APCO 25/Project 25 Standard Problems

[foppas21]

I manage a Radio Shack in Tacoma, Washington, and have a Pro-96 in the store that I want to be able to listen to and demonstrate its ability to pick up APCO 25 Frequencies. I want to demonstrate listening to the Washington States Justice Itegrated Wireless Network (JIWN), however the steps (in the JIWN freq.'s) in some cases are 25 Khz, where the default for the Pro-96 is 50Khz. When I program a frequency such as 167.1625, it defaults to 167.1650. Is there a scanner that is capable of picking up the JIWN? There is what appears to be a software upgrade available to the PRO-96 on RS's Homepage, but will it fix this, or is it a hopeless effort for the 96?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Voyager]

I manage a Radio Shack in Tacoma, Washington, and have a Pro-96 in the store that I want to be able to listen to and demonstrate its ability to pick up APCO 25 Frequencies. I want to demonstrate listening to the Washington States Justice Itegrated Wireless Network (JIWN), however the steps (in the JIWN freq.'s) in some cases are 25 Khz, where the default for the Pro-96 is 50Khz. When I program a frequency such as 167.1625, it defaults to 167.1650. Is there a scanner that is capable of picking up the JIWN? There is what appears to be a software upgrade available to the PRO-96 on RS's Homepage, but will it fix this, or is it a hopeless effort for the 96?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is an issue that has been known about since vitually day 1. GRE or RS seems to refuse to issue a CPU update to FIX the DEFECTIVE bandplan in the scanner. The BCD396T works fine. That segment should be 12.5 kHz steps, not 5 kHz steps. The result is the inability to properly program the scanner on frequencies such as the one you mentioned.

The DSP update available on the web page will not fix this problem - it's in the CPU firmware which cannot be user upgraded.

Joe M.

 

[nexus]

I searched all over the manual and couldn't find any directions on how to change the step-rate on the PRO-96. Then I did a search online which brought me to a radioshack technical support site FAQ: http://support.radioshack.com/support_tutorials/communications/cfq-2000526.htm

According to that page, the PRO-96 does not allow the user to change the frequency step rate. That sucks, I didn't know that either. Well I'm not buying one now. Because that's a capability which is required. The Uniden products like the BC246T, BCD396 and BC796 do allow manual changes of the freq. steps, 5khz, 6.25khz 12.5khz, 20khz, 50khz, 100khz. I'm glad you brought this up because I was going to get a PRO2096 while it was on sale. I can't use it if I can't change the step rate, as you're painfully finding out why now....

Maybe someone on here who has one will prove me wrong. Maybe WIN96 software will allow you to select step while programming it via 20-289 cable. http://www.starrsoft.com/software/Win96/ FREE DOWNLOAD

 

[N_Jay]

While synthesizer step rates are set in software, they are often defined by the hardware.

It might be a hardware design oversight (error) and not just a software problem.

 

[N_Jay]

. . .When I program a frequency such as 167.1625, it defaults to 167.1650. . . .

You are only 2500 Hz off. (not 5 kHz) How bad is the reception?
Given the relatively poor selectivity of most scanners I would doubt you notice any difference.

 

[foppas21]

You are only 2500 Hz off. (not 5 kHz) How bad is the reception?
Given the relatively poor selectivity of most scanners I would doubt you notice any difference.

From what I understand, that because it is binary, being of by even 12.5khz, wil render the scanner useless. I am going to contact my support team, and see if i can get a fix started, though it may be a hopeless effort.

 

[N_Jay]

From what I understand, that because it is binary, being of by even 12.5khz, wil render the scanner useless. I am going to contact my support team, and see if i can get a fix started, though it may be a hopeless effort.

Not true for many reasons.

Look at your numbers, you are off by 2.5 kHz, not 12.5 kHz

Your radio probably has some type of AFC that will pull you on frequency.

Your receiver has a fairly poor adjacent channel rejection and you are only 1/5 of a channel off frequency.

P25 is not binary, it is Quadnary (four level signalling)

On the other hand, you might have some luck getting some motion, so I would still recommend you ask.

*Don't forget, it really could be impossible.

 

[ChrisP]

I've been monitoring the JIWN on a PRO-96 with no problems, even with the channel steps being incorrect. Howwever, you are going to find almost all the traffic on the JIWN encrypted...

 

[foppas21]

I've been monitoring the JIWN on a PRO-96 with no problems, even with the channel steps being incorrect. Howwever, you are going to find almost all the traffic on the JIWN encrypted...

So it will work, but like the military, in many cases I will not hear it anyways. Thanks for the help.

 

[Voyager]

Maybe someone on here who has one will prove me wrong. Maybe WIN96 software will allow you to select step while programming it via 20-289 cable. http://www.starrsoft.com/software/Win96/ FREE DOWNLOAD

I summed it all up pretty well in my first post in this thread.

Win96 will NOT allow you to receive the correct frequency. In fact, that was tried and the result was absolutely no reception at all since the CPU didn't recognize the frequency. That's not only within Win96, but Don Starr tried it directly in communicating with the scanner.

Again, until they fix the bandplan, the problem will remain.

Sorry to see it will lose sales or prove to be a less attractive demo, but RS only has themselves to blame. On this point, I don't feel sorry for them losing sales one bit - they deserve to. The PRO-96 is a great scanner, but the bandplan should have been designed for USA use.

Joe M.

 

[N_Jay]

Just put in the closest frequency.