I need help programing my radio shack pro 164!!!

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gua742

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I am a smart guy (at least I think so), I never have trouble programing radios/electronics BUT this thing is driving me CRAZY. I need help programing the trunking in my pro 164 I got from radio shack.
 

sphipps

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All of these new "object oriented" scanners are fairly complicated... so join the crowd and don't feel bad. You'll get the hang of it.

Here's a link for the "Easier To Read" PRO-164 manual. This should clarify things quite a bit.

Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual

Seattle / King County is currently using analog trunking with little encryption, so the PRO-164 will work fine "for now". Don't be surprised if that system goes all digital in a year or two making a digital scanner like the PRO-106 a necessity.

You might also look into buying the $35 data cable / software package from Radio Shack. It makes programming these scanners a cinch and is well worth the money.
 

gua742

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Joplin, MO

I was in Joplin Missouri for two weeks right after the tornado with the Red Cross. I am an EMT and worked in the shelter at night, I loved it there. Joplin is a cool place, the people were so nice!


Thank you VERY much for the advice!!!


-George
 

kf5qgf

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I have a pro 163, same software, but is mobile version of the handheld 164. A quick breakdown of motorola trunking on the 164, program all of the frequencies, control and channel, into your bank. I chose bank 2. you can program many other frequencies that are not trunked into the same bank, but only one trunking system. then take all of the trunked frequencies and press mode until the channel reads like this XXXMO (with XXX being the channel number) then manually go through all the trunked frequencies and double check you set them to MO. Once you've done that press pgm+trunk, it should pop up and say something like 'Trunking Mode not selected', once again press mode until you have motorola selected. then press scan and listen for transmissions, when they come in press trunk to save the id or manually enter them on the pgm+trunk screen. Hope this helps a bit. Your county however only has 1 motorola system with your public safety being p25, which, correct me anyone else who reads this if I'm wrong, but the 164 won't follow p25. :-( A pro-197 is a great scanner from what i've gathered and I'm looking to get one myself. Hope this helps.

Craig
 

DickH

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I am a smart guy (at least I think so), I never have trouble programing radios/electronics BUT this thing is driving me CRAZY. I need help programing the trunking in my pro 164 I got from radio shack.

Here is step-by-step programming summarizeded from the manual.

The Pro-164 needs only the four control channels for a Motorola system to hear the entire system. Use one bank for each system.

(Each bank has 5 sub-banks, each holding 30 Talk Group IDs.).
The first step is to enter the control channel freqs.
1. Press PGM, TRUNK, FUNC, then use the arrows to select a bank.
2. Press MODE, select MOT, ENT.
3. Press PGM, select channel number, ENT (use arrows to change channels).
4. Enter the first freq. 85x.xxxx, ENT
5. Press MODE until MOT appears, ENT (MOT will apply to next 3 freqs.).
6. Enter the next freq. 85x.xxxx, ENT
7. Enter the next freq. 85x.xxxx, ENT
8. Enter the last freq. 85x.xxxx, ENT
9. Press SCAN.
Now it will start "trunking" in OPEN mode.

There are two trunking modes, OPEN and CLOSED:
OPEN lets you hear ALL active TGs
CLOSED lets you hear ONLY the TGs you have put into the SUB-BANKS.
“–” appears for CLOSED mode and “+” appears for OPEN mode under the channel number.
To set OPEN or CLOSED mode for the bank that is ON, Press FUNC then ./DELAY.
To set OPEN or CLOSED mode for another bank:
1. Press MAN.
2. Use the UP or DOWN ARROW to select a bank.
3. Press FUNC then •/DELAY.
There are two trunking modes, OPEN and CLOSED.
In OPEN mode you will hear ALL active Talk Groups.
In CLOSED mode you will hear only the TGs you enter into the sub-banks.

To program the sub-banks.
1. MAN -> PGM -> TRUNK.
2. FUNC - arrow to select bank.
3. Press MODE to select MOT.
4. Press TRUNK to select sub-bank.
5. Enter a Talk Group ID (2 to 5 numbers) -> ENT.
6. Enter then next ID -> ENT.
7. When all IDs have been entered, press SCAN.
 

N8IAA

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All of these new "object oriented" scanners are fairly complicated... so join the crowd and don't feel bad. You'll get the hang of it.


You might also look into buying the $35 data cable

Being that the 163/164 are not object oriented, and are 'normal' entry scanners, getting the USB programming cable is a good idea. The best program for the 163/164 is Win97. It has a thirty day free trial. It's the only way I program my 163. Your fingers will get tired trying to do all 1K channels:)
HTH,
Larry
 

skidderjoe

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I can not down load frequencies to my scanner directly from my computer to my scanner. Can you help? Having a very hard time. Thank you for your time. Leo!
 

W6KRU

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I can not down load frequencies to my scanner directly from my computer to my scanner. Can you help? Having a very hard time. Thank you for your time. Leo!

You should have started a new thread instead of trying to hijack one started for a different problem.
 

gmclam

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Don't be afraid to use software

Hello George.

While most things can be programmed into these scanners manually, there is one thing that can not be - selecting the correct band plan. A pet peeve of mine. Selecting the correct band plan requires programming software. If the trunked system you are trying to program has been rebanded, you most likely need to select an alternate band plan.

Regardless of the above; I took the time to program one of these scanners by hand the first time too. Seriously; I nearly wore out the keypad in doing so. It was a LOT of key presses. And after all that when I wanted to make a minor change ... well, let's just say software works a lot better.

Software also provides a means to back up what is programmed into the scanner. Certainly it is good to know how to do it manually, but you shouldn't feel less capable just because you (also) use software. It really lets you manage how things are programmed.

You'll need a USB programming cable, ~$35 in addition to the software. There are 3 major programs out there, and each comes with a free trial period. Go here for more information. I personally use WIN97 because it supports several different models I own.

George
 

sphipps

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Cool! THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your service during our time of need. You'd be surprised how quickly Joplin is coming back.

I'll never forget the evening the tornado blew through. It swept across about 8 blocks south of my home. I thought we were true "goners" for a few minutes there.

I was in Joplin Missouri for two weeks right after the tornado with the Red Cross. I am an EMT and worked in the shelter at night, I loved it there. Joplin is a cool place, the people were so nice!


Thank you VERY much for the advice!!!


-George
 
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