Pro-2006: 9v memory retention life in the Pro-2006?

[sparklehorse]

Hello,
I recently picked up one of these great old Pro-2006 radios on eBay. It's still an awesome performer on analog VHF, but that's of limited use in the metro area where I live. However, it will be perfect for our occasional trips to the Oregon Coast where nearly everything is still non-trunked VHF analog. I was going to program the radio with everything I listen to at the coast, then store it in the closet for maybe up to a year or two until the next beach trip. Then I got to wondering if a fresh 9v battery will actually maintain the memory that long. Can anyone give me a sense of whether 1 or 2 years of memory retention while in storage is a reasonable expectation for these units?

Thanks very much for the help!

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[wyShack]

The battery in my pro 2004 seemed to last 5+ years at least-not sure about the 2006. The 2004 still gets use on broadcast FM, airband and other conventional stuff.

 

[sparklehorse]

The battery in my pro 2004 seemed to last 5+ years at least-not sure about the 2006. The 2004 still gets use on broadcast FM, airband and other conventional stuff.

Ok, thanks for that, but was your radio plugged into AC power the whole time, or most of the time? I'm not certain, but I suspect there isn't much current draw on the 9v battery until the radio is unplugged from AC power. Then the 9v steps in to maintain the memory until AC power is restored. That's why they say to always be sure your unit is plugged in before replacing the 9v, as the memory will be maintained by mains power. I want to store my Pro-2006 in a closet for a long period of time with no AC power.

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[N5XTC]

yes, i believe the pro 2006 does keep the memories while plugged in and the 9volt is for backup when not. mine has been in the radio for years, but i always have it plugged in. my only beef with this scanner is the display light. mine still works but dimmer than when new. i only use it when i have to and never leave it on while scanning. does anyone know where these can be purchased and/or how difficult the light is to replace? sure wish there was a way put alpha tags on frequencies. but, this is an old school scanner, i realize that and would not trade her.

 

[LesWurk]

If your going to store your radio you should remove the battery, if it leaks you will have a mess.

 

[N5XTC]

If your going to store your radio you should remove the battery, if it leaks you will have a mess.

then you lose the frequencies programned. get a GOOD high quality 9volt. have used energerizers and duracells without issues, but maybe i have been lucky. i would say if you are going to store it for a LONG period of time, yes.

 

[cpetraglia]

I would find a hi-quality lithium-ion battery. The small transmitter on my gas meter lasts 10 years and per the gas company it uses a LI battery. And it transmits once a month. I think that would work for you.

 

[LesWurk]

Any alkaline brand I've used has eventually leaked including the big names, often before the expiry date. Lithuim might be ok they have a very long life and cost a lot more. I have several scanners I stored with the battery in and wish I had removed the battery.

 

[sparklehorse]

Any alkaline brand I've used has eventually leaked including the big names, often before the expiry date. Lithuim might be ok they have a very long life and cost a lot more. I have several scanners I stored with the battery in and wish I had removed the battery.

I agree, Alkaline = Bad Idea. The first thing I did when the Pro-2006 arrived was replace the 9v with an Energizer Lithium 9 volt, which have a very long shelf life. I did not use a Lithium-ion, which I believe can self-discharge faster. So I'm not concerned with leakage at all, my only worry is how quickly will the radio drain that Lithium 9v once it's unplugged from AC power.

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[PACNWDude]

I once stored my Pro-2006 for three years with a Duracell that was most likely new when I unplugged the scanner. This was during some moves for the military where I had the scanner in storage. There was no battery leakage and the memory was retained for that time. Although I moved to a different part of the country and had to buy a different frequency book at the local Radio Shack store. 1996-1998 timeframe.

As for the backlight on the display, I always use the dimmer setting and that has probably prolonged the life of the light.

Great scanner for the desktop. I still use it today for testing radios and gear where there is no trunking, Trbo networks or anything digital. Great scanner even today.

 

[LesWurk]

I agree, Alkaline = Bad Idea. The first thing I did when the Pro-2006 arrived was replace the 9v with an Energizer Lithium 9 volt, which have a very long shelf life. I did not use a Lithium-ion, which I believe can self-discharge faster. So I'm not concerned with leakage at all, my only worry is how quickly will the radio drain that Lithium 9v once it's unplugged from AC power.

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My weather station on lithium batteries has run for 10 years and voltage on batteries is still good, used them because they are least affected by cold. Camera manufacturers used to recommend Lithium.

I believe carbon zinc leak less but have shorter life.

 

[sparklehorse]

<snip> my only beef with this scanner is the display light. mine still works but dimmer than when new. i only use it when i have to and never leave it on while scanning. does anyone know where these can be purchased and/or how difficult the light is to replace?

This unit arrived with a very dim backlight, which I have now replaced. If you Google around you will find there is still a lot of info on this issue on the web. The best page I found as far as replacement instructions is this one:

Pro-2006 backlight repair | NR8O

It's not that hard to do if you are comfortable doing a bit of soldering. The hardest part for me was disconnecting the many wiring jacks. These were all old and stubborn like me, and it would be easy to pull a wire or two loose while doing this if not careful. Not that big a deal to fix though if you did.

There are quite a few sources for the EL light strip, including a guy on eBay who sells EL lights specifically sized for these radios. I actually ordered his as well as a couple others so I could pick the brightest one with the best color. I also ordered the Experimenter Kit from Miller Engineering, which comes with a usable EL strip, and a small transformer power supply. You just pop a couple AAA cells in the power supply and then plug your various EL strips into it and you get a nice preview of what each will look like. I wound up using the one from eBay that was sized for the radio, but it still did not fit. I had to cut about 1/32 inch off the height of it. No big deal. Then I sealed that edge with a narrow strip of clear tape.

Unfortunately for me, replacing the EL backlight on this unit did not fix the problem. It is not much brighter now than it was before. This has been reported by several people in the past. Apparently there can also be a problem with the transformer circuitry that supplies power to the backlight. However it seems that for most people, replacing just the EL backlight strip was all that was required to restore the original brightness. There also is a guy with a page on the web who offers to replace the EL for you for about $90 as I recall. Meanwhile I haven't been able to find any info or source of parts to remedy my power supply problem, so I am stuck with a dim backlight on this one. Oh well, still was easily worth $60 for the radio.

Also be aware that there were two versions of this radio. On the earliest units the light switch was labeled "Dimmer", and it only changed the brightness level of the light. I don't think it could actually turn the light off. Over time Radio Shack found that many people were having problems with the EL strip dimming with use, so they changed that switch to a "Light" switch instead, which was simply on or off. However in this new version, when the light was turned on, its brightness level was changed to be somewhere between the low level and high level settings of the earlier version. My radio is the second version with the switch labeled "Light".
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[sparklehorse]

I once stored my Pro-2006 for three years with a Duracell that was most likely new when I unplugged the scanner. This was during some moves for the military where I had the scanner in storage. There was no battery leakage and the memory was retained for that time.

Exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you for that.

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[trp2525]

...I was going to program the radio with everything I listen to at the coast, then store it in the closet for maybe up to a year or two until the next beach trip. Then I got to wondering if a fresh 9v battery will actually maintain the memory that long...

What I would suggest is that you take the unit out at 6-month intervals, plug it in to AC power to retain the memory, remove the battery and then test the battery voltage. If the battery voltage has dropped significantly you should replace the battery with a new one before removing the AC power and returning the unit to storage for another 6 months. I would also keep a record of the battery voltage measurements for data points to possibly adjust future testing intervals up or down.

If you haven't done so already, you should make up a list of everything that you have programmed in the PRO-2006 scanner should you need to restore it manually. Even though it would be a little tedious to do so, restoring the memory manually would not be that bad as you would only be entering frequencies without PL/DPLs, talkgroup IDs, alpha tags, etc.

One other thing that you might want to consider is to put all of the conventional frequencies that you have programmed in your PRO-2006 in one of your other scanners (that you usually have with you at the coast) as a separate "bank" with its own "quick key." That way if you lose your PRO-2006 memory due to battery failure you will have an immediate backup in one of your other scanners so that you don't miss any transmissions when you are at the coast!