New software for old scanners?

[N7YUO]

This is my first post to this forum, and I am not aware if this was discussed previously.
We know that many scanners will be unable to trunk Motorola systems after the rebanding.
It has been said that EDACS & LTR will still work, just program in the new frequencies.

If you were using a computer with Trunker, ScanCat, WinScan, etc, could some of the software be re-written to allow controlling the older scanner? Here are some ideas:

1. The computer program receives the Motorola Control channel data, but signals the scanner as if it were an EDACS or LTR. The scanner 'knows no difference'. It will go to whatever freq the computer commands and receive what is there.
In this scenario, the computer 'translates' the Motorola command into one that the scanner will accept. The scanner will need to have the necessary freqs programmed in.

2. Motorola Control channel data is sent to the computer. The data wants Motorola Ch 53.
The computer tells the scanner to tune to 851.700 (Ch 53 in the new band plan)
The scanner tunes to that freq and receives whatever is there.

3. You program into the scanner, all the voice freqs of a trunked site. Your computer knows which freqs are stored and their locations. The Moto CC data call for ch 129.
The computer signals the scanner to go to the channel (memory) that has 852.700.

4. in all of these scenarios, you need two scanners. One tuned to the Moto control channel with a discriminator tap, and one that is computer controlled. After rebanding, there will be plenty of Pro93s Pro95s and others available at low cost. They can't be computer controlled, but they are ideal for tapping.

Let me know what you think. We have some ingenious people out there who create some
great programs. I think something like this is feasable. n7yuo@yahoo.com

 

[Al42]

What you propose is how some programs already work for the current banding scheme. I'm sure the authors will rewrite them after rebanding.

 

[N7YUO]

Thanks for the reply. I was unaware of how exactly the communication takes place between the computer and scanner. Most of what I read and hear is that certain models of scanners will not work after rebanding and will have to be replaced. But if you are using computer control, you would simply need an upgrade to your software.

 

[Al42]

Thanks for the reply. I was unaware of how exactly the communication takes place between the computer and scanner. Most of what I read and hear is that certain models of scanners will not work after rebanding and will have to be replaced. But if you are using computer control, you would simply need an upgrade to your software.

Some scanners can't be controlled by computer. Those of that kind which won't be reprogrammable after rebanding, will simply have to be used for something other than monitoring Motorola trunked systems, or they can be used as the control receiver of a 2-receiver system - with a scanner that can be computer controlled.