Paging
To monitor paging signals, several options exist.
Option 1: PC with soundcard
This only works for 2-level signals. You'll need:
- A receiver with a discriminator output or 9600 bps packet radio output
- An audio cable from the discriminator output to the line- or microphone input of your computer's soundcard
- A Windows PC running the appropriate software, e.g. PDW. This excellent software can be downloaded free of charge.
Especially under Windows XP, excellent results can be achieved, but success is not guaranteed. Both the quality and settings of the soundcard and the settings of PDW impact the performance. There
is no standard recipe to receive paging with the soundcard. It's a matter of trial and error to find the best soundcard and PDW settings for your PC.
Option 2: PC with interface
You'll need:
- A receiver with a discriminator output or 9600 bps packet radio output
- A PC with a 'real' serial port (COM-port, RS232-port). A USB-to-RS232 converter or PCMCIA card can't be used unfortunately.
- An interface: 2-level for POCSAG and 2-level FLEX, 4-level
for POCSAG, FLEX and ERMES. One side of the interface is connected to the discriminator output, the other side to the PC's serial port
- PDW. A Quick Start Guide for PDW can be found here
Advantage of this configuration is that you don't have to tweak any soundcard settings. If you're running Windows XP or Windows 2000, you have to install a driver for the serial port. This driver is
included in the PDW zip file.
A 2 or 4 level interface can be ordered through the Order Page.
Option 2 under Windows 95, 98 en ME
Sometimes PDW doesn't work under Win9X. This may have to do with the serial port power management. The remedy is:
- Select the "START" menu, click "Run"
- Enter "REGEDIT.EXE" and click "OK"
- Search for the next registry key: "Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VCOMM"
- Change the value of "EnablePowerManagement" from "01 00 00 00" in "00 00 00 00"
- Leave the program and restart the PC
With this sequence, 'COM port power management' has been disabled.
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