PRO-97 programming
When I purchased my first PRO-97 scanner, I had already been using a PRO-92 & PRO-95 scanner. The PRO-97 manual supplied by Radio Shack is one of the worst manuals I have ever seen (and I read a lot of manuals). Because of my prior experience with other PRO-9x scanners, it made getting to know the PRO-97 a lot easier.
I am a firm believer in learning to drive on a stick shift before driving with an automatic. In keeping with that idealogy I figured out what I wanted programmed into my PRO-97 on paper (text editor) before punching a single key on a PRO-97. Then it took me one entire week just punching keys to get the nearly 1000 frequencies and over 200 talkgroups (all with text tags) entered. Certainly I can now do this anytime I need to, but would probably never do it again; as I have WIN97. But this exercise also helped understand other operational commands of the scanner as well.
1. There is an "easier to read manual" online. Read that before the manual supplied with the scanner. Get to understand some basic terms such as "trunking", "conventional", "talkgroup", "banks" and so on.
2. Get yourself a cable which connects between the scanner and your PC. There are 2 versions out there; one for USB ports and one for COM ports. The COM port version is cheaper but much more difficult to find. Some people have difficulties getting the USB version to work, but we can all help you here with that.
3. Download WIN97 from
www.starrsoft.com it is pretty much what everyone uses for this scanner. It is free to use for 30 days, then it costs $25 (or is it $30) for lifetime use. Well worth the price. Don't activate the software until you've got the cable in hand so you can maximize your 30 days. I just paid up front for my copy.
