Pro96Com Pro-96/APCO-P25 9600 bps Control channel monitoring utility Version 1.9.
Table of Contents: Introduction:........................................................................................................1 Acknowledgments: .............................................................................................1 Getting Started:...................................................................................................2 System Requirements: ......................................................................................
Table of Contents: Other Events Screen:....................................................................................13 Channel Grant Trace Screen:.......................................................................14 Unknown Packets Screen: ...........................................................................15 Packet Dump Screen: ...................................................................................16 Configuration Screen:........................................................
Table of Contents: Font Selection:............................................................................................23 Logging: ......................................................................................................23 Other Events Screen Settings:.....................................................................24 Make this screen Visible: ............................................................................24 Font Selection:................................................
Table of Contents: Quiet Frequency Macros ...........................................................................39 Spacing Macros .........................................................................................
Introduction: Pro96Com is designed to decode the 9600 bps APCO-P25 control channel information using the following decode radios: • • • • • • • • • • • RadioShack PRO-96 RadioShack PRO-2096 GRECOM PSR-500 GRECOM PSR-600 GRECOM PSR-500C GRECOM PSR-600C RadioShack PRO-106 RadioShack PRO-197 Uniden BCD396XT Uniden BCD996XT Anritsu S412D Monitor Data from the control channel is presented on various tabs on the screen. Pro96Com is also capable of controlling virtually any computer controlled scanner.
Getting Started: System Requirements: To monitor a 9600 bps APCO-P25 control channel with Pro96Com, you must have the following items: • A supported decode scanner model. • Programming cable for the scanner (The PSR-500 and PSR-600 require the USB cable from Radio Shack or GRE) • Computer with at least one serial port (two serial ports if you intend to control a Uniden scanner) or a computer with a USB port and an appropriate adapter cable to connect to the scanner.
Using the Pro-96 or Pro-2096 as a decode radio: To place the Pro-96 or Pro2096 into the proper mode to decode a 9600 bps APCO-P25 control channel, follow these steps: 1. In the Edit Menu, select the Decode Options item, and set the correct serial port for your cable and set the Decoding scanner type to Pro96/Pro-2096. 2. Tune the Pro-96 or Pro-2096 to the 9600 bps APCO-P25 control channel you wish to monitor. 3. Press the PGM button 4. Press the FUNC button 5. Press the PGM button. 6.
Using the GRECOM PSR-500, PSR-600, PSR-500C, PSR-600C, PRO-106 or PRO-197 as a decode radio: 1. In the Edit Menu, select the Decode Options item, and set the correct serial port for your USB cable and set the Decoding scanner type to PSR500/PSR-600. 2. Connect the USB serial cable to your computer and your scanner. 3. Tune to an active control channel in a TSYS object using the Analyze feature of the scanner. 4. Click on the Read Data from Radio button.
Screen Layouts: When you start Pro96Com, you will see a screen that looks something like this: This is the main screen of the program. The following pages will go into detail about each screen that is available.
Common Areas: Screen Tabs: Information in Pro96Com is displayed on various screens in the program. These information screens are located on tabbed windows at the bottom of the screen. Available tabs are: System Activity: This tab displays the current activity on the tower being monitored. Affiliations: This tab displays information about radios that have affiliated with the current tower.
Tower Information Area: Once you have begun decoding a control channel, the system Information area will display the System ID, Site number (both decimal and hex format as shown on the Pro-96 display), the WACN ID, and the description of the system and the site if they are available. Depending on the settings in the screen configuration area, the system information section will either look similar to what’s shown to the right, or the abbreviated version shown below.
System Activity Screen: Site Activity: In the tower activity section, you will see a listing of the channels and frequencies used on the current site. By selecting the options on the configuration screen for the activity area, you may optionally add a current patch list and/or an abbreviated grant log to this screen (Shown on the right). You may right click on an active channel to edit the TalkGroup or radio id currently shown.
of that talkgroup is at or between the values set, the monitor radio will be tuned to the frequency for that talkgroup. If the priority level of the talkgroup falls outside this range, the talkgroup will be ignored. Column Description: Ch: This is the channel number being used by the system. The channel number is broken into two parts. The first part (before the dash (-) is the table ID. APCO-P25 systems may have up to 16 tables in use on the system labeled 0 through 15.
Affiliation Information Screen: Before a radio may transmit on a trunked system, it must first notify the controller what tower and TalkGroup it needs. This process is known as affiliating with the tower. This screen lists all radios that have affiliated with the current tower since the program was started. The accuracy of this screen will improve as the program runs. Site Affiliations Area: On the left side, all radios that have affiliated with the site since the program was run are listed.
Site Information Screen: This optional screen shows the information being transmitted on the control channel about adjacent towers, and frequency tables. Site Information: In the upper left corner, information about the current tower that is being transmitted by the control channel is displayed. Adjacent Tower Information: On the lower left side of the screen, any sites that are being advertised as being close to this site are listed.
Patches Screen: This optional screen will list any active patches. There is also a patch log that will show any patch activity that has occurred on this tower since the program was started. Patch List: The left side of the screen shows any active patches on the system. Patches will be shown in a format similar to that shown on the left. 2009 (MSP D2East) 2007 (MSP D2North) This means that TalkGroup 2009 is patched to TalkGroup 2007.
Other Events Screen: This optional screen shows informational messages from the control channel. Most people will probably not have a need for this information. This screen includes the raw information from the control channel (Packet Data) and a description of what that data means. Since the majority of the entries on this screen tend to be unit registrations (Radios “logging on” to the radio system but not affiliating with a TalkGroup yet), there is an option to filter these packet types from this log.
Channel Grant Trace Screen: This is an optional screen that may be enabled in the configuration screen under the Edit menu. When a user presses the push-to-talk button on the radio, a signal is sent to the system controller with a request for an available repeater on the system. If a repeater is available, the controller will assign it to this radio and send a channel grant message for all radios that are using that TalkGroup. This message is called a channel grant message.
Unknown Packets Screen: This is an optional screen that may be enabled in the configuration screen under the Edit menu. This screen is primarily intended to help learn any packet formats that Pro96Com doesn’t currently know how to handle. If you enable this option and see packets listed in this screen, please save them to a file and forward them to the software author for analysis. This optional screen will list all unknown types of packets that may be transmitted over the control channel.
Packet Dump Screen: This is an optional screen that may be enabled in the configuration screen under the Edit menu. This screen will show the interpretation of each packet as it is decoded by Pro96Com. The output of this screen is similar in format to the pro96dmp program written by Rick Parrish. This screen is intended primarily as a debugging tool. It is not recommended that you leave this option turned on as it will use a lot of CPU and memory.
Configuration Screen: This screen may be accessed by selecting the Configuration option in the Edit Menu. Configuration options are available on the tabs shown. Please note that this area has been extensively redesigned in this version. Decode Configuration Tab: This screen has all of the general configuration options for radio being used to decode the control channel data. Communications: In the Communications area, you may select the serial port number that will be connected to your Pro-96 scanner.
Scanner Control Tab: This tab allows you to enable control of a second scanner. Since 9600 bps APCO-P25 systems are 100% digital, only a receiver capable of decoding a P25 CAI audio stream should be used. Control of a second scanner requires a computer with at least two serial ports. One serial port will be connected to the Pro-96 to read the control channel data, the second serial port will be connected to the second scanner to be used to monitor the voice transmissions.
Data Options: This tab is used to control the handling of the data collected by Pro96Com. Auto Save of Data: This option will save the data being collected at intervals you select between 1 minute and 60 minutes. These auto saves will only occur while Pro96Com is actively monitoring a tower. Add Date to all log file names: This checkbox will add the date to the beginning of the file name for all log files. This allows you to have a separate log file for each day if you wish.
Screen Settings Tab: This tab contains all of the settings for the various screens displayed by Pro96Com. Global Tab: This tab includes all of the settings that are used on all of the screens. Global Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option is checked, the font, size and bold settings on this screen will be used for all program screens. Odd/Even Display Screens: These options allow you to select the colors to use on screens that use an alternating color pattern.
Activity Screen tab: This tab contains all settings relating to the activity screen. Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option is off on the Global tab, this section of the screen allows you to choose the font, size and bold options for this screen. Colors: This section allows you to set the default display color for talkgroups that have not had colors assigned specifically to them. You may also select the color of the current control channel line on the activity screen.
Affiliation Screen tab: Make this screen Visible: This checkbox will hide or make visible the affiliation information. Even with this screen hidden, the information is still collected as needed. Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option on the Global screen is unchecked, this area will allow you to set the font, size, and bold options for this screen only. Logging: These options control logging of the information collected on this screen.
Tower Information Screen Settings: Make this screen Visible: This checkbox will hide or make visible the tower information screen. Even with this screen hidden, the information is still collected as needed. Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option on the Global screen is unchecked, this area will allow you to set the font, size, and bold options for this screen only. Patches Screen Settings: Make this screen Visible: This checkbox will hide or make visible the tower information screen.
Other Events Screen Settings: Make this screen Visible: This checkbox will hide or make visible the Other Events screen. Even with this screen hidden, the information is still collected as needed. Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option on the Global screen is unchecked, this area will allow you to set the font, size, and bold options for this screen only. Logging: The Turn on Auto Logging at Startup will turn on the automatic logging of patch information when the program starts.
Grant Log Screen Settings: Make this screen Visible: This checkbox will hide or make visible the tower information screen. Even with this screen hidden, the information is still collected as needed. Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option on the Global screen is unchecked, this area will allow you to set the font, size, and bold options for this screen only. Logging: The Turn on Auto Logging at Startup will turn on the automatic logging of patch information when the program starts.
Packet Dump Screen Settings: Make this screen Visible: This checkbox will hide or make visible the Unknown Packets screen. Even with this screen hidden, the information is still collected as needed. Font Selection: If the Use Global Font option on the Global screen is unchecked, this area will allow you to set the font, size, and bold options for this screen only. Logging: The Turn on Auto Logging at Startup will turn on the automatic logging of patch information when the program starts.
RR Web Service/Proxy Settings: This tab is used to control the handling of the data collected by Pro96Com. Enable the Radio Reference Web Service Option: This option enables the entry of your RadioReference.com User Name and Password. If you have a premium subscription to the radioreference.com web site, Pro96Com will allow you to download the current information for the system you are monitoring.
System Edit Screen: This screen allows you to edit the basic information about the current system and tower being modified. This screen may be accessed from the System menu. TalkGroup Edit Screen: This screen allows you to edit the text label and priority setting for a TalkGroup. This screen may be accessed from the System menu. To edit a TalkGroup, enter the TalkGroup number in the TalkGroup field and then move to the TalkGroup Name field.
Radio ID Edit Screen: This screen is similar to the TalkGroup edit screen. This screen may be accessed using the same methods as those listed for the TalkGroup edit screen.
Saving your data: The Basics: Pro96Com can save the data that is collected from a site for future reference. All information about a particular system is stored in the radio system folder. The system folder will be located in the folder where Pro96Com is located, and will be named System### where the ### is replaced by the hexadecimal system ID. As an example, we’ll use the Michigan Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS). The system ID for this system is 796.
Files and formats: Pro96Com uses various files to store the information about the system. All files relating to a particular system will be stored in the system folder. File Name System.ini Description This file contains the basic information about the system including the system name, and the names of the individual towers that are a part of the system. Radios.txt This file contains a list of all of the radio ids that have been seen by Pro96Com. Information is stored in the file one radio per line.
EventLog-###.csv These files will be created by pressing the save button on the Other Events screen. The ### in the file name will be replaced by the tower number in decimal format. If this file already exists when the save button is pressed, any new information will be appended to the end of the file. Dump-###.txt These files will be created by pressing the save button on the Packet Dump screen. The ### in the file name will be replaced by the tower number in decimal format.
Configuring tables for UHF/VHF Systems in the Pro-96: If you are monitoring APCO P25 systems that use the standard 800Mhz identifiers (Base of 851.00625Mhz, Spacing 0.00625) then there is no need to program in tables into the radio. If you are monitoring a system that uses different identifiers, you will need to use the custom table or multi-table option in the radio to properly track the system. APCO P-25 systems can have up to 16 identifier tables.
For each identifier in use on the tower to be monitored, you can calculate the values needed by using the following formulas: Base: CH Lo: CH Hi: Offset: Step: Use the base frequency listed in the identifier. Identifier number * 4096 CH Lo + 4095 Same as CH Lo Spacing value shown in the Identifier The table below lists all of the calculated channel numbers needed for the Pro-96 tables for each identifier.
Example 1 (UHF): ID 2 Base Spacing TX Offset BandWidth 406.00000 0.01250 10.00000 0.01250 Base: 406.00000 CH Lo: Identifier * 4096 2 * 4096 8192 CH Hi: CH Lo + 4095 8192 + 4095 12287 Offset: 8192 (Same as CH Lo) Step: 12.5Khz Example 2 (VHF): ID 3 4 Base Spacing TX Offset BandWidth 136.00000 0.01250 -5.10000 0.01250 136.00000 0.01250 -5.20000 0.01250 Since there are multiple identifier tables in use on this site, you will need to use the Multi-table configuration on the Pro-96.
Pro96Com Scanner Profile Information Pro96Com version 1.40 and above includes the ability to use scanner control profiles. These profiles contain a subset of commands needed to control any scanner that is capable of computer control. A profile for a scanner is done through the use of a file with a .scanner extension (i.e. BC250D.Scanner, BC296D.Scanner, Etc.) The format of the scanner profile is a standard INI style file.
The [Commands] section has the following keys. If a command is not entered into the profile, nothing will be sent to the scanner when that command would normally be triggered. Init This command is sent to the scanner when monitoring of a system is started. Scan This command will be used to place the radio in scan mode. Manual This command is used to place the scanner in Manual mode.
Macros: In the example on the last page, you will notice macros are used to insert the necessary information into the commands. Available macros are listed below: $CR$ Insert a carriage return. Macros Starting with $AF will insert the current active frequency into the command in the format specified. Macros starting with $QF will be replaced the configured Quiet frequency from Pro96Com. Examples of these macros will use a frequency of 866.0125 and 42.
Quiet Frequency Macros Macro $QF-0#######$ Ex: 42.74Mhz 00427400 Ex: 866.0125 08660125 $QF-########$ 4274000 8660125 $QF-0########$ 004274000 086601250 $QF-#########$ 4274000 86601250 $QF-0###.####$ 0042.7400 0866.0125 $QF-0##.####$ 042.7400 866.0125 $QF-####.####$ 42.7400 866.0125 $QF-0###.#####$ 0042.74000 0866.01250 $QF-0##.#####$ 042.74000 866.01250 $QF-####.#####$ 42.74000 866.01250 Ex: 6.25Khz 0.00625 0.0062 0.00625 6.25 6.25 6.250 6.2500 6.25000 62.5 Ex: 12.5Khz 0.
