DIGTRX - No RX Signal

[K5KNT]

Following this thread: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,32986.msg123254.html#msg123254 I was able to get DIGTRX running on my Windows 10 computer. I'm monitoring using web-based SDRs, mostly from the KiwiSDR network (http://sdr.hu/).

My problem is I'm not receiving anything on DIGTRX. I'm guessing there is some setting I haven't configured correctly, but I'm at a loss as to what it might be. Hopefully, someone here will be able to help me out.

Thanks,

K5KNT

[MDK2]

The first place I would check is the sound card settings. Go to setup --> soundcard --> sound card devive (yes, it appears that they misspelled "device"), select something other than what is currently set up, and then close and restart the app as instructed.

My issue with running DIGTRX on Windows 10 is that the decoding process seems to get stuck on a loop and it never finishes. I have better luck on my older Windows 7 machine, running the older version of DIGTRX that's compatible with that operating system. I may have some basic setup problem that I have yet to figure out on the Win10 one, or perhaps it's a problem with the last version of the program.  Who knows? I think it's been 11 years since the author of that app abandoned it.

[K5KNT]

The first place I would check is the sound card settings. Go to setup --> soundcard --> sound card devive (yes, it appears that they misspelled "device"), select something other than what is currently set up, and then close and restart the app as instructed.

My issue with running DIGTRX on Windows 10 is that the decoding process seems to get stuck on a loop and it never finishes. I have better luck on my older Windows 7 machine, running the older version of DIGTRX that's compatible with that operating system. I may have some basic setup problem that I have yet to figure out on the Win10 one, or perhaps it's a problem with the last version of the program.  Who knows? I think it's been 11 years since the author of that app abandoned it.

Thank you for the reply.  Changing the sound card settings did work but I experienced the same problem with DIGTRX freezing. I was able to get one text file from HM01 today before it froze. I have no idea what to do with the text file and with DIGTRX freezing I may just abandon trying to capture the RDTF. I don't have access to any computers running older operating systems.

[MDK2]

Thank you for the reply.  Changing the sound card settings did work but I experienced the same problem with DIGTRX freezing. I was able to get one text file from HM01 today before it froze. I have no idea what to do with the text file and with DIGTRX freezing I may just abandon trying to capture the RDTF. I don't have access to any computers running older operating systems.

While the version that runs on 7 is buggy (it crashes if you look at it funny), it works at least. You could try to install that one (I think it's 2.14D or something like that), and setting it so that its compatibility is with 7. Just a suggestion - obviously it would be better if 3.xx is working directly with 10.

If I get it working on mine, I can share my settings. But obviously we're having different issues, what solves mine may cause something else. You gotta love the Cubans for finding an obscure and obsolete app for doing this stuff. Makes you wonder what it's like for the agents who are supposed to be receiving these messages.

[K5KNT]

I am using DIGTRX v 2.14D, but I had not set the compatibility setting. I've done so now and have it running in administrator mode. So far, so good. I was able to get some text documents from a recording of HM01 that I played back with VLC.

Is there anything else we can do with these text files?

[MDK2]

I am using DIGTRX v 2.14D, but I had not set the compatibility setting. I've done so now and have it running in administrator mode. So far, so good. I was able to get some text documents from a recording of HM01 that I played back with VLC.

Is there anything else we can do with these text files?

Excellent! Glad you got it working.

Anyway, I have no real answer for your question. I know nothing about codes, other than it's long supposed that they try to create truly random ciphers for one time use, which is impossible for anyone to break if they don't have the key. I keep a monthly HM01 log here at HFU, and make PDF's of the .txt files (so that they can't be changed intentionally or accidentally), and share them with the world via Dropbox. Maybe someone out there can find more of a use for them. I just do this for fun. Are they spy messages, or just gobbledygook to keep some CIA analysts busy and policy makers guessing? Who knows?

https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,40775.0.html  (this month's log)

Occasionally they send a file in either .f1c or .f1g format, which seems to be a kind of format that locks out portions of the text from edited, or fully copied or printed. You can see it on the screen, but good luck doing anything else with it. I share those as is. I think you can open them only if you are running Windows, unlike .txt or PDF files which are universal, but I don't really know. I couldn't find any real information about these formats or their purpose.

[K5KNT]

Thanks for your help. Sometimes DIGTRX fails to decode, with various error messages. Bad block seems to be the most common.

I'm using web-based SDRs as my current location is not conducive to receiving HF very well. Ground floor apartment of a three-story building with high-voltage power lines directly across the street. No out-door antenna allowed.

[MDK2]

Thanks for your help. Sometimes DIGTRX fails to decode, with various error messages. Bad block seems to be the most common.

I'm using web-based SDRs as my current location is not conducive to receiving HF very well. Ground floor apartment of a three-story building with high-voltage power lines directly across the street. No out-door antenna allowed.

You're welcome! And thank you - I had not seen the original post you linked, explaining that a serial port emulator was needed for DIGTRX to work with Windows 10. I have gotten version 2.14D now installed and set to the right compatibility and it's decoding fine. I'll try to see if that is also what was keeping 3.11 from working.

Sorry about your situation, but it is nice that we can hit remote SDR's when our own QTH has issues.

[Pigmeat]

Speaking as someone who used to operate a numbers station, they're quite real. You need a knob to receive them properly.

[MDK2]

Speaking as someone who used to operate a numbers station, they're quite real. You need a knob to receive them properly.

I have an MFJ-16010ST wire antenna tuner that I keep nearby, just for such an operation. It's not connected to anything physically, but the spiritual effect upon HM01 reception can't be denied. 

@K5KNT, I'm posting to say that I installed the last version of DIGTRX, version 3-point-whatever, on my Windows 10 laptop and it seems to be working. I had it freeze up completely once, which is not the way DIGTRX ordinarily crashes, so I had to use Task Manager to quit it. That hiccup aside, it worked when I tested it on an older recording, and also when I was listening live this morning.

[Josh]

I am using DIGTRX v 2.14D, but I had not set the compatibility setting. I've done so now and have it running in administrator mode. So far, so good. I was able to get some text documents from a recording of HM01 that I played back with VLC.

Is there anything else we can do with these text files?

If you want, you can report the logs to udxf for further dissemination, but I suppose the messages are otp (one time pad) derived, meaning you'd have to be nsa or fapsi or a mad scientist with high bit quantum computer farm to decrypt them.

If the messages are anything like the old ones, they will mostly be along the lines of "I congratulate you on glorious soviet tractor holiday, comrade!" or some scolding such as "you are to never approach the embassy/consulate again, comrade". And yes these are actual typical messages that have been sent to ddr, cccp, and habana spies who came in from the cold.

[MDK2]

If you want, you can report the logs to udxf for further dissemination, but I suppose the messages are otp (one time pad) derived, meaning you'd have to be nsa or fapsi or a mad scientist with high bit quantum computer farm to decrypt them.

If the messages are anything like the old ones, they will mostly be along the lines of "I congratulate you on glorious soviet tractor holiday, comrade!" or some scolding such as "you are to never approach the embassy/consulate again, comrade". And yes these are actual typical messages that have been sent to ddr, cccp, and habana spies who came in from the cold.

If each message is real, then there's a lot of filler to create, I'm sure. Most of the Russian stations now have null message formats, but not HM01.

[Josh]

They've (int agencies) gotten sloppy in the last few decades. No more poacher, cherry ripe, no longer do I live in Omaha where I'd pick up The Agency (ab)using Elkhorn Communications Detachment to bcast their voice 5l/f groups. Come on, who else comes in at that time of day with an absolutely stable 60 over signal? No more vft all over hf. No more tdm arq filling in the niches... not like there was anything on it for hours and hours. Now it's all dgtrx and s4285 with a smattering of s4481. Oh and a few numbers stations.



http://www.offutt.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/312829/rural-communications-site-has-global-mission/