Need scanner expert help quickly.

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jblave

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I also recieved a PRO-164 for Christmas. I'm a newbie too. Looking at RR has taught me alot but there is so much information. I live in Albers ,Clinton County, Illinois. I'm looking to monitor Fire, EMS, POLICE trunking and regular frequencies. Including state police. I started programming the scanner and it only gets a small amount of transmissions. Signal stalker has not picked up a single transmission in about 12 hours. I need some advice from some professionals because the sales techs at my area radioshacks are not scanner people. Is the PRO- 106 a better option for my area? Reading here on RR it appears my area is changing to StarCom21 for project 25. What is a good radio shack scanner for StarCom21? Is a PRO-106 a digital scanner that has been rebanded or will I get charged more money to get it up to tip top? Is there a scanner from Radio shack that out of the box has been rebanded, is digital, and fits my needs? Help please I need to take back in next ten days if I'm gonna! I'm trying to soak it all up but feel I will not have time to learn scanning , rebandin, and trunking in ten days. So I would like some educated advice on how to proceed!
 

n5ims

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I think that this link (Clinton County, Illinois (IL) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference) will get you your local frequencies. It's true that the State Police and many local agencies have gone to the statewide P-25 digital system StarCom21 (StarCom21 Statewide Illinois P25 Trunking System, Statewide, Illinois - Scanner Frequencies) so you may need a different scanner like the Pro-106 or the GRE PSR-800 recommended above. The PSR-800 is probably a better choice since it's much easier to program (you can simply pick the systems from the included database, which can be updated when desired from the RR database).
 

jblave

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Thanks guys for your replys. I went with the PRO-106 since I was already at radioshack and they had one. I got the programming cable while I was there. It says it comes with free programming software. I don't know if I should use this or just get ARC500 and a RR membership. Will be getting RR membership anyway this is awesome resource for this hobby.
 

gewecke

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Thanks guys for your replys. I went with the PRO-106 since I was already at radioshack and they had one. I got the programming cable while I was there. It says it comes with free programming software. I don't know if I should use this or just get ARC500 and a RR membership. Will be getting RR membership anyway this is awesome resource for this hobby.


This is up to you, but from experience I don't suggest using ARC500 software.
I program completely by hand, but if I were to use any software then it would be WIN 500 without a doubt.
Also your pro-106 was a great choice!


73,
n9zas
 

jaspence

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Programing software

I have used the ARC software for both my Pro-96 and Pro-106 from the time both programs were first available. I have no complaints, and both of my radios work well. Occasionally there are some inaccuracies in the database, but that cannot be blamed on the ARC software. As far as hand programming goes, I had enough of that from the first Regency HX-1000 (1980's) and many others until software became available.
 

jblave

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Thanks jaspence, nightrider5020, and gewecke: Hand programming on PRO 106 is harder for me than on PRO164. New concept this "objecy oriented " stuff. ARC500 came with programming cable and programmed PRO 106 like a breeze. Gonna figure out manual programming also though!
 
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