All calls on P25 Phase 2 system shows logs with: Freq: 0.000000 MHz Not Recording: no source covering Freq

[steve-horvath]

Trunk Recorder Version: 4.7.1
System: https://www.radioreference.com/db/sid/11280 Site ID 7
Hardware: Single Noelec RTL-SDR, with a 0 ppm offset

config.json:

    "ver": 2,
    "sources": [{
        "center": 142395000,
        "rate": 2148000,
        "ppm": 0,
        "agc": true,
        "gain": 22,
        "debugRecorders": 0,
        "digitalRecorders": 4,
        "driver": "osmosdr",
        "device": "rtl=0"
    }],
    "systems": [{
        "control_channels": [142800000],
        "type": "p25",
        "shortName": "LMRN",
        "squelch": -60,
        "talkgroupDisplayFormat": "id_tag",
        "hideEncrypted": false,
        "modulation": "qpsk",
        "digitalLevels": 0,
        "compressWav": false,
        "audioArchive": false,
        "callLog": true,
        "analogLevels": 15
    }],
    "defaultMode": "digital",
    "logFile": true,
    "logLevel": "trace",
    "captureDir": "/home/steve/PSRN/RECORDINGS/",
    "controlWarnRate": 10,
    "frequencyFormat": "mhz"
}

Logs, running in trace log level: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B2JCHwuUCzrCgc2EGUyqnMnxmT28zCUz/view?usp=sharing

Issue:
Any time a transmission is detected on the system, the Call Grant message shows a frequency of 000.0000MHz, and the error messages show Freq: 0.000000 MHz Not Recording: no source covering Freq.

[Dewey3]

Just a shot in the dark, but what if you tried changing your rate from 2148000 to 2048000.

[steve-horvath]

Just a shot in the dark, but what if you tried changing your rate from 2148000 to 2048000.

I tried that, and there is no change:

[2024-04-16 08:56:50.109766] (trace)   TSBK: opcode: $0
[2024-04-16 08:56:50.109968] (debug)   tsbk00   Chan Grant      Channel ID:  5753       Freq:   0.000000 MHz    ga    2067      TDMA -1 sa 213994       Encrypt 0       Bandwidth: 0
[2024-04-16 08:56:50.111270] (error)   [LMRN]   0C      TG:       2067 (                      -)        Freq:   0.000000 MHz    Not Recording: no source covering Freq
[2024-04-16 08:56:50.174098] (trace)   nac ad7 type 7 size 12 mesg len: 12

[Dewey3]

Another shot in the dark. Based on your first post, I assume that you are trying to capture the Cedarville site in Grey Co. If so, I see three other sites in Grey Co, what happens if you add those to you control channels?

[steve-horvath]

Another shot in the dark. Based on your first post, I assume that you are trying to capture the Cedarville site in Grey Co. If so, I see three other sites in Grey Co, what happens if you add those to you control channels?

I am actually trying to get Site 7, which is Hamilton, from Burlington.

all the other local sites are too weak to get any decode.

[Dewey3]

In that case, you are missing a control channel. Have you tried entering the second control channel?

[tadscottsmith]

Are you able to receive that site with a physical scanner or any other software? Trunk-recorder is not seeing any IDEN_UP messages advertising the bandwidth plan. That being said, there's a special IDEN_UP message that's used for 136 MHz to 172 MHz and 380 MHz to 512 MHz, so it's possible that trunk-recorder isn't decoding the special message correctly.

[tadscottsmith]

I am very curious about those TSBK: opcode: $5 messages. It seems that maybe Motorola has a vendor specific implementation of that code that relates to traffic channels. Can you record like 15-30 seconds of IQ from that system?

https://trunkrecorder.com/docs/DEBUG#recording-off-an-rtl-sdr

[steve-horvath]

I am very curious about those TSBK: opcode: $5 messages. It seems that maybe Motorola has a vendor specific implementation of that code that relates to traffic channels. Can you record like 15-30 seconds of IQ from that system?

https://trunkrecorder.com/docs/DEBUG#recording-off-an-rtl-sdr

Here's a link to download the Compact iq file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RynSGp8U3xZ1-DDvtD2E4EAoBasvEXHl/view?usp=sharing

[tadscottsmith]

I'm not seeing any control channel data in that file, but it's probably my fault. Can you share what exact rtl_sdr command you used?

[steve-horvath]

I'm not seeing any control channel data in that file, but it's probably my fault. Can you share what exact rtl_sdr command you used?

I tried it too, and didn't get valid data decoded either. to record it I used:
rtl_sdr -f 14280000 -s 2048000 -g 32 site_7.iq

[tadscottsmith]

Oh, I think you missed a zero on the end of the frequency. It also might not work if you center it right on your control channel. Can you try rtl_sdr -f 142395000 -s 2400000 -g 32 site_7.iq ? About 10 seconds should be plenty.

[steve-horvath]

Oh, I think you missed a zero on the end of the frequency. It also might not work if you center it right on your control channel. Can you try rtl_sdr -f 142395000 -s 2400000 -g 32 site_7.iq ? About 10 seconds should be plenty.

I tried it again with:
rtl_sdr -f 142395000 -s 2400000 -g 32 17_04_site_7.iq

Available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10l_sK9kxbkR862Qffcl4qig9X2NjeDMP/view?usp=sharing

I still can't get trunk-recorder to decode it, I just get p25 decode errors, but if I convert it to complex iq I can play it back in gqrx, and the spectrum looks ok.

[tadscottsmith]

I was able to use that one. Is it possible there is just no activity on that site yet? During the over an hour duration of your original logging, it seems there was only about 5 radios that did anything on the system. I am trying to dig in and verify, but it could be that the system is not advertising the band plan because there are no radios actively requesting it.

Alternatively, it could be that this system is programmed in way such that all of the channel to frequency mapping needs to be on the radio side and I don't believe that trunk-recorder supports this yet. I'm still digging.

There is another post of a user trying to monitor the same system with a radio (doesn't specify the type), but indicating they are getting no activity on the Hamilton site as well.

http://forums.radioreference.com/threads/psrn-general-discussion.462531/post-3991850

[tadscottsmith]

@steve-horvath are you comfortable building from source? If so, can you run this test branch in trace mode for a while and get some logs? This should print out some more detailed information on the band plan and channels in use. It won't fix anything yet, but it should give some more detailed logs.

https://github.com/tadscottsmith/trunk-recorder/tree/band-plan

[steve-horvath]

@steve-horvath are you comfortable building from source? If so, can you run this test branch in trace mode for a while and get some logs? This should print out some more detailed information on the band plan and channels in use. It won't fix anything yet, but it should give some more detailed logs.

https://github.com/tadscottsmith/trunk-recorder/tree/band-plan

built, and I let it run overnight, to try and get new radios affiliating. Logs are here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19nzCWdBAvaQvq7P9G2fCzgOQ_C5MccnD?usp=sharing

[tadscottsmith]

Unfortunately it doesn't appear that it used the updated code. It might be that you need to explicitly switch to the band-plan branch. Can you try this which should help you build the new test version in a trunk-test directory?

git clone https://github.com/tadscottsmith/trunk-recorder.git trunk-test
cd trunk-test
git checkout band-plan
git pull
mkdir build
cd build/
cmake ../
make -j$(nproc)

[steve-horvath]

logs from band-plan branch are here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hGIEwqn3VN5K5fsDMhEBmwhsmQX3ZXNG/view?usp=sharing

Let me know if you need longer logs, I have left it running

[tadscottsmith]

I just pushed a new commit to my test branch that should have the custom band plans for Hamilton. Do you want to update it and see how it works? I'm not sure how familiar you are with git, but something like this should get you the latest version.

cd trunk-test (or whatever directory you're using)
git checkout band-plan
git pull
cd build/
cmake ../
make -j$(nproc)

[steve-horvath]

that is looking much better:

[2024-04-24 16:56:09.975342] (debug)   tsbk05   Unit To Unit Answer Request     sa 2048 Source ID: 12582912
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.007129] (trace)   [LMRN]   3C      TG:       2056 (                    MTO)        Freq: 142.215000 MHz     Stopping Call because of Recorder  Rec last write: 5.14879 State: idle
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.007467] (info)   [LMRN]    3C      TG:       2056 (                    MTO)        Freq: 142.215000 MHz    Concluding Recorded Call - Last Update: 4s      Recorder last write:5.14909    Call Elapsed: 11
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.007691] (info)   [LMRN]    3C      TG:       2056 (                    MTO)        Freq: 142.215000 MHz    Stopping P25 Recorder Num [0]   TDMA: true      Slot: 0 Hz Error: 26
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.008025] (info)   [LMRN]    3C      TG:       2056 (                    MTO)        Freq: 142.215000 MHz    - Transmission src: 213991 pos:  0.00 length:  4.00
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.031156] (trace)   setting silence_frame_count 0 to d_silence_frames: 0
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.032156] (trace)   [LMRN]   4C      TG:       2056 (                    MTO)        Freq: 142.215000 MHz     Wrote: 640 of 640
[2024-04-24 16:56:10.038806] (trace)   nac ad7 type 7 size 12 mesg len: 12

[tadscottsmith]

That looks great. You should have audio! If you want to let it run for a while and make sure it doesn't explode, I'll work on getting something submitted so users can input their own custom band plans when necessary.

[steve-horvath]

That looks great. You should have audio! If you want to let it run for a while and make sure it doesn't explode, I'll work on getting something submitted so users can input their own custom band plans when necessary.

I have verified audio works, and it uploads to rdio-scanner. I will put it on my production server, and let it run long-term tomorrow. Thank you.