Have a Pro97, considering a new Pro107 ?

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dxscannerman

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Hi all, and Merry Christmas! I purchased a pro 97 a couple of yrs ago just to listen to the local things around the greater Everett wa, snohomish co. area when at home on the couch or in bed sometimes at night. RS pre programmed it when I bought it with an assortment of freqs. using the scancat lite software they had at the store. This is all I have in it now and it seems that I miss a lot of the complete conversations when listening to the pd,fire,and ems signals. Having recently undergone knee surgery I am kind of stuck on the couch for a while, so decided I would finally teach myself how to program all the trunked radio signals that all the online info says is available here to listen to. I understand how the trunking system works now, but am trying to figure out just exactly what numbers to load where. You have the main control channels, the talk group Id's etc.
This excellent online manual is the best I've seen and helps to explain the pro 97 features a lot better than the original manual, Easier to Read Pro-97/2055 Scanner Manual , but I'm just not sure what to put where. Do I actually type in talk groups that have designations like ( TG:1712) north dispatch etc, and not a freq. Do I locate the controll freq. and put it in the first available slot in a bank so all the remaining TG's will work. Looks like we have a Motorola type II system here. Sorry to be so confused, I am considering buying the new pro 107 as it says that it has all the trunked stuff programmed in it from the start for the whole usa, and then I could have it to listen to, while I am struggling to learn to program my old one. I know that I could purchase software, win97, scancat, arc300, etc. and a cable and just let the computer program it but Darn, I want to figure this out and do it manually. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much Blake
 

whiskeytango

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but I'm just not sure what to put where. Do I actually type in talk groups that have designations like ( TG:1712) north dispatch etc, and not a freq. Do I locate the controll freq. and put it in the first available slot in a bank so all the remaining TG's will work. Looks like we have a Motorola type II system here. Sorry to be so confused, I am considering buying the new pro 107 as it says that it has all the trunked stuff programmed in it from the start for the whole usa, and then I could have it to listen to, while I am struggling to learn to program my old one. I know that I could purchase software, win97, scancat, arc300, etc. and a cable and just let the computer program it but Darn, I want to figure this out and do it manually. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much Blake

a talk group is like a channel, a frequency is like...welll....its like a frequency. so looking at your sheriff tgids, you have the 3 main dispatch channels. south, east, and north. so your patrols are broken up into those segments. if you want to hear whats goin on in the whole county then program all the dp's. i would just program all the fire/sheriff tgids, so if and when youre driving around again you can always know whats goin on.

Snohomish County Emergency Radio (SERS) Trunking System, Everett, Washington - Scanner Frequencies

but yes you will have to input the talk group id number, and the corresponding text id if you want to konw what it is youre listening to. you will have to input all the primary and secondary control freq.s, and the rest of them - not sure that the pro 97 is control channel only scan capable. if you look at the pro 107 threads in the radioshack forum youll see all the headaches its been having, mostly because its new and still has bugs. seems like it works pretty well with the MOT systems. however...with knee surgery youll be stationary for a while and learning how to program is a fun milestone to overcome....and you got plenty of time :)


if you havent already check out the wiki section of this site, lots of info
 

gmclam

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Pro-97

Have a Pro97, considering a new Pro107 ? Hi all, and Merry Christmas!
Hello! Merry Christmas! And welcome to RadioReference.com!!!

I purchased a pro 97 a couple of yrs ago .... RS pre programmed it .... using the scancat lite software ... and it seems that I miss a lot of the complete conversations when listening to the pd,fire,and ems signals.
The PRO-97 is a great scanner, I have a few. But it is soon going to be outdated for monitoring trunked radio in many places. If you are monitoring an EDACS or LTR system, there's no problem. But the system you want to monitor has digital voice channels and/or is a Motorola type system, the PRO-97's days could be numbered. FWIW, I expect it to work in my area for a couple more years, but then they will "reband".

Since you've been reading about trunked systems, I hope you have read about rebanding and what it all means. The only reason I bring it up here is because of your opening question, whether or not to get a PRO-107. The answer to that question is "it depends". Yeah I know, not much help am I?.

Let's go back a step. ScanCat(Lite) software does not properly program a PRO-97 (or most other scanners). There are numerous threads here on RR about the topic, and they all say one thing - avoid it. Yeah, you'd think RS would use good/real software to do the job correctly, but most people at RS are not scanner hobbyists and just don't know. The reason I bring that up is it could be THE reason you are missing stuff.

You have the main control channels, the talk group Id's etc. ... I'm just not sure what to put where. Do I actually type in talk groups that have designations like (TG:1712) north dispatch etc, and not a freq. Do I locate the controll freq. and put it in the first available slot in a bank so all the remaining TGs will work.
Do you have the cable and software to program the scanner? If so, please consider using WIN97 (www.starrsoft.com), it comes with a 30 day free trial. If you understand the scanner, you'll understand the software.

OK, let's pick a bank in the scanner for your TRS (trunked Radio System) - bank 1. Now you only need to use a maximum of FOUR frequencies in that bank, so use channels 100, 101, 102, 103. That is where you put the primary and secondary control channel FREQUENCIES, in any order. Be sure to set each frequency to MO mode. Set the bank to MOTOROLA. And you'll probably want to check the box to CLOSE the bank.

You can label each frequency with an "Alpha Tag". This is what will display when the scanner stops on that control channel and someone is talking. Put whatever you want in there, but I'd use something like "EVERETT 1", "EVERETT 2", etc.

Down on the lower right side of the screen is a place for the TGs. There are 3 boxes, DEC, HEX, AFS. Most of us use DEC. The TG you gave us (1712) is probably DEC. Use one selection and enter in the TGs you want to hear. Note the "0", "1", etc next to that area. There are 5 sub-groups of TGs, each with 30 TGs. Note the "ON" box next to each group. Select these to be on (you should learn about what sub groups do for you).

Again you put Alpha Tags here. When a conversation on a TG is being heard, this text will display. I think you'll end up with stuff here like "EVERETT PD SWAT" or "EVERETT PD 1".

Looks like we have a Motorola type II system here. Sorry to be so confused, I am considering buying the new pro 107 as it says that it has all the trunked stuff programmed in it from the start for the whole usa, and then I could have it to listen to, while I am struggling to learn to program my old one.
The PRO-107 was created for people who just want to listen and either don't want to, or can't understand the complexities of scanners. It is designed to work like an iPod. Call it an iScanner. LOL. If all of this programming stuff is too confusing or you just can't grasp it, you should be able to navigate the '107.

I know that I could purchase software, win97, arc300, etc. and a cable and just let the computer program it but Darn, I want to figure this out and do it manually. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much Blake
I programmed my first PRO-97 manually. I already had the PRO-92, PRO-93 & PRO-95 (and the older scanners). I already understood trunking, TGs and programming. I figured out how I wanted everything to be programmed in to the scanner in a TEXT file. Then it took me one full week (8 hours per day) to pound on the scanner keys to do it. I have nearly 1000 frequencies programmed and about 400 TGs. All have 16 character alpha tags.

OK, for manual programming:
Press MAN, 1 0 0 MAN to get to channel 100.
Press PGM to be in program mode.
Enter the first control channel frequency, press ENTER.
Press TEXT and enter the alpha tag. Press ENTER.
Press PGM or UP to get to the next slot.
Enter the frequency for control channel 2 and continue as above.
When all of the frequencies are entered, press FUNC T
This puts you in to the talkgroup view/editor.
The first time you do this it will ask you to select the TRS type. Select Motorola.
Next, each time you press T it will take you to the next sub group. The 1st line of the display will show:
"ID Bank 1-0 ON". If it does not say ON, press FUNC 1.
From here you can type in the TG ID and press ENTER.
Press TEXT and enter an alpha tag, press ENTER.
When completed, press SCAN.
 

dxscannerman

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Snohomish, WA
Thanks Guy's

Thanks Whiskey & GM, time is something that I do have right now for a few days so with your guides, a stiff drink, and a little patience I am going to really try and slowly work my way through this trunking programming. I know it's like anything you first look at in this new technology world, almost overwhelming at first then with constant study it finally makes sense and then you kind of think, Geese what was so tough about that. Well , I'm not at that point yet LOL, but I will get it eventually.
Thanks So Much Again... Blake

PS: It really helps too, knowing that smarter people than myself with this radio business really will answer a question from a part time scanner dude like me.
 

N8IAA

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To add what has been posted previously--get yourself a premium subscription here on RR-- and import what you want to monitor into the software. It is easy and almost bulletproof:) Have been using Win97 for over 4 years. Used it with the 97 I used to have, and now with the Pro-163. Love it. You will, however, need to get the RS USB programming cable, part# 20-147.
HTH,
Larry
 

CStarr59

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Or, you could buy the Pro-107 and be up and running in 15 minutes. With the entire RR database at your finger tips, it's uses are endless. And the performance is top notch! The premium subscription to this forum is a small price to pay for the info and rewards it brings, I would highly recommend it!
 
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sds118

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May 20, 2009
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lake worth, fl
programming

you need to program all the control channels freq. then you need to put the talk groups in under the trunking part. once that is done you need to make sure that you have it in the right mode (ie: mot/edacs/ltr/conventional). once all that is done it should follow correctly, but if u try listening to multiple talk group it might jump around. best thing to do is press the pause button to hold the talk group, that will allow you to follow everything said on that group id. once you do a couple of them it will be pretty easy. if you need more help contact me
 

dxscannerman

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Jan 10, 2007
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Snohomish, WA
I think it is making sense now, please correct me if im wrong.
If I want to hear the Snohomish County Sheriff Talkgroups on my pro97 starting in the 5th bank, I will program the primary control channels (2 of them ) in spaces 500 and 501 & then program the secondary control channels (3 of them ) in spaces 502,503,504.
Then I will program whichever Snohomish County Sheriff Talkgroups DEC numbers from the list that I want to hear also in the remaining spaces till the bank is full. Ex. 1616 for Search and Rescue in space 505, 1684 for South Dispatch in space 506 , 1680 for East Dispatch in space 507 etc..... . What if a large city has maybe 15 to 20 control channels, so do they all go in one bank and then fill the next bank with the correct talk group numbers for that city, then just make sure both banks are being scanned to hear it all. Hope this makes sense. Thanks All for the replys and Merry Christmas Blake

Here's the link to the above info I am using. Snohomish County Emergency Radio (SERS) Trunking System, Everett, Washington - Scanner Frequencies
 

N8IAA

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dxscannerman;1220642 Then I will program whichever Snohomish County Sheriff Talkgroups DEC numbers from the list that I want to hear also in the remaining spaces till the bank is full. Ex. 1616 for Search and Rescue in space 505 said:
No. Those are for frequencies ONLY! After you have programmed in the frequencies into the bank, press MAN, then press FUNC, then TRUNK. This will get you to the ID Bank. Then you put in your Talk Group ID's. (TGID's). Press TEXT while in this mode, and you will be able to alphatag them:)
HTH,
Larry
 

sds118

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lake worth, fl
ok you need to put the primary control channels then the secondary in the bank. if using bank five it would be 500,501,502,503 ect. start by pressing man key 500 man this will bring channel 500 up. press the pgm key and enter the control channel(red then blue). Make sure to keep them together for each sight. repeat this till all control chanels are entered. I have all freq input to mine but it should work with just the control channels althought i've found in some areas it will follow the id better. after completing that press the man key followed by F key then the T. this will put u in the trunking id bank. press the mode key until you see motorola( should be once). enter the DEC # (ie 45488). Now you can follow the tgid and listen to all communications. If you want to put a name to the tgid after puttin all info in press the text key and using the number buttons enter the name you would like. if you need further help post another or contact me direct by clicking on my name and private message.
 

sds118

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lake worth, fl
also when once you program the freq. make sure you press the mode key so that it says in manuel mode (M500MO) followed by the freq on the top line. everything has to be set up for the type of trunking that you want to follow.(ie mo for motorola, ed for edacs, lt for ltr) if you mix match them it wont trun right.
 

dxscannerman

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Snohomish, WA
Thanks again everyone, I think it is finally setting in. You put the primary & secondary control channels into the front or begining of whichever bank you are using such as, bank 5 would be 500,501,502,etc. or lets say bank 7 700,701,702, etc. And then in the programming mode of the scanner after you have entered the freq info you put in the TG ID's (however many you want to list and monitor) .
Is this correct that even if you do not put any TG id's in the scanner, as long as the pri & sec control channels are entered in the bank for the system you want to listen to, you can still listen to all the talk. You just wont know who is talking because you have no id's entered in the bank. thanks Blake
 

dxscannerman

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Jan 10, 2007
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Snohomish, WA
Thanks for the conformation SDS, things seem to be working ok now. I programmed all the pri & sec freqs at the beginning of bank 5 and am hearing quite a bit of stuff. Just by the conversations you can tell pretty much if its police of medic's etc. And your right, I just see a TG number on the lower part of the screen when that channel is active. Now I can see that like GM said, it could take quite a while to actually key in all ( TG Id's) if there are a lot in the system. Probably making a real good cheat sheet before actually entering all the data would be a good idea. So I have a lot of pencil work to do before I actually enter all the TG ids and alpha tags for each talk group.!! But now I can at least listen to the talk while making up the final cheat sheet on paper. Wow you guys, THANKS EVERYONE here who answered this post question with a lot of helpful answers. All of you have a Very Merry Christmas wherever you are. Blake in the Pacific Northwest
 
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