PRO 106 question

[Wahoos4Life]

im looking to purchase the radio shack pro 106 scanner

on radio shacks website it says this:

What's in the box

PRO-106 handheld scanner
Flex antenna
Rechargeable battery shell (yellow)
Battery shell (black)
Owner's manual

allso, how good is the stock antena?

Does it not come with a power cabel to plug in to the wall so you dont have to use batteries when not mobile?

 

[DELCOLHFC]

The stock 'Rubber Duck' antenna is a middle of the road compromise antenna, as are nearly all stock units. It really depends on what bands you want to monitor and how far away and or powerful the transmission signals are. Every situation is different. I have found that the RS 800MHz antenna works much better on pulling in the 800MHz trunked systems near me, but thats what it's designed to do. It suffers in the VHF bands though, the stock unit works better there. You will want to try to match your antenna to your targeted systems.
The Pro-106 does not come with the wall charger OR the programming cable. It's cousin the GRE PSR500 does come with both. However I have yet to see the GRE units discounted as deeply as the RS ones have been and soon will be (Dec 18-24). I will be buying a 106 after the 18th and will need to buy a cable then also, I have several power supplies available but ussually do not charge my batts in the radio so don't really need the wallwart. So $300 for the scanner plus $30 for a cable is still about $115 cheaper than I have seen the GRE version. Plus I like the faceplate layout better on the 106.

 

[Wahoos4Life]

The stock 'Rubber Duck' antenna is a middle of the road compromise antenna, as are nearly all stock units. It really depends on what bands you want to monitor and how far away and or powerful the transmission signals are. Every situation is different. I have found that the RS 800MHz antenna works much better on pulling in the 800MHz trunked systems near me, but thats what it's designed to do. It suffers in the VHF bands though, the stock unit works better there. You will want to try to match your antenna to your targeted systems.
The Pro-106 does not come with the wall charger OR the programming cable. It's cousin the GRE PSR500 does come with both. However I have yet to see the GRE units discounted as deeply as the RS ones have been and soon will be (Dec 18-24). I will be buying a 106 after the 18th and will need to buy a cable then also, I have several power supplies available but ussually do not charge my batts in the radio so don't really need the wallwart. So $300 for the scanner plus $30 for a cable is still about $115 cheaper than I have seen the GRE version. Plus I like the faceplate layout better on the 106.

yea while @ home im just going to use my Cellular look alike antena hooked to it, ( antenna is mounted on roof)

How come it does not come with a wall plug?
does it have a wall plug jack ?
and if so , what kind and where can get one?
also how well is the battery life on it when portable and constant use?

 

[Wahoos4Life]

under specs section:

Miscellaneous Features

Cables Included DC cable


Supported Languages English


Connections BNC antenna input (1)
1/8" headphone (1)
Power (1)
PC interface (1)


that sounds like it does now

 

[DELCOLHFC]

Don't place too much faith in RS's product descriptions, sometimes the accessories from the base/mobile will show up under the handheld models......From several other posts here at RR the Pro-106 does NOT come with a wall charger. If you feel you need one stop by a RS store and pick up a 12VDC 500 to 800 MAh power supply with a size "C" adapt-a-plug. (I think they throw in the $5 plug when you buy a PS). And yeah the scanner does have a DC plug recepticle.
As far as to why it doesn't come with a wallwart....who knows, ask RS. But if it lets them market it for $300 who cares!
Battery life would depend on a bunch of different factors. What type of cells?, mAh rating of cells, backlight use, LED settings and use, volume, actual recieve time vs idle time, and so on..........Again from users here it sounds like it will run about 7 to 12 hrs on a decent set of NiMH cells. Thats about the same as I see with my 96's monitoring a few fairly busy systems.

 

[N1SQB]

Just a suggestion!

To solve the "it comes / doesnt come with an adapter", issue ,just have one of THESE http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2552560 around in your shack. You will find it is useful not just for scanners but many things in and around the home. All you will need is a different tip ( $3) if the one you have is not the right one. I love mine, works great..I agree on not charging batteries internaly. Even if the radio is capable, put the charging stress on a separate external charger. Better safe than sorry.

Manny

 

[iMONITOR]

DELCOLHFC is 100% correct.

 

[Wahoos4Life]

with this radio

if the batteries die out on you while in use

Do you lose all your Freqs?

 

[Forts]

No. All your programming is stored in non-volatile ram, so it's safe with the batteries out. Speaking of batteries I find anywhere from 10-12 hours on a set of 2500mha Energizers with little back light use. With moderate back light use, it's likely around the 10 hour mark. Very similar to my Pro-96.

 

[Wahoos4Life]

Thanks everyone


this just made my Xmas list

 

[DELCOLHFC]

I've always thought so......

DELCOLHFC is 100% correct.

If you could add "100% of the time" to that I would like to forward it to my wife.............

 

[skyliner]

Regarding batteries...

The Pro-106 has a setting for battery type (alkaline, cadium, etc.). I'll be using metal hydrides. Since I'm charging those batteries seperate from the scanner, does it matter which battery setting is selected? I asssume it doesn't matter as long as you're not charging the batteries in the scanner?

Also, regarding programming the 106...

I didn't use software. Am programming it myself. Good learning experience, I guess, but a time-consuming pain. I may resort to a software program yet. Any suggestions on which is the best (and hopefully easiest) for the 106? And does it matter that I have already programmed and grouped several frequenices and will I lose those? Not sure how that works since I've never used software programming.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can answer the above bombardment of questions.

 

[iMONITOR]

Regarding batteries...

The Pro-106 has a setting for battery type (alkaline, cadium, etc.). I'll be using metal hydrides. Since I'm charging those batteries seperate from the scanner, does it matter which battery setting is selected? I asssume it doesn't matter as long as you're not charging the batteries in the scanner?

It also affects the Low Battery Alert.

 

[mikey60]

Regarding batteries...
The Pro-106 has a setting for battery type (alkaline, cadium, etc.). I'll be using metal hydrides. Since I'm charging those batteries seperate from the scanner, does it matter which battery setting is selected? I asssume it doesn't matter as long as you're not charging the batteries in the scanner?

If you're not charging the batteries internally, there's no operational difference other than the low battery alert levels.

I didn't use software. Am programming it myself. Good learning experience, I guess, but a time-consuming pain. I may resort to a software program yet. Any suggestions on which is the best (and hopefully easiest) for the 106? And does it matter that I have already programmed and grouped several frequenices and will I lose those? Not sure how that works since I've never used software programming.

As far as which software program to use, my suggestion has been to try them and see which of them you like and decide for yourself. All of them provide a fully functional free trial period so that you can see how the program works. The three packages out there are:

ARC500 from http://www.butel.nl
WIN500 from http://www.starrsoft.com
PSREdit500 from http://www.psredit.com (My Favorite for some reason )

On the existing programming question, no, you will not loose your current programming on your scanner as long as you perform a download operation before doing anything else. This will download the current configuration of your scanner into the software.

Before you start with the software, you might want to save your current configuration to the V-Scanner folder #0, just as a precaution.

Mike

 

[pathalogical]

Regarding batteries...

The Pro-106 has a setting for battery type (alkaline, cadium, etc.). I'll be using metal hydrides. Since I'm charging those batteries seperate from the scanner, does it matter which battery setting is selected? I asssume it doesn't matter as long as you're not charging the batteries in the scanner?

Also, regarding programming the 106...

I didn't use software. Am programming it myself. Good learning experience, I guess, but a time-consuming pain. I may resort to a software program yet. Any suggestions on which is the best (and hopefully easiest) for the 106? And does it matter that I have already programmed and grouped several frequenices and will I lose those? Not sure how that works since I've never used software programming.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can answer the above bombardment of questions.

You say "metal hydrides", do you mean nickle metal hydrides - NiMH ? There is a battery type setting for these in the GLOB list.

 

[skyliner]

Thanks much for the help!

It actually says in the manual that the battery setting directly relates to the battery alert (I'm apparently struggling with reading skills in addition to scanner-programming challenges). And I see the nickel metal hyrdride setting, so I'll use that even though I won't be charging the batteries in the scanner.

Thanks for the info on the software sites and tips. I appreciate it.

 

[kayleesdad]

memory fades, but the wall charger might be $14 or so at RS, a combo of the 9V wall attachment and a small adapter that connects to the scanner.

RS 9v, 500mA wall charger, maybe best to check specs for each model, and get an adapter for the end??

The orientation ("center tip set to positive") on the end adapter attaching between the 9V and scanner may matter (but didn't fry a pro 84 with a 9V, 300mA), and the RS guy or gal may not know exactly which way to attach the end adapter to the 9V...SOOOOO....

CAVEAT EMPTOR -CAVEAT VENDOR....which translated means......"Let the buyer who relies on the RS clerk also rely on the return and replacement policy, or else..."

 

[ind224]

I usually don't support ripoffs so I buy just the tip and hack the end off one of the million 9V warts I have around....