How to program my Pro-2051 to trunking system

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1way

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Aug 5, 2009
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Hey everyone!

I am trying to program my Pro-2051 to a triple trunking device for my city's local police department. After reading the worthless manual for about 2 hours I give up. I dont understand trunking in the first place. Morotrola type 1 and 2 and hybrid? what is that all about. I found the type of system my city is using but not sure what it means ill post the link below. Can someone help me program this please!

Lawrenceburg Trunking System, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee - Scanner Frequencies

the type is MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus

what does that mean? Im a newbie can someone please walk me threw this process please!
 

ka3jjz

Wiki Admin Emeritus
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Bowie, Md.
This system is using a format no scanner can decode so you can't trunk it. As for motorola trunking, let's start at the beginning -what exactly IS trunking?

This article answers that question. Read the Trunking Basics article, and click on the 'Here' (both are linked here, which is shown in blue). The 2nd article is in a PDF format that will require using Adobe Acrobat or a compatible reader.

Trunked Radio Systems- the RR Wiki

There are also links to the various trunking types, including Motorola...best regards..Mike
 
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n5ims

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
3,993
Hey everyone!

I am trying to program my Pro-2051 to a triple trunking device for my city's local police department. After reading the worthless manual for about 2 hours I give up. I dont understand trunking in the first place. Morotrola type 1 and 2 and hybrid? what is that all about. I found the type of system my city is using but not sure what it means ill post the link below. Can someone help me program this please!

Lawrenceburg Trunking System, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee - Scanner Frequencies

the type is MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus

what does that mean? Im a newbie can someone please walk me threw this process please!

Two answers and some comments to help you out (that's in addition to reading the WIKI as already suggested).

#1 answer that may eliminate any further issues. "the type is MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus" - No current scanner can decode MotoTRBO. There's really not much further discussion on how to program your current scanner for that system or even what scanner you could replace it with to get that system. You're pretty much stuck if that agency uses MotoTRBO. See the second comment for additional options that may be available if YOU are willing to do the work and go through the trouble.

#2 answer (if you still want to program your scanner to listen to other systems). Programming a scanner isn't an easy process once you get beyond simple conventional systems (where all you need is tune to a frequency and you're done). While you can program them manually, as you can tell by reading the manual, it isn't that simple. What makes it much easier is to get a compatible programming cable and the correct software for your computer and use that to program your scanner. You enter the frequencies and desired talkgroups in the appropriate places on your computer screen and press "Upload to Scanner" (or your software's equivalent) and start scanning. Many of the newer scanner software will make this even simpler (when you're a RR Premium Member) by simply selecting the menu option for "Download from RadioReference" (or your software's equivalent), do any desired editing (or not, your choice), and do the "Upload to Scanner" process. The RR WIKI (Category:Radio Models - The RadioReference Wiki) lists the compatible software (nearly all are Windows ONLY however) on the radio's page. In your case, you'd go to this page (Pro-2051 - The RadioReference Wiki) and hit the link for Content Item #4 ("Cables and Software") which points you to the "Radio Shack Banked Scanner Software" article (Radio Shack Banked Scanner Software - The RadioReference Wiki) which has a table with the compatible software (ARC433 - RadioShack PRO-433 PRO-528 PRO433 PRO528 Software - for you).

Comment #1 - That scanner is a rather old model and due to several changes it may not work on all systems. For example, it doesn't support the 800 MHz rebanding process (per the RR WIKI). Rebanding is discussed here (Rebanding - The RadioReference Wiki). Part of the process affects how Motorola Trunking Systems work. Several of the frequencies were moved down 15 MHz, but your scanner doesn't have a way to change the table that translates the frequency's assigned channel code. Say a system had a frequency of 860.0000 assigned to it and that frequency had the channel code of "ABC". Prior to rebanding your scanner would get the notice to change to channel code "ABC" and it would switch to 860.0000 and you'd hear the conversation. So that system has rebanded last night and you turn on your scanner and it gets the notice to change to channel code "ABC". Your scanner, not knowing any better, switches to 860.0000 and you hear - - - nothing, due to the rebanding process, that communication is now taking place on 845.0000, but your scanner didn't take you there. Your scanner also doesn't handle digital signals (like MotoTRBO, P-25, etc.). It also doesn't appear to handle the new 700 MHz band. That doesn't mean you've got a bad scanner, just be aware of its limitations (and possibly start saving for a newer model).

Comment #2 - There may be a few available options for you to monitor MotoTRBO (although they may not be easy or have possible other issues). The most legal and legit option would be to use the DSD Software package to handle the digital decoding. It is discussed here in the RR WIKI - http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Digital_Speech_Decoder_(software_package) - but be aware it isn't a simple software download, install, connect the scanner, and listen process. The links to download are there, but the software ONLY runs on Linux, has fairly strict compatibility restrictions (these are getting less restrictive as drivers are written though), requires a modification to your scanner to feed the signal to the software, and there may be software patent issues with portions of it. Another option may be to get a compatible radio off e-Bay (or other source) that will work with your desired system. You may also need to get an expensive interface box (called a RIB - Radio Interface Box) and expensive programming software for that radio. This isn't a 100% sure bet to work even if you get that far as then you'll need to discover the necessary parameters (such as timeslot, group ID, color code, security key, etc.). Since encryption is available with MotoTRBO, they may have it enabled and then you're really out of luck even if everything else is good. One other issue with setting up your own radio to monitor your local PD is they may get pretty upset if they see that you have a radio on their system that hears their transmissions and looks like it may (or probably even is able to) transmit on their channel. With them that mad at you (and a DA to help them find something to charge you with) it wouldn't be a good place to be.
 

NWI_Scanner_Guy

SCANNING THE AIRWAVES SINCE 1987
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
2,298
Location
Hammond, IN
Hey everyone!

I am trying to program my Pro-2051 to a triple trunking device for my city's local police department. After reading the worthless manual for about 2 hours I give up. I dont understand trunking in the first place. Morotrola type 1 and 2 and hybrid? what is that all about. I found the type of system my city is using but not sure what it means ill post the link below. Can someone help me program this please!

Lawrenceburg Trunking System, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee - Scanner Frequencies

the type is MOTOTRBO Capacity Plus

what does that mean? Im a newbie can someone please walk me threw this process please!

You're right, the manual for the 2051 is pretty worthless. What helped me do manual programming (at least until I got the programming software) was the manual for Uniden's BCT8 scanner. The two are very similar (but NOT identical), and reading through the BCT8 manual (along with the 2051 manual for cross-referencing) made a big difference in doing it manually.

You can find it here....http://www.uniden.com/content/ebiz/uniden/resources/ownersmanuals/BCT8om.pdf

In addition to everything else that has been mentioned, I hope that this helps you out some as well. Once you can get the 2051 up and running, it really is a nice scanner.

:)
 
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