dsd VS op25

Depends what version of DSD. The port I use tells you what type of data is being received (not all DMR transmissions carry voice data).

Linux, librtlsdr and this port of DSD. FWIW, this port of DSD is newer and also has a Windows binary.

In Linux, I use this particular port of DSD - this can be piped into from GQRX, rtl_fm+sox, SDR# or any other SDR software that can output the audio of said signal as raw, 44KHz PCM unsigned audio (mono).

I'd personally use this fork of DSD, has better TG/CC/DMR ID output... https://github.com/LouisErigHerve/dsd

I use this particular fork; https://github.com/LouisErigHerve/dsd as it has better output and supports dPMR decoder.

I personally prefer This DSD client

DMR, dPMR, Fusion and more with dsd

Oh I'm not on about SDR# tools, on about DSD from GitHub; https://github.com/LouisErigHerve/dsd (also supports digital encryption on PMR446). I don't use windows.

looks like it may not be able to do what I want it to do according to this. https://github.com/boatbod/op25/issues/184

I have no experience with DMR myself, but my understanding is that the Boatbod fork of OP25 has experimental DMR support, and I believe SDRTrunk software does, too.

Using OP25[1] with RTL-SDR dongles to implement scanners for trunking P25 radio systems on a computer. And as a sidebar to that, listening in on geographically remote public safety radio systems using Broadcastify[2]. It's basically the old "radio scanner" culture, but taken online and distributed worldwide. People listen to all sorts of stuff, but given my background as a former firefighter and former 911 dispatcher, my main interest is listening to public safety dispatch stuff.

That said, another commenter below mentioned modern "phreaking" and how it's become more radio centric... and while I won't admit to doing anything illegal, let's just say that there's some interesting stuff you can do / look at / listen to these days, especially with ubiquitous and inexpensive SDR hardware and related resources. See the recent story about the KrakenSDR passive radar stuff, and some of the papers that are out there about P25 security flaws, some of the automobile hacking stuff that's RF based, etc., etc. There's a fascinating world out there buzzing around on invisible electromagnetic fields... and you can tap into it with a $30 dongle and a Raspberry Pi (or your PC).

[1]: https://github.com/boatbod/op25

If it's P25 Phase I or Phase II then SDRTrunk might work. boatbod's op25 might be another option, but more complicated to set up.

I don't have a full guide for you, but I use https://github.com/boatbod/op25 for receiving and decoding P25 Phase 1 digital signals on the command line.

op25

If you are handy with Linux you can use an RTL-SDR and OP25 on a Raspberry Pi or really any PC. This is the page for the Fairfax trunked system https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=6957. Any talkgroup with mode D can be listened to, mode DE is encrypted. If you want I already have config files made up for the police dispatch and fire/ems dispatch channels.