Pro-2004: Picked one up for $5, works great after a quick fix

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N9JIG

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At a hamfest last weekend I picked up a PRO2004 that looked almost brand new for $5.00. The guy said it worked fine but I was suspicious anyway. For the price it was worth a shot.

I get it home and plugged it in. The display was pretty bright, so that's a plus right there. The volume control is a little staticy when moved but that was pretty common even on new radios much less a 30 year old one.

I start playing with it and look at what is programmed in it. I see a half dozen channels have different weather channels programmed into them so I figure it has been schlepped around to a few hamfests and people popped them in to see if it worked. I was able to pick up my local weather channel (already programmed into Channel 1) on a telescoping whip so the receiver seems to work.

I then do a little more checking. I program in freqs in the 870-895 range and they are accepted and the radio shows 30 KHz. steps so it appears that mod had been done, even though it is useless now.

I then notice that the 3, 6, 9 and Clear buttons don't work. Now I see why it was so cheap! I open the radio and reseat the cable bundle coming from the front panel and the buttons start working again.

I then inspect the internals of the radio. There is no visible dust, evidence of mods or other issues inside the radio. The shield box around the main processor section has not been welded shut. All feature diodes are as original and on the D-513 spot there is no visible solder jobs so it looks like whomever did that mod did it very carefully.

The radio did not have the extra channels mod done. It appears to be a second generation version as the 30 KHz spacing range goes from 868.9875 thru 895.something (first generation ones went from 870-890 only).

Later this week when I have time I will try it out on Mil-Air, which is what the 2004 excelled at in its day and why I wanted it in the first place.

For $5 it was absolutely worth it!
 

N9PBD

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Great score! I love my PRO2004, even though it's on its third EL panel (and those are like hens teeth now). I used mine for milair as well, although it has been gathering a bit of dust in the closet since I added some elderly Uniden BC780XLT and BC785D's to the stack for that job.
 

typesix

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Also love my 2004, other than not having PL tone capability, it is the most RF interference immune scanner I have owned.
 

dave524

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Later this week when I have time I will try it out on Mil-Air, which is what the 2004 excelled at in its day and why I wanted it in the first place.

For $5 it was absolutely worth it!

If you like mil air, look for the PRO 43 handheld, it was my companion at airshows for the military performance teams.
 
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PRO-2004

Mine is still working fine, I don't use it much. I did the Cell Mod myself way back in 1989? Then I took it in to work one day (back then) to amaze the engineering staff by hearing those calls. We heard some criminal activity too, as the criminals had the bucks ($2000 in 1986) to buy them. We were on Chicago's south side. But when the xxxx switched towers, you lost the call, unless you "could find" the conversation again elsewhere up/down the band by searching. The Pro-2004 did that incredibly fast in limit search. They told me not to bring it back to work as the staff was completely distracted by the thing. They couldn't work! Then they tried to get the $40k Anritsu RF Analyzer to demod the calls, it did, but the 2004 scanner was much better/faster.

I bought my PRO-2004 New in 1988. I worked at Radio Shack then. We had a sales SOB (yearly sales contest). The goal being 10% or more higher sales. We did 50% better. Our bonus was a 50% employee discount on everything we wanted to buy in store up to $1000 total (ticket) retail price. The Pro-2004 retailed at $399.95, I got mine for $200, which was I believe actual store cost at that time. I also got the Mach II speakers and top end Uniden Radar Detector for half price that day. Then I quit a few weeks later. But as they say, too bad for you but I Got Mine!
 
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JustLou

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I need another 2004 like a hole in the head, but just found this gem untested in a goodwill store for $14. Turns out it works like new. Original working backlight, unmodified, not even a speck of dust on it.

CXUWKWC.jpg
 

N9JIG

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Great Score Lou!

I have been using mine for a couple months now and it seems to be every bit as good as they were "back in the day".
 

JustLou

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Great Score Lou!

I have been using mine for a couple months now and it seems to be every bit as good as they were "back in the day".

Thanks. I have a weakness when I see a 2004 or 2006 in beautiful looking condition. ;) These radios may not do very much nowadays, but what they can do, they do it better than most others.
 

JustLou

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Great price for a work horse scanner. Just today was looking for scanners at my local goodwill/salvation army stores and didn't spot any.

I'm lucky that in my area I'm surrounded by 3 major airports, and much of the law enforcement and public services still use UHF analog frequencies. I still get great use out of my 200x radios.
 

Paco-Jerte

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If you like mil air, look for the PRO 43 handheld, it was my companion at airshows for the military performance teams.

sure do, found one today at goodwill for $7.50 + tax.
They had no way to know if it was in working condition or not.

Took it home, popped in the 6 AA batteries and powered on fine.
Unmodified and working fine. all keys work and keylock too. Came with antenna and battery holder.

I'll see if I do the Discriminator tap on it. Should be fun.
 

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