UniTrunker and PCR100: is it still a thing?

[KC9LQV]

I'm looking for some information or assistance on getting UniTrunker to work with an Icom PCR100. The last mention I can find of this configuration was in a short thread over a year ago, someone was having troubles and there didn't seem to be much of a resolution.

The PCR100s are attached to an XP SP3 laptop (1.6gHz P4/1gb RAM). The radios work great with the stock Icom software, and all the flavors of 3rd party interface software. The local control channel broadcast comes booming in.

However, when try to set up the PCR100, it just doesn't seem to work. After setting up the receiver, Unitrunker will turn on the PCR100, but I've got a feeling it's not changing the receive frequency. Also, the volume control seems very flaky. Most of the time, I can barely hear the audio coming out of the speaker, so I end up listening to the discriminator output through the laptop speakers. If I make adjustments to the volume several times, eventually it seems to "catch", and I can hear it until I stop the receiver. Then the process starts over.

If it's simply reached the point where the OS and the radios are just too old to be supported, so be it. But if that's the case, I'd like to confirm that before I spend a bunch more time on it. Or if someone has this arrangement working, I'd appreciate the help.

I've had good results running UniTrunker with a pair of RTL-SDR dongles, so at least at its most basic I understand how to set it up. It just doesn't seem to like the PCR100s.

Thanks in advance,

Scott KC9LQV

 

[SCPD]

Hi Scott;

The last time I tested this, the PC/R-100 and PC/R-1500 worked fine. Looking at my open issue list, I don't see anything for volume or squelch (but do vaguely remember a problem in the past).

What version of the program are you running?

 

[KC9LQV]

Thanks for the reply. I started off with 10.0.30.10, which was current when I started experimenting with the RTL USB devices. When I started having trouble, I upgraded to 10.0.32.7. The newer version didn't seem to have any effect on the issues I was having, and in fact seemed even more sluggish and was having issues with screen redraws.

I went back to 10.0.30.10, and in an effort to eliminate the radio control issues, I simply set up a generic discriminator receiver, and let the Icom software do the tuning. Worked just fine, see the attached screen shot.

So the software, OS, and laptop itself seem to be fully capable of decoding the control signal. The issues just seem to be getting UT to "work" the radio. Maybe this is just a COM port configuration issue? I've used this port on the computer many many times for Motorola programming with a RIB box, so the port itself is good.

Is there anything I need to check beyond 8N1?

I'd love to be able to use my second PCR100 for control/voice work if we can get it to play nice. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KC9LQV]

Well, it was certainly a round-about process, but I finally got UT to work with my PCR100s. I ended up buying a pair of FTDI-chipped USB-to-serial adapters and using them instead of the COM port built into the laptop. I have the software running properly now on my older Thinkpad running XP and my newer laptop running Win7.

I can't imagine what it is about the port settings on the Thinkpad that UT or the radio did not like, as I've used it with numerous other radio programming devices and also with the PCR100's native control software.

In any case, I managed to get things rolling.