Pro-91 vs. Pro-92 vs. Pro-93

[FlashSWT]

Hey guys, I've got a couple questions hopefully someone doesn't mind answering. I've got three old scanners here, the Pro 91, 92 and 93. My plan is to turn one of them into a dedicated scanner for identifying unknown talkgroups on the STARNET TRS here in Houston by locking out all known TGs. That way whenever I hear activity on it I'll know it is something still not identified.
http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=38

Question 1: Should I assume that the Pro-93 is the "best" scanner in the group based solely on their numbering or is one of the other two considered "better."

Question 2: Are any of the three good candidates for having a discriminator tap installed?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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[Joseph11]

The 93 is better for analog trunking than the 92 is. The 92 is better for conventional, though.

 

[SCPD]

Tap the PRO-91. I wouldn't bother trying to maintain a lock-out list. Run Unitrunker or your favorite decoding program. This does require a computer but it will capture new groups even when you're not around.

 

[gmclam]

93 better but fewer channels

As you can see from my tagline, I have all the scanners except the '91. The '93 is "identical" to the PRO-95 except it has fewer channels. The difference between the '92 and the '93 is quite significant. Basically the '92 is a 5 volt design and the '93 is a 3.3 volt design.

I've found that the PRO-92 is quite insensitive in the 800 MHz band. Since many trunked systems are in that band, I would elect the '93 for what you want to do. In addition, I believe the discriminator output on the '93 actually goes to a test point and is easily accessible.

Good luck.

 

[ted]

I believe you cannot lockout talkgroups with the Pro 92, only use open or closed mode. Not familiar enuff with the 91 or 93 to know if its possible to lockout talkgroups.

Ted

 

[loumaag]

I believe you cannot lockout talkgroups with the Pro 92, only use open or closed mode. ...

This is not correct.

 

[ted]

This is not correct.

I stand corrected, lockout works in closed mode only. If searching for new talkgroups in open mode lockout is unavailable.

Ted

 

[jason_58201]

i've had a 92 and 93. the 92 was much more sensative for conventional scanning and had many more fetures than a 93, like pl/dpl, many different search options, but the 92 is painfully slow scanning and searching, it really only does ok if your not loading it up full of freqs. now i only use it when i travel to my parents cause i just have the local county LE, and ems in it and its sufficient. the 92 also didn't control channel trunk either, you had to program all the freqs. the 93 was much faster scanning and searching, the searching was easier to do on the 93, and it scanned trunked systems very well. the only reason i don't use it anymore was my 2 y/o decided to see how it would work in the bathtub. after that i got a 96.

 

[FlashSWT]

Hey guys, I appreciate all the feedback. Turns out that the power jack on the side of the 93 seems to be busted and I don't have an adapter for the 92. The "lockout only working in closed mode" kind of defeated my initial plans also so at the moment I've got the 91 running as I outlined above and it is working fine. I've already picked up a couple new TGs after I spent a day locking out all the known ones.

Trust me, I'd love to have a tapped scanner to run one of the trunking programs, but I don't have the knowledge or skills to do it myself so it'll have to wait until I find someone in the Houston area willing to do it for cheap.

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[scanfan03]

i've had a 92 and 93. the 92 was much more sensative for conventional scanning and had many more fetures than a 93, like pl/dpl, many different search options, but the 92 is painfully slow scanning and searching, it really only does ok if your not loading it up full of freqs. now i only use it when i travel to my parents cause i just have the local county LE, and ems in it and its sufficient. the 92 also didn't control channel trunk either, you had to program all the freqs. the 93 was much faster scanning and searching, the searching was easier to do on the 93, and it scanned trunked systems very well. the only reason i don't use it anymore was my 2 y/o decided to see how it would work in the bathtub. after that i got a 96.

The first version of the 92 didn't do control channel only trunking. The A and B version do. You can send your 92 to Fort Worth for $50 and have it upgraded to the B version. That's what I did to mine 5 years ago.


And the 93 doesn't lock out talkgroups in the open mode either (I didn't know if someone clarified that).