Upgraded Pro-18 power issue

[wthclt]

My upgraded Pro-18 does not work with external power or charge batteries. When plugged in there is no plug icon on the screen. It does work fine with batteries.
There is no obvious damage to the usb input area. Could this be a hardware setting? I am hesitant to do a reset, not knowing if it would affect the upgraded firmware? Currently it works great in my simulcast are and I would love to keep it going.
Thanks in advance.
-Bill

 

[tvengr]

Did you try a different USB cable and USB power source? If the external power is good, the batteries will not charge if the battery type selector switch is set to Alkaline.

 

[wthclt]

Yes, I have tried several different power supplies and usb cables. The battery selector switch is set to nimh. I have tried it without batteries no with the switch in both positions.

 

[kc2asb]

It appears that the PRO-18 and the GRE PSR-800 are basically the same scanner. Found this thread where a PSR-800 owner was not able to power the radio through the USB cable. Might be worth a try.

PSR-800 -- no power thru USB cable

Was sitting at my desk last night listening to my 800, powering it through the USB cable. Probably sat there for a couple of hours and had no problems. Turned off the 800 and went to bed. Got up this morning and noticed that the clock was not showing on the display. Tried turning it on, but it...

forums.radioreference.com

Not sure how what I did "fixed" the problem, but for now, my 800 is working like it should.
Sat down at my computer this morning and pulled the SD card out so I could transfer some audio recordings first to the software and then to my computer. After doing what I needed to do, I put the SD card back in the scanner, and listened like I always do. I noticed that the batteries were getting low so, without thinking, I automatically reached for a USB cord and plugged the scanner into my computer. Much to my surprise, it worked.

 

[wthclt]

Thanks

 

[tvengr]

Try removing, cleaning, and re-installing the SD card. I have the firmware updater for the upgraded scanners. It may be worth a try reloading the firmware if the cleaning does not work. What is the boot version of the scanner? It will be 2.0 if you have the official upgrade. If not, you have the hacked firmware. If you have the hacked firmware, the scanner will be bricked if you try to reload the firmware.

 

[wthclt]

I do have official upgrade. If I do a reset on the scanner do you think it would lose the upgrade?

 

[tvengr]

I do have official upgrade. If I do a reset on the scanner do you think it would lose the upgrade?

i cannot answer that question. That sounds like a question for Whistler support. I do know that resetting will not lose upgrades on Uniden scanners.

 

[wthclt]

I think at this point I will use a battery eliminator with usb connection and this way I can use it plugged into power when In my car and at home. I can use battery power if/when I am roaming.

 

[tvengr]

My upgraded Pro-18 does not work with external power or charge batteries

I think at this point I will use a battery eliminator with usb connection and this way I can use it plugged into power when In my car and at home. I can use battery power if/when I am roaming.

I thought you said it does not work on external power.

 

[wthclt]

battery eliminator = wired connection put in place of the batteries to power the scanner…
like this.

https://a.co/d/6WBwq1B