PDW stops working

[gfdfortynine]

I have 4 instances of PDW running all using the same mic input. Randomly the signal strength meter on 1 and sometimes 2 will read low and the decoding turns to garbage. The other meters remain at 100 and decode fine. Any idea whats causing this?

Thanks

[VidarParry]

Hi
Running from a mic input is not going to be optimal at the best of times - running 4 PDW instances all contending for the same source (and I didn't realise you could do that! ) I would think would make it distinctly unreliable!

Does it work OK with just one instance running?

Can I ask why are you needing 4 instances of PDW from a single source?

Cheers
...Steve

[gfdfortynine]

I have 4 instances for 4 different fire depts all on same frequency. A set of filters for each instance with a distinct email for cell phone texting. I had a single instance running for a year and it would do it also, I just figured it was a signal issue. There are actually 5 instances running the 5th has a separate input. I will add the computer is also hosting a broadcastify feed and a Zello stream, maybe the computer can't handle it all but when I check the CPU and available memory there seems to be lots to spare. The scanners are tapped and normally the signals are 100%. This problem only happens maybe once a week.

[VidarParry]

Hi.
I believe that going through the sound card is never optimal, although you seem to be having far better luck than I ever did when I tried it years ago!

You may have to consider using RS232 or USB data slicers and see if that helps. You should be able to split the discriminator tap into 4 with a bit of luck (Rene may be able to offer some advice on this).

Cheers
...Steve

[Discriminator]

You may have to consider using RS232 or USB data slicers and see if that helps. You should be able to split the discriminator tap into 4 with a bit of luck (Rene may be able to offer some advice on this).

That shouldn't be a problem, as the interfaces have a rather high input resistance and will not load the discriminator output significantly. In the development process, I have regularly used a split discriminator output to compare two firmware versions of the RS232 interface.

-Rene

[gfdfortynine]

Thanks for the replies
My guess is its computer related, maybe antivirus or something is doing something intermittently which is taxing system resources. Its an old single core computer. Whats odd is that when there's a good signal the program can no longer decode because the signal meter reads low. I know the signals good because the other instances decode fine.

[gfdfortynine]

I thought I would add that today I caught a failure in process. One pdw program (usb sound card input) was trying to decode a page from another input (mother board sound card) feeding another pdw program. The signal went to below 90% and never recovered.
Any one know why pdw never recovers after receiving a bad signal even when a strong signal is present?