PRO-164 Consensus

[Kestrel]

I've decided I'm going to purchase the Radio Shack PRO-164 - just wondering what other users think of it. I currently have a PRO-97 (using Scancat-Lite to program it). The PRO-164 appears to be compatible with the rebanded UCAN system - just want to make sure it 'really' works before I buy it.

Aside from not decoding digital talk groups, and requiring an upgrade of the Scancat-Lite software, the PRO-164 appears it will operate pretty much like the PRO-97 did before UCAN rebanded.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[detroit780]

Pro-164

Same basic radio that is flash upgradeable. Yes it can be rebanded and it also has an s-meter and slightly larger display then the 97.

Les

I've decided I'm going to purchase the Radio Shack PRO-164 - just wondering what other users think of it. I currently have a PRO-97 (using Scancat-Lite to program it). The PRO-164 appears to be compatible with the rebanded UCAN system - just want to make sure it 'really' works before I buy it.

Aside from not decoding digital talk groups, and requiring an upgrade of the Scancat-Lite software, the PRO-164 appears it will operate pretty much like the PRO-97 did before UCAN rebanded.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Justin84065]

Pro-164 Rebanding

The radio works well on rebanded systems, However you will have to program using third party software.
I use win 97, you can also use psr edit, once you have updated the firmware to v 1.07 the radio will accept custom tables, you set them up in in the third party software. the last step is to select the table in the scanner by pressing the keys pgm+trunk then func 3, This allows you to set the system to 1-splinter
2-custom or 3-standard.
select custom for rebanded system(ucan) or standard(slc public safety).
Splinter systems are only applied on the Canadian/Mexican border.
Hope the info is useful.
Justin

 

[gmclam]

I've decided I'm going to purchase the Radio Shack PRO-164 - just wondering what other users think of it.

The PRO-164 is a great radio as it is the same "radio" as the PRO-97 but with an upgraded CPU and display. Firmware for the new CPU can be field updated and that has enabled some new things like handling rebanded 800 MHz Motorola systems.

I personally have the PSR-300 which is the GRE version of the radio. GRE makes the PRO-164 for Radio Shack. Since all support comes from GRE, it takes longer to filter through RS for the '164 than compared directly for the '300. The last firmware update was like 6 months later for the '164 compared to the '300.

I currently have a PRO-97 (using Scancat-Lite to program it).

Do yourself a favor and THROW OUT ScanCatLite. Feel free to do some searching here on RR and you'll find people with a lot of scanner problems traced back to using that program. I and another member individually tested it with two scanners (I did the PRO-97 testing) and found it to fail miserably. Seriously, you are better off programming by hand than with SCL. I use WIN97, which works for the '97, '164 and PSR-300 as well as the equivalent base models of those scanners.

The PRO-164 appears to be compatible with the rebanded UCAN system - just want to make sure it 'really' works before I buy it.

I am not familiar with "UCAN", but if you are talking about a Motorola 800 MHz trunked system, yes it can handle it.

Aside from not decoding digital talk groups, and requiring an upgrade of the Scancat-Lite software, the PRO-164 appears it will operate pretty much like the PRO-97 did before UCAN rebanded.

There are a few minor things. The '164 or '300 can not be programmed with the COM version cable. You need the USB version (or make your own like I did). I had to upgrade my version of WIN97 to get support for the '300, but it was free as I registered the program on day one. Programming a rebanded MOT 800 system was a matter of making the proper selection within WIN97. Worked great for me.

I got my '300 from ScannerMaster. They were running a sale; $149 with free shipping. The GRE comes with an AC wall adapter too. There are several other threads on here comparing '97, '164, '300 and compatabile base models.