PRO-83 Undocumented Feature...

[MacombMonitor]

This may have been discussed before, if so, sorry.

I picked up the Autumn 2005 issue of 2600 The Hacker Quarterly (Vol 22, No 3), and they have an article by Dit and Dah, Fun with the PRO-83, on page 13. They discuss an undocumented feature. By holding down the HOLD, 3, and 0 keys, while turning on the power, it puts the scanner into mode where it operates like a conventional frequency counter. You then use the arrow keys to scroll through the band you want to want to use!

They also have very detailed instructions, including three pictures, showing you how to add a discriminator tap to the PRO-83!

While this magazine has always had very interesting articles regarding computers, phone systems, and other electronics, it was a surprise to find this article on the PRO-83 scanner.

Those of you interested in obtaining 2600 should look for it at your local magazine store. It's a small format, 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", and this issue is 62 pages. Price is $5.50. Be advised, this is a magazine you might not want mailed to your home. It's considered politically incorrect in several circles, kind of like Solder Of Fortune. They discuss a lot of activity that could be considered illegal, or suspicious. Being an IT professional, I always make it a point stay on top of what other people are thinking, and doing!

[mgosdin]

I knew about the Frequency Counter in the Pro-83. I keep hoping for a hack to turn the backlight on indefinitely like on the BC246T.

I will have to look for the magazine.

Mark Gosdin

[pro92b]

Photos of the discriminator tap are at http://kb9ukd.com/camera/2004/041126-Pro83/index.html

A Word file with keypad tricks, including the frequency counter, is in the files area of the PRO-83 Yahoo group.

[csuh13]

OK... I've been playing with this feature, and I've got a question. When in frequncy counter mode, is there any way to "pause" the frequencies, or scroll back through them?