Pro 164 Scanning Question

[McP]

I just picked up a Pro 164 at a good price. I have a Uniden 396 & 996XT.

I've used ARC 300 to input my local Sheriff's department in bank 0. I'm having no trouble scanning and receiving the TGID I have set to scan, but I am picking up other TGID that I did not enter. Closest thing I can describe it as is on the Uniden scanners the "ID Search" feature versus having it set to "ID Scan."

I'm picking up the fire department TGID as they talk, etc. I only want to pick up the Sheriff's Office that I put in ARC 300 (imported from RR). Is there a way to tell the Pro 164 to only scan what I've put into it instead of searching for other TGID on the county system (is this "wildcard?)

 

[McP]

I think I finally found the solution, thanks to Mark's Scanners easy to read manual.

"You can set each bank to open or closed mode.

In open mode the scanner will receive:
(1) all channels in AM, FM, CT and DC modes that are not locked out.
(2) all IDs in MO and ED modes, even if they are locked out in the ID list.
In closed mode the scanner will receive:
(1) all channels in AM, FM, CT and DC modes, that are not locked out.
(2) only IDs in MO, ED, and LT modes that are programmed into the ID list, and not locked out in the ID list

In Manual mode select any channel of the bank you want to open or close by entering the bank number and channel number (Ex: 001) then press MAN to advance to the channel.
Press FUNC then DELAY to toggle between open and closed modes.
Or, while scanning, quickly press FUNC then DELAY while any channel or ID in the bank is displayed or when the cursor blinks on the bank number. "

 

[KC5EIB]

Uniden uses ID Search and ID SCAN, GRE uses OPEN and CLOSED. On the 164, to change from OPEN to CLOSED, scan only the bank you want to change and press "F" and then "." (Function and then DOT). bottom line of display will show OPEN or CLOSED.

 

[ecollins11]

Function . open or closed mode, Open mode displays this while scanning + under the channel bank numbers Closed mode is -

 

[McP]

Function . open or closed mode, Open mode displays this while scanning + under the channel bank numbers Closed mode is -

Ah, that helps!

One other question.... How do you manually move around channels? ie. I have a PD main channel on and I want to go to their info channel, 3 spots away. If I don't know the direct number to input, how can I switch manually to each channel? With my 106 I can use the four way pad up & down on the same system. On my Uniden, I use the dial when I'm holding on a channel.

 

[gmclam]

PRO-164/PSR-300 navigation

How do you manually move around channels?

You can press MAN or UP to move up in channels. You can press DOWN to move down in channels. You can press MAN (if not in MAN mode), then type in the 3 digit channel number you want to go to and press MAN again and it will take you there directly.

Note that the above is for FREQUENCIES and not TalkGroups within a trunked system. To navigate to a TG within a trunked system, press MAN. Use the 3 digit channel number or FUNC UP to get to the bank of the scanner where the TRS is programmed. Press FUNC T. Press T to navigate to the sub-group or just press the UP and DOWN keys to find the TG. Next press FUNC T again and after a few seconds the scanner will go into **ID HOLD MODE** on that TG. If it doesn't work, make sure the scanner has found the control channel in that bank and try again.

 

[McP]

Thanks gmclam

I should have specified that my area is 95% trunked and not conventional, at least with law enforcement and fire.

I did find the MAN & arrorws move between the frequencies. I definitely want to move between TGID so I can quickly go from a main channel to a tac or talk channel. I tried it, but didn't get it and sure I messed it up somewhere. I'll keep trying, but what a pain if I hear a unit say "switch to tac" and it takes all those steps to move over to the tac channel (considering if I don't know the 3 digit channel number).

*edited* - I actually did just find how to do it. During a conversation, I hit MAN (brought me to the control channel frequency) and from there hit FUNC - T which brought me to a TGID and I was able to use the arrows to navigate through the TGID. Only problem was, by hitting MAN (taking me to the control channel), I missed whatever else was said on the main TGID or other one I was looking for in the time it took me to do those steps and scroll to the TGID I wanted.

You can press MAN or UP to move up in channels. You can press DOWN to move down in channels. You can press MAN (if not in MAN mode), then type in the 3 digit channel number you want to go to and press MAN again and it will take you there directly.

Note that the above is for FREQUENCIES and not TalkGroups within a trunked system. To navigate to a TG within a trunked system, press MAN. Use the 3 digit channel number or FUNC UP to get to the bank of the scanner where the TRS is programmed. Press FUNC T. Press T to navigate to the sub-group or just press the UP and DOWN keys to find the TG. Next press FUNC T again and after a few seconds the scanner will go into **ID HOLD MODE** on that TG. If it doesn't work, make sure the scanner has found the control channel in that bank and try again.

 

[KC5EIB]

Ah, that helps!

One other question.... How do you manually move around channels? ie. I have a PD main channel on and I want to go to their info channel, 3 spots away. If I don't know the direct number to input, how can I switch manually to each channel? With my 106 I can use the four way pad up & down on the same system. On my Uniden, I use the dial when I'm holding on a channel.

If you normally scan multiple talkgroups and the radio stops on one but you want to move to another one, just press the up or down key to resume scanning.

 

[gmclam]

TGs navigation and hold mode

There's all sorts of tricks that can be implemented to get around these woes. It's a matter of personal preference. One thing is to understand how to simply HOLD on a TG that has a conversation you want to hear so the scanner does not scan off to something else.

When the scanner stops on a TG that you want to keep listening to, press and HOLD the T key until the display shows **ID HOLD MODE**. This is great for listening to a short conversation but I wouldn't leave the scanner there for an extended period of time. If I want to hear only a single TG, then I turn off the sub banks not containing that TG and lock out all other TGs in the same sub bank. Unless it is a huge system and you've got all 150 TGs programmed, you can simply use one subgroup to facilitate this function/purpose.

To exit ID HOLD MODE just press SCAN.

Now if you want to enter into ID HOLD MODE when no one is talking on that TG, navigate to it and press FUNC T. When it works you will see the scanner briefly resume scanning and then enter ID HOLD MODE. If it doesn't, what I've found is that it is not getting good reception of the control channel. So I'll navigate to the control channel (which usually just means pressing MAN) and then go through the steps again.

I've run lots of tests with scanners side by side, or trunked data being displayed on my computer (via UniTrunker) with one scanner parked in ID HOLD MODE, and if there's something lengthy going on, the scanner in hold mode misses calls. It also does not seem to track when the control channel changes frequency. If I really want to hear only a single TG (rare), I'll go through the steps above so that only that one TG is enabled.