Official PRO-97 Discussion Thread

[Voyager]

A thread for discussion of the new PRO-97.

Key features:

It HAS LTR!!!

It HAS SIGNAL STALKER! (in a GRE unit??? HOW is that?)
... or DOES IT? Quote from the manual: "Your scanner’s Signal Stalker feature lets you detect strong signals in a wide bandwidth of approx. 1 MHz to search transmission quickly."

1 MHz BW??? That's not SS, but they are calling it that!

It has MIL AIR!

IT DOES NOT SUPPRT DIGITAL P-25! (or any digital, from the looks of it)

eMail list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pro-97/

FCC DOCS: Link Here

SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency Coverage:
25–54 MHz .................................................................................................... (in 5 kHz steps)
108–136.99166 MHz .................................................................................. (in 8.33 kHz steps)
137–174 MHz ..................................................................... (in 5, 6.25, 7.5, or 12.5 kHz steps)
216.0025–225.0000 MHz .............................................................................. (in 5 kHz steps)
225.025–405.975 MHz ................................................................................ (in 25 kHz steps)
406–512 MHz.............................................................................................(in 6.25 kHz steps)
806–823.9875 MHz .................................................................................. (in 6.25 kHz steps)
849–868.9875 MHz .................................................................................. (in 6.25 kHz steps)
894– 960 MHz............................................................................................(in 6.25 kHz steps)
1240–1300 MHz ....................................................................................... (in 6.25 kHz steps)
Memory channels .. ................................... .......... .......... ............................................... 1000
Channel memory banks ...................................................................................................... 10
Number of memory channels per bank ............................................................................. 100
Talk group ID memories ................................................................................................. 1,500
ID memory banks .... ........................................ .................................................................. 10
Sub-banks per bank .. ............................. ............................................................................. 5
Number of memory IDs per sub-bank ................................................................................. 30


Another item of note on the sensitivity specs:
216–225 MHz 1 uV

Why even bother putting it in with specs like that! That's terrible! :shock:
Te specs ARE subject to change - let's hope they change for the better.

No spec on the 225-406 range, but I bet it's not any better than the 216-225 MHz range.

Joe M.

 

[INDY72]

Cool a beefed up Pro 92 with Pro-94/95 chans., and 2052 mil air!

Since tis got SS ??? that means CTCSS-CDCSS .. hopefully?? LOL

This one I would grab boys and girls.... as long as you don't need digital.

 

[rdale]

"This one I would grab boys and girls"

What makes this better than the 246 for the general scanner-user?

 

[INDY72]

Its GRE! Sorry but I am a GRE fan lol...

 

[Air490]

Milair!!!

Although having said that, the sensitivity figures do't look promising for the area. Just have to wait and see.

 

[Voyager]

"This one I would grab boys and girls"

What makes this better than the 246 for the general scanner-user?

It looks like it's designed to compete with the 246T - does everything but P-25. This one looks better in that is does MilAir (although most likely with terrible sensitivity - see above), but only has 1000 channels as opposed to the 1600-2500 of the 246T. Of course, those 1000 are 'banked' 10x100 channels - they are not dynamic like the 246T.

The 246T looks like it may have a 'huge' size advantage (the '97 looks like it's very close to PRO-96 size), and a 2-month estimated lead of release.

It also seems to have the CTCSS/CDCSS decode of the 246T - unlike the CTCSS OR CDCSS of the PRO-96.

Joe M.

 

[INDY72]

Umm I was right??? LOL When you deal with GRE/Radio Shack long eneough you get a feel for how it goes...... Uniden does one.. GRE does one- then you have the Uniden does for both titles,, then again GRE does one, Uniden does one..... Its the way competition works... thogu Uniden is still ahead on the digital market with base/mobiles... will have to wait till someone gets a 2096 and plays with it to see what happens next.

 

[rdale]

I think the memory management of the 246 will be revolutionary if it works as well as the manual says... The 246 also does EDACS-Narrowband.

 

[DaveIN]

The LTR feature is using LCN/channel number. This is different from the PRO-92 method, more like the Uniden method. Could the LTR programming/Signal Stalker be Uniden OEM?

The Signal Stalker looks like it only has a 1 MHz bandwidth?? or select sub-band in the Police/Fire range.

Size "C" adaptaplug with the black and yellow battery holders. Guess it will be the same size as the PRO-93, 95, 96?

150 talkgroups per bank, this is different! No mention of the V-scanner feature, but if it is to be low-end I guess they won't add that until the PRO-XX.

Clone to PRO-97 only.

So Don, do you have Win97 finished yet?

 

[unitcharlie]

with apologies....

wonder if rat shack would accept an over-used 95 in trade? wonder if the bad sensitivity is to make the "signal stalker" more effective?

 

[rdale]

"wonder if rat shack would accept an over-used 95 in trade?"

No need to apologize. I don't know of any RS that would do so...

"wonder if the bad sensitivity is to make the "signal stalker" more effective?"

They dumb down the radio to make it pick up signals better? I'd say no - doesn't make sense.

- Rob

 

[ROD]

Sounds Like a cool Scanner.Look forward to the pro 96 coming down in price soon or at least going on sale.Love my pro 95 but am getting itchie for a new toy !!

 

[INDY72]

Expect the sensitivity specs to change the closer to actual production time.

I would not expect to see this scanner on the market before January of 2005 at the earliest. After all, 2097 has had TA for what, a month, and its still nowhere near the store shelves. The documentation available is prototype info, and is extremely subject to changes before final product is on the market.

I suspect that once this finally clears all the R&D bug guys, and is ready to put on the shelf, itll have much better sensitivity, and the features should be more clearly defined. *Unless its like the PRO-99 which the info on the website, and in the hands of store employees is still shoddy and vauge lol*

 

[kikito]

Milair!!!

Although having said that, the sensitivity figures do't look promising for the area. Just have to wait and see.

I'm going to assume the Mil Air sensitivity will be the same as the Pro-96 and if that's the case then that's good enough for me and many others.

 

[JohnBreen]

Hi Guys,

Well, I came in late to this party so here is a question:

Is the "signal stalker" or "close call" capability something like the "find and store" capability of the Optoelectronics Scout? Or, am I completely misunderstanding? The Opto devices are nice buy very pricey - be nice to get a limited version in a relatively inexpensive hh scanner.

Regards, JB

 

[Voyager]

Hi Guys,

Well, I came in late to this party so here is a question:

Is the "signal stalker" or "close call" capability something like the "find and store" capability of the Optoelectronics Scout? Or, am I completely misunderstanding? The Opto devices are nice buy very pricey - be nice to get a limited version in a relatively inexpensive hh scanner.

Regards, JB

In fact, the SCOUT is the LIMITED version. CC and SS will also let you hear the audio AND decode the CTCSS/CDCSS, if used. I'm not sure if the SS version will let you auto-store or not. This is much closer to the operation of the Opto Xplorer.

BUT, the PRO-83 is rumored to be going on sale for $55 the day after Thanksgiving, so you can hardly beat that price!

Joe M.

 

[EricCottrell]

A thread for discussion of the new PRO-97.


SPECIFICATIONS
216.0025–225.0000 MHz .............................................................................. (in 5 kHz steps)


Joe M.

Hello,

5 KHz steps in the 217-218 and 220 - 221 MHz bands are incorrect. I find that NBFM systems in these bands use either 12.5 KHz or 6.25 KHz steps.
It seems major cities have a NBFM trunked system on these bands. NYC has a active system used by a couple of taxi companies and other businesses. I think GRE and Radio Shack should add capability to change the step on more bands. They finally did it for the VHF-High band.

It may be due to the lack of feedback to Uniden and GRE since it seems not too many listeners are exploring this band.

73 Eric

 

[grem467]

any idea as to list price when it comes out?

 

[Air490]

Any ideas about a release date yet?

 

[Landman]

A couple of thing that I have noticed:
- The numbers of characters in the text tags has been increased to 16
- The keypad appears to be backlit