Please help, programming frequencies

[R3DP177]

I got this Radio Shack Pro-164 Scanning Receiver. It worked fine in my previous city, now that I moved away, I would like to program in the frequencies in my local area as well. I found this easier to read manual here: Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual . I'll read the whole manual if i have to, but is there just an easy way to get it to scan all the frequencies and program in the ones it picks up? If not, could you explain how I can program in my local frequencies? I found a site that shows what they are. Eureka Springs Scanner Frequencies (Carroll County AR) . I looked in the regional section and found a post that helps a little. http://forums.radioreference.com/ar...reka-springs-pd-unlicensed-transmissions.html . I don't understand what trunking is, what fleet# or sub-fleet# are, or if I even need them. Thank you in advance.

 

[davewhall29]

I got this Radio Shack Pro-164 Scanning Receiver. It worked fine in my previous city, now that I moved away, I would like to program in the frequencies in my local area as well. I found this easier to read manual here: Easier to Read Pro-164/163 PSR300/C/400/C Scanner Manual . I'll read the whole manual if i have to, but is there just an easy way to get it to scan all the frequencies and program in the ones it picks up? If not, could you explain how I can program in my local frequencies? I found a site that shows what they are. Eureka Springs Scanner Frequencies (Carroll County AR) . I looked in the regional section and found a post that helps a little. http://forums.radioreference.com/ar...reka-springs-pd-unlicensed-transmissions.html . I don't understand what trunking is, what fleet# or sub-fleet# are, or if I even need them. Thank you in advance.

First, welcome to the forums and Radio Reference.

Check out the Carroll County database here on RR:
Carroll County, Arkansas (AR) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference


Ok, if you are trying to program Carroll County/Eureka Sprins AR, then you need to know a couple of things:
1.) Eureka Springs Police uses NEXEDGE digital radios which no scanner is capable of picking up without specialized computer software and a discriminator tap (which basically means opening up the scanner and doing "surgery");
2.) Carroll County is also shown to have a talkgroup on the AWIN digital Phase 1 statewide system, which cannot be monitored with your model of scanner. But it also shows that Carroll County is using conventional frequencies to dispatch fire, ems, and sheriff's dept.
3.) Most of the frequencies in Carroll County are conventional, so your lack of knowledge on trunking will not make a difference. Ignore all the info on subfleets and all that. The forum you linked to about the unlicensed frequencies also just confirms what is already in the database for Eureka Springs.

The best thing to do is to purchase a programming cable, one of the programming softwares (ARC300, Win97-google them for more information) both of which have free trials so I suggest checking both out and see what is best for you, and a premium subscription to RR and just download it directly from the database. But you can manually enter the frequencies from the database into your scanner (just ignore the ones marked "NXDN" under the mode column as you won't be able to hear them.

I hope this helps and if you need any more info just ask.

 

[R3DP177]

Thanks a lot. I figured out that my problem wasn't that I didn't know how to program in the frequencies. I was doing it right... It's just that there is nothing ever going on around here. And that my scanner doesn't pick up NXDN. I Programmed in all the Carroll County frequencies and every once and a while I'll pick up Holiday Island Sheriff chatter. I am curious though, Do you know how far the range is on the Pro-164? I am curious if I can pick up anything from Rogers, Fayetteville, Springdale, etc... Rogers is about 20 miles straight across Beaver Lake from here. Berryville is only 10 miles away, and I don't seem to be picking anything up from there.

1.) Eureka Springs Police uses NEXEDGE digital radios which no scanner is capable of picking up without specialized computer software and a discriminator tap (which basically means opening up the scanner and doing "surgery");

Do you happen to know a video or guide that will show me how to do this? I have a solder kit and would love to have a reason to use it! Do you know if the audio comes in clearly? I found some videos of computer software converting digital signals and I couldn't understand a single word being said!

 

[davewhall29]

Can't find a video on how to tap the scanner, but I linked a couple of pages from radioreference that has the directions & photos.

Pro-164 Discriminator Tap - The RadioReference Wiki

http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/160542-pro-164-discriminator-tap.html

You might also consider getting a cheaper non-trunking scanner to tap, as the 164 is still fairly newer scanner and it has trunking. A cheaper scanner might work better, and if you tap the 164, you will be tying up that scanner to listen to the one channel. It won't work as a regular scanner if you are using the tap. Meaning, you either can use it as a scanner to scan the channels OR as a tapped scanner, but not both at the same time.

Here's a link to a forum talking about this:
http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/186925-discriminator-tap-pro-164-a.html

And another forum post talking about the 164 tap:
http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/221838-get-most-out-pro-164-a.html

As far as the distance, obviously it will depend on terrain, what antenna you are using, etc. but I have 2 handheld scanners at my house with regular rubber duck antennas and I pull in transmissions from 40-50 miles away. And that is in the East Tennessee mountains. So program those other frequencies in and see what you get.