Tagged: unitrunker

Frugal Radio: SDR Guide Ep 6 – Trunk Tracking Public Safety Systems with UniTrunker and SDRTrunk

In this episode of Frugal Radio's ongoing SDR Guide videos Rob demonstrates how he uses Unitrunker and SDR Trunk with SDRs like an RTL-SDR to monitor Public Safety networks in his area. Rob writes:

This is a video demonstrating how I use UniTrunker and SDRTrunk with Software Defined Radios to monitor multiple Public Safety networks in my area.

There is some information on how trunked systems work, and you can hear how my SDRs produce better P25 audio on a Simulcast (LSM) system than some scanners.

I use a couple of RTL-SDR v3s and an Airspy R2 in this episode.

2020 SDR Guide Ep 6 : Trunk tracking Public Safety systems with UniTrunker and SDRTrunk

Comprehensive Video Guide to Trunking and Digital Voice with the RTL-SDR

Over on YouTube user AVT Marketing has uploaded a five part video series that very clearly and slowly shows how to use an RTL-SDR to set up trunking and digital voice monitoring. In the videos he uses SDR#, Unitrunker, DSD+ and VBCable for the monitoring.

The first video in the series shows a brief overview of the digital trunking voice set up, and explains a bit about digital voice communications. The second video shows how to install an RTL-SDR, and walks you through downloading Unitrunker and DSD+. The third video is a tutorial about SDR# and also explains how trunking radio systems works. The fourth video shows how to install Unitrunker, DSD+, VBCable, and how to configure each program. Finally the fifth and last video in the series shows the final steps in using Unitrunker and DSD+.

This looks like a very good video series, especially for those that like to see every step in the process played out in full.

Cheap Digital Trunked Scanning Using SDR for the Absolute Beginner

Uni-SDR Link: Control SDR Console V2 with Unitrunker

A new program called Uni-SDR Link has just been released. This software allows Unitrunker to control SDR-Console V2.

Unitrunker is software that allows you to follow trunked voice conversations, and SDR-Console V2 is a general purpose receiver, similar to other software such as SDR#. The authors write:

This applications sole purpose is to allow Universal Trunker (aka Unitrunker) to control the tuning frequency of individual VFO’s in SDR Console v2. This is achieved by translating Unitrunker Receiver Control commands into a format accepted by SDR Console. Communication occurs over virtual com / serial ports.

Uni-SDR Link has been tested on Windows 7 & Windows 8 and requires .NET Framework version 4.0 or greater.

Just download & launch. No installation required.

The Uni-SDR-Link.chm file contains help for the application should be placed in the same directory as the Uni-SDR-Link.exe.

 

Listening to Trunked Radios with One RTL-SDR

Usually to listen to trunked radio systems, two RTL-SDR dongles are required. One for decoding the trunking control channel and another for listening to the audio channel. However if the audio channels are within the same chunk of received bandwidth as the control channel it is possible to use just one dongle to follow trunked conservations.

Recently Pawel of pewusoft wrote in to RTL-SDR.com to let us know about a tutorial he uploaded showing how to get trunking to work with just one RTL-SDR dongle. His method uses Unitrunker and SDR# together with the AuxVFO plugin and a new plugin that he wrote for interfacing with Unitrunker.

Although there is already a Unitrunker interface plugin for SDR#, Pawel wrote a new plugin based on serial port commands as he found that the original interface plugin did not work properly for him.

Unitrunker Serial Port Interface SDR# Plugin
Unitrunker Serial Port Interface SDR# Plugin

ScanEyes: Software for Visualizing, Listening to and Archiving Trunked Radio Traffic

Back in March we showed a beta version of Tyler Watts ScanEyes trunked call log recorder software. Now Tyler has released a more complete version of his ScanEyes software. A live version of the software can be found at sdrscan.com. ScanEyes works by using a software defined radio such as the RTL-SDR combined with trunking following software Unitrunker and optional P25 decoder DSD/DSD+ to archive all calls made on a trunked radio system. A user can then later go into the web interface and view and listen to archived calls.

ScanEyes Flow Diagram
ScanEyes Flow Diagram

RTL-SDR Tutorial: Following Trunked Radio with Unitrunker

The popular trunking decoding software Unitrunker now supports the RTL2832U R820T RTL-SDR directly in its new version. This means that extra SDR receiver software like SDR# is no longer required to use Unitrunker.

You can download the latest version of Unitrunker here. (NOTE: Unitrunker has recently been updated to V2.1 and so the tutorial below may look a little different now)

In a normal radio system, one company (or talkgroup) might use a single frequency for radio communications. However, this is very inefficient as the frequency may not be in use for the majority of the time. In a trunked radio system, a small set number of frequencies are shared between a large number of talkgroups. Each radio receives a special computer controlled control channel. The control channel determines a vacant frequency that a particular talkgroup should use. This helps to make radio frequency allocations more efficient.

Because a talkgroup might switch between various frequencies often, it can make listening to a conversation difficult for radio scanners. Unitrunker can be used to decode the control channel and follow a voice conversation as it hops across various frequencies. With two RTL-SDR dongles you can set up a trunking receiver station with just Unitrunker. What follows below is a tutorial on how to set this up.

Continue reading

List of SDRSharp Plugins

There are a number of SDRSharp plugins that extend its functionality. Here is a collection of all the plugins and download links that I could find.

With modern SDR# installing a plugin is usually a simple matter of copying the plugin files to a subfolder within the SDR# Plugins folder. SDR# should automatically recognize the plugins.

Some plugins might require editing the Plugins.xml file with a text editor such as notepad. These plugins will contain a readme.txt or magicline.txt file that shows what line to add to the Plugins.xml file. Just copy and paste the plugin .dll into the SDR# folder and add the magicline line to the plugins.xml file to install the driver.

We note that SDRSharp can now be downloaded with a community plugin package, which includes many of the plugins listed below. However, sometimes some plugins get broken with newer SDR# versions, so if you have issues with the SDR# community edition, it may be wise to download the vanilla edition and install plugins manually.

Frequency Manager + Scanner and Scanner Metrics and Frequency Entry Package

This is a plugin package which comes with three plugins. It comes with a more advanced frequency manager than the one shipped with SDRSharp.

It also has a scanner option which can quickly scan through a group of your saved frequencies, looking for an active signal.

It also has a scanner metrics plugin, which records frequency activity to a database. Later this database can be analyzed to find out which frequencies are the most active, saving you time searching manually for active frequencies.

Finally, this package also has a frequency entry plugin, which works like the old SDRSharp frequency entry used to work. Basically, it just allows you to choose a center frequency and IF frequency easily by typing it in instead of adjusting it with the mouse.

Download the installation packager here

Frequency Manager + Scanner Plugin

Fast Scanner

Similar to the Frequency Manager and scanner plugin in that it automatically tunes to active signals above a certain power.

Download Link (Original website now dead)

Download Link (via archive.org)

Download Link (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

Fast Scanner SDR# PluginFast Scanner SDR# Plugin

DDE Plugin

Allows programs like WXTrack to work with SDRSharp through a DDE interface.

Instructions and Download Link Here

QPSK Demodulator

Used to demodulate QPSK signals from the Meteor M2 weather satellites. Used in conjunction with LRPT decoder. See tutorial here.

Download Here (Original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

DDE Tracking and Scheduler Plugin

Another plugin that allows satellite tracking software like WxTrack and Orbitron to interface with SDR#. This one is meant to be used with the QPSK decoder plugin for automatic scheduled decoding of satellite passes. See tutorial here.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

DDE Orbitron Interface SDR# Plugin.

Gpredict Connector

Allows the GPredict satellite tracking software to interface with SDR# and automatically control the frequency.

Download Here

SDRSharp Net Remote

Allows you to remotely control SDR# through a network connection.

Download Here

CTCSS Detector and Squelch

Adds a Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) decoder.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

CTCSS SDR# Plugin

DCS Detector and Squelch Plugin

Adds a Digital Coded Squelch (DCS) decoder. Similar to the CTCSS detector.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

dcsplugin

TimeShift SDR

Allows signal reception to be timeshifted to allow for time to click on a signal.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

tssdr

Digital Audio Processor

Adds digital audio processing features such as an improved squelcher, an audio inverter and a bandpass and deemphasis filter.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

digital_audio_processor_sdrsharp_plugin

Audio Processor

Similar to the digital audio processor shown above, but adds the ability to graphically adjust the bandpass filter in the audio spectrum of SDR#.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

audio_proc

audio_proc_2

IF Notch Plugin

Adds the ability to create an asymmetric and notched IF filter.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

if_notch

Simple APCO 25

Enables decoding of a single APCO 25 channel through SDR.

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

RDS Logger

Logs Radio Data System (RDS) data to a CSV file.

Download Here

RDS Data Logger SDR# Plugin

DSD+ GUI Interface

Adds a GUI interface for the popular DSD+ digital speech decoder program.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

DSD+ SDR# Plugin GUI

TETRA Decoder

Adds a TETRA decoder.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

AUX VFO

Enables multiple VFO's in SDR#. (In other words, you can tune to several stations simultaneously within the same swatch of live bandwidth)

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

avfoplugin

Audio Waterfall Plugin

Adds an audio spectrum waterfall to SDR#.

Download Here (Original plugin seems to be dead but the link is left up just in case it comes back)

Download Alternative Plugin Here

audiowaterfall

PAL/SECAM TV Plugin

Allows you to watch analogue PAL TV channels in black and white through SDR#.

Download Here (original webiste now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

PAL / SECAM TV SDR# Plugin

 

Modified Baseband Recording Plugin

An enhanced version of the recording plugin that comes standard with all SDR# installations. Adds a scheduler, a feature to record only when there is a signal, select samplerate, and choose file output location.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

baseband_rec

Modified Audio Recording Plugin

A modified version of the default audio recording plugin. Adds a scheduler.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

audio_plugin

IF Recorder Plugin

Allows you to record an IQ file of just the current IF bandwidth. An IQ recording of just the IF bandwidth will be much smaller than one of the entire bandwidth.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

IF (Intermediate Frequency) Recorder SDR# Plugin

Level Meter Plugin

Adds a power meter for the currently tuned frequency and bandwidth.

Download Here

Level Meter SDR# Plugin

CSVUserlistBrowser SDR# Plugin

Allows users to interface with the CSVUserlistBrowser plugin intended for use with Winradio products. The CSVUserlistBrowser is a program that provides a database of radio stations.

Download Here

csvuserlistbrowser_sdrsharpplugin

MPX Output Plugin

Allows programs like RDS Spy to work with the audio output from SDR#.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

MPX_Output

Radio Sky Spectrograph Plugin

This allows SDR# to interface with Radio-Spy Spectrograph which is radio astronomy software that allows fine control over a waterfall display.

Download Here

The Radio-Sky Spectrograph SDR# Plugin

Aviation band 8.33 Calculator Plugin

Automatically converts the current frequency input to an aviation one according to the standard 8.33 kHz channel spacing.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

aviationcalc

Frequency Lock Plugin

Simply locks the frequency settings in SDR# to prevent accidental changes.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

freqlock

Unitrunker Serial Based Trunking Plugin

Allows Unitrunker to interface with SDR#. For example it can be used to allow unitrunker to control the frequency setting in SDR# to following trunked conversations over various frequencies. NOTE: This plugin is no longer required as Unitrunker no longer needs to interface with SDR# for anything. But we leave it here in case there are legacy use cases.

Download Here

serial

Passive Radar Plugin

Allows you to use the RTL-SDR as a passive radar detector.

Download Here
(Website appears to be down, but here is a DIRECT LINK) (Note: Requires XNA4.0)

The Passive Radar plugin by Dr. Kaminski in SDR#.

IF Average

Averages the current bandwidth. Is useful for applications such as radio astronomy.

Download Here
(Website appears to be down, but here is a DIRECT LINK) (Note: Requires XNA4.0)

The IF Average plugin by Dr. Kaminski.

Contour Shuttle Support

Adds support for mapping buttons on Contour shuttle USB controllers to SDR# functions.

Contour Shuttle Plugin for SDR#

Download Here

Visual Tuner Knob

Adds a simple visual tuner knob that is especially useful for those running SDR# on touchscreens.

Download Here

Audio Streaming TCP Server

Allows you to stream demodulated audio over a TCP server.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

The plugin streaming via TCP to VLC

CalicoCAT Serial CAT Control Plugin

Allows you to control SDR# from WSJT, HDSDR and other software. Requires a virtual serial port like com0com.

Download Here

Heatmap Generator Plugin

Allows you to generate a heatmap image from an rtl_power scan in SDR#. You can then click on the heatmap to instantly tune to found 'hot' areas.

Download Here

SDRSharp RTL-SDR Heatmap Plugin

Magic-Eye Plugin

Adds a "magic-eye" or cats eye graph to SDR#, which allows you to view the eye pattern of the tuned signal.

Download Here

Multimon-ng Launcher Plugin

A launcher for the multimon-ng decoder.

Download Here

RDS Groups to RSDSpy .spy Format File Plugin

Interface SDR# RDS detection with RDSSpy

Download Here

Tetra demodulator utils plug-in

Works with the TETRA decoder plugin above. Saves Tetra demodulator plug-in network info window textbox contents (calls info, ms registrations) to file. 

Download Here

Signal diagnostics logger plugin

Logs data from the built in Signal Diagnostics plugin to file.

Download Here

SDRSharp FFT peek hold plug-in

Simple peak hold plugin.

Download Here

TETRA demod plug-in network info grid data logger

Works with the TETRA decoder plugin above. TETRA demod plug-in network info grid data logger.

Download Here

TETRA plug-in UDP raw data logger with Python

Works with the TETRA decoder plugin above. Can log raw binary data to user-defined UDP port

Download Here

Front End Plugins

Modified R820T FrontEnd with Manual Control and Decimation

Not really a plugin, but a modified front end interface and driver for the RTL-SDR that allows manual control over the LNA, Mixer and VGA gain stages. Also enables decimation which allows for better narrowband warefall views, and a easy control for activating a SpyVerter upconverter.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

rtl_sdr_frontend

File Player

This plugin give a playback interface when playing back recorded IQ files. Allows you to view the entire waterfall of the recorded file and quickly skip to any time.

Download Here (original website now dead)

Download Here (archive.org Mirror)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

file_player

E4000 Gain Mod Enabler

A plugin which allows the E4000 Linrad gain profiles to be used in SDRSharp, via use of a modified rtl_tcp server.

Download Here

Plugins that no longer work

These plugins no longer work, but may still work with older versions of SDR#. Usually they stop working because of an SDR# upgrade that requires some minor modification to the plugin, but the plugin is no longer maintained. Some provide code so there may be hope in getting these running again if someone is willing to make the changes and recompile the code.

Orbitron Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Superseeded by the DDE Tracking and Scheduler Plugin (shown in the above list)

Allows the Orbitron satellite tracking software to control the frequency in SDRSharp. This is useful as Orbitron can automatically correct for the Doppler shift when listening to satellites.

Download Here

Mirror At the bottom of this page

Satellite Tracker Plugin

Easy Scanner Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Another scanner plugin similar to the scanners already shown above. Add frequencies to the database, then use the scanner to automatically find an active signal.

Download link and users guide here.

Easy Scanner SDR# Plugin

Audio FFT Plugin (Not Working with 1400+)

Adds a audio FFT display in the plugin window.

Download Here

Audio FFT SDR# Plugin

ScopeView Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Adds a simple audio scope to the plugin window.

Download Here

Scope Viewer SDR# Plugin

Simple Audio EQ Balance Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Adds a simple audio EQ balance setting option box in the plugin window.

Download Here

Audio EQ Balance SDR# Plugin

Signal Strength Logger (Not working with 1400+)

Logs signal strengths over time of specified stations.

Download Here

SignalStrengthLogger

SDR# short-wave.info Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Enables SW station names to be displayed within SDR#.

Download Here

short-wave.info SDR# Plugin

GlobalTuners SDR# Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Allows SDR# to associate with a GlobalTuners.com account.

Download Here

Unitrunker Trunking Plugin (Not working with 1400+)

Allows the trunking control software Unitrunker to control the frequencies in SDRSharp. This allows digital and analogue trunking systems to be followed. Note that Unitrunker can now directly interface with the RTL-SDR, so using SDR# together with Unitrunker is no longer recommended.

Download Here

SDRSharp Trunker Plugin

AutoTuner Plugin (Out of date)

Automatically tunes to signals that appear in the spectrum which are above a certain adjustable signal strength. Can also create null areas to prevent automatically tuning to unwanted signals. There seems to be only an outdated version, which is built in to an old version of SDRSharp available.

Download Here

Auto Tuner SDR# Plugin

ADSB# Plugin (Missing)

Runs the ADSB# ADS-B decoding program as a plugin in SDRSharp. The main advantage to using this plugin is that you get to visually see the waterfall whilst decoding. It also adds a 1-bit CRC error check.

Download from the files section of this Yahoo group. (You will need to register first) (Note: File is gone now, still looking for updates to this plugin)

ADSB# SDR# Plugin

Modified ScopeView Plugin (Missing)

A modified version of the scope view plugin with Decimation, HoldOff and Hold options resides in the SDRSharp Yahoo group files section under the name TXmonitorScopeView.zip (you will need to join the group first to download).

Download Here

ScopeViewPlugin

SDR# Dark Mode Plugin

Adds simple UI options to SDR#, including the ability to make the interface black in color, remove excess padding to save screen space and to move the top frequency toolbar to the bottom of the screen.

Download Here

FFT Grabber Plugin

Allows you to take easy screenshots of the FFT and waterfall spectrums.

Download here

Accessibility Plugin

Adds accessibility options such as keyboard shortcuts and larger OSD fonts.

Download Here

ExtendedFFT Plugin

Highly featured IF FFT extension. Includes bandpass filter, markers, analyzer and more.

Download Here

Toolbar Plugin

Puts some useful SDR# controls right on the SDR# toolbar, making them easier to access.

Download Here

Other Semi-Related

These are not exactly plugins, but we are mirroring software here. Unfortunatley after the Russian war started, a lot of software and plugins from a Russian developer went offline.

TVSharp

Standalone version of the above TV plugin for SDR#.

Download Here (archive.org)

Download Here (RTL-SDR Blog Mirror)

Other Plugin Lists

http://www.sdrsharp.com/#plugins

http://sdrts.amoti.ru/perechen_plaginov_i_modifikaciy_sdr___

http://sdrsharp.pbworks.com/w/page/62589136/FrontPage

http://www.rtl-sdr.ru/page/komplekt-plaginov-dlja-priema-sputnikov