PRO-164 Trunking Help

[glockroo]

Hello all RR peeps out there. Just got a new PRO-164 scanner and I've been reading and studying about how to set up the trunking channels so I will be able to listen to my local (Chino PD).

per San Bernardino County 09 Trunking System, Ontario, California - Scanner Frequencies , I entered the 4 control channels as M001, M002, M003 and M004.
As I turn on my scanner, I press MAN and use the arrow key to go to say M003. Now, I see a G on top line.
M0030MO 868.41250 (2nd line), pri DLY lo+(3rd line) Bank 0 Chan 03(4th line) and MOT: none at the bottom
From time to time I heard some noise and I would see MOT: follow by 5 digit numbers. Also, Very top line will briefly show and S with signal bars, but will disappear right away. "POWER SAVE ON" also come and gone at the bottom line. Occasionally, I see control with a % at the bottom.

Other than statics and some cracking noise, I will hear an Field officer talk to the dispatcher but that's all. I don't hear any reply and I won't hear anything else for a long time.
Am I doing something wrong?? Is it the problem with my antenna/reception? It's the stock antenna and I have turned the Volume knob all the way up yet I still feel the sound is medium at best.

Anyone can help a newbie out? I appreciate your time.

 

[Tweekerbob]

Here's a few things:

1. The "G" indicates your global attenuator is on. Hit FUNC and then ATT until the G (and the A next to it) go away.

2. You are still in manual mode, which means the scanner is staying put on one frequency. For now, hit the up and down arrows until you get a signal that is loud and sounds like a diesel truck idling continuously. That is the system's control channel. Now watch the display and see if things start changing. If so, you should see on the bottom line "Sys-262c" and to the right of that a %. This will probably alternate with TGID numbers of about 4-5 digits and the word Control. If you are seeing all of these changes to the display, then hit the SCAN button.

3. When you hit SCAN the scanner should treat Bank 0 as a Motorola trunking bank and try to lock onto the Control channel. Once it does, there will be a "T" in the upper left hand corner of the display and you will know it is properly decoding the trunking data from the control channel. The second line should be full of numbers and dots. The numbers represent active banks and the dots are deactivated banks. You want to deactivate all the banks EXCEPT 0. Do this by pressing the number on the keypad for any number you see on the second line, If you see a "1", hit 1 on the keypad until it is replaced with a dot. Repeat until there is a 0 followed by all dots.

4. Since you probably don't have any TGIDs programmed in, the only way you are going to hear anything is if you are listening in OPEN mode. Look at the third line at the character all the way to the left, directly under the 0. If it is not a plus, do the following: Hit Man, then hit FUNC, then hit. ./DELAY. This should change it to a +.

If you saw the results in #2 like you should, then by now you should be hearing a bit of traffic.
If things aren't going right in #2 then you either have a reception issue (get to a better location, use a better antenna, etc.) or you may have one of the goofy 164s referenced in this post.

Either way, I highly recommend getting a hold of a programming cable and some software. It will speed up programming tremendously and if you do have an off frequency issue, it can only be resolved with software.

Good luck.

Ryan

 

[glockroo]

Thank you so much Ryan!

Seeing how many people view the threat and no replies. I felt helpless. But one good reply is all worth the wait.

1. I got the "G" off first line.
2. Yes I have best of luck with M003, lots of 5 digit numbers popping up and I see the Control % from time to time. and it does sound like a diesel truck.
3. When I hit SCAN, the "T" only show up momentarily.I will be gone in a sec. Now is this a problem? Yes, I've successfully turning all other banks off. So only "0" is shown and I now have "+" sign under it.
4. I have a couple TGID programmed in. They are the DEC number for Chino Dispatch 04304 in ID BANK 0-1 and TGID#00, ON, MOT, and Ontario Dispatch 04208 Bank 0-1 ON, TGID#02

Now, I see most of the results you told me but I don't recall seeing "Sys-262c"

I will go get a better antenna and maybe a programming software later. But thank you again for your help. I sure hope I can get this thing to work Have a great holiday weekend!

Edward

 

[DickH]

... ...

I suggest asking in the CA forum (scroll way down to the states forums). If that system has not rebanded, it will before long. For rebanding all the freqs. in the 866 to 868MHz range move down to the 851 to 853MHz range by subtracting 15MHz.. After rebanding the PRO-164 is not able to track freqs. that have a zero in the 4th decimal place (like 851.2500). To correct this problem, you need to enter new freq. tables in the firmware. But, it can only be done using software.

 

[Tweekerbob]

Yes the T is important. In a perfect world, the T should be displayed whenever the system is idle (no conversations going on system wide). In the real world, the T may flicker a bit, but it should be fairly steady. The T indicates that the scanner is successfully decoding the control channel data. This is vital to successful trunk tracking. When the scanner does successfully detect and then tune to a conversation, the T will disappear for the duration of the voice transmission, then will reappear after the voice transmission ends.

Now the question, "Why is it not staying on?". We need to go back in manual mode and tune back to channel 3 (or whichever channel the control channel is on). Look at the % in the lower right hand corner and pay attention to the values. The % indicates the decode rate for the control channel data. The closer to 100% it is the better. If it is substantially below this consistently, then you either have a reception issue (try going for a drive to a better location) or the scanner may inherently be off-frequency.

To check if your scanner is off frequency is a simple matter. You mentioned #M003 was were you were hearing the control data. I assume the frequency is 868.4125. Reprogram that channel with 868.4250, then exit out of PRGM mode into manual mode again, and observe the %. If that wasn't the right frequency, simply add .0125 to whichever frequency happens to have the control channel data on it, and see if the decode % goes up.

To save gas, try to see if the scanner is on frequency or not first. If the method I just described makes things worse, then put the frequency back to what it was, and take a drive. If the scanner is off frequency, the only way to fix it is with software.