Pro-97 ok for Miami?

[thaclient]

Hi everyone- quick question:

I currently have a Pro-94 that I was thinking about upgrading. I mostly listen to Miami-Dade Police currently and on occasion City of Miami Police. If I upgrade to a Pro-97 would I be alright to listen to most everything around except for FHP or are other systems going that route? Would I be able to listen to anything that I can't currently on the Pro-94? I just started working downtown so I was thinking about trying to monitor any of the Federal freqs down there, does anyone have any experience with those? Thanks for all the help!

 

[sflmonitor]

The Pro-97 will work just fine with Miami-Dade Police and City of Miami. Just keep in mind that it does not support rebanding for Motorola systems on the 866-869 MHz. Of course, this will not affect Miami-Dade's EDACS system. The other thing is the lack of P25 reception. While most trunked systems in the South Florida area are analog, there are some P25 systems out there. For example, Miami Beach Police is P25. The Pro-97will work great on VHF/UHF federal frequencies as long as they are analog. More and more federal agencies are switching to P-25 mode.

 

[thaclient]

Thanks, Joe! I suppose the better question now becomes: is it worth upgrading to the Pro-97 or save some pennies and do the upgrade to the Pro-96 and be ready for the P25 switch-overs.

In your opinion, would the Pro-97 upgrade be worth it over my current Pro-94. I know that is kind of a tough question, but I'm speaking in general terms so whatever input you might have I'd really appreciate. Thanks!

 

[sflmonitor]

I would personally upgrade to the Pro-97 or any other P25 trunking scanner that supports rebanding. If you get the Pro-96, you will be very limited. Besides, it's definitely worth having the large number of channels. Good luck.

 

[ctrabs74]

I'm not sure how you mean "limited" in comparing the Pro-97 withe the Pro-96. It seems to me that the Pro-96 would be the better option, particularly when more Moto systems decide to upgrade to digital (as Miami Beach appears to be doing). Who's to say in a few years that Miami City won't start upgrading to P25 in the near future (I state this because I've read elsewhere on these forums that, in the near future, Motorola will no longer provide support for analog TRS networks - I could be mistaken though). Plus, if you're close enough to Broward County, some of the Broward TRS TGs are digital.

The rebanding issue (plus easier programming, IMHO) was one of the main reasons I bought a 396 as opposed to the 96, but that's another thread altogether (I won't turn this into a Bearcat v RS thread, so we'll leave it at that); I had previously owned a Pro-95 which was a good starter scanner for me.

Getting back on track, my feeling is that since the 96 supports rebanding AND digital, whereas the 97 does neither, the 96 might be a better investment in the long run...

 

[sflmonitor]

I should have clarified my meaning of "limited" a bit more when comparing the two scanners. The Pro-97 is a good scanner for now. However, IMHO, it is not a good investment in the long run for the very reasons that you have pointed out. It is great for now, but WILL be limited in the near future when rebanding comes around as well as P25 systems. I have a BC250D that will suffer a similar fate as the Pro-97 as far as rebanding goes. I still plan to use it for EDACS and conventional stuff as well as aviation. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[thaclient]

Thanks guys for the info. I was sort of thinking along the lines of getting the Pro-97 and using it until the majority of agencies that I like to listen to go over to P25. I suppose it is a tad silly to purchase the Pro-97 now knowing that I'll need to get something like the Pro-96 (or other brand) in the future, but it seems to me that the Pro-97 offers enough advantages over the Pro-94 to warrant upgrading now.

Are there any rumblings on a timeframe of Miami-Dade Police/Fire switching from EDACS or of rebranding?


Edit:

Joe- I also noticed an old post of yours asking about active freqs for the Homestead base. Since I live pretty close to the base, I'm curious if you ever found anything still working over there?

 

[sflmonitor]

Miami Dade is married to their EDACS system and should be there for a while. I haven't heard of a timeframe on when they will reband. But I'm sure that the RR database will be updated as soon as the logical order of frequencies is figured out. You may also want to join the SEFlorida Yahoo Group. There's a bunch of great folks there with lots of expertise. As for the Miami Dade Fire Dept, they will remain on UHF conventional. They have one P25 channel only for now and it's used for admin stuff. They MAY migrate to P25 in the future.

I only have mil air stuff for HARB. Let me know if you're interested.

 

[thaclient]

Awesome, so I think I'm going to get the Pro-97 tomorrow and worry about the upgrading later when it becomes the right time to get a digital scanner.

Joe-

I'm interested in any freqs that you have for the area (you can send them to me via PM) Thanks so much!

I have been inactive for a while, but with the new scanner I'm looking forward to listening again. I'll check out the yahoo group!

 

[spiritwolfpr]

Hello Friends:
I sorry to get in this but will the PRO-92 be any good in Miami??

 

[W4KRR]

Hello Friends:
I sorry to get in this but will the PRO-92 be any good in Miami??

Yes, as long as you don't try to monitor anything digital.

 

[spiritwolfpr]

Hello Friends:

I hope Metro-Dade is mnot digital

 

[spiritwolfpr]

Hello Friends:

I hope Metro-Dada is not digital