Possible squelch problem with PRO-197

[alabamarailfan]

Hey Folks,
Just picked up a PRO-197 off eBay to use for the live audio feed for our county (Morgan, AL). I had been using a Uniden BCT15 but much of our first responders moved from an EDACS TRS to a new 700 MHz P25 system.

Anyway, I believe the squelch control may be damaged on this radio but just to be 100% sure and before I send a note back to the seller, I wanted to check here. It really looks to me like the radio was dropped and landed on the volume/squelch control. The seller mentioned the crack but said the radio worked fine. On a quick side note, the radio will not program via PC unless I wiggle the cable and hold it in the right spot.

Here is what I am seeing: any analog channel I put in without a sub-audible tone of some sort (like CTCSS), the scanner stops immediately on that channel like the squelch is open. Moving the squelch know has no effect what-so-ever.

For those channels that I do have tones set for, it scans fine, just what seems abnormally slow to me (a couple of channels per second, nowhere near the 60 cps it should be). I have seen the posts about setting the squelch mode to search but this again, causes the scanner to lock on that channel with nothing but white noise.

I really think the scanner is damaged and the squelch is not working at all but I wanted to get some second opinions before I contacted the seller about sending it back (I don't mind paying $200+ for a digital radio but I think it should work better than this). Oh, what looks like a crack on the top is just a white cat hair!

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[alabamarailfan]

>> Moving the squelch know has no effect what-so-ever.

Should be "Moving the squelch knob has no effect what-so-ever."
Sorry!

 

[N8IAA]

>> Moving the squelch know has no effect what-so-ever.

Should be "Moving the squelch knob has no effect what-so-ever."
Sorry!

I would be calling and asking for a refund. There is obvious damage in that area. I'm betting a broken squelch/volume pot, cracked PC board, and whatever goes with dropping the radio.
Larry

 

[Halfpint]

If that was to have come into my repair shop when I was still open the *very first* thing that I would have done would have been to open it and carefully inspect the `pot' and the board for *any* kind of problem/damage before even considering going any further! The type of damage that could come with that type of abuse could possibly make repairs problematic or even a `non-starter' if parts might be hard to come by or non-existant.

Hopefully you will be able to recover what you've spent?

 

[alabamarailfan]

Thanks, folks. I should have said "conventional" channels not analog but you knew what I meant. I have started a conversation with seller about how to resolve this. I am actually an electronic technician so I could fix if it I can get the parts but it is the principle of the item being advertised as in good working order that bothers me right now.
Thanks again for your time and input!

 

[cherubim]

Hey Folks,

I really think the scanner is damaged and the squelch is not working at all but I wanted to get some second opinions before I contacted the seller about sending it back (I don't mind paying $200+ for a digital radio but I think it should work better than this). Oh, what looks like a crack on the top is just a white cat hair!

Thanks in advance for any input!

If you suspect the seller is dishonest then open a PayPal dispute and take it from there. Assuming you paid this way.

 

[gmclam]

any analog channel I put in without a sub-audible tone of some sort (like CTCSS), the scanner stops immediately on that channel like the squelch is open. Moving the squelch know has no effect what-so-ever.

For those channels that I do have tones set for, it scans fine, just what seems abnormally slow to me (a couple of channels per second, nowhere near the 60 cps it should be).

This description clearly sounds to me like the squelch is permanently open. It could be just a damaged potentiometer, or it could be more.

 

[kb3isq]

Go to the weather search and see if it stops on a open squelch, if working you should be able to adjust squelch until it stops on an active frequency.

 

[alabamarailfan]

Go to the weather search and see if it stops on a open squelch, if working you should be able to adjust squelch until it stops on an active frequency.

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried this and it stops on every channel and the squelch knob has no effect. As the previous post stated, the squelch appears to be open all the time.

Thanks for your feedback, everyone!