Pro 2096

Hey everyone, Dave here. I hate to look like a dummy but here goes. I have a Pro 2096 scanner and I am using it to feed onto the live feed here. I was told recently by a neighbor that all of the agencies around here in Summerville South Carolina have rebanded. I have tried reading and understanding what I need to do to get my scanner working again like it should. I have the Pro 2096 in one room and a Pro 2053 in another room. I can turn them both on at the same time and the 2096 will pick stuff up sometimes and the 2053 will get some stuff part of the time. It seems like one will work well and then the other one will work well....I have read about it and I really don't have a good grasp on why the 2096 will appear to work fine, then it seems dead for hours at a time. The display will stop on a talk group very briefly with no audio, and there are times it works well. The 2053 seems to work well sometimes but will be silent when the 2096 seems to work ok...confusing to say the least...any suggestions on how I get the 2096 reband capable? I tried a year or so do download the win software but it was confusing and really not user friendly for me...Thanks for any help...Dave

harleydude1@juno.com

What County is Summerville in ?

There's nothing that you can do for your Pro-2053, but you may already know since you're only asking about the Pro-2096. I've tried searching around as I do not have the Pro-2096 myself, but I have not seen a single post that has rebanded the scanner by hand without using either ARC96 or Win96. To do this, you need to select the bank that the system is programmed and then follow the instructions in the wiki for either software you end up using.

It might be possible to reband by hand if you would wish to attempt it that way. I would personally verify if this could be done if I had the Pro-96/2096, unfortunately I do not have have either so I'm working off of the scanner manual only. To do this, you will need to edit the the Motorola trunking system. To get to it, hit PROG - TRUNK to enter programming mode. Use FUNC and the arrow keys to select the right bank if it hasn't already been selected. Press FUNC - 3 to edit the 3600 CC Mode. Use the up and down arrow until you get to the 'Multi Table' option. Press ENT. At this point, it theoretically should allow you to edit the trunking tables. If it does, then the tables need to be programmed in the order that follows.

Table 01 (First Editable Table)
Lo Chan: 440
Hi Chan: 559
Offset: 440
Base: 851.02500
Step: 25.000

Table 02 (Second Editable Table)
Lo Chan: 0
Hi Chan: 719
Offset: 0
Base: 851.01250
Step: 25.000

Once you have done this, save. At this point, it should properly follow a rebanded system if you were able to successfully program these tables by hand. If it didn't allow you to program these tables, then I am unsure of whether or not it is possible to change these without software.

As for the why you don't hear certain things, I can try my best to explain it. At some point when Motorola was first making trunked system, they established a trunking table channel scheme with the 800 MHz band and this is what is programmed into all Motorola trunking scanners by default. What this did was allow for a Motorola system to tell a scanner what channel (frequency) something would be on and the scanner would then use the trunking table and correctly switch to the channel that the talkgroup would be on.

Sometime in the past decade (or a couple years past a decade), there was a decision to basically relocate a bunch of things in the 800 MHz band and this is what we call rebanding. As one can imagine, if you relocate things that were once accepted as a standard, then you will cause issues like scanners being told to switch to a channel that is no longer correct. A few of these channels are still correct, however many of them aren't and that is why it will stop on a talkgroup with no audio. It's basically attempting to switch to a frequency that is no longer being used.

In order to correctly follow conversations again, the newer scanners included a rebanding support that allows you to manually program the revised trunking tables that will allow the scanner to correctly switch to the channel that the talkgroup will be on.

retiredmich said:

What County is Summerville in ?

Click to expand...

Sorry I forgot to mention, Summervlle is in Dorchester County, just west of Charleston County.

Thanks Spitfire. That makes a lot more sense than what I have researched and found. I have a local Radio shack that has a girl that was really knowedgable about this unit. I may stop by and see if she knows about rebanding. Would I loose what data is already in there or would it be saved, and would each bank have to be rebanded or is it a one time thing for the whole scanner? Sorry I am not that up to date on things, but when I tried the software, it really was confusing and really didn't make sense to me.

Software generally should allow you to download from the scanner and modify the existing data. From what I understand of the Pro-2096, you would need to enter the rebanding table for each bank that is monitoring the Motorola trunking system. It's a bank specific setting and would need to be applied to any bank used to monitor a Motorola trunked system.

If you're attempting by hand, I once again cannot say for sure what will happen. I'm fairly certain that the old programming should be saved because it only changing the table that it's using to monitor the system and not anything else that would wipe the programming. I can say however that if you can manage to edit this by hand, then you can bypass the software. It might be worth it to see if you can do it by hand using the instructions I proved in my previous post. If you ever become unsure, you can likely just exit without saving any settings.

I don't recall this fact for certain, but I seem to remember that you can only add a single custom table entry from the radio interface (by hand). At least 2 (and as many as 6) tables are required for 800MHz rebanding support. This seems to be confirmed by reading this thread:

http://forums.radioreference.com/ra...6-2096-rebanded-motorola-trunked-systems.html

and this Wiki article (scroll all the way down for rebanding instructions)

Win96 - The RadioReference Wiki

So I think you're forced to invest in a programming cable, software (Win96 and Arc96, possibly others) and the time and patience to make it all work.

The above links should provide all the information you need.

brian said:

I don't recall this fact for certain, but I seem to remember that you can only add a single custom table entry from the radio interface (by hand).

Click to expand...

You recall correctly.

Thanks for all the help. I read through it and there is a lot to soak up for sure. Since I know a little more now by reading it, at least I will know what he is talking about and doing.. I asked at the local Radio Shack and there is a guy that works there that specializes in the programming of scanners. I have to take them back up tomorrow when he is there and see what he will do for me. The other folks said he knows what he is doing and since he is on the payroll, he can't charge for his work. I will be taking him my 2096 and my handheld 96. I will let you know how it comes out....Take care and thanks again, Dave.