Pro 94, is it a good trunking scanner?

[jimdana1942]

I have the chance to buy a Pro 94. Is it a good scanner for following a trunking type 2 smartnet system? Any downside to this scannjer? What is the difference between a 94 and a 95 scanner? Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Grog]

I've owned a 94 for about 4 years, and I've not really used it for two.
I've used the 93 which is basically a 95 with less channels, and it's hands down better in my opinion.

94 Pros
20 banks instead of 10
Easy to program by hand
Built in 220 & 1200 hambands (limited use I'll admit)

95 Pros
Alphatags !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Free software thats really easy to use (win 95)
Bigger display
Alphatags !!!!!!!!!!!!

If you can catch the 97 when it's on sale, It's even better than the 95. Ever since I got mine, I've hardely used my 93. I think the last time was to monitor a police chase where I had the 93 & 97 locked on different talkgroups.

 

[KR4BD]

I agree the Pro-94 is EASY to manually program.

Two MORE highlights of the PRO-94:

1. It has a very FAST scanning rate
2. It is among the BEST of ALL scanners for sensitivity at 800 mHz

I don't need alpha tagging.

I have had an "original" Pro-94 since 1999. I use it for our local EDACS system. It runs rings around my Pro-92 which has more "bells and whistles" which don't aid its real performance. The Pro-92 also lacks sensitivity (at 800 mHz) and has a dreadfully slow scan rate.

Just my 2 cents worth regarding the Pro-94.

 

[Grog]

It's hard to compare to the 92, which was never the best at 800. The OP asked about the 95, which is still cheaper at current RS prices.

I'll agree that alpha tags are not really nessarary on some conventional systems, but when you have 100 TGs, alpha is really a good thing.

 

[jimdana1942]

It's just that my budget is so limited (retired) that I want to get a trunking scanner that will follow a conversation at the lowest price possible. I see on ebay that 94's run less than a 95 and so on. All you scanner pros advice is helpful. Keep it up. thanks

 

[KrisK]

CAN YOU HELP ME? i HAVE THE OLDER PRO 94 WITHOUT COMPUTER HOOKUP. Our frequencies are changing for our county and I need to re-program the trunking system only I can't remember how I did it. The talk ID groups are staying the same. I have messed with this and now I think I messed the programming up??? I live in Delware County Muncie Indiana. Thanks so much for whatever you can do to help me.

 

[KE5BCP]

Programming made easy:
http://marksscanners.bravehost.com/94/94.html

 

[basprog]

Pro-94 - it's a keeper!

I picked up a lightly used late model Pro-94B today and was quite surprised - I thought I'd toy with it for awhile and sell it off. I'm keeping it.

Ok so it is analog trunking only, doesn't have alpha tags, and is a bit long in the tooth feature-wise as compared to a Pro-97 when it comes to channel steps, pl/dpl, mil-air etc.

However, I think it does a great job on trunking Motorola and Edacs for the time being. Using the same RS 800 mhz ducks, it is just a tad more sensitive than the Pro-97. I've got a weak-signal system I listen to for reference.

What I really like is the informative display. I dig the "channel activity bars" that become active on any of the trunked system freqs. I also like seeing the scanner freak out and start scanning for the control channel and then lock up when it attains it. Eye-candy? Sure, but I really like watching the scanner do it's thinking as it tries to follow a system.

I also like the rather long talkgroup scan-delay of about 5 seconds (which you can toggle off) as compared to the shorter 2 seconds you usually see in other rigs. (guess I'm going to change that delay in my 97!)

In addition, being able to set a specific Edacs talkgroup search range, rather than just having an open or closed talkgroup scan/search. Nice.

Earphone audio drives an external passive speaker just fine! The internal speaker is a bit weak, and can be hissy to some, but I just tailored it a little bit for more clarity by placing some pda-protector material over the bottom half of the speaker grill. Not the best solution, but adequate so far - it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would when reading other reviews.

Ordinarily most would opt for at least the '97, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I like the 94 for trunking.