Unitrunker Third Public Beta

[SCPD]

Watched a radio affilation on my local Smartzone site (3C08 / zone 2) yesterday; meanwhile, the guy I was talking to on the phone watched the same affiliation show up at the exact same time on his local site (3C08 / zone 1).

That's bizarre.

Likewise here, Smartzone 8a27.

At least it's consistently bizarre. I wonder if allowing I-calls for a radio makes a difference.

Maybe it's different for P25 systems?

It wouldn't suprise me if SZ 6.X and 7.X did the same.

Would the radio's "last-seen talkgroup" be updated if it gets a channel grant for a talkgroup different than it previously affiliated to?

Yes. The problem was the de-aff clearing the radio's last TG.

I'm waiting for the forthcoming 895 support before switching completely over.

I've got a ton of radios to add.

-rick

 

[EricCottrell]

That's bizarre.

At least it's consistently bizarre. I wonder if allowing I-calls for a radio makes a difference.

It wouldn't suprise me if SZ 6.X and 7.X did the same.


Yes. The problem was the de-aff clearing the radio's last TG.

I've got a ton of radios to add.

-rick

Hello,

I got the impression that showing affiliations is really for site/system monitoring. It could be an option that affiliations show up on every site that carries the talkgroup being affiliated to. It could also be the case that we still do not know what some bits are used for and one of the messages indicates a reaffiliation to another site.

Both systems need to be logged at the same time to see if the affiliation messages are exactly the same.

I can hear enough zones and have enough computers to run an experiment with the local Motorola system. I need to look at why affiliations seem to be missed anyway.

73 Eric

 

[b7spectra]

I just want you to know that I'm using a BC8500XLT plugging it into my laptop and it works great on both the analog & P25 systems here (Cobb County, GA). No problems, no hassles, no false readings. Guess I'm a lucky one?

 

[DaveNF2G]

I have remarked previously on the limitations of the various Trunker progeny when controlling the newer scanners. I wish to bring it up again, along with a demonstration of why it's a problem.

While it is possible to trunktrack using a BC-296D/796D or BCD-396T/996T with the BC-245 protocol, it doesn't always work as well as it could. The software should also be able to set the receive mode on the later scanners. Here's why:

The newer Uniden scanners use the receive mode of the last channel received when they receive a new frequency to tune via the PC interface. This creates two different kinds of problem.

1) If the last channel received on the scanner before activating a trunker program was FM (or WFM), then the scanner will use FM when tuning a trunked voice channel. This results in low audio because the actual signal is NFM.

2) If the last channel received as NFM and you wish to park the scanner on a digital channel between trunked transmissions, the scanner will tune the parking frequency in NFM. This prevents the scanner from decoding P25 transmission.

Sometimes I place the scanner manually on a FM mode memory, then activate Trunker. It then sets the parking frequency in FM, which is find for P25 digital on that frequency. Occasionally, though, the scanner will change to NFM when tuning to an 800 MHz trunked voice channel. When that happens and then the scanner returns to the parking frequency, it remains in NFM, again rendering P25 reception impossible.

We really need to have the "extended" protocols programmed into the various trunking software in order to solve these kinds of problems.

{edit} It would also be useful to be able to set a PL tone for the park frequency in high rf environments. {/edit}

 

[FLANO]

Rick,

Thanks again for the program. This program helped me to find and ID a couple more Motorola systems in the Phoenix area yesterday.

It also identified an EDACS-4800 baud system for me. This was the first time that I had heard this control frequency sound, but Unitrunker had no problem. I was able find it while I was searching through the 900mhz frequencies. It stopped and ID. I had to take a double-take because I had no idea what and EDACS48 system was

Now I'm using a new search technique to see what else is being missed.

Thanks again,

 

[kd5dga]

Rick,
I have to admit you have written a great program. After a few stupid mistakes at the beginning, I have Unitrunker up and running with all my trunk groups edited. What I am really impressed is with the abilities to switch quickly between two totally different systems (ie. EDACS 4800,EDACS 9600 and some moto type I) Unitrunker pulls the information up and running along with the information no messing around with any settings.
I am very impressed with the stability and I am actually running Unitrunker in the background of Trunkpcr, since I am one of the Icom PCR1000 freeks!
Let me give you one compairson; I watch the decode rate in % and both programs show within 2 to 3 percent.

Thanks for your hard work on this PGM.

 

[SCPD]

Thanks guys. Dave makes a good point ... just need time (and a few radios) to make it work. Wouldn't mind having a PCR1K (or 1500 or 2500) to play with either!

When hopping from one system to the next - you may want to run the program from a temporary or "scratch" folder. When system hopping (to/from similar system types) - there is a time window in which the program is decoding the new signal but hasn't seen evidence to indicate the signal is from a completely different system. It is during this time that talkgroups, radio ids, and channels from the new system may be erroneously admitted into the old system's data.

Up and coming:

Per slicerwizard's suggestion (r00t was pretty vocal on this too) - signal polarity will be automatic. If you switch from 900 mhz to VHF, you won't have to remember to flip the polarity under the Options menu.

Look for some minor EDACS enhancements. I've gone through most of the menus in an effort to make keyboard response more natural. Some navigation keystrokes were clunky.

There's more but most of the changes are small, incremental fixes.

-rick

 

[kd5dga]

Any improvements on EDACS is great. 95 percent of all public safety trunking systems here in the Ft.Hood area are either EDACS 4800 or 9600.
Now I am looking at taping my pro2052 and running unitrunker in the background.

 

[mancow]

Maybe this has been addressed before but...how do you download an EDACS system from this site into unitrunker since they don't use unique system IDs? The one I want is the Kansas City, MO system.

 

[SCPD]

You can download EDACS systems by SID.

To get the SID for your system - locate the system in the RR DB. Look at the URL displayed in your browser. It will look something like this ...

http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=366

See that last part that read "sid=xxx" ? Whatever number that is for your system, that's the "SID".

Type that number in in the "SID" field of the system finder menu.

Select "Download" from the menu. After a few seconds the data will be retrieved. You can download multiple systems this way.

If you want to download a system (say Motorola or P25) by system id (and not RR DB SID) ... leave the SID field blank.

-rick

 

[mancow]

OK, that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[DaveNF2G]

One other comment on the TRACKSCANPARK frequency subthread. The Trunker progeny have never allowed a frequency lower than 100 MHz to be set. There are counties in NY that use 800 MHz trunking for fireground operations while dispatching on VHF low band, so it would be handy to be able to set TRACKSCANPARK=[something less than 100.000].

 

[SCPD]

One other comment on the TRACKSCANPARK frequency subthread. The Trunker progeny have never allowed a frequency lower than 100 MHz to be set. There are counties in NY that use 800 MHz trunking for fireground operations while dispatching on VHF low band, so it would be handy to be able to set TRACKSCANPARK=[something less than 100.000].

I vaguely remember two underlying problems. First problem is that most scanner protocols want the frequency to be padded with leading zeroes. If you pad with a blank - the radio responds with an error. The other problem is the code that handles extracting the user supplied frequency assumes the decimal point is the fourth character from the left - which of course doesn't work as you've noted. I suspect Eric will jump on this in a few week(end)s.
-rick

 

[pacrat551]

Edit talkgroups

I searched this thread with no luck...

Is it possible to edit talkgroups for a networked system if you have it delegated for another system. I'm monitoring the LCRA system in Texas and have several sites that I can hear from one location. I have all delegated to one site (san marcos site 28). Do I have to tune in to that site just to edit information such as talkgroups and users? Each time I attempt to Find Groups while monitoring another site, the program locks up and I have to restart

Thanks,

 

[SCPD]

Is it possible to edit talkgroups for a networked system if you have it delegated for another system.

Yes ... you should be able to edit talkgroups & radio-ids delegated to another system as if these are "native" to the current active system.

I have all delegated to one site (san marcos site 28). Do I have to tune in to that site just to edit information such as talkgroups and users?

No this should not be necessary.

Each time I attempt to Find Groups while monitoring another site, the program locks up and I have to restart

I'll try this out. The Delegate feature had some bugs when first introduced. Those were fixed but it looks like you've found something new.

-rick

 

[NDRADIONUT]

Any Ideas

I have 1 computer 450 mhz WIN 98 that unitrunker wont fire up on....
M Trunker 32 works just fine so that eliminates a bunch of problems
I have it all set the same as the other computers that UT works on...i've tried inverted and 3 different systems all it ever says is no signal at the top....I am assuming it isn't grabbing the sound card ?????
Ideas ???

 

[SCPD]

I have 1 computer 450 mhz WIN 98 that unitrunker wont fire up on....
M Trunker 32 works just fine so that eliminates a bunch of problems
I have it all set the same as the other computers that UT works on...i've tried inverted and 3 different systems all it ever says is no signal at the top....I am assuming it isn't grabbing the sound card ?????
Ideas ???

Yes. Set the sample rate to 44100. When changing settings you may need to restart the program (save, exit, and start anew). What were your MTrunker32 settings?

Also ... grab an oscilloscope program to get a visual image of the signal. That will make things much easier.

-rick

 

[NDRADIONUT]

Ideas

Thanx Rick !! ....it Was The Sample Rate Setting !!
Nice When It's That Easy........

 

[kd5dga]

Under the download option I tried it last night but I couldnt get it to work by your instructions. I would use the find option the system once I would get there I could not get the curser to move down to input the system id.
Two questions;
1 does the program be up and decoding for this to happen?
2. Do you have to have the radioreference page up and in the background to work?

I tried both decoding and not decoding (the radio turned off) and the page displayed in the background and it still didnt work. The program will not allow my to input the system id or allow me to type in my user name or password.

Please help!

 

[SCPD]

Under the download option I tried it last night but I couldnt get it to work by your instructions. I would use the find option the system once I would get there I could not get the curser to move down to input the system id.

Not good (and I don't know why). Do you have the 3rd public beta? The UI would freeze on the first and second beta while the download was in progress.

1 does the program be up and decoding for this to happen?

No. You can download data for the currently active system (if any) or a completely different system.

2. Do you have to have the radioreference page up and in the background to work?

No but it is a good test to verify that you have 'net access to the RR website.

[quote[I tried both decoding and not decoding (the radio turned off) and the page displayed in the background and it still didnt work. The program will not allow my to input the system id or allow me to type in my user name or password.[/quote]That's weird. From the main menu, you should be able to type "F" (find), then "S" (system). From the system menu you should be able to press TAB as many times as neccessary to move the cursor from one field to the next. Do NOT press the ENTER or RETURN key. Fill out the System ID and System Type (or RR DB SID) as appropriate. You can use the space bar or the up/down arrows to change the system type. Use TAB to move the cursor down to the RR DB User ID field - fill that in. TAB to the RR DB password field; fill that in. Press TAB again to move the cursor to the menu bar. Type "D" for download. The download will happen in the background. There isn't any positive feedback from the program that tells you the download completed. If the download is for the currently monitored system, the sudden appearance of alpha tags is your clue that the download was successful.

-rick