Cross-Platform Uniden Scanner Client

ScannerClient is a very simply client that provides visual scanner status and audio streamed over IP. This has enabled me to leave my SDS200 in the cold garage connected to a discone antenna on the roof while I listen anywhere inside my warm house.

ScannerClient makes no attempt to "program" the scanner, it is a simple program for listening with limited control functionality.

A short demo video is provided (ScannerClientDemo.mp4).

Internal design has the following major threads of execution:

1. Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) management.
2. Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) management.
3. Status update using Uniden PSI command.
4. Status update using Uniden PSI command.
5. Audio using rtaudio.
6. GUI using wxWidgets.
7. Upsampling of audio using libsamplerate. The scanner exposes an audio stream that is 8000 samples per second. This has been fine on Windows and Ubuntu, however, OSX does not support it, which necessitated upsampling to 44,100 sps. This provided improved audio on my computers.

The executable name is sc.exe on Windows and sc on Linux and OSX.

Written with C++20.

License is GPL2.0+.

Some Background on Buttons

• Settings - update the IP address of your scanner first under General settings.
• Start - causes scanner client to connect to the scanner.
• Stop - disconnects.
• System - toggles hold on the current System.
• Department - toggles hold on the current Department.
• Channel - toggles hold on the current Channel.
• Bump - causes scanner to resume scanning.
• Avoid - just like the avoid button on the scanner.
• Reboot - will reboot your scanner. Use this when the scanner gets hinky and ScannerClient can't connect to it. I've also run into problems with my router after weeks or months of uninterrupted use and needed to reboot it too.
• Weather Scan - scans the weather frequencies. Use the System button to resume scanning normally.
• Update Clock - updates the scanners clock with your computer's system date/time.
• CTRL Key - same as the Bump button.
• SPACE key - same as the Channel button.

Caveats

1. Currently built and run on Windows 10, Ubuntu 22, and OSX 10.15. All components used by ScannerClient were selected because they run on all three platforms.
2. Requires an IP link to the scanner. This can be wired or wifi.
3. Only tested with the Uniden SDS200. Tested both cable connection between scanner and router, and using a wifi dongle connected to the router. In both cases the computer was connected to the router over wifi.
4. Testing has been limited. I'm one person.
5. Many capabilities and functions of the scanner have not been implemented.
6. Windows security will stop the program the first time you run it. When prompted, authorize the program to run and Windows will not repeat. I will likely resolve this eventually with an installation that modifies the firewall to allow ScannerClient.
7. If you've got the network and IP address correct, but ScannerClient is not connecting, try rebooting the scanner. Often the audio service on the scanner will stop working because it didn't receive a valid termination of the RTSP session.
8. Does not show all modes of the scanner, I implemented what I was immediately interested in. More can be done over time.

Ideas for Enhancements

1. Application volume control and mute.
2. Search, discovery, close call, etc.
3. Ability to enable/disable service types.
4. Ability to select a specific audio device. Defaults to the default audio device for now.
5. Ability to enter quick keys.
6. Direct frequency entry.

Build Steps For Windows

Prequesite Software Installation (all free)

Install Visual Studio 2022 Community Edition.

During installation with the 'Visual Studio Installer' make sure you select at least the C++ Desktop development category or you'll be unable to compile the project due to the missing C++ tools. https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/

Install cmake.

https://cmake.org/install/

Install and build wxWidgets for static release (without DLL).

Download https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets/releases/download/v3.2.2.1/wxWidgets-3.2.2.1.zip and unzip it to somewhere such as ~/repos/wxWidgets-3.2.2.1 where ~ is your home directory.
Navigate to ~/repos/wxWidgets-3.2.2.1\build\msw (or wherever you extracted) and open wx_vc17.sln.
Choose Release and x64 for the build configuration and "Build Solution". All should compile successfully and you can close the project. Create an environment variable named wxWidgets_ROOT_DIR containing the full path to your wxWidgets installation. For example "C:\Users\yourname\repos\wxWidgets-3.2.2.1", this will allow cmake to find your wxWidgets install.

install git

https://git-scm.com/download/win

Obtain ScannerClient Source Code

cd ~
mkdir repos
cd repos
git clone https://github.com/neilharvey94044/ScannerClient.git
cd ScannerClient

Generate ScannerClient:

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -S . -B ./build

Build ScannerClient:

cmake --build ./build --config Release

Install ScannerClient - just copies to a directory in your program files does not add to Start Menu

cmake --install ./build

Note: do all the above from the top level ScannerClient directory.

Build Steps for Linux

Basic build support

$ sudo apt-get install git build-essential automake cmake

Base dependencies

sudo apt-get install libgtk-3-dev libpulse-dev

Build and install wxWidgets

First download wxWidgets source to ~/repos/wxWidgets-3.2.2.1 or similar, change the following to match.

cd ~
mkdir wx_install
cd ~/repos/wxWidgets-3.2.2.1
./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix ~/wx_install --disable-shared --enable-monolithic --enable-propgrid
make -j4
make install

WX_CONFIG Environment Variable

Set an environment variable named WX_CONFIG to the wx-config executable where you built wxWidgets, in the case above that would be ~/wx_install/bin/wx-config.
This is the default used by the CMakeLists.txt for ScannerClient.

export WX_CONFIG=~/wx_install/bin/wx-config

Generate and build ScannerClient

cd ~
mkdir repos
cd repos
git clone https://github.com/neilharvey94044/ScannerClient.git
cd ScannerClient
mkdir build
cmake -S . -B ./build -DCMAKE_CONFIG_TYPE=Release
cmake --build ./build --config Release

Look for the executable in ~/repos/ScannerClient/build/Release, you can run from here or move to where you like.

Build Steps for Apple

Install xcode

If you have an older but capable mac you may need an older version of xcode that you won't easily find using brew or the App Store. Try https://xcodereleases.com which seems to have links to every version.

Install CMake and Git

Install cmake version 3.25 minimum, earlier versions have bugs that fail to build wxWidgets with the required options. Brew may be a good option for installing or get directly from Kitware.

Install wxWidgets

Follow the same instructions for Linux.

WX_CONFIG Environment Variable

Follow the Linux instructions.

Generate and build ScannerClient

Follow instructions for Linux, however, look for the executable in ~/repos/ScannerClient/build/sc.app/Contents/MacOS

RFCs and References Used In Development

Real-Time Streaming Protocol

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7826#page-25 https://www.w3.org/2008/WebVideo/Fragments/wiki/UA_Server_RTSP_Communication https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/rtsp/draft/draft-ietf-mmusic-rtsp-03.html#SECTION00020000000000000000

Real-Time Transport Protocol

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3550#page-4

G.711 Codec

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.711

ITU Software Tools Library on Github

https://github.com/openitu/STL