PRO 106 Issues

[sta18ffemt]

I have a Pro-106, Have had it for a while it has been in my Chiefs Truck plugged in for some time and only gets power when the truck is on so the batteries dont over charge.

I took it out of the truck the other day and it will turn on and all the screen displays is uP BootVer:RF1.2, and some times it shows EEPROM Test, Erase Memory, ENTER if APPROVED, CLEAR to Exit

I attempted to Clear the memory but none of the keys are reacting when pressed.

I attempted to download new firmware but the scanner wont respond back to the computer via USB Cable.


Any ideas of what could be the issue or if it could be fixed I would appreciate it I really dont want to replace a 400.00 radio if I dont have to.

Thanks

Rob

 

[kb8rvp]

I would pull the battery holder and unplug the power and let it sit for a while. Then put the battery holder back in with a fresh set of AA batteries. Then power it off and press and hold the program (PGM) button while you turn it on like you are going to do a firmware update. Then download the newest firmware from the RS website:
RadioShack PRO-106 39,000-Channel Digital Handheld Scanner : Handheld Scanners | RadioShack.com
Download the 2.1 firmware and try loading it into the scanner.

Good Luck
Mike

 

[Ronaldski]

Unless someone else has other ideas, looks like another eeprom gone bad?

If you can get this to work, try an eeprom memory test.

At the "welcome" screen press zero, and then quickly press 5 and "enter".

This will run through the eeprom memory blocks, then * reset the scanner *.

You may want to run this a number of times.

======================

Found links on other threads having essentially same issues,

psr500 is the GRE version of the same pro 106
http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/92727-psr-500-dead-water.html

psr 600 is the desktop version of the Pro 197 which is the desktop version of the pro 106.
http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/258286-psr-600-erased-its-own-memory.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/261505-pro106-trunking-system-disappeard.html

More and more evident ... from the last link,

EEPROM bad, see my comment 26. Seen several RS/GRE on ebay stating the memory loss problem too.

Over the years between seeing things here, Ebay, etc. IMO the EEPROM is the Achilles heal on these pro 106,197,psr 500,600 units.

 

[gmclam]

Need clarification

I have a Pro-106, Have had it for a while it has been in my Chiefs Truck plugged in for some time and only gets power when the truck is on so the batteries dont over charge.

Are you saying that the radio is being powered by rechargable batteries, is always on, but the batteries are only charged when the truck is on? If so, that type of setup sounds scary to me on several fronts.

If the above is all true, then I'd like to understand when you see the error message(s). Or perhaps you leave the scanner off, and only power it when the truck is running. Which then makes me wonder why have (rechargable) batteries installed.

 

[gr8rcall]

I had the same problem as you (OP) once, and completely resetting, and reprogramming the scanner fixed it for me!