Newbie with (broken) Radioshack Pro-49

[natenkiki2004]

Hello everyone. I knew of this website ages ago and used to listen to my local PD/FD on here until it was removed. There's been a lot of recent fires and accidents around here lately and I thought it was about time know about what's going on. I purchased a Radioshack Pro-49 since it was cheap and I don't really need anything fancy since I'm just a beginner. I also prefer to have a well built older unit rather than a new cheapie if you know what I mean.

The problem is, the Pro-49 only works off of it's AC adapter, not on batteries. I tried both new alkaline and charged up NiMH Eneloops. The terminals had a bit of corrosion so I took it apart, cleaned everything and sprayed it down with some electronic cleaner in a spray can. No improvement. I read somewhere about a resistor dying in certain cases so I checked the resistor that appears to be linked to the battery/12v input area and it's specced at around 30 ohms but I was seeing millions of ohms on my meter. Not having a spare, I jumped the resistor with a wire just to see if it would work, still the same result, unit won't power with batteries but works fine on the AC 12v wall wart.

I know this is a cheapie unit that probably won't get much love but it seems solid, being a Uniden made in Japan unit. I'd hate to just junk it. Has anyone run into this kind of problem before?

Also, in case someone recommends getting a new handheld, these are the frequencies I'd be listening in on:
Latah County, Idaho (ID) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Thanks in advance.

 

[natenkiki2004]

Looking around online, it appears I should be able to hook the AC adapter up to the charge port and still run the radio. It won't turn on. Seems to me that there's a kind of switch in the power port that disconnects the batteries and charge port when it's plugged into the AC adapter. I'm thinking mine is stuck.

 

[dmg1969]

Sounds like it's time for a new scanner. If you listen strictly to analog, non-trunking...a BC125AT is a good handheld scanner. If you want to listen to the ICAWIN, you need a scanner capable of P25 Phase 1. In that case, a BC396XT or the new BCD436HP.

 

[natenkiki2004]

Thanks for the reply. I've tried to figure out what's going on with the radio, following the circuits, jumping traces and all that. No success at all. I may just leave it plugged in for a stationary scanner for the mean time. I would like something portable though.

I understand the analog vs digital and it seems to me that everything listed on this page is analog:
Latah County, Idaho (ID) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

So for now, I don't think I need digital. However, you lose me at non-trunking. Before getting this broken scanner a few days ago, I knew absolutely nothing about this kind of stuff. I'm still trying to figure out what all the terminology is and how to identify analog vs digital. How can I tell them apart? Is digital on totally different frequencies?

ICAWIN is something I hadn't heard of before, it looks like a public safety thing. Considering the significantly higher cost of a scanner to receive it, I'll pass.


The BC125AT looks way more complicated than I need but perhaps that's a good thing, functionality I can grow into. Little bit pricier than I wanted but I do like having something new and USB charging is a big plus.

 

[fxdscon]

I understand the analog vs digital and it seems to me that everything listed on this page is analog:
Latah County, Idaho (ID) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Did you see this link at the bottom of that page? Might be something there of interest...

Idaho Cooperative Agencies Wireless Interoperable Network (ICAWIN) Trunking System, Statewide, Idaho - Scanner Frequencies

.

 

[dmg1969]

Non-trunking are just regular analog channels (frequencies). There are also trunked systems that use analog (as opposed to digital) frequencies. For more information on trunking, see this link...Trunked Radio Systems - The RadioReference Wiki

I see that fxdscon followed up on my comment about ICAWIN. It is the Idaho statewide system. I would check it out to see if there are items of interest there for you, but it would require the more expensive digital scanner.