So I don't think this setting would apply when a new RID appears. New, in the sense that there isn't an OTA alias for the RID already discovered/saved.

My understanding of this feature is that the known/unknown status of the RID Alias is over-riding the priority set for the talkgroup. That's why the appearance of the "Alias" tag in the Priority column seems intermittent - it only appears when a new RID with no known alias is active.

Or maybe I misunderstand what's actually happening.

 

[RaleighGuy]

In my case, the talkgroup is not new - I have manually assigned an alias in the .groups file. So I don't think this setting would apply when a new RID appears. New, in the sense that there isn't an OTA alias for the RID already discovered/saved.

My understanding of this feature is that the known/unknown status of the RID Alias is over-riding the priority set for the talkgroup. That's why the appearance of the "Alias" tag in the Priority column seems intermittent - it only appears when a new RID with no known alias is active.

Or maybe I misunderstand what's actually happening.

Yes, the second paragraph is correct, but if you look at the options under that screen selection, the top choice is for TGs, the others are for voice calls, which, I believe, would control the priority set for new voice calls.

 

[brian]

On both my CC and VC instances, Set High Priority Override for Net Talkgroups is already unchecked. And I'm still seeing the "Alias" overriding the talkgroup priority. Group Voice calls is set to "Normal Handling" on both instances.

 

[RaleighGuy]

On both my CC and VC instances, Set High Priority Override for Net Talkgroups is already unchecked. And I'm still seeing the "Alias" overriding the talkgroup priority. Group Voice calls is set to "Normal Handling" on both instances.

Okay, despite the word Alias showing, have you checked the DSDPlus.Radios file to see if the priority is actually being set to high and not normal? Not saying it isn't just asking.

Using those settings, all my RIDs are being logged as NORMAL even though the word ALIAS is showing.

 

[mcjones2013]

I believe the ALIAS setting overrides any other priority settings just temporarily. Once the alias is decoded, it will stay on the voice call OR go to a higher priority call. I think it's just baked into the program, unable to be changed, to capture aliases at a higher priority since ideally it should just take a second or two and to try and capture it in one voice call versus multiple.

 

[mcjones2013]

However, I do believe while waiting for a voice call, it still respects priority, meaning it's only tuning to voice calls as it normally should until it lands on a voice call AND notices during that voice call that there's an alias to decode, at which point it then temporarily assigns the ALIAS priority until the alias is decoded.