Not decoding ACARS?

[phirephoto]

Hi All,

I have a BCD536HP with discriminator tap output. Flex / POCSAG decoding is working fine, however I cannot get ACARS decoding to decode anything . I'm in Fremont, CA and listening to 131.125 .

Any suggestions? Not sure what other information I can provide to troubleshoot. PDW 3.2.b01.

Thanks.

Oh and a friend using a SDR (not sure what setup) cannot either - he also CAN decode Flex / POCSAG, so at least two people having the same experience

[Discriminator]

I have a BCD536HP with discriminator tap output. Flex / POCSAG decoding is working fine, however I cannot get ACARS decoding to decode anything . I'm in Fremont, CA and listening to 131.125 .

Please check the FAQ -

Can I use the discriminator output for ACARS?

ACARS is an AM signal. A discriminator output is made on the FM part of your receiver.

ACARS uses an 1800 Hz tone, which is phase modulated with a shift of 1200 Hz and 2400 bit/s (MSK - minimum shift keying). This MSK modulated audio signal is then transmitted in AM. The audio signal fits perfectly in the audio spectrum of an AM receiver (300-3000 Hz). Through this indirect modulation method, an AM detector output is not necessary.

In most cases, you can use the earphone output of your receiver for ACARS.

[phirephoto]

Ok, thanks.. I'm trying that now, so far no luck, but maybe I need to adjust the volume as obviously a headphone jack isn't a 'fixed' volume like a discriminator tap is? Is there a general rule of thumb - Where should the audio level be on the scanner volume, and the level on the microphone input in Windows?  Scanner should still be on AM, right?

My friend wasn't receiving it either using a SDR, SDR# piped to PDW, so his setup should be fine, right?

[Discriminator]

Yes, that should work as long as the selected mode is AM.  Please be advised that there are better solutions for ACARS than PDW.

[phirephoto]

What do you suggest? I'm not seeing a lot out there. I tried acarsd, and have had it running for a few hours, but nothing has displayed.