Pro-96 help for MERA (Marin Country, CA)

Status
Not open for further replies.

bbenton

Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2006
Messages
3
Hi. I just got a Pro-96 and am trying to program it for Marin County Sheriff, in particular, though right now I'm in open mode.

The database lists multiple sites, in particular West Zone and East Zone. I've tried the control frequencies for both. (West is currently 488.7 and East is 488.85.) In 488.7, if I'm in Manual scan I can hear the control noise, and the scanner tells me I have between 80% & 99%. It also lists the sysid 7239. There's an "M36:" in front of that -- not sure what that means.

When scanning, the unit will occassionally stop and show a frequency (like 407.875) and a MOT (like 45616). I can see from the database that the 45616 is Sheriff Dispatch. Only problem -- I don't hear anything... (And yes, I have adjusted squelch).

I thought perhaps that I needed to try the other zone (East), but that actually gives me a much weaker signal -- though when I do see a transmission, the results are essentially the same as for 488.7.

As an additional test, I entered the San Quentin trunk (860.2625). On that, I do get reception and can see their talkgroup. They are Type 1 and analog, whereas MERA is Type II and digital -- if that somehow matters.

Finally, I just tried Caltrans and that works fine.

What am I missing here? Thanks for the help.
 

10-9

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
6
Mera

I have both a Pro 96 and 2096 that work perfectly with Marin County MERA. I used Win96 to set them up. Importing from RadioReference.com makes it really easy, which I learned after putting the data in by hand at first. My thought on your problem may be the offset enty etc. Take a look at this and see if you have put this info in. I recommend Win96 to set this scanner up.


Base: 482.0000 488.0000
Spacing: 12.5 12.5
Offset: 380 570
 

loumaag

Silent Key - Aug 2014
Joined
Oct 20, 2002
Messages
12,935
Location
Katy, TX
Well, I can tell from the frequency that you say is coming up that you have not set the custom table. That would at least get you some of the traffic. However, you will note that the system uses more than one setup (as the above poster points out) and the only way you can set that is with a software programing package, it cannot be done by hand. Do not go back to RS to buy a software package, get the one that 10-9 recommends, Win96 from StarrSoft. You of course will need a programming cable, which you can get from RS or online, see the notes on cables at StarrSoft.
 

bbenton

Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2006
Messages
3
Win96

Yeah, I just got this yesterday. RS did not have the serial cable in stock. And it appears the USB one from GRE is the way to go. But of course, I'm impatient and would rather not wait. Glad to know that it works with MERA -- that was the first thing I feared. I've already grabbed Win96 -- just need to get a cable.

I suspected something with the Custom Frequency Table. I had attempted to enter both manually, but that didn't seem to work. Though, as you point out loumaag, there are two separate tables and it appears that only one may be entered by hand. How do the custom tables work, anyway? (Not from a Win96 standpoing but in general. Why does MERA have 2?)

I'm guessing that in Win96 I have to use MOT 9600 CC --> Multi-Table --> Extended tables to get this running.

Thanks again. B.
 

loumaag

Silent Key - Aug 2014
Joined
Oct 20, 2002
Messages
12,935
Location
Katy, TX
bbenton said:
Yeah, I just got this yesterday. RS did not have the serial cable in stock. And it appears the USB one from GRE is the way to go. But of course, I'm impatient and would rather not wait. Glad to know that it works with MERA -- that was the first thing I feared. I've already grabbed Win96 -- just need to get a cable.

I suspected something with the Custom Frequency Table. I had attempted to enter both manually, but that didn't seem to work. Though, as you point out loumaag, there are two separate tables and it appears that only one may be entered by hand. How do the custom tables work, anyway? (Not from a Win96 standpoing but in general. Why does MERA have 2?)

I'm guessing that in Win96 I have to use MOT 9600 CC --> Multi-Table --> Extended tables to get this running.

Thanks again. B.
The serial cable cable might be found in another RS store (it is now a discontinued item) but the USB cable should be in all the stores.

They have two because they apparently could not fit all the allocation into one neat table...this is normally an FCC allocation thing, mostly you see multi-tables in VHF as opposed to UHF, but this being in "T" band may have something to do with it.

No, you guess wrong. MERA is not a Project 25 system, so what you want is MOT 3600 CC --> Multi-Table --> Extended tables.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top