modified scanners?

[dairyrattt]

after reading alot of different post here i noticed members list all their equiptment and state that its been "modified". im not much into detailed technical info just wondering in what ways they have been modified and how. say for instance i have a pro-97, what ways can it be modified and how?


dont sweat the petty things and dont pet the sweaty things!

 

[kd5dga]

Most modifications to scanner is the discriminator output so the scanner can be hooked to a computer soundcard to run certain trunking programs and decoders.

 

[hoser147]

Another popular mod would be to use an external speaker thru the ear phone jack. Their is also a site ModsDK that has alot of scanners listed with members sharing modifications. Hoser

 

[gmclam]

Modified scanners ...

I took a couple of old 8 channel scanners and put CPUs, more channels and more features in them back in the early 1980s.

The only mods I'd like to make to the PRO-97 is to rewrite its firmware. Too many bugs and doesn't have the features my older scanners have.

As far as mods I'd like to see others make; how about being able to connect it to a LARGE external display? It would mean having a large display which can merely "piggyback" on the data between the CPU and display.

 

[kd5dga]

I had modified my PRO2052 and one of my PRO92's for the discriminator outputs.

 

[hoser147]

GrandClam that one was discussed in an earlier thread on here a couple of years ago. I dont know why they dont put a bigger screen on base units. After all the expense cant be that great, Look at Depth finders and the size of the LCD screen on those, and they arent that expensive. Sure beats looking at a 1x2 inch screen. Something you could see with ease across the room would be sweet................Hoser

 

[Grog]

The only mods I'd like to make to the PRO-97 is to rewrite its firmware. Too many bugs and doesn't have the features my older scanners have.

Uh, just how many bugs does it have? I've had my 97/2055 for a long time now and I've not had any "bugs".

As far as mods I'd like to see others make; how about being able to connect it to a LARGE external display? It would mean having a large display which can merely "piggyback" on the data between the CPU and display.

A simple A/V output would be nice, my EC hooks his Icom 7000 to a portable DVD screen and I know a guy who runs the display from his 7000 to his in-dash DVD player.

 

[gmclam]

Uh, just how many bugs does it have? I've had my 97/2055 for a long time now and I've not had any "bugs".

I've posted them elsewhere here on RR before. Some bugs have been in models as far back as the PRO-92.

One that is annoying is when you have a bank on which contains a trunked system. While scanning you turn on/off another bank. Now the scanner "forgets" which channel is the control channel in the enabled bank - and it stops on the cc and opens the squelch.

 

[DLeeHarley]

Kd5kga -I'm not that experenced in this field so where can I find the info on what you were talking about (Discriminator Outputs) ? Sounds interesting. Thanks

 

[Grog]

I've posted them elsewhere here on RR before. Some bugs have been in models as far back as the PRO-92.

One that is annoying is when you have a bank on which contains a trunked system. While scanning you turn on/off another bank. Now the scanner "forgets" which channel is the control channel in the enabled bank - and it stops on the cc and opens the squelch.

Never had that happen.......

 

[br0adband]

The only mods I'd like to make to the PRO-97 is to rewrite its firmware. Too many bugs...

That's a new one on me, and your description about enabling/disabling banks and losing the control channel doesn't seem to cause issues with my Pro-97 here. I have 2 banks for trunking activity (nothing else in the banks except 4 control channels in each), and the rest are conventional banks - I keep enabling/disabling banks during scan and it always goes back to monitoring the trunked systems just fine; no control channel stopping at all.

I can't find anything that I would classify as a bug in the Pro-97 - it just works, as well as any other scanner I've ever owned, actually, and that's over 100 different models over the past 30+ years.

 

[gpswx4cster]

I sure wish the folks at Uniden would read this thread. I am legally blind and have one heck of a time reading the display on my 396 and 996 scanners.

Gary Shuford

 

[ScanDaBands]

Modifications !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What's Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat !!!

 

[EFjohnsonVHF]

Not sure if this has been done, But I'd like to be able to plug my BCD396T into a 52 inch plasma TV with surround sounds and see/hear the scanner through that.

 

[ka3jjz]

Kd5kga -I'm not that experenced in this field so where can I find the info on what you were talking about (Discriminator Outputs) ? Sounds interesting. Thanks

Not to hijack the answer here, but our wiki has numerous articles on the subject - in fact most of the modifications listed have something to do with tapping the discriminator.

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Category:Modifications

Just click on a blue item and away you go 73s Mike

 

[iMONITOR]

I sure wish the folks at Uniden would read this thread. I am legally blind and have one heck of a time reading the display on my 396 and 996 scanners.

Gary Shuford

Have you considered controlling them with a computer, and using a large computer monitor for your scanner display?

 

[n2mdk]

Not sure if this has been done, But I'd like to be able to plug my BCD396T into a 52 inch plasma TV with surround sounds and see/hear the scanner through that.

I'm going to treat this as a real question, why because I want to. Plug the scanner into the computer, the computer into the TV you will need to emulate the surround but there you go. A wireless trackball and keyboard will add to the fun. :lol:

 

[gmclam]

PRO-9x bugs ...

Never had that happen.......

Well, it is real. It is totally repeatable and I can make it happen on any PRO-93, PRO-95 or PRO-97.

Sidenote: From time to time we read of people that complain that their scanner stops on a control channel. Replies to such posts usually tell them to set the mode to MO instead of FM. What if the mode is already set to MO? This is the bug. I've had some scanners lock into this condition so badly that the only way to fix it is a power cycle.

I run some of my scanners 24/7, they are never powered off. That's how good firmware should run. If something can be fixed with a reboot, that means it was broken.

Happy Holidays.

 

[aRadarLove]

Encrypted full-time??

the city i live in has there police freq's Encrypted full-time, my question is this.

is there something i can buy, or some motification i can do to un-Encrypted these freq's??

thank you so much in advance.

 

[Grog]

Well, it is real. It is totally repeatable and I can make it happen on any PRO-93, PRO-95 or PRO-97.

Sidenote: From time to time we read of people that complain that their scanner stops on a control channel. Replies to such posts usually tell them to set the mode to MO instead of FM. What if the mode is already set to MO? This is the bug. I've had some scanners lock into this condition so badly that the only way to fix it is a power cycle.

I run some of my scanners 24/7, they are never powered off. That's how good firmware should run. If something can be fixed with a reboot, that means it was broken.

Happy Holidays.

Maybe you just have bad luck? I've had two 2055s, a 97, two 2053s and a 93. Like I said, never had it happen.