PRO 97 Trunking Help Please!!!! I beg of you! ;)

[mrscannerman]

Hello all!

I am new to this forum but I am an old time CB/Scanner nutjob...

I just had surgery on my knee and finally decided to get my TRUNKING scanner to work. What a miserable time I have been having with it!

I dont have the cable - RADIO SHACK is out of them and wanted to see if I could do it manually first and if it worked... I would get the cable, get the full subscription and bang-zoom!

So after a ton of searching and reading, I started programming from this URL ( Broward County Trunking System, Broward County, Florida - Scanner Frequencies )

I live in broward county so I painstakingly entered all of them and started scanning and stroing some talk groups IDs etc... (I dont really know what the hell I was doing but I saw them and saved them...)

Anyway - I entered a few about 10 actual talk groups close to my home and took the time to enter the text labels to see when they pop up.

Ok, I don't know how to listen to just them - they occationally pop up but so does a ton of other talk groups for the entire county...

Now also when I just hit scan with every other bank off it does not stop anywhere.

I don't know what is wrong or how to scan... I miss the old days with my PRO-92 with my custom 800Mhz Antenna that helped get cell phones way back when... I was always freaked out about trunk tracking, but hear that it works... What am I doing wrong?

Can anyone please help?!?!?

PS - That link for the best easy manual is not up anymore... will this help teach me?

Just finished an easier to read manual for the Pro 97/2055 scanners:
http://myweb.cableone.net/marksscanners/97/97.html

 

[W6KRU]

Here is an easy manual for the 97: Easier to Read Pro-97/2055 Scanner Manual

 

[n5ims]

One issue you may have is the system you gave the link to is a combination analog / digital system so unless you have one of the digital scanners you may not have full success monitoring it. Since you specify the Pro-97 it appears that you have an analog trunking scanner. You may want to ask your question in the Florida forum to see if folks in that area can help out and give you some pointers. Since I can't monitor the system from here, I can only give very general advice on things to try.

 

[kayi4cle]

To just scan the talkgroup IDs you have programmed in, you need to set your bank to closed mode. See page 26 here:
http://support.radioshack.com/manuals/ome20-527.pdf

 

[SCPD]

I too have a PRO-97. I never bothered to buy the cable. I simply entered the 75 Orange County (CA) TRS frequencies manually into my unit, made sure each frequency was set to Motorola mode, then saved each group talk code as it came up on my display by pressing the orange "T" button on the unit.

Orange County uses a hybrid Analog/Digital system. When I pick up a digital channel, my scanner puts out a lot of static but does gives me the digital group talk code. I just lock out these digital group talk codes so I don't hear static all the time. Those analog group talk codes that I save I then enter an alpha tag to. That way, when I get a new numerical talk code on my display, I know its a group code I've yet to save.

I would do these four things:

1. Make sure your local system isn't entirely digital. If it is, then the PRO-97 won't work for you.

2. If part or all of your system is analog, find out which mode it uses. Is it a Motorola system, an EDACS system, or an LTR system? The PRO-97 will pick up all three systems, but you must specify which system when you enter the frequencies into your unit. If your system is LTR, this gets even trickier since you MUST enter the frequencies in sequential order.

3. Don't bother trying to enter group talk codes into your unit yourself. I tried doing this and it was a waste of time. Simply wait for the group talk code to appear on your readout, then save it by pushing the orange "T" button on your unit. Later, you can then add an alpha tag to these group talk codes.

4. As someone mentioned in an earlier post, get on the Florida thread. I've found the California thread, especially the Greater L.A. thread, to be mighty helpful.

I love my PRO-97 and didn't find manually plugging in the frequencies to be all that onerous. Actually, by manually plugging in frequencies I got that much more familar with my scanner's capabilities.

Good luck.

Dave
KA6TJF

P.S. I looked at the link you provided, and most of the Broward County system is analog/Motorola. It'll take maybe 15-20 minutes, but plug in all the frequencies listed manually and make sure each frequency is in the "MO" mode. You should then begin seeing group talk codes on your display. Save them with the orange "T" button and your golden.

 

[lugnuttz]

okay im ready to pull my hair out....


i too have the pro-97 and was told by someone to try and "initialize" my radiobecause of issues that i was having (http://forums.radioreference.com/ra...97-stopped-receiving-trunked-edacs-freqs.html) i figured what the heck i did it and began entering the 800 freqs for my area(that i located here NF2G - New York) on bank 1 starting with channel 5 once that was done i pressed func-trunk chose the edacs sys, chose id bank 1-0 , then pressed func-2 to change to afs format that i am familiar with and proceeded to press pgm and put in the id for a local taxi dispatch that i have listened to in the past without issue before my problems started(that i know would have constant traffic so i could tell if i entered it correctly) and then i pressed enter to save the id...i then pressed txt and added the name and pressed enter to save the name

i pressed scan with only bank 1 lit and the scanner would pick up all different traffic that may be on any one of the 800 freqs that i entered(police/fire..etc..)INCLUDING the taxi dispatch that i entered the id for but when the taxi traffic came on it did not identify it with the name or the id on the screen (as it would before my problems)and when i attempted to save the id by pressing trunk nothing happened ,and when i tried to lock that signal with the PSE(pause) button it stopped the scanner on the 800freq and didnt hold the trunking id

and a call put in to two diff RS locations tells me the programming software has been removed from store locations by RS corporate so they no longer program these radios in store ----that means they cant bail me out of this mess

my question is what am i doing wrong with the process of manually programming my scanner

and does the fact that the scanner doesnt recognize the taxi company id when the taxi traffic is on air mean that something is wrong with the scanner and im not crazy

any help is greatly appreciated

 

[SCPD]

OK, so you reinitalized the scanner like I suggested, and you then reprogrammed the frequencies for the taxi company and made sure to save those frequencies in the EDACS mode.

You say that you are picking up the taxi company's group codes on your display, but that when you hit the orange "T" button to save these codes, your scanner isn't allowing this to happen.

My question: when the taxi company's group codes appear on your display, are you also receiving taxi company audio at the same time?

Dave
KA6TJF

 

[lugnuttz]

david thanks for the quick reply, they are stored in edacs mode.i do not get the group code on the screen it only shows the "conventional" frequency 855.86250 for example ....it scans through the 800mhz freqs associated with my local trunking system and if it picks up traffic it will stop as if it is a regular analog signal (no id on screen) and when the transmitter goes off air i get a few beeps(not from the scanner but from the system getting ready to relocate to another 800mhz freq) and it begins scanning


its as if whatever inside my scanner picks up on the I.D. that is sent when one of the transmit radios goes on air isnt working

 

[SCPD]

david thanks for the quick reply,i do not get the group code on the screen it only shows the "conventional" frequency 855.86250 for example ....


its as if whatever inside my scanner picks up on the I.D. that is sent when one of the transmit radios goes on air isnt working

OK, now another question. Do you have other local EDACS systems, as well as Motorola and LTR systems, that you can program into your unit? I want to see if the trunking portion of your radio is still operable.

The reason I ask is that there is the possibility that your taxi company no longer works on a trunked system. That may be why those frequencies are only showing in conventional mode -- they're no longer part of a trunked system. If your unit can still receive other local trunked systems, especially EDACS systems, then my guess is your scanner is still OK and it was the taxi company that went away.

Dave
KA6TJF

P.S. Also make sure your unit is in OPEN mode, so you can receive all available talk groups.

 

[lugnuttz]

david thanks again for the quick reply...

i am not aware of any motorola or other trunking systems in my area
i also tried a few of the local police talkgroup ids that have regular traffic and got the same result..i went to a friends house who has the same model scanner bought maybe 6months after mine that was programmed at the same RS store ant powered them both up side by side and the same taxi id and police ids that i am trying with mine are in his and are being picked up without issue on his radio...

and it is in open mode,but just for the heck of it i tried closed mode and it made no difference..

so mine is acting as if it was an older 800mhz scanner that doesnt have a trunking function

 

[SCPD]

david thanks again for the quick reply...

i am not aware of any motorola or other trunking systems in my area
i also tried a few of the local police talkgroup ids that have regular traffic and got the same result..i went to a friends house who has the same model scanner bought maybe 6months after mine that was programmed at the same RS store ant powered them both up side by side and the same taxi id and police ids that i am trying with mine are in his and are being picked up without issue on his radio...

and it is in open mode,but just for the heck of it i tried closed mode and it made no difference..

so mine is acting as if it was an older 800mhz scanner that doesnt have a trunking function

Yep, sounds like your scanner is in need of repairs. This might be a problem, since it seems Radio Shack is no longer in the business of servicing the scanners it sells. You might be better off finding a local radio technician to check it out.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Dave
KA6TJF

 

[KC5EIB]

Yep, sounds like your scanner is in need of repairs. This might be a problem, since it seems Radio Shack is no longer in the business of servicing the scanners it sells. You might be better off finding a local radio technician to check it out.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Dave
KA6TJF

Dave: not sure where you got the impression that Radio Shack is no longer in the business of servicing the scanners we sell but the scanner repair department is alive and in business.

lugnuttz : take your scanner to a local Radio Shack. There will be a $20 charge to send it off which will be applied to any repairs made to the radio.

 

[kcoleman]

on bank 1 starting with channel 5...

Unless I've missed something else in the post, starting at channel 5 with an EDACS system is likely the problem. EDACS channels have to be entered in LCN (logical control number) order, so you should start entering information with channel 101 and not 105, and enter ALL system channels for an EDACS system.

Good Luck,
Keith

 

[SCPD]

Dave: not sure where you got the impression that Radio Shack is no longer in the business of servicing the scanners we sell but the scanner repair department is alive and in business.

lugnuttz : take your scanner to a local Radio Shack. There will be a $20 charge to send it off which will be applied to any repairs made to the radio.

No offense intended. I just read the other posts on RR and it sounds like you guys are ready to go belly up and aren't doing much in the way of selling or repairing scanners.

Dave
KA6TJF

P.S. As much as I like RS scanners (that's all I've practically owned over the last 40 years, with the rare exception of a Regency or Bearcat here and there), the next scanner I purchase will likely be from my local Ham Radio Outlet, because they know more about scanners than the people at my local RS (who only seem concerned about selling me a cell phone). I must tell you, when I talked to a local RS rep about encryption, he told me that it was percectly legal for me to hack into an encrypted broadcast (not that I would know how to do that in the first place). This left me not feeling too confident about the knowledge of RS reps. Add to this RR postings where people say their local RS store is no longer stocking scanners, and what am I to think? When my PRO-97 goes belly up, I'm off to HRO.

 

[SCPD]

Unless I've missed something else in the post, starting at channel 5 with an EDACS system is likely the problem. EDACS channels have to be entered in LCN (logical control number) order, so you should start entering information with channel 101 and not 105, and enter ALL system channels for an EDACS system.

Good Luck,
Keith

You know, I also thought of that, but I thought that only applied to the LTR form of trunking. Maybe I have it backwards. Whatever you do, try everything before sending off your unit for weeks and weeks for what possibly turns out to be an unneeded repair.

Dave
KA6TJF

 

[N8IAA]

Hello all!


So after a ton of searching and reading, I started programming from this URL ( Broward County Trunking System, Broward County, Florida - Scanner Frequencies )

I live in broward county so I painstakingly entered all of them and started scanning and stroing some talk groups IDs etc... (I dont really know what the hell I was doing but I saw them and saved them...)

Anyway - I entered a few about 10 actual talk groups close to my home and took the time to enter the text labels to see when they pop up.

Ok, I don't know how to listen to just them - they occationally pop up but so does a ton of other talk groups for the entire county...

Now also when I just hit scan with every other bank off it does not stop anywhere.

I don't know what is wrong or how to scan... I miss the old days with my PRO-92 with my custom 800Mhz Antenna that helped get cell phones way back when... I was always freaked out about trunk tracking, but hear that it works... What am I doing wrong?

Can anyone please help?!?!?

PS - That link for the best easy manual is not up anymore... will this help teach me?

Just finished an easier to read manual for the Pro 97/2055 scanners:
http://myweb.cableone.net/marksscanners/97/97.html

Your scanner has a bad case of the "rebands" Which means that about 85% of the CC's and frequencies can not be decoded on the 97. Once they dropped the frequencies into the 850Mhz area, the 97 stopped hearing them. You don't need a digital scanner yet, but, you do need to upgrade to a 164/163. They do handle a case of the "rebands".
HTH,
Larry

 

[SCPD]

Your scanner has a bad case of the "rebands" Which means that about 85% of the CC's and frequencies can not be decoded on the 97. Once they dropped the frequencies into the 850Mhz area, the 97 stopped hearing them. You don't need a digital scanner yet, but, you do need to upgrade to a 164/163. They do handle a case of the "rebands".
HTH,
Larry

Aha! The cursed rebanding. So we know what's been bugging the guy in South Florida. Now, if we can just figure out how to help the guy in Utica.

Dave
KA6TJF

 

[N8IAA]

david thanks again for the quick reply...i am not aware of any motorola or other trunking systems in my area i also tried a few of the local police talkgroup ids that have regular traffic and got the same result..i went to a friends house who has the same model scanner bought maybe 6months after mine that was programmed at the same RS store ant powered them both up side by side and the same taxi id and police ids that i am trying with mine are in his and are being picked up without issue on his radio...and it is in open mode,but just for the heck of it i tried closed mode and it made no difference..so mine is acting as if it was an older 800mhz scanner that doesnt have a trunking function

Lugnuttz, some scanner basics on putting conventional and EDACS systems in the same bank. It can't be done because the EDACS system needs to use its own bank. There are 15 frequencies (for the site nearest you) that have to be entered in order starting with Channel 1 through Channel 15(yes, the rebanded EDACS will still work in the 97). Channel 0 does not get used. And you can't use the remaining channels of the bank to enter conventional frequencies. The frequencies must be programmed as ED, the bank must be programmed as ED. Yes, the TGID's can be programmed in, but if you look at N2FG's site, it shows you which sites the different TG's are on. You may have to program the different sites into different banks to hear all the TG's. One way that you can get it programmed correctly is to clone your friend's radio to your But then you don't get to learn how it's done. Again, no conventional frequencies mixed with EDACS, and all EDACS must start in the channel number that matches what is shown with the frequency. Such as, 01 850.XXX in channel 01, 02 860.XXX in channel 02 in what ever bank you use.
HTH,
Larry

 

[lugnuttz]

larry thanks for the reply ,


after raeding some replies from others i initialized the scanner again and entered all the the 800mhz frequencies starting from channel 1 in bank one ...i did come across 1freq in the list that has a loud annoying noise (like a low toned air horn)that is non stop no matter what the squelch setting is so i skipped it and went on to the next one ...now i did notice on nf2g's list the freqs went from an 853.xxx
number to an 856.xxx number and farther down the list there were some 855.xxx and low 856.xxx numbers with a note that those freqs would be live by 4-30 so i put those in numerical order where they would fall in between the 853.xxx and 8956.xxx

and no conventional freqs in that bank

you said the freqs must be programmed as edacs ...i stored the bank they are in as edacs ,and each freq was stored as fm when i just changed them to ED mode the scanner wouldnt pick up anything i left it here for 10 mins straight with not a peep but when i switch back to FM mode the traffic comes right back

 

[N8IAA]

..i did come across 1freq in the list that has a loud annoying noise (like a low toned air horn)that is non stop no matter what the squelch setting is so i skipped it and went on to the next one ...

That is THE most important channel to have programmed in. It is the Control Channel. My suggestion is to go to your friend's house and clone the two scanners together. His to yours. All you need is a 1/8th inch mono cable. Take your manual, and follow the instructions on how to clone.
Larry