unitrunker native RTL2832U support questions

[jdobbs2001]

I notice now Unitrunker has an option to natively use the RTL2832U has anyone been able to use it successfully? I have two RTL2832Us I can use with it for voice and the other for control channel.

anyone had success with this?

 

[jazzbassNick]

Yep - been using it for awhile now. For it to be 100% self-contained (ie no SDR# or other SDR), they need to be R820 sticks.

I think previews are supposed to be discussed here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/unitrunker

 

[jdobbs2001]

oh its in one of those berlin wall type groups where you have to apply for membership and wait and see if you get approved.

Anyone have a link that has the instructions on how to set it up?

 

[jazzbassNick]

Um...not really 'berlin wall', but whatever.

It's pretty straight forward - create a new receiver, select RTL2832U, select a role, add ppm, select/deselect protocols. UniTrunker | Realtek

 

[Markb]

oh its in one of those berlin wall type groups where you have to apply for membership and wait and see if you get approved.

Anyone have a link that has the instructions on how to set it up?

It's no more a "Berlin Wall" than the group you are posting in now.
You have to add some driver files for it to work. I believe its the "librtlusb" or something similar.
More info here:

http://unitrunker.com/receivers.html


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

 

[jimlg]

I am also having problems getting 2 modules to work, I think my problem is driver related.

When I try to setup the receivers, when it asks for the device address in the window, it shows
both devices, the first device shows as, RTL2838UHDIR:0000001, the second device shows as
RTL2838UHDIR:5&428Axxxx. I can select the first device and set it as either signal or control and
start it ok, when I select the second device the setting will not stay and I can not start it.

I used Zadig to load the drivers, I am able to run two occurences of SDR# with no problem.

When I go into control panel and check the devices they both the correct address, ie one shows
and address of 0000001, and the other shows 0000002.

I am using Windows 7 x64, maybe that is causing some problems.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[br0adband]

oh its in one of those berlin wall type groups where you have to apply for membership and wait and see if you get approved.

Anyone have a link that has the instructions on how to set it up?

The reason it's like that is specifically because of that kind of response: most people don't want to learn anything, they just take the GIMME GIMME GIMME attitude and expect things to be handed to them or they want someone to give them a nice cut and dried "Do this, then do that, and voila, it works..." type of instructional list and there's a bit more to it than that.

If you're not willing to put time and effort into learning how all this stuff works in the first place, or you're not willing to sign up for that group (which is where Rick/Unitrunker handles a lot of support issues) and be patient to get accepted, perhaps this situation is just a bit beyond you at this time and I wouldn't honestly expect to get support in that respect.

I joined, got accepted, not an issue for me at all.

 

[kscott]

The reason it's like that is specifically because of that kind of response: most people don't want to learn anything, they just take the GIMME GIMME GIMME attitude and expect things to be handed to them or they want someone to give them a nice cut and dried "Do this, then do that, and voila, it works..." type of instructional list and there's a bit more to it than that.

If you're not willing to put time and effort into learning how all this stuff works in the first place, or you're not willing to sign up for that group (which is where Rick/Unitrunker handles a lot of support issues) and be patient to get accepted, perhaps this situation is just a bit beyond you at this time and I wouldn't honestly expect to get support in that respect.

I joined, got accepted, not an issue for me at all.

Not a great response to someone asking an honest question in a very appropriate forum.

 

[br0adband]

Not a great response to someone asking an honest question in a very appropriate forum.

Consider this:

- the version of Unitrunker that supports direct control of RTL sticks is a development "preview" version, not the official public release (which is still UniTrunker-1.0.26.16 which was released on April 29, 2013).

- since the version the OP is attempting to use is a preview version, the "official" support for that version - as pointed out by Rick aka Unitrunker himself - is done through the Google Group (link provided above by jazzbassNick) which is fairly well known by now

- the intro at the Google Group reads as follows (hope Rick doesn't mind me posting this, if so then I'll remove it or a Mod can I suppose):

Welcome!

Here's a quick introduction to the release process.

Preview releases are made available in the preview folder and promptly announced here. Folks interested in bleeding edge software can read the announcement and decide whether the next preview is worth the effort and risk of installing. In some cases, new releases result in data and configuration file changes that are not reversible.

At the end of a series of previews, the final preview is promoted to an official release. An announcement of what's new and what's fixed is posted on the Radio Reference forum for all to see. Any last-minute urgent bugs are addressed with a "hot-fix". These releases are usually tweeted so you don't have to orbit the RR forums for timely notification.

Most folks want a stable official release. They're not interested in the technical reasons behind quirks in this feature or that. If they skip ahead to a preview release without being signed up to this mailing list, they're blind as to just what mess they've stepped upon. Also, the size of the general RR audience is much larger than this mailing list. The smaller audience here means the amount of Q&A on bugs and new features is much more manageable.

With this process, there's no super-secret list for beta testers and no artificial barriers to prevent download. You can go to the website and download without so much as an email address (or any annoying ads either). This mailing list offers much better transparency. There is no "Fight Club" style compulsion to act as a beta tester. You can choose to participate in the beta process of testing out preview releases or simply lurk and read events as they transpire.

- because of that group being designated as the support area for the preview releases, that would be the place where such questions for support or issues would be be served and handled. Unitrunker even states as such about the preview releases and the "smaller audience" being more manageable in terms of trying to cover all the issues and new features which using Unitrunker for controlling RTL sticks would most definitely be something that is applicable.

I suppose my post may have come across as harsh, sure, but with the exploding popularity of SDR because of the "cheap USB TV tuners" we've all noticed in the past 6-12 months, the situation where people come around practically demanding some kind of help or support becomes a pretty severe at times - the information and the support are readily available for the preview releases as noted by the text quoted above and the link provided in the very first reply to the OP's request for info by jazzbassNick above.

If the OP chooses not to go where the actual support for the preview releases exists (at the Google Group) that's the OP's decision I suppose, but the answer is right there. As for the "berlin wall" reference, while I get the meaning and intent, I just found it a bit silly considering, but as jazzbassNick also said, "... whatever."

Case in point:

I made a thread recently where I expressed some issues with using one of the preview builds and was having problems with using Unitrunker for controlling 2 RTL sticks at the same time and was politely referred to the Google Group for support by none other than Rick himself because I was using a preview release.

 

[jazzbassNick]

@Br0adband FWIW, I thought your response was appropriate and was similar to my initial thought. I opted to give the basic info in case someone else happens to come across the thread whilst googling to help themselves.

I had the same trepidation about "speaking out of school", especially since it's pretty intuitive within Unitrunker, but hoped the worst case would be 50 lashes with a wet noodle from Rick

Cheers,
N

 

[jdobbs2001]

I got it working. And it works fine with two dongles, no SDR# needed.

The problem with those Google groups is you cannot even just view the posts like you can in Radioreference.

For a simple question that has probably been answered before, being able to just view posts in those hidden groups would be most helpful. even all the posts in those groups are not even searchable in google?

Radioreference comes up in lots of google searches and I learned a lot just by reading the posts here.

Anyhow I will be posting here instructions for dual RTL820 for dummies on how to get two Nooelec 820T dongles and Unitrunker working this weekend once I mess with it some more.

At least it will be in a forum that does not require registration just to view posts, and if someone googles for this, it will show up on searches as well.

 

[rexjoe]

I notice now Unitrunker has an option to natively use the RTL2832U has anyone been able to use it successfully? I have two RTL2832Us I can use with it for voice and the other for control channel.

anyone had success with this?

Yes, I got them work together too.

 

[aquaregia]

Geez, when did RR turn into BatLabs. I have many of the same questions the OP had, and am glad I know about the Google Group that was mentioned. That being said, don't get all upset because those "cheap TV tuners" are somehow detracting from scanning with questions, it's still a radio.

 

[jimlg]

Is it possible to get a config setup from anyone that has
2 of the RTL2838 dongles working with Unitrunker?

 

[jazzbassNick]

Is it possible to get a config setup from anyone that has
2 of the RTL2838 dongles working with Unitrunker?

On Vista, but it definitely works (using two 2832, not 2838), even with my weak cc.
The VB Cable on my voice receiver feeds DSD+

 

[ansul1001]

This is really nice have to try it when i get home will it work with a E4000 tuner card

 

[jazzbassNick]

This is really nice have to try it when i get home will it work with a E4000 tuner card

E4000 isn't supported. Before I got an extra R820T, I used SDR#+E4000 for my control channel, piped into UT, then let UT do all the voice work with the R820T I had.

 

[jimlg]

On Vista, but it definitely works (using two 2832, not 2838), even with my weak cc.
The VB Cable on my voice receiver feeds DSD+

Thanks for the info, they were 2832's and not 2838's. It works good when the right info is plugged in.

 

[jazzbassNick]

Thanks for the info, they were 2832's and not 2838's. It works good when the right info is plugged in.

Right on. Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[ansul1001]

what should the gain be set at 500 like in the above pick is that the adjustment for the receiver gain I can see that it is turning to the channel but no audio is coming out