Pro 96 & 2 Pro 2096

[tempting78]

Out of the 3 models i have only one is still working digitally. I have updated all the firmware and have programmed them all the exact same and only 1 of the Pro 2096 work digitally. Is there a reason why? They still function and work great so i use the other 2 for airplanes

Thanks Rachael

 

[ka3jjz]

You're not really telling us anything. You haven't said what system(s) you are trying to hear, the antenna used, is it fed through a splitter - heck, it could simply be that the other 2 units have fallen out of alignment on 800 Mhz due to age (this is a common issue with radios this old).

Too many questions, not nearly enough answers...'nuff siad...Mike

 

[Engine104]

Is it receiving a signal on those frequencies and not decoding? Did it stop decoding after you dated the firmware? I had that issue with my Pro-96 and LAPD APCO-25 transmissions many years ago. I upgraded and all of a sudden the digital signal would drop out and all I'd hear was noise. I downgraded to the former firmware and it has been fine.

It could also be, as KA3JJZ pointed out, that the radios are out of alignment. I'd say that is less likely if you can correlate the problem to the firmware upgrade. Anyway, if it is an alignment issue, Google "Pro-96 VR4 alignment" and you should find some RR posts about that. VR4 seems to have something to do with 800 Mhz alignment, so if these are UHF digital signals, adjusting VR4 will not work. Maybe I'm lucky, but I've had my Pro96 for almost 20 years now and it is still spot on.

 

[JerTameca911]

I have the same issue with my Pro-96. I monitor primarily 800mHz P25 in Dauphin County, PA. I have updated firmware and lost my ARC software when my laptop crashed.

 

[ka3jjz]

Then this may solve your issue. Follow the blue 'Thread' link at the bottom for a discussion of this adjustment

PRO-96 Internal Adjustments - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Mike

 

[tvengr]

I did the complete alignment on a Pro-96 using professional equipment and it still would not receive a 800 Mhz P25 system. I detuned the VR4 adjustment and it started receiving beautifully. From my experience, I found that adjusting VR4 for the best P25 decode without using test equipment is your best bet. Just remember the original position of the adjustment before you change it. I believe that VR3 is the equivalent adjustment on a Pro-2096.

 

[kruser]

I did the complete alignment on a Pro-96 using professional equipment and it still would not receive a 800 Mhz P25 system. I detuned the VR4 adjustment and it started receiving beautifully. From my experience, I found that adjusting VR4 for the best P25 decode without using test equipment is your best bet. Just remember the original position of the adjustment before you change it. I believe that VR3 is the equivalent adjustment on a Pro-2096.

I agree.
In most cases I would not agree but for a troubled 96 I have, tuning VR4 manually for the best decode has also worked the best for me. There was a time where the adjustments were so far out that I could not get any decodes at all so I was just wasting time guessing by making one small part of a turn at a time on the potentiometer.
I finally hooked up test equipment and used that to get everything close. Once that was done, I again tuned VR4 for the best decode quality without any test equipment. I'm not sure which pot it was any longer but one of the pots appeared to have lost its connection from its wiper and that was the reason for being so far out of tune. Had I jiggled them all a tiny smudge first, I could have probably brought it back in tune without any test equipment.

I find thes small tuning pots like used in these models are prone to dirt and dust just like many "scratchy" volume control pots become over time. You just can't 'hear' the scratchiness in a tuning pot so you really don't even know it exists like you would with a dirty volume control pot.