laurel pro-528

[Syroth]

hey i just got the radioshack pro-528.I have kinda got the hang of it... but im confused by edacs. i guess im looking for a how-to , also.... would since laurel is at the edge of a few counties i'd like to set up montgomery and howard counties as well.... but im not sure how much i can enter into the scanner. anyway... any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ka3jjz]

The PRO-528 is not a digital scanner, so it won't work with Montgomery or Howard counties. Only those in the blue link will work.

What system are you trying to program? If it is an EDACS system, (I think this scanner, really being manufactured by Uniden, would work like this....), you must program it in exactly the same channel order as shown in the database. Do not start on a channel ending with 0; start on a channel ending in '1'. For example, if you are in bank 4, start programming in channel 401; leave channel 400 empty.

73s Mike

 

[Syroth]

hmm, i've entered them and it found the control channel... but it doesnt ever receive anything..... i've left it on for some time without picking up anything. I turned it on this morning, and it picked up an id for a minute or two, off and on, but nothing since. i know that there is traffic because i can check the beltsville district (which includes laurel) frequency and i can listen in just fine. That makes me wonder if i should even bother setting it up as trunked, that is the only frequency that pertains to my immediate area. Oh, im trying to program the pg county police, Laurel pd was easy.. only one frequency that matters. So, any scanner on that list would read montgomery and howard counties? is there any one in specific you could recommend? I read somewhere that pg is thinking of switching off of edacs i think to the motorolla smartzone thing that montgomery county has, so i may need a new one anyway. Oh yea, i've checked , re-checked, and re-entered the whole system a few times. Thank you very much for helping!

 

[troymail]

As Mike said - the PRO-528 won't allow you to listen to Montgomery or Howard Counties. Both are DIGITAL Motorola systems so you'll need a DIGITAL capable scanner:

PRO-96
PRO-2096
BC-296
BC-396

etc.

You may be able to find a used one but in the stores you're looking at at least $400-$500

 

[ka3jjz]

That link I gave indexes articles to all of those scanners and much more (see the blue, Troy?). Anyway, the question of which one is better has been asked so many times in other forums, I think I'll pass on that - except to say, that at least for me, The 396 and 996 would fit my needs better, since both can do milair right out of the box, and have software available that allows me to log catches and record. That's something the PRO-96 and 2096 cannot do.

As for the PG county EDACS systems - generally we don't discuss what is heard on those systems, as they're a bit sensitive - but I will tell you that listening during the daytime is not productive. You want to be listening on the weekends - and I would also bet that the upcoming holiday, those systems will get pressed into service for one reason or another.

'nuff said. 73s Mike