R/S Pro 106

[1clo1]

I'm looking to buy a pro 106 or 197 scanner, with all the changes will this still be a good scanner to purchase? will it still scan Denver ESK, will it scan DTRS? i know it wont scan encrypted freqs, but will it work for everything else?

 

[Spitfire8520]

The Pro-106/197, as of right now, will scan all public safety that is not encrypted or using unsupported digital formats like ProVoice. This means that it will follow Denver EDACS ESK, Aurora EDACS, DTRS, MARC (Denver will transition to this in the future), FRCC, Westminster FD, and anything analog.

There are some users who have seen some limited testing of P25 Phase II TDMA on MARC and FRCC which the Pro-106/197 will not be able to monitor. So far, it's solely isolated to radio tech talkgroups and it is unknown if/when Phase II will be rolled out onto these systems. As far as DTRS, there hasn't been much talk of Phase II as of yet. If you can find a good deal on the Pro-106/197 or the newer RadioShack Pro-651/652 (there's plenty of posts in the RadioShack forums), then I would definitely suggest picking one up. It may be a good idea to consider a Phase II scanner if you're looking to be fully future proof, but is not necessary.

 

[1clo1]

OK so it will scan apco 25 and frcc for federal height and Adams County. Who still uses provoice and what scanner would I need to scan that?

 

[Spitfire8520]

Yep, APCO-25 Phase I will be fine. Anything that's APCO-25 Phase II will not work, but luckily nothing in Colorado currently operates in that mode even though FRCC and MARC is capable of it.

Depending on where you are located, you may have trouble with the Adams County Simulcast site on FRCC. It's really hard to tell whether or not you will have trouble until you actually try it. It has to do with receiving multiple towers spaced apart on the same frequency, but I've generally had good experiences with it when I'm actually in Adams County.

ProVoice is a digital format used on the older EDACS systems. Aurora and Denver use ProVoice on some of their special operations talkgroups, but most everyday operations are still operating on analog trunked. There is currently no scanners on the market that will decode ProVoice out of the box.

 

[1clo1]

Thanks for the clarification, I live in Adams County, that why I want to scan them. That's what I mean by all the changes with apco 25II, wanted to make sure agencies are not converting over and I won't be able to scan after I spend all that money on the pro 106.

 

[Spitfire8520]

Well, that's where one needs to be a little cautious. Trying to make it as clear as possible, right now everything is in Phase I and likely will be in the near future. There has been some limited Phase II testing by the Adams County radio tech, so I don't think there is a firm answer to whether or not Adams County will switch sometime in the future. Someone other than me who works closely with ADCOM might know for sure if they have any plans to switch or not.

 

[jaspence]

Pro 106

This is a good radio. I have had mine since the year it was introduced. Unless Whistler does some serious redesign, the 106 does not have the needed chips for a firmware update to phase 2. It is close to being the oldest scanner design still in production. It also has a little trouble with some simulcast systems.

 

[1clo1]

will the gre psr500 be a compatible scanner for the pro 106 or is it missing some of the features?

 

[Spitfire8520]

The PSR-500 is basically the same as the Pro-106, or rather the Pro-106 is the equivalent to the PSR-500 as I think the GRE came first. The only exceptions are the external design like speaker, display organization, and branding.

I want to note that my statement made last month regarding the ability of the Pro-106 being able to monitor anything not encrypted or ProVoice in Colorado is now no longer accurate. As of yesterday, Arvada PD has gone encrypted and Arvada FD appears to be transitioning to a APCO-25 Phase II on MARC, which will require a Phase II scanner. The rollout for Arvada was very swift. When I posted my reply, Arvada was not known to be operating anything primarily in Phase II. A week after that, there was an increase in Phase II testing and now Arvada seems to be leaning towards using Phase II fully. The changes are still new and I haven't seen or heard of enough to know whether or not Phase II will stick, but this might be an indication that other similar radio systems can switch just as fast.

I still cannot say if Adams County has any plans for a transition, but you should at least be aware of the latest developments.

 

[1clo1]

OK so it can't monitor Arvada, but will still monitor Adams county, Denver etc. Any idea if phase I I scanners will be available in the future?

 

[Spitfire8520]

The last information I saw was from around noon yesterday showing Arvada FD switching between Phase I and Phase II modes, so I don't know if they've gone to Phase II full time since then. There are actually several different models available right now that can monitor Phase II, with the RadioShack Pro-668 on sale on their website for $299.99 right now. Note that given the state of RadioShack, it's possible that the RadioShack products may be unsupported for any kind of warranty repair or service should something occur. The full list if noted below.

Phase II Scanners:
Note: Phase II scanners are backwards compatible and support Phase I.

• Portable/Handheld:
  
  • Current Model:
    • RadioShack Pro-668 [See: PSR-800]
    • Uniden BCD436HP
    • Whistler WS1080 [See: PSR-800]
  • Discontinued:
    • GRE PSR-800
• Base/Mobile:
  
  • Current Model:
    • Uniden BCD536HP
    • Uniden HomePatrol-2
  • Future Model (Not Yet Sold):
    • Whistler WS1095 [Base/Mobile version of the WS1080]

 

[1clo1]

Thanks for the info, so the gre will still scan the current Adams County, and Denver esk.

 

[Spitfire8520]

Yes, the GRE PSR-500 will scan Adams County and Denver ESK. Feel free to click on the link, it will take you to the RadioReference wiki with additional information.