Pro 197 issue

[ToDaMax]

I have had my PRO 197 for about a month now, to replace my old Pro 163. It has been working fabulously until very recently. The first problem was that i lost any reception to NOAA weather radio, and i am unable to get it, regardless of where i am. Second thing i noticed was that some channels that i could get from far away, i had to be very close to even hear them. Third thing that happened was that some of my frequencies both trunked and non trunked started to become weak, and the only way i could hear them squelch was lowest, and only then could i hear them faintly through static.

It seems that my reception to anything has been crippled, and I am picking up only a fraction of what i should be getting. According to the databse, there has been no change to frequencies, so i know that isn't the problem. I have tried 5 antenna's which gave no result. I've downgraded and then reupgraded my firmware which has no effect. I dont know what is going on with my scanner, and the last thing i want to do is have it repaird. Does anyone have any suggestions on what the problem could be, or do i have to face reality and realize that my scanner just crashed after only a month of use. Very unusual. Very Annoying

 

[gmclam]

Do I understand you correctly? You are saying that your PRO-163 scanner's reception slowly got worse, and so you bought a PRO-197. Now the reception on your PRO-197 is about the same as the '163?

You mention checking reception with 5 antennas, but you do not mention what those antennas are. Are they all stock rubber antennas? Are they all the same model? Do you have an outside antenna?

One common problem for these scanners, especially for folk that change antennas all the time, is that the connection from the BNC antenna connector to the circuit board inside the scanner breaks. The break can be so slight that you can't see it with a naked eye, but an ohm meter will verify the break. Now that would make sense as being the problem with the '163, but does not hold up for a '197 too.

I wonder if the male BNC on one of your antennas has a larger prong than it is supposed to have. Once you use that one, it "springs" the connector on the radio you've connected it to, and then nothing makes a good connection after that.

If you can provide more information, perhaps we can figure this one out.

 

[ToDaMax]

One common problem for these scanners, especially for folk that change antennas all the time, is that the connection from the BNC antenna connector to the circuit board inside the scanner breaks. The break can be so slight that you can't see it with a naked eye, but an ohm meter will verify the break.
If you can provide more information, perhaps we can figure this one out.

Upon further inspection of my problemed PRO 197, it was discovered that the BNC antenna jack on the scanner was extremely loose and that a connection was not correctly being established. It could have happened due to an awkward position of my antentta wire (long story, not going into detail) that most likely caused the stress on the BNC port, and an ultimatly breaking. With the fact that i have to keep pluging and unpluging so I can bring it to my room to upload new data, its no supprise.

It is currently being repaired by radioshack (thank god for warrenties) and i should be getting it back in 2 weeks....thats going to be a boring 2 weeks...lol

 

[yMidnite]

How far is the scanner from the PC? You can always buy a USB extension.