Hi all,
Just bought a used pro 433 , tried to program the county trunking freq's and it isn't picking anything up , I live in Bamberg South Carolina , I must have messed it up somewhere because when it came time for it locate the ID it blinked ID for a couple seconds and was done , I haven't heard anything all afternoon.
To expand slightly on what Ryan has already noted, the site for the Palmetto 800 system for your county, Bamberg, has indeed been rebanded. Your scanner, the Pro-433, is not one that is capable of tracking the new frequencies. It requires that a custom band plan be entered, which is not possible with your radio. See the Wiki article on Rebanding for a more complete explanation.
Rebanding - The RadioReference Wiki
So I thought I would try and put in the highway patrol , but their are no frequencys , it just shows some decimal system ? And group IDs
I am having a bad time here .
What you are seeing for the highway patrol is their talkgroup ID's. The frequencies needed are shown in the various sites located around your state. For a better explanation of how a trunked system works, see
Trunking Basics - The RadioReference Wiki
Also see
http://wiki.radioreference.com/images/c/c7/Trunking_description.pdf
Those two links will give you a better understanding of how a trunked system works, and how it should be entered in a scanner capable of monitoring the system.
Is their a good mobile base unit that is computer programmable to make it easier to program? , most of my areas are on the palmetto 800 system , something called apco-25 and analog trunking. Older units are fine doesn't need to be digital at this time .
Thanks
The problem with older scanners, even digital, is that some of them, such as Uniden's BC250D and BC785D, not only are they not capable of handling a rebanded system that requires custom tables, they also cannot handle the 9600 baud control channel of the P25 Phase I systems. (According to this
thread, that appears what the Palmetto system is being upgraded to.) The oldest scanners that would handle the upcoming changeover would be the Pro-2096 (base/mobile, like your Pro-433) or it's handheld sibling the Pro-96. Hower, these have been out of production for ten years or more. The manufacturer, GRE, is out of business, and Radio Shack stopped supporting these scanners long ago, well before the recent bankruptcy. To say that parts and service (if needed) are problematic is an understatement.
The Uniden BCD996T would work. It's digital, and has multi-site capability, which is advantageous for a statewide system, It's computer programmable via software, and FreeSCAN works very well for this unit. A used Uniden Home Patrol would be another option. The GRE manufactured PSR-600 (Radio Shack version is the Pro-197) would also be another choice, though, again, parts and service support are a potential issue.
To move to other units that are still supported for parts and service, the Uniden BCD996XT, and it's handheld sibling the BCD396XT, are still available new from a number of sources. The Whistler WS1065 (handheld is the WS1040) is a current model. You may find a better price on the Radio Shack versions, the Pro-652 or handheld Pro-651, as a number of these were dumped on the market during the closure of many of the Radio Shack stores. While these two were manufactured by Whistler for Radio Shack, Whistler, so far, has not committed to support them. Radio Shack closed their repair facility, and there's been nothing specific I've seen as to if, or how, they plan to support these models, including new units being sold online from The Shack's website, or from the remaining store locations. The Pro-668, an easier to program" scanner glutted the market as well with store closing sales. These may be found on eBay, among other online sources. The 668 also has the advantage of being capable of P25 Phase II, the 'latest & greatest' mode. While it does not appear that you need that in your area at this time, Phase II is becoming much more common elsewhere, so it might be useful if you travel for business, pleasure, or visiting friends and family.
