Official PRO-97 Discussion Thread

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ROD

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I called several stores in my area today(Puget Sound,Wa. State) and they all said they had two in stock or would be getting some in a day or so. Well I picked one up and so far the biggest thing that has stood out is I can read the display from the couch with pro 97 on the coffee table.Must be the color of the display, I could never see my pro 95 unless I picked it up. I do have one question,. When your scanning a conventional bank and it stops on a channel it displays the channel text but the bank text disappears while its stopped. Dont really like that.
 

pug

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Tulsa, OK
Several stores in Tulsa have them in stock now.
I just picked one up at the 31st and Garnett store.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
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Location
Virginia
Pro97 Signal Stalker problems ???

picked up the pro97 mostly for the Signal Stalker.
when i was using to drive home and running Signal Stalker did not pick up any signal
where i heard them all on my pro96..
stop at a plaza with costco and fast food places around me.
again heard nothing on pro97 Signal Stalker
did a reset nothing.
got home plugged it into main antenna and heard only a few frequency.
being picking up Napa and Santa Rosa and Marin CHP in the 42....
local airport and redcom in Santa Rosa 154.3100
am i expecting more of it then it will do or is there something wrong with it?


it seems to work "fine" in regular scanning
 

qoatzecotl

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317
Location
Kendallville, IN
Re: Pro97 Signal Stalker problems ???

sfdf said:
picked up the pro97 mostly for the Signal Stalker.
when i was using to drive home and running Signal Stalker did not pick up any signal
where i heard them all on my pro96..
stop at a plaza with costco and fast food places around me.
again heard nothing on pro97 Signal Stalker
did a reset nothing.
got home plugged it into main antenna and heard only a few frequency.
being picking up Napa and Santa Rosa and Marin CHP in the 42....
local airport and redcom in Santa Rosa 154.3100
am i expecting more of it then it will do or is there something wrong with it?


it seems to work "fine" in regular scanning

It seems that you ARE expecting too much from the Signal Stalker. It's not as sensitive as it is when regular scanning. It's for "near field" receiving. A signal has to be a certain amount over all other radio signals for it to pick it up... This usually means being within a few feet (about 100 or less) from the source...
 

DaveIN

Founders Curmudgen
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You should be able to get a fast food headset easily. Try an FRS/GMRS, or MURS radio.

Also, be sure that you have the bands you want to "stalk" enabled, there are 10 of them :idea:
 

DaveIN

Founders Curmudgen
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You can just press and hold the Light button for >1 second for infinite setting, a set time limit, set it for first keypress, or ignore the first keypress.

"Using the display/key backlight
Your PRO-97 features a backlit keypad and display for easy
viewing and use in dark environments. There are three
backlight modes you can choose from to control backlight
activation, Normal mode, Keypress mode, and fi rst keypress
Ignore mode.
With Normal mode, simply press to activate the backlight.
The backlight will activate and remain on for the factory
default setting of 5 seconds. The backlight continues to
remain on while you are operating the keypad. To turn off the
backlight before it automatically turns off, press again.
With Keypress mode, the backlight will light automatically
when you press any key on the keypad, and function as
described above in Normal mode. This mode is useful if
you want the backlight to come on automatically when you
perform an operation using the keypad.
With Ignore mode, the backlight functions as described in
Keypress mode, except that the scanner ignores the fi rst
keypress. This mode is useful when you wish to quickly
illuminate the display and keypad without having to search
for the key. The fi rst keypress is ignored, and the scanner
sounds the low pitched error beep to remind you that the
fi rst key pressed to activate the backlight is ignored by the
scanner.
In any backlight mode, you can press and hold for about 1
second to force the backlight on full time. Press while the
backlight is on to turn it off.
Follow these steps to change the backlight mode and
duration:
1. If the scanner is on, turn it off and back on again. Multi-
System Trunking Scanner appears in the scanner’s display.
2. While Multi-System Trunking Scanner appears, press .
3. Press e or d to select the desired backlight mode and
duration. Selecting 3, 5, 10, or 20 sets the backlight mode
for normal operation for the selected duration. Selecting
K3, K5, K10, or K20 sets the backlight mode for Keypress
operation for the selected duration. Selecting I3, I5, I10,
or I20 sets the backlight mode for Ignore operation for
the selected duration. Press ENT to store your selection."

You can also turn the Keybeep off:
"Turning the key tone on and off
Each time you press any of the scanner’s keys, the scanner
sounds a tone. To turn the scanner’s key tone off or on:
1. If the scanner is on, turn OFF/VOL counterclockwise until it
clicks to turn the scanner off.
2. Turn OFF/VOL clockwise to turn the scanner on. Multi-system
Trunking Scanner appears.
3. While Multi-system Trunking Scanner appears, press 1 to turn
on the key tone or 2 to turn it off."
 

safetyobc

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Sep 25, 2004
Messages
3,354
Location
South Arkansas
Thanks DaveIN for the info!

Well, I sold my BC250D on Friday........I may just order this 97 tomorrow! I have a 246T so really don't actually need another handheld, I just like the 97. If there were a mobile 246T radio, I might would buy it first, but this 97 has impressed me with it's looks and features!

I do have one more question though. Why does this radio use 4 AA batteries. that seems to be an awful lot of juice for one radio! My 246T only uses 2 and lasts for 8 to 12 hours (depending on lighting and traffic) on 2500 mAh batteries. The new BCD396T upcoming from Uniden uses only 3 and is digital.

I would guess battery life should be in the 12 hour range having 4 batteries. Using rechargeables, how many hours are you guys getting under normal usage of the 97?
 

safetyobc

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South Arkansas
milf said:
... ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDD look closely.. a LED on the WX button! It gets a blinker/bright light for warnings! Cool!


This was from a post way back on page 1. Is this an actual feature of the scanner that made it to production?


Also..... Acording to a post by DonS on March 15...

DonS said:
c_gutta said:
Hey DonS any ETA on Win97 yet?
Probaby 2-3 weeks. I had to add...

-Don

That could mean this week or maybe next we can get Win97!!!!!
 

unitcharlie

a Kentucky DB Admin...
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Jan 2, 2003
Messages
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Location
on the road to Nonesuch, Ky...
milf: did you program the SAME codes for your area or does the radio listen for the tones on the strongest wx tx.... i haven't fully read my manual (i know, it says read this first!) yet, only the parts that i am interested in learning or need to know to program the thing.... (my fingers feel like they have been hammered with a large hammer--i had forgotten how difficult the world of scanning was before don starr's help-he deserves a nobel prize)
 

K2GOG

Member
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Nov 22, 2003
Messages
102
Location
Mid Hudson Valley
The path to the PRO-97

I had the PR0-83, just to see if the Signal Stalker thing actually worked. I had thought it would be like that "signal counter" thing in the Yaesu VR-120D.

Sold my PRO-93 and PRO-83, to get a BC-246.

Hated the 246, but only planned on keeping it until the 97 came out, and so far it sure is a great radio.

I dont seem to like the volume/squelch/power knob. Feels very cheap, just like on the 246. oh well

I just hope Don releases the PRO-97 software soon (said a few weeks as of 3/26) I can just drop my existing files into the radio with little change

signal stalker works great. Signal level of control channel trunking decoding works well. PL decode works great
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Virginia
Pro97 Signal Stalker problems ???

Drove around and parked in front of some fast food places to test it
maybe i got a hit 1 out of 10 even with all the other banks turned off and only the
freq. Bank for that frequency on. :?:
 

safetyobc

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Messages
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Location
South Arkansas
Re: Pro97 Signal Stalker problems ???

sfdf said:
Drove around and parked in front of some fast food places to test it
maybe i got a hit 1 out of 10 even with all the other banks turned off and only the
freq. Bank for that frequency on. :?:



I have a 246t and noticed that at a fast food places, while placing my order, the close call picks up nothing....but when I pull around to the window to pay, I pick up the guy behind me placing his order....... Those freqs are really low power and are hard for the close call / signal stalker to pick up I guess. But I live about 1/2 mile from my local PD and pick up them on close call everytime dispatch keys up on VHF-High freq. I had to lock them out because close call picked it up constantly. I have picked up water dept. and other city services as they pass my house. I have also picked up some FRS radios driving by my house. All of this with the stock antenna and everything but FRS using VHF-High.
 

SCPD

QRT
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Messages
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Location
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Pro97 Signal Stalker problems ???

when i have it hooked up to my roof anteanna it picks chp redcom and
aircontroll traffic and nothing else. not even my local Police/ fire or
bells ambulace down the street when they come on on my other scanner
 

safetyobc

Member
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Sep 25, 2004
Messages
3,354
Location
South Arkansas
mmmmm... I don't have one, am planning on ordering one tomorrow, but maybe it has something to do with that 1mhz in signal stalker thing...or the special mode... I don't know? My 246T's close call works great. Even pulled up at my mother-in-law's house the other day and got a hit off her 900mhz phone, which suprised me and made me wonder why that section isn't blocked from scanners like the cell freqs are?

I have the 246T so I'm not too concerned with the signal stalker on the 97, mainly want the milair. This would be my first GRE scanner ever. I just like the looks of it mainly. I sold my BC250D so I could buy it. I had milair on the 250 but something about the 97 draws me to it. . . . :) Can't explain it.
 

cipher66

ARTCC DB Manager
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Aug 30, 2003
Messages
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Location
Highland, IL
I got my Pro-97 on Friday to replace my BC246T (mostly because of milair capability). I am very pleased with it's performance so far and have compared it against other models that I have on milair performance below:

Pro-97 vs: (MilAir Performance Only)

- BC296D: Pro-97 is better
- Yupiteru MVT7100: 7100 is better
- Pro-96: Pro-97 is better
- Pro-95: Pro-97 is better
- Icom IC-R5: Pro-97 is better

Anyways, that's my take on it's milair performance..... I think it is a capable performer for milair monitoring, and the inclusion of alpha-tags is fantastic for all those frequencies :p . I must say that I am also eagerly awaiting Uniden's BCD396T later this summer/early fall as well, but for a less-than $200 radio with milair capability you can't go wrong especially if your areas public safety services are not yet digital.

Well, TTYL

PK
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Pro97 Signal Stalker problems ???

mostly got the 97 for the signal stalker in the hopes to find new signals
instead of doing an manual serch. where i live and comute i'm not to concered even getting a hope of listen in on any mil. air freq.
i guess i had my hopes set to high ...... :cry:
i was hoping to catch all the known and nooooooooooooooooot known freq.
 
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