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ITCMon FAQ

#1 What SDR do I buy?

Nooelec NESDR v5 SDR on Amazon is the first logical choice, it's what Katso (ITCMon Developer) recommends. If you already have an RTL-SDR v3/4, that should work, but may need PPM adjustment (very common with v3s), see #2.

#2 A lot of people use SDR with the software Airspy, is it required for ITCMon?

Nope, but you should download it anyway. It may assist in identifying WIUs in the future.

#3 I'm not receiving anything!

First thing to do is make sure you have the proper Zadig driver installed. Don't know? Heres a good setup tutorial which should work for most SDRs. Make sure you start with the -a flag in the MCR, to receive all channels. Make sure nothing else is using your SDR. Close all other apps (I.E. Airspy). It may be your SDR. Version .03 adds PPM (Parts Per Million) correction. Find out your device's PPM, and then adjust accordingly, using the PPM argument in the MCR. It may be your gain. Again, as mentioned above, use the MCR to adjust your gain using the -g argument.

#4 How do I find where a WIU is?

WIUs are listed on many maps as Control Points. Two common sources are Open Railway Map, and Rail Guide (the former has a helpful search function.) An important thing to remember is that not all WIU's have a bungalow. An example may be hand-throw switches. The best way to visually search is to look for the signature 220-mhz antenna that most railroads use. Additionally, use old ATCS maps. Available in the ATCS group.io, these have most, if not all, Control Points covered.

#5 How do I figure out the WIU ID?

Get as close as you can to the WIU (don't trespass), set up your SDR, but remove your antenna. Fire up ITCMon, and whichever WIU you still receive, will most likely be the one you're next to. This works because without an antenna, you should only be able to receive the strongest and closest signal. Once you receive the WIU, make sure to press the Save WIU button in the bottom right of ITCMon, it will be helpful later. Not confident in your ID? Open up Airspy if you have it, to double check your work. See if there is only one stream of packets on one frequency.

#6 How do I name a WIU in ITCMon?

Once you know the ID, a good thing to do is write down a list of which IDs are for which WIUs. Not required, but helps with organization. Make sure you have saved your WIU to a JSON file in the WIU folder. Navigate to its respective file, find the WIU (by ID), and add in its name in the correct field. Press reload decoders in ITCMon, and once the WIU transmits another packet, you will see your changes!

SDR Device Status Codes (See Question #3)(Credits to @Fossil)

-0 Good-3 Busy (Device being used by other software, IE Airspy)-12 Unavailable (Device Not Plugged In, or Issue with Zadig)

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