newbie help please

[mike1945]

My husband is new to programming a trunking scanner..he has a Radio Shack 2055..and the manual is just not designed for human interaction. We also have the Southern California Frequency book but still have a couple of questions.
How to turn banks on and off so they do not scan?
Do you put in the control ID frequencies AND the voice frequencies or just the voice frequencies?

Does the software really make programming easier or is it just another complication? If so..which is best? Thanks in advance for helping out..if they would just write books in english...*sigh* Jo

 

[gmclam]

Hey welcome to RadioReference.com!

My husband is new to programming a trunking scanner..he has a Radio Shack 2055..and the manual is just not designed for human interaction.

We all agree. There are some easier to read versions online. Try this.

We also have the Southern California Frequency book but still have a couple of questions.

Even the most up to date books can not keep up with the constant changes going on out there. You'll find all the information you need in the database here on RR.

How to turn banks on and off so they do not scan?

While in SCAN mode, press the number of the bank. The display shows which banks are on when the scanner is not receiving a signal.

Do you put in the control ID frequencies AND the voice frequencies or just the voice frequencies?

If you are programming a Trunked Radio System (TRS), you only need to put in the Control Channel Frequencies. But unless you want to hear everything on the TRS, you'll also need to program the desired talkgroups (TGs).

Does the software really make programming easier or is it just another complication? If so..which is best? Thanks in advance for helping out..if they would just write books in english...*sigh* Jo

If you are only programming a few conventional frequencies, it can be done by hand. The killer is programming the alpha tags for each channel because it takes 2 keystrokes for each character. The software makes it easier to manage how you have it all programmed and make changes. I use WIN97. I think the big problem for many people is in getting the USB cable working, figuring out what COM port it was assigned to, and getting that in to the software. But you only need to do that once.

Good luck.

 

[DELCOLHFC]

The new model programming cable from RadioShack (part # 20-047) is on sale but the sale ends today (3-13-10). It's normally around $35-ish but is currently $19.99. Win97 works great and has a 30 day free (fully functional) trial period and is well worth the price if you plan on expanding and customizing you scanner's programming.
You have come to the right place to ask and recieve help, welcome to RadioReference!