Setting up trunker for the first time
©Brett Miller 2003

First, you are encouraged to read all the documentation that comes with Trunker. A lot of time went into the documentation. It might not always be easy to find the information you are looking for, but most of the info is in there.

There are two things you need to do to your computer before Trunker will run:
1. Edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT so that it points to the TRACKENV.TXT file you created.
2. Create a file called TRACKENV.TXT which contains information trunker needs to run properly.

1. Editing your AUTOEXEC.BAT
In Windows, open the 'My Computer' icon of the desktop. Then click on drive 'C:'
In the root directory of drive C: you should see a file called  autoexec.bat
Right click on the autoexec.bat and select Edit from the popup menu. Your autoexec.bat file should open in Notepad. Add the following line after the last line in your autoexec.bat:
SET TRACKENV=C:\TRACKENV.TXT

This tells you computer that the information needed when Trunker is launched is in a file called TRACKENV.TXT which is located in the root C: directory.

If you want to put your TRACKENV.TXT file in another location, change this line accordingly. Example:

SET TRACKENV=C:\DIRECTORY\TRACKENV.TXT

 

2. Creating a TRACKENV.TXT
Launch the Notepad application and create a file called TRACKENV.TXT
Here is a sample file you can start with (some of the values may be different for your setup):

TRACKSLICERPORT=COM1
TRACKSLICERPIN=DSR
TRACKSLICERMODE=INVERT
TRACKSCANPORT=COM1
TRACKSCAN=PCR1000
TRACKSCANPARK=851.0000
NEWRADIO=10
NEWGROUP=8
FILTERLOG=1

Save this file to the root C: directory (the same directory where your autoexec.bat is located).
Here are some tips on each line entry: (see Trunker docs for the full listing of variables and options)
TRACKSLICERPORT=COM1 This tells Trunker on which serial port to look for your data slicer.
TRACKSLICERPIN=DSR This tells Trunker what pin on the Com port the signal is on from the slicer.  If you don't know what the setting is, leave it as DSR and try all the different settings within the Trunker program. When you figure out the right one, come back and edit this file with the correct entry.  See the section below for more help on setting this to the correct value.  Slicers sold on this site prior to Sept.03 had the signal on DTS.  They have since been made with the signal on DSR to increase compatibility with certain controlled scanners that need the CTS line.
TRACKSLICERMODE=INVERT Some scanners output an inverted signal and some don't. This will either be NORMAL or INVERT. You can toggle between NORMAL and INVERT within Trunker to find the right setting, then come back and edit this file (since Trunker will not keep the setting after you exit the program).  See the section below for more help on setting this to the correct value.
TRACKSCANPORT=COM1 This is the Com port that Trunker will use to control your second scanner (must be on the list of controlled scanners). If you have a Super Data Slicer with serial pass-through, this will be the same Com port as your data slicer.  
TRACKSCAN=PCR1000 This tells Trunker which protocol to use to talk to your scanner so you can follow conversations and hear the audio. In this case Trunker will tune a ICOM PCR1000 to whatever frequency the highest priority talkgroup is on. See the Trunker Docs for a list of supported scanners and other variables that need to be set for specific scanners. . The Pro-92, 93, 95, 2067, and 2053 cannot be controlled by Trunker. A BC245XLT or 895XLT are good inexpensive scanners if you need to purchase a second scanner for the audio tracking. The Uniden BC780XLT, 250D, and 785D will also work fine (set TRACKSCAN = BC895).
TRACKSCANPARK=851.0000 This is the frequency Trunker will 'park' the audio scanner on if there is no activity to follow. Some people choose a quiet frequency, while others choose an active frequency so they can hear activity while Trunker has nothing to follow.
NEWRADIO=10 The setting is not critical to normal operation.  See Trunker docs.
NEWGROUP=8 The setting is not critical to normal operation.  See Trunker docs.
FILTERLOG=1 The setting is not critical to normal operation.  See Trunker docs.

 

Mode and PIN Settings
The TRACKSLICERMODE and TRACKSLICERPIN settings are the ones that cause the most problems for people because most of the time you don't know what to set these at. If you don't know what the settings should be, do the following:

1. Make sure your tapped scanner has a good clean control channel signal and is in MANUAL mode (the volume setting does not matter).  A little bit of rasp (fuzz, static, etc) on the signal can cause major decoding problems for Trunker, so make sure you have the strongest signal possible tuned.  Your control channel should sound a lot like THIS.  If it doesn't, go to this site and listen to some of the audio signals and identify if you are really tuned to a Motorola Control channel
2. Make sure your data slicer is plugged in to the tapped scanner
3. Make sure your data slicer is plugged into the serial port on your PC
4. Make sure you have edited the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and created the TRACKENV.TXT file as described above.
5. Start Trunker and wait to see if you get a signal % in the top right corner of the screen. If it says "wantCTS" or "sig?inv" you need to change one or more settings.
6. Look at the Command / Response Area at the bottom of the screen. Hit the Space bar to view the second screen of menu options.
7. Hit 'C' for Configure (Cfg)
     a.  If it says "sig?inv" in the top right of your screen press 'm' to toggle the mode setting and wait to see if that gets it working.
     b.  If it says "wantCTS" press the 'p' key to make Trunker look at another pin. You may have to press this twice to toggle between the 3 different pin options (CTS, DSR, DCD). You may have to wait about a minute before the signal % updates itself.
     c. You may need to try all six combinations to find the right one.
          i. INVERT - CTS
          ii. INVERT - DSR
          iii. INVERT - DCD
          iv. NORMAL - CTS
          v. NORMAL - DSR
          vi. NORMAL - DCD
8. If this doesn't solve the problem, you may have the wrong COM port specified. Go back the the TRACKENV.TXT file and change the TRACKSLICERPORT setting to a different serial port and do the above steps again.  Most modern computers have one or two 9-pin COM (serial) ports on the back.  Older computers (386, 486) often had 25-pin serial ports, so you may need an adapter.
9. If it is still not working, it is very likey that Trunker is not seeing the COM port. Running Slicer.exe is a good test for this.  Slicer.exe is a DOS program and shows the slicer activity on the COM port in  Interrupts per Second.  A high value is good.  Slicer can be downloaded at here.  If Trunker can not see the COM port, you'll need to seek more help based on your specific operating system.  For XP and Windows 2000 problems the most common problem is getting the environment variables set properly and making sure Com port power management is turned off.  I hope to add common solutions for the various operating systems at a future date.

 

Checking the Hardware
The data slicer should be putting out about 2 volts AC between pin 5 (Ground) and 6 (DSR) on the 9-pin connector (DB-9) that connects to your computer's COM port.

If you are not seeing the right voltage on the data slicer port (the 9-pin connector that attaches to the computer). Check the scanner to see if the discriminator tap is working. You should see around 0.2 volts AC or more at the discriminator tap output. Different scanners put out different voltage levels.  Measuring the DC voltage will not tell you anything.

 

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