Trunker Release 3.8.2 Final Documentation

Last updated Wednesday, November 01, 2000
Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 - Neal R. Fildes

Warning - This version of trunker may make major changes to your  data files. It is highly recommended that you save a copy of them in a safe place before using this program. You have been warned!

Origins

Some time ago there appeared on USENET a program and its source code that provided the rudimentary ability to decode Motorola Type I, II, and IIi trunking radio system data. This program is a major enhancement to that program, and is also in the "public domain" with no guaranteed support (only grassroots voluntary support.) It is totally free, and anyone attempting to make commercial use of it ought to get legal advice first. (I have heard an opinion from a scanner manufacturer that since we are not making a 2-way radio system with the patent, there is nothing Motorola can do legally... but I am not a lawyer, and I'd prefer not to finance one...)

Credits

This program, with its rich set of features, was made possible by a world-wide team of contributors who assisted by collecting data on existing systems, providing interface information for various types of scanners, testing beta versions, developing features,  and offering feature suggestions. Special thanks are due IBM for making patents available on the WWW for all to share.

Changes from Release 3.8.1 to Release 3.8.2

This is a maintenance release aimed at resolving a number of user complaints:

Please note that in the following documentation, changes from release 3.8.1 are indicated by underlining.

Features

• With a single scanner connected to a data slicer, the Motorola Trunked Radio System's control channel can be monitored and interpreted. Data is collected and displayed showing critical operating parameters of the trunking system, such as whether it is a simulcast or multiple-node configuration, the frequencies being used by the monitored repeater (calculated automatically for 800MHz systems (both "normal" and "splinter" arrangements) and 900MHz systems, and manually for other frequency ranges), active group and individual calls, patches between multiple talk groups, and pages between individual radios. *See scenario below for non-800MHz band plans or splinter arrangements*
• With the addition of a second scanner, a user can track conversations on trunked systems as they move from frequency to frequency.
• While monitoring the system with the second scanner and watching the display, one can type identifying annotations of talk groups, multi-group patched calls, and individual radio IDs using Trunker's command menus, and those annotations will be saved in data files. Along with the text description of the ID, Trunker allows the priority and color to be set while Trunker is running. By using special values in the color field, it is also possible to have the selected color blink on-and-off for emphasis, as well as to request a speaker tone or 'beep' be emitted when the group, radio, or multi-group patch is active.
• Automatically detect type-II banks within a type-II or Hybrid system based on control channel data, and for identified type-II banks, interpret the status bits of group calls, provide special handling for emergency calls, and suppress tracking of encrypted conversations.
• Automatically detect the use of a type-II radio within a type-I bank for Type IIi/Hybrid systems.
• Allow the user to edit data files to indicate the size code/fleet mapping of type-I banks, and for those banks, displaying both the originating radio ID (and any annotations) and the Bank, Fleet, and Sub Fleet components of the group ID.
• Allow the user to edit data files to establish a system of display colors and monitoring priorities for managing the display and tracking of active calls, such that certain groups, patches, or radios may be suppressed, others allowed, and yet others may be allowed to preempt active conversations of a lesser priority. It also allows certain talk groups to be suppressed unless certain radio IDs are utilizing those talk groups, so that a county-wide shared channel can be ignored unless personnel from one's own organization or region are using that talk group.
• Allow the user to 'hold' onto an active group call, patched multi-group call, or individual call to better identify the group or radio ID, or to avoid missing some interesting traffic.
• Allow a user to 'manually' enter a hold for a specific Group ID or Multi-Group Patch ID, whether or not the ID is active at the time.
• Logging of pages and the groups participating in multi-group patches, both to a scrolling screen window and (optionally) to a data file.
• Extended logging (optional) of radio affiliations with talk groups to the screen and optionally to a data file.
• Allow the user to edit a data file to provide a customized mapping between a frequency identifier and actual frequency in MHz, so that non-standard mappings may be described and UHF/VHF configurations may be tracked.
• Allow the user to identify a special type of trunked radio system that broadcasts part of the call data as being associated with the repeater input frequency and part of the call data as associated with the repeater output frequency (such as the 400MHz system in London,UK and most UHF/VHF systems), providing the mapping of input to output frequency identifier, so the two halves of the call data can be processed together and properly interpreted.
• Allow the user to describe the desired operating configuration for Trunker (and its related programs) via multiple environment variables, or a single environment variable that contains the name of a file from which it should extract its settings.
• Supports an in-memory database capacity limited only by memory availability. Changes to the database made with the 'I', 'P', and 'G' commands may be saved to disk with the 's' command or the 'q' option in the 'esc' sub-menu.

Non-Features

• Although may users have requested it, there is not and will not be a feature (provided by me) to allow you to 'hold' on a specific radio by typing in its ID. If you really insist on this capability, my advice is to make use of the priority scheme to implement it. Hard core fanatics may want to consider their own source modification but don't expect me to 'buy it back'. (nrf)

Typical Hardware Environment:

Trunker and Commercial Trunking Radios

For those who already own a commercially available trunking scanner, Trunker can still provide helpful information for using that scanner. Four areas that may be valuable include:

• Frequency Determination: The trunk tracking scanners presently on the market require that the user enter all frequencies into the scanner for proper operation. One can find uncataloged trunked systems in their area, use Trunker to identify the frequencies, then load those frequencies into the scanner for monitoring. Without Trunker, the second-most practical way to do this is to try to locate the data channel frequency in some type of frequency database and correlate it to associated voice frequencies. As a recent Monitoring Times article demonstrates, this method does not necessarily expose all the frequencies used by the system, since they may have a different license and/or licensee.
• Talk Group Determination: Information about existing talk groups is critical to effective use of the trunking scanners. Trunker assists the identification of groups by allowing online annotation and displaying the raw identifier in Hex to simplify determination of bank/fleet maps. Once the function of groups is identified, desirable ones can be loaded into the trunking scanner's 'scan' banks, and undesirable ones can be added to the trunking scanner's lockout list.Trunker can also be used to log infrequently used talk groups which can be added to your scan list to help you 'catch' them.
• Tracking other Frequency Bands: With the recent release of the BC245XLT® scanner, this capability is now available in reasonably priced off-the-shelf scanners. However, UHF/VHF systems can have up to 3 channel ranges each with a different offset and step size, and the 245 only supports a single range.
• Tracking Individual Calls: Since the currently available trunk tracking scanners are based on a 'Group' concept, they do not track individual calls. Trunker recognizes both Group and Individual IDs, thus allowing one to track radio traffic that the existing (inexpensive) commercial scanners are unable to follow.

For those who do not yet own a commercially available trunking scanner, Trunker can assist one in learning about how trunked systems operate and if they are used frequently enough to warrant purchase of an additional scanner.

Trunker and Non-Motorola Systems

A variant of Trunker called ETRUNK.EXE is also available for GE/Ericsson trunked systems. It shares the same user interface, features, and file formats as TRUNKER.EXE.

Use of System ID (SysId) as Primary Identifier

Since Trunker keeps a set of data files for each trunked system it monitors, it identifies them with a special field called the 'System ID' that is periodically broadcast by each system. It uses the SysId value to name data files and detect when the input scanner has moved on to another system. Since this SysId value is sent at intervals, it would be possible for some of the groups or IDs from the new trunked system to make their way into the previous system's data files. To avoid this, if Trunker senses a change of SysId field, it will not auto-save the data files from the previous system. The appropriate way to change systems and still have data saved is to use the 's' command to save the current system's data, then allow the scanner to search until the next trunked data channel is located.

The data files for a given system will be named with this SysId value. For example, if a system's ID is 1b27, files will be created with the names:

	1b27sys.txt	frequencies and bank map
	1b27page.txt	paging, group patch, and affiliation log
	1b27ids.txt	information on radio IDs
	1b27grp.txt	information on group IDs
	1b27Ptch.txt	information on multi-group patches

Networked Radio Systems

Larger trunked systems have a feature that allows a radio system to span a broad geographic area by supporting an array of radio nodes. Each of several repeaters in the large geographic area will be assigned its own set of frequencies distinct from nearby repeaters in the system. However, each repeater will broadcast the same SysId field and work from the same database of Group and Radio IDs. Trunker mimics this behavior and allows the frequencies from each repeater to be saved in a separate file, yet uses the common data base of Group and Radio IDs.

In addition to the above file names, you will see a file for each of the repeaters in the system that you have monitored. Example file names would be:

	1b27C6.txt	frequencies for Repeater Node 6
	1b27C8.txt	frequencies for Repeater Node 8
	...

Note that if these files are used for a given system, the xxxxSYS.TXT file be over-written with a 3-line version containing ONLY the System Title, Bank Map, and Band Plan. This allows the Bank Plan from the last used repeater to be propagated to an new repeater file that is created. Sometimes, various repeaters may have a different band plan, especially with plans '8' and 'S'..

Also, after Trunker was widely disseminated, it was brought to our attention that this numbering scheme was 'off by one', with the user version starting at one instead of zero. This difference has been corrected with this version.

A Comments About Hybrid/IIi Systems

Trunker will now detect the use of a type-II radio within a bank designated as type-I. When this occurs, Trunker will revise the bank letter for that bank to lower case (H becomes h) to indicate its use for both types of radios. Trunker will attempt to display the true type-II id of the radio instead of its type-I alias when possible. However, limited accuracy of the received control signal can make this impossible. Although Hybrid and type IIi systems are different in the appearance of the data stream, Trunker classifies them in the same way and provides the same treatment for the banks utilizing mixed radio types.

Environment Variables Used by Trunker

Rather than requiring that many command line arguments be used for parameters that are relatively static, Trunker uses environment variables. In addition, because most systems tend to run out of environment memory unless tunable parameters are changed, Trunker supports the use of a single variable containing a file name in which the rest of the variables may be placed.

It is Highly Recommended that you set only the TRACKENV variable and put the rest in a text file! Problems caused by variable settings not 'taking' dominate the trouble reports for this version of Trunker and you can avoid many problems by using this approach!

The following table shows the variables used by Trunker:

Command Line Arguments

None - if you provide any, a list of environment variables will be printed out.

Getting Started

First, identify which signal lead (DSR, CTS, or DCD) the slicer signal is wired to, then edit a .txt file containing your environment variables. A good way to check your data slicer and determine its configuration is a freeware program called SLICER.EXE. Once you know which pin is used, set up the configuration. First, create a global file that contains the variable settings you want for Trunker. It is best to use this file rather than put 'set' commands in autoexec.bat because it is easy to exceed the limits on environment space. Here is a sample "TRACKENV.TXT":

	TRACKSLICERPORT=COM1
	TRACKSLICERPIN=CTS
	TRACKSLICERMODE=INVERT
	TRACKSCANPORT=COM1
	TRACKSCAN=AR8000
	TRACKSCANPARK=854.0000
	NEWRADIO=10
	NEWGROUP=8
	FILTERLOG=1

Next, refer to this file via a SINGLE variable setting in AUTOEXEC.BAT. Assuming this file's name is c:\trackenv.txt, place the following line in AUTOEXEC.BAT and reboot:

    	set TRACKENV=C:\TRACKENV.TXT

Running Trunker in a DOS window (on a fast WINDOWS system) or under DOS, you should see a 43-line Trunker display:

Next, tune the input scanner to the data channel of the trunked system to be analyzed. After several seconds, the display should look something like this:

If, after 10-20 seconds, you see a status field of wantCTS, for example, it means that the TRACKSLICERPIN variable is incorrect. You can use the 'c' command to enter the CONFIGURATION menu, which will allow you to select the various input pins and polarities to find the correct settings. Once you have identified these, you can go back and change the values of  TRACKSLICERPIN and TRACKSLICERMODE for subsequent runs. Some Trunker users have noted that the normal/invert modes may need to be set on a system-by-system basis!

At this point, Trunker has determined many of the key parameters of this system. Since a call is in progress, Trunker is beginning to identify the voice frequencies in use. The system ID is 1f3e, and that code will be used to name the .txt files Trunker saves. This system either has a single repeater site, or multiple sites that all broadcast simultaneously on the same frequencies. The call in progress shows that the first bank (of 8) is a Type-II bank.This is saved in the 1f3eSYS.TXT file with the string MAP=2???????. The current call is for group (decimal) 3536 (or hex 0DD0 or Motorola Style 0DD). If one were to annotate this group by typing g0dd0Police Dispatch<return>, the line would read:

v857.2375*  49 Police Dispatch            #0dd0 G ----

Once Trunker sees traffic on all of the active voice frequencies and identifies the data channel frequency, the list will look something like this:

Type II 97.3 Hz                  Scanner: AR8000     Status: Hi-Qual Acc:   83.0%
SysId: 1f3e Type: 2??????? Title: UnNamed System
   Output   Pr                                              Trunker <version>
  Frequency ty Destination Title            ID T  ID   Caller Title
cdv-------- -- -------------------- ..... ---- - ---- --------------------------
  v856.7625*49 ?                          #0730 G 149e ?
  v857.2375
  v857.7625 49 ?                          #0a90 G 206c ?
  v858.2375
  v858.7625 49 ?                          #0110 G 13e9 ?
d 859.7625

If you edit the flat files produced by Trunker (either offline via text editor or database system or online with the 'g', 'i', and 'p' commands,) adjusting priorities and colors, you can get a display something like this:

Type II 97.3 Hz                 Scanner: AR8000     Status: Hi-Qual Acc:  85.3%
SysId: 1f3e Type: 22222222 Title: Warren County SmartNet-II
   Output   Pr                                                 Trunker <version>
  Frequency ty Destination Title           ID  T  ID  Caller Title
cdv-------- -- -------------------- ..... ---- - ---- --------------------------
c v856.2375
  v856.7625*01 Mutual Aid                #0590 G 14ec B P Mutual Aid ???
  v857.2375
 dv857.7625 06 WCCC Primary              #0170 G 1c04 P P Waynesville 1/2William
  v858.2375
 dv858.7625 08 M F Springboro 2101       #16b6 I 16a9 M F Springboro 2103 Car
  L859.2375
 dv859.7625
  L860.2375
 dv860.7625

Referring to the next (color) screen shot, the police entries are blue, the fire / public safety entries red, and any shared group (mutual aid) magenta. I've distinguished between nearby organizations (bright blue or bright red) and less interesting ones (dark blue, dark red.) You can also see from this example that it is possible to re-arrange the frequencies in the xxxxSYS.TXT file and Trunker will maintain that ordering. I have manually added the frequencies with the 'L' in the voice column, indicating that the system is licensed to use those frequencies. However, should the system ever actually use them, Trunker will substitute a 'v' for that column, and I would then know that they have been placed in service. Finally, note that many systems change data channel frequencies daily or at random, so you will not   necessarily have four 'd' entries at first. You may have to search for the data channel on another day, first checking the known voice frequencies, then trying other frequencies within the pattern.

Here is a (partial) live screen shot of Trunker in action, monitoring the Warren County, Ohio system:

Usage Scenarios

Gathering information on local trunked systems

With your scanner locked onto the data channel to be investigated, start Trunker. Once Trunker locks in on the signal, it will show the system ID and begin to collect information. If Trunker has already seen that system, it will retrieve the data files previously saved and note the use of the current frequency as a data channel. As there is activity on the system, it will step through the voice channels available. In order to fully collect information on the system, it may be necessary to find the system's data channel again on a number of days until all of them have been found (a maximum of four frequencies are used). If you want to look up the licensee for the system, wait until the CWID channel appears (a 'c' in column 1), then monitor that frequency until the callsign is heard. In larger systems, the first channel is often not used for voice traffic, so the only way to find the CWID channel is through the data channel "diagnostic" command.

Handling Bandplans for 900MHz Systems, Splinter 800MHz Arrangements, and Custom Mappings

By default, Trunker will interpret frequency assignments according to a "standard" 800MHz map. Use the following process to initialize the xxxxSYS.TXT file for 900MHz, UHF systems, splinter 800MHz arrangements, or other systems that do not conform to the standard mappings:

1. With no xxxxSYS.TXT file in the current directory, start Trunker.
2. Once the SysId appears, stop Trunker with the 'q' command.
3. Edit the xxxxSYS.TXT file. Note the accuracy of the data channel entry to determine if a splinter arrangement is required. Delete all frequency entries.
4. Add one of the following lines to the file, in uppercase and beginning in column 1, or edit one if it exists already:
   PLAN=8        for US 800MHz frequency plan
   PLAN=S        for Splinter 800 MHz plan (Trunker shows the data channel 12.5kHz higher than the true frequency)
   PLAN=9        for US 900MHz frequency plan
   PLAN=0        for all other plans including UHF, VHF and custom 800/900
5. Save the file.
6. Run Trunker again and accumulate frequencies until the list is stable.
7. Stop Trunker with the 'q' command.
8. Edit the xxxxSYS.TXT file as appropriate, replacing any hex values with the frequencies you have determined are appropriate. This may require searching a database of frequency assignments etc. If you set PLAN=8 or PLAN=9, or PLAN=S, most of the frequencies will be computed already by Trunker. If your system uses non-standard mappings, it will be necessary to edit any incorrect lines. If you must edit the lines, it is critical to maintain the exact spacing including the first three special characters and the F8.4 format.
9. Special step only for systems that broadcast both the input and output frequencies (Especially UHF/VHF Systems): notice when pairs of frequencies are energized in synchrony at the beginning of a conversation, and record those pairings. Then move the input frequency to the 'input frequency' column of the output frequency's entry, and delete the line for the input frequency. For example, if 0x015 and 0x207 are related, and 0x207 represents 407.05, carefully change the file entries:
   From:
   [blank][blank]v0x015[3 blanks],15,ffff,103
   [blank][blank]v0x207[3 blanks],207,ffff,102
   To:
   [blank][blank]v407.0500,207,15

Analyzing Group Assignments

While using one scanner to monitor the data channel with Trunker, simultaneously monitor the frequencies it has exposed with a second scanner (or better yet, if you have a supported scanner, hook it up and use the tracking feature.) By simultaneously listening and watching, one can associate the conversation (especially unit designations) with a specific voice ID, and collections of users doing a particular activity (such as fire dispatch) with a group ID. Using the 'G' and 'I' commands, one can quickly add information to Trunker's data base in real-time.

To get a comprehensive list of groups and IDs, it is also possible to let Trunker run for days as necessary. For this to work, the scanner that is monitoring the data channel must be programmed with all of the data frequencies Trunker exposes and set up with proper squelch etc. so when the data channel changes frequency, the scanner will skip to the new one.

Once one has identified a group as having a specific function, Trunker will automatically annotate any new radios as having used that group the first time the radio was seen. One can than fine-tune the xxxxIDS.TXT file online with the 'i' command to set priority, color and title, or offline with a text editor.

Over time, should radio IDs get re-used, it is easy to notice a discrepancy in the display and update the annotation without stopping Trunker.

Recommended settings for this mode include Delay,not Verbose, and seekNew. If you use the audio scanner in trunk-tracking mode while using these settings, the program will give highest priority to the unknown group IDs to assist in identification. Once you have identified a group or user, you can use the 'I' or 'G' command to note its use and set its priority to a non-zero value, preventing future jumps to that group or user unless it is associated with call to a group or individual with a scannable priority.

The recommended approach for analyzing a new system is to first monitor the talk groups with the 'Verbose' option turned off and 'seekNew' turned on. Once you have the majority of talk groups identified, prioritized, and colored, then turn on the 'Verbose' mode. At this point, as each new radio is identified, since the talk groups are already annotated, each radio will then be assigned a text string noting the first talk-group it is seen on. As you see a white radio entry, you can then update its text string, priority, and color as appropriate. The seekNew option only seeks to new GROUPS so these new radios will not interfere with your monitoring process.

Handling Multi-Group Patch Calls

Sometimes a multiple group call is set up from one of the trunked system consoles. Each 'Patch' as it is referred to by Trunker, has a unique patch id and a list of associated group IDs. While that patch is being broadcast over the data channel, any calls by one of the participating groups' radios will be processed specially (based on the low 8 bits of the group ID known as 'flags'.) The text associated with the patch will appear with a 'P' in the T(ype) column. You can edit that text with the 'P' command after you enter the hex Patch ID.

If you have not edited a Patch record, the patch record will take on most of the characteristics of the participating group with the best priority.

If the patch occurs in a Type I bank, you will instead see the Group ID and Radio ID of one of the participating members, but you can see the list of participants in the Log window (and the xxxxpage.txt file if disk Logging is turned on.)

A Note about Automatic Annotation and Saving of Groups and IDs

Two features of Trunker are intended to support the collection of data about the users and groups in the trunked system.

• Automatic Annotation will update user radio ID records with the name of the talk group where the radio last appeared. In this version, the annotation will look something like this:

[#0170]WCCC Primary

This annotation is what would appear if the display format was HEX, and the radio in question last used group 0170(hex) titled "WCC Primary". When the display mode is changed, these annotations will be modified to contain a decimal code.

• The scanning behavior for newly discovered radios and groups are modified by the value of environment variables NEWRADIO and  NEWGROUP, respectively, as well as the setting of the SEEKNEW option.

2-Scanner Trunk-Tracking with a Supported Scanner

The audio scanner can be used to track the channels based on priority by hooking the TxD lead through a level converter to the serial input of the scanner. The scanner should be hooked up prior to starting Trunker. Trunker will put it into VCO mode, set the step, and drive it with the proper frequencies. Assuming one has already identified groups and IDs, and would not want to snap to new ids, you probably don't want the seekNew option set. The Delay and Verbose settings could be used according to user preference. Note that the equivalent of 'locking out' groups or IDs is accomplished by setting the priority for the groups and IDs greater than 50.

Detailed Documentation

Meanings and Possible Values of Key Fields

Requirements

• Trunker 3 is intended to run under MS-DOS. Although it has been shown to run under Windows-95 and Windows-98, no assurances are made of compatibility or fitness for use. Those attempting to try should use `Full Screen' mode and disable CPU-burning screen savers. A reduction of about 5-10% in accuracy can be expected because of interrupt service latency under Win95/98.The emulated UARTS in some multifunction system board ICs lock up under the high interrupt rates present with the data slicer signal. It does not seem to be a problem under MS-DOS
• One must understand that decoding and interpreting data at 3600 bits-per-second and looking up records for thousands of groups and radio IDs places a certain demand on a CPU. Please don't feel slighted if your 386 or 486 system can't handle the demands of Trunker.

Data Files

Trunker 3 generates and later reads four or more data files, with names based on the 16-bit SysId value:

xxxxSYS.TXT

the system information. (xxxx is the hex SysId value.) This file contains a line in which the user may label the system, a line in which the bank types / fleet mappings are specified, and a long-term history of the frequencies utilized by this system.

xxxxCn.TXT

The equivalent of the SYS file for an individual repeater node in a networked system.

xxxxPAGE.TXT

A running log of detailed information may optionally be logged in this file. The exact contents are adjusted with the 'o' menu, and include, among other things, information about patches,  affiliations, system diagnostics, emergency signals, call alerts, and broadcasts of neighboring nodes.

xxxxIDS.TXT

a CSV file containing all of the individual IDs found on the system, with associated priority, color, and text label.

xxxxGRP.TXT

a CSV file with identical format to xxxxIDS.TXT, but providing information for the groups utilized on the system.

xxxxPTCH.TXT

a CSV file with identical format to xxxxIDS.TXT, but providing information for the multi-group patches observed on the system. Any changes to the annotation for these patches with the 'p' command will be saved in this file.

Keystroke Options

While Trunker is running, keystroke commands control various operating parameters and saving of data. When the data files are saved, the current settings of toggled options (NVDXLF) are saved in the xxxxSYS.TXT file. The keystrokes are:

• A frame-sync indicator may be turned on and off ('f' key.)
• A delay-hold may be applied to groups after they become inactive so one can note the group id or allow the conversation to be tracked over a gap of a couple seconds ('d' key.)
• Verbose mode that shows the destination Group or ID as well as the Source ID, or non-verbose mode that only shows the destination ('v' key.)
• Save data files ('s' key.)
• Exit sub-menu (<esc> or 'q' keys.)
• Option sub-menu ('o' key)
• Enter into the data set the label text, priority, and color associated with a group, radio, or patch ('g', 'p', or 'i' keys.)
• seekNew mode: snaps new users to highest priority for rapid identification ('n' key.)
• Enter a hold mode for the currently scanned conversation. This could be either a Group call, Multi-Group Patch call, a call involving a pair of Individuals, or a single-individual, depending on the current display at the time the 'h' key is used, regardless of its priority or digital status. Hitting 'h' while holding will return to search mode('h' key.) You can also enter hold mode with the "up arrow" or "down arrow" keys. In this case, the call immediately above or below the current call will be selected for hold mode. Repeatedly hitting up arrow or down arrow will move the 'hold' from active call to active call, so you can have more control over which calls you hear.
• Manually enter a hold mode, where you can type in an arbitrary Group ID, whether or not the ID is active at present ('m' key.) As with the normal hold mode, the 'h' key will halt the manual mode and return search mode. Note that this key is different from the capitalized version!
• Manually enter a hold mode, where you can type in an arbitrary Multi-Group Patch ID, whether or not the patch is active at present ('M' key.) As with the normal hold mode, the 'h' key will toggle the mode back to search mode. Note that this key is different from the lowercase version!
• Enter a configuration sub-menu in which you can experiment with the slicer pin selection and mode (normal/invert) - 'c' key.
• Use the 'T' key to set the 'audio scanning threshold' to a value different from 50 - any group/id with prty <= the threshold will be eligible for audio scanning, any greater priority will be suppressed.
• Any other commands will appear in the menu. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list.

Note that the menu may take more than one line, so the 'space' key will switch between menus. A particular menu item need not appear to be accessible - the keystrokes will work whether the particular item is visible or not.

Notes on Editing Trunker Records

When you enter the 'G', 'P', or 'I' key, you will be prompted for the group, patch, or radio ID (in hex or decimal depending on the current format setting.) Type in the hex(or decimal as appropriate) radio, group, or patch ID. Do NOT try to type in a textual Type 1 Group Annotation, such as "3 02-12". For a Multi-Group Patch, type in the 4 or 5 character patch ID, as seen on the displayed call or observed on the paging/patch log window.

After typing the last character of the ID, or hitting ENTER or TAB after less than 4(or 5) characters, Trunker will display the current data record. You may edit the Title, Priority, and Color fields. To move to the next field, use the TAB key. To move within a field use the left and right arrow keys. Backspace is destructive, and the Insert and Delete keys function in the normal manner. You may either abort the current update with the <escape> key at any time, or commit the changes without tabbing through the remaining fields by using the ENTER key. Also, the Right Arrow key can be used to skip from the last column of a field to the first column of the next, but you cannot go back with the Left Arrow key.

When you reach the 'color' field, a colorized prompter will appear on the bottom line of the screen to help you select the proper color code. You can add 16 to the value shown for blinking, and/or add 32 to the value for a 'beep' from the speaker. Note that whatever color is the background color will not be seen in that menu, since it 'blends in' to the background.

Screen Areas

Channel Status Area

This area of the screen contains static data about the frequencies used by the system, and real-time information about the current state of the various frequencies. 43-line mode is used to allow the full 28 (27 voice + 1 CWID) frequencies to be displayed. Only those frequencies actually used for voice, data, or CWID are retained in the xxxxSYS.txt file. In the channel area, the first three columns carry flags about the particular frequencies:

C:

this channel gave out the CW callsign.

D:

this channel was at one time the data channel

V:

this channel has at one time carried voice connections. A different letter may be put in this column to allow unused frequencies to be maintained in the file. Once the frequency is actually used, Trunker will change this column to 'v'.

Each frequency identified (possibly in past sessions as saved in the xxxxSYS.txt file) is color coded:

Dark Green or "Quiet" color you specify:

frequency not presently active or is emitting the CW callsign.

Light Green or "Active" color you specify:

frequency is active for voice.

DarkGrey:

frequency is currently the data channel.

Subsequent columns include:

Prty:

the priority assigned the conversation, based on the composite of caller/destination priority. (A low priority is 'better'.)

"*":

this frequency is the current one which the Audio Scanner has been told to monitor, if you are using that feature.

Destination Title:

usually, the name (and color) assigned to the group in use by editing the xxxxGRP.txt file. For a private call, this will be the name and color assigned to the called individual unit in the xxxxIDS.txt file.

ID:

ID information, depending on the type of bank being displayed. For a Type II or unknown type bank, just the hex or decimal value of the talk group will appear. For a Type II bank, flag nibble will be set to zero. For a Type I bank, the Bank#, Fleet#, and SubFleet # are shown, for example: "3 02-12" for Bank 3, Fleet 2, SubFleet 12, followed by the group ID in hex or decimal for direct entry into the 'G' command.

T:

either "G" for a group call, "I" for a Individual Call, "P" for a patched call among multiple groups (the best priority group will be shown followed by "etc.",) "A" for "All Talk Group",  "E" for Emergency Call, "M" for Multi-select, and "D" for Digital or encrypted calls.

ID:

The hex or decimal id of the last radio keyed up. In group calls, this may sometimes be inaccurate if another group member keyed-up before the previous member's disconnect tone was sent out. Us this ID for entry into the 'I' command.

Caller Title:

the name (and color) assigned to the individual, if known, as specified in the xxxxIDS.txt file. (see note in previous paragraph)

Command/Response Area

This zone consists of two lines, the first for prompting, and the second for displaying the results of the last entered annotation request.

Fleet Map Table

NOTE: These are NOT the Motorola Bank Size Codes!

Sample Data Files

xxxxSYS.TXT

System Label on first line
MAP=222C2222		bank size map
PLAN=8			800MHz 'Standard' US Band Plan
DISPOSITION=...		per-system settings from 'option' sub-menu
OPTIONS=NVDf		per-system settings from 'main' menu
c v854.8875,9b,ffff,323	first 3 columns are flags, then freq. in MHz, then 'channel #'
  v855.1875,a7,ffff,333	4th column is 'input frequency' hex for certain
  v856.3125,d4,ffff,3f	UHF systems which emit input frequency codes. last is hit counter
  v856.4125,d8,ffff,1dd2
  v857.3125,fc,ffff,22f3
  v857.4125,100,ffff,3303
  v858.3125,124,ffff,12
  v858.3625,126,ffff,f3
 dv859.3125,14c,ffff,1333
 dv859.4125,150,ffff,1223
 dv860.3125,174,ffff,3ac3
 dv0x320   ,320,ffff,11a	this one is unknown or suppressed by user

xxxxGRP.TXT,xxxxIDS.txt,xxxxPTCH,txt

;VER=3
;ID_hex,COLOR_dec,PRIO_dec,TITLE_str,LASTNOTED_hex,HITS_hex,USAGE_hex,ID_dec,ID_str,LASTNOTED_mm/dd/yyyy,LASTNOTED_hh:mm
00b0,1,99,"Franklin/Springb. '2'",3a0066ee,547927bb,1c,176,#00B0,11/01/2000,13:54
00d0,4,99,"Springboro Primary",3a006447,231552c5,1e,208,#00D0,11/01/2000,13:43
00f0,4,99,"fire springboro",3a004ed2,19337641,0,240,#00F0,11/01/2000,12:11

xxxxPAGE.TXT

Oct 14 01:42:20       [#0170]WCCC Primary #1D76 Af->#0170 WCCC Primary 
Oct 14 01:46:45 Add2MSEL id #1067, group #0677(Fire Primary (!2))
Oct 14 01:47:18 MSEL id #1067 closed.
Oct 14 01:47:29       [#0170]WCCC Primary #16CF Af-> #0170 WCCC Primary 
Oct 14 01:49:11 [#0A50]Franklin Firegroun #16E9 Af-> #0A50 Franklin Fireground 

xxxxMSG.TXT (this file is optional and requires knowledge of the radio system setup and reporting procedures)

;columns are: s for status or m for message,number,text
s,1,place text here for status #1
s,2,place text here for status #2
...
s,8,place text here for status #8
m,1,responding
m,2,on the scene
m,3,returning available
m,4,returning unavailable
...
m,16,place text here for message #16

Notes On Data Content

• Priorities are numbers ranging from 0 to 99, with only those less <= 50 (or the current Threshold) triggering 'Tracking'.
• Color values are as follows (a colorized prompter will help you choose a color when you get to that field while using the 'p', 'i', or 'g' commands) (add 16 for the `flashing' attribute, and/or add 32 for an alert 'tone'):

  Color	Decimal Value
  BLACK (not visible with default background color)	0
  BLUE	1
  GREEN	2
  CYAN	3
  RED	4
  MAGENTA	5
  BROWN	6
  WHITE	7
  DARKGRAY	8
  LIGHTBLUE	9
  LIGHTGREEN	10
  LIGHTCYAN	11
  LIGHTRED	12
  LIGHTMAGENTA	13
  YELLOW	14
  BRIGHTWHITE	15
  for blinking,	add 16
  for beep,	add 32

CI-V/CI-5 Radio Addresses Used by Trunker