Trunking a Pro164 problem

[Mayhemdas]

Hello All,
I am new here and to scanners. I just recieved a "new to me" PRO164 set up with trunking here in Portland Maine, Portland Public Safety Trunking System, Portland, Maine - Scanner Frequencies

My Pro164 is running:
boot ver: f1.01
Appl Ver: 1.10

I tried following this easy to read post
: Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual

I Went through and programmed all the freq starting with the red ones in bank one.
So the top line reads as m101mo 852.28750
I also went in and added all the group id's using the DEC into the first 2lists in bank one.
The bank is open.
I noticed on m102mo 852.78750 I get the diesel truck noise.

I have stormed the forums and read through as much as I could understand. I can pick up freq and hear areas outside of portland.

But It seems like I am missing something. I can scan, but I am not getting anything from the channels I put in. Once in a while I can hear some talking on on of the other listed freq.'s. like 851.78750. But it is too broken up to understand, and then its gone.

I thought maybe it is my antenna, and was going to get a telescoping one. I have so far only been testing this at home. I also thought maybe that might be an issue since I have wifi, cable, cell phones, and live near the tall power lines (like maybe 50 feet from them).

I can provide more information, but might be better If I knew what else might be helpful. Any help that could be offered to help get me going would be greatly appreciated.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Mayhemdas

Hello All,
I am new here and to scanners. I just recieved a "new to me" PRO164 set up with trunking here in Portland Maine, Portland Public Safety Trunking System, Portland, Maine - Scanner Frequencies

My Pro164 is running:
boot ver: f1.01
Appl Ver: 1.10

I tried following this easy to read post
: Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual

I Went through and programmed all the freq starting with the red ones in bank one.
So the top line reads as m101mo 852.28750
I also went in and added all the group id's using the DEC into the first 2lists in bank one.
The bank is open.
I noticed on m102mo 852.78750 I get the diesel truck noise.

I have stormed the forums and read through as much as I could understand. I can pick up freq and hear areas outside of portland.

But It seems like I am missing something. I can scan, but I am not getting anything from the channels I put in. Once in a while I can hear some talking on on of the other listed freq.'s. like 851.78750. But it is too broken up to understand, and then its gone.

I thought maybe it is my antenna, and was going to get a telescoping one. I have so far only been testing this at home. I also thought maybe that might be an issue since I have wifi, cable, cell phones, and live near the tall power lines (like maybe 50 feet from them).

I can provide more information, but might be better If I knew what else might be helpful. Any help that could be offered to help get me going would be greatly appreciated.

If, as you said, it is set up for trunking in Portland, why do you need to program it?
Anyway, here's how to program a PRO-164 for your system.

PROGRAMMING MOTOROLA TRUNKING - STEP-BY-STEP
Most Motorola systems have only 4 control channels, but this system lists 5. You need only the control channels to hear everything.

Defining a Trunking Bank, Page 38 (summarized below)
First, select a bank, then enter the freqs.
1. Press PGM -> TRUNK -> FUNC, then use the arrows to select a bank.
2. Press MODE, select MOT.
3. Press PGM, select channel number. (use arrows to change channels).
4. Enter the first freq. in CH. 01, 852.2875 and press ENT
5. Press MODE until MOT appears -> ENT (MOT will apply to the rest of the freqs.).
6. Enter next freq. in CH.02, 852.7875 -> ENT.
7. Enter next freq. in CH.03, 853.2875 -> ENT.
8. Enter next freq. in CH.04, 853.5375 -> ENT.
9. Enter next freq. in CH.05, 853.7875 -> ENT.
After entering the freq. in CH 05, press ENT, then press SCAN.
Now it will start "trunking".
There are two trunking modes, OPEN and CLOSED.
In OPEN mode you will hear ALL active Talk Groups.
In CLOSED mode you will hear only the TGs you enter into the sub-banks.
To change modes see TRUNKING MODES page 38.

Each bank in the PRO-164 has 5 sub-banks, each holding 30 Talk Group IDs.
To program the sub-banks (page 45).
1. MAN -> PGM -> TRUNK.
2. FUNC - arrow to select bank.
3. Press MODE to select MOT.
4. Press TRUNK to select sub-bank.
5. Enter a Talk Group ID (2 to 5 numbers) -> ENT.
6. Enter then next ID -> ENT. . . . and so on
7. When all IDs have been entered, press SCAN.
NOTE: Use the numbers in the DEC column.

[Mayhemdas]

I apologize, I misspoke, It is not already set up for trunking here in Portland. I am trying to set it up for that. I went through those steps. On 853.7875 I did hear some talking but very broken up. I am thinking I may go pick up a telescoping antenna since it just has the stock short one on it now. I just expected to hear more chatter on this scanner. I also expected for it to tell me which ID it was hearing on that freq, but I don't see that happening.

Is it bad that I programmed all the freq in, starting with the red ones first?

I am new to this, and I followed the steps in the easier to read page for the 164:
Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual

I have all the freq in and I went in and added all the ids. I see them when i review it, but I thought I might see something also when it is scanning that shows me it is scanning the trunked frequencies.

I also set this all up in bank one, and when scanning I made it just scan bank one, but it is still scanning all 100chans of the bank.

I will get the antenna and see if that helps.

Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate the help.

[ka3jjz]

Keep in mind that the Portland Maine system the OP has linked has been rebanded - I don't know if the 164 needs a firmware update, but it almost certainly needs to take this into account. It would be interesting to know (and document) if the 164 can be manually rebanded (I could be wrong, but I think the answer is no)..Mike

[DickH]

Originally Posted by ka3jjz

Keep in mind that the Portland Maine system the OP has linked has been rebanded - I don't know if the 164 needs a firmware update, but it almost certainly needs to take this into account. It would be interesting to know (and document) if the 164 can be manually rebanded (I could be wrong, but I think the answer is no)..Mike

Mike. All the freqs. in that system use the standard band plan and are not affected by rebanding.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Mayhemdas

I apologize, I misspoke, It is not already set up for trunking here in Portland. I am trying to set it up for that. I went through those steps. On 853.7875 I did hear some talking but very broken up. I am thinking I may go pick up a telescoping antenna since it just has the stock short one on it now. I just expected to hear more chatter on this scanner. I also expected for it to tell me which ID it was hearing on that freq, but I don't see that happening.

Is it bad that I programmed all the freq in, starting with the red ones first?

I am new to this, and I followed the steps in the easier to read page for the 164:
Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual

I have all the freq in and I went in and added all the ids. I see them when i review it, but I thought I might see something also when it is scanning that shows me it is scanning the trunked frequencies.

I also set this all up in bank one, and when scanning I made it just scan bank one, but it is still scanning all 100chans of the bank.

I will get the antenna and see if that helps.

Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate the help.

If you put in ALL the freqs., you did not follow the steps I sent. You need ONLY the control channel freqs. - the RED ones.
Did you do the final step? - "After entering the freq. in CH 05, press ENT, then press SCAN."

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Mayhemdas

So the top line reads as m101mo 852.28750

That's not the top line. There should be a small "T" on the top line if it is trunjing.

The "m" in the m101mo means it is not scanning, it is in MANUAL mode.

See page 6 for an explanation of the symbols in the display.

[Mayhemdas]

I picked another bank and did it over again going step by step just as you listed it. Started scanning just this bank (bank8) and for a moment i did see the "T" but the transmission stopped so it moved on scanning. I think the antenna may be an issue now, so I will get that just because I can hear some chatter but has a lot of interference. I am right in portland, Ocean and Washington ave area, but I think the antenna may help. only like 15dollars so cant hurt to try. I will post if it helps, not till after this storm though, lol.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Mayhemdas

... I thought maybe it is my antenna, and was going to get a telescoping one. ...

You will be much better off with the 800MHz antenna that Radio Shack sells. It improves
800MHz trunking reception quite a bit. The catalog number is 20-283. Mine has 800 MHz stamped on the bottom near the connector.
Also, try moving the scanner around - SLOWLY. Up, down ,left; right, in different rooms.
Try it near a window, too.
At 800MHz, 1/4 wavelength is only 3-1/4", so every few inches will hit a null or a strong spot.
If you put it on MANUAL and step to the active control channel it will give you a steady signal to hear.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Mayhemdas

... not till after this storm though, lol.

What storm? I'm in Portland and there's no snow here near 122nd Ave. and Stark St.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by Mayhemdas

I picked another bank and did it over again going step by step just as you listed it. Started scanning just this bank (bank8) and for a moment i did see the "T" but the transmission stopped so it moved on scanning. I think the antenna may be an issue now, so I will get that just because I can hear some chatter but has a lot of interference. I am right in portland, Ocean and Washington ave area, but I think the antenna may help. only like 15dollars so cant hurt to try. I will post if it helps, not till after this storm though, lol.

Well, what happened?

[MisterK33]

First thing I did was pick up the RS 800 MHz antenna, then update the firmware on my "new to me" PSR 500. I then downloaded a trial version of Win 500. This made ot A LOT easier to program, and I was up and scanning on less than an hour.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by MisterK33

First thing I did was pick up the RS 800 MHz antenna, then update the firmware on my "new to me" PSR 500. I then downloaded a trial version of Win 500. This made ot A LOT easier to program, and I was up and scanning on less than an hour.

What? This thread is about a PRO-164 in Portland, Maine.

[MisterK33]

My bad; I misread his radio as a 167.

[DickH]

Originally Posted by MisterK33

My bad; I misread his radio as a 167.

Wrong again. Have you had your eyes checked lately?

[MisterK33]

Late night + early alarm = online idiot

Sry!