PRO-197 review, likes, dislikes, comments thread

[John_M]

One thing you should know about with these "objects"...The order you program them in is the order they scan, so if you started out by putting in only a few channels for the different agencies you listen to, and then added more later...and more at other times, your scan order is all mixed up. I do not like that. There is a fix if you use something like WIN500. You can "reassign" them to put them in order, but it is not easy to bounce them around to get them straight. I did it, but what a headache! Now that I have the order down I can "insert" new objects by pushing up the top objects to make room for the new stuff. Now my scanner scans in the order of my scan lists. It also helps focus on the users in each list and scans faster as you are not bouncing around to different bands all of the time.


Sort Object ID's according to scanlist. This really shouldn't be that hard for our software
programmers to add (if you want to do it). I'll PM Gommert from Butel and make this aware to him.

 

[SOFA_KING]

John,

That might make life a little easier. Then again I'm the type of guy who likes my scan list in just the right order, so a better approach might be for the user to push the objects around until they are in the prefered order, and then have the software "reassign" (maybe a "resort" option?) all the object numbers into that same order you just moved them to. Then when you "insert" new objects where you want them, and the object number defaults to the next open memory allocation, the "resort" feature would match the order again. It would make elvolving files much faster to edit.

What do you think?

Thanks,

Phil

 

[ka3jjz]

I've assembled the beginnings of a FAQ for this and the other object oriented scanners...see this message...

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130291

The rest, as they say, is up to you. Let's not lose all these useful tips - put them where they can be retained long after this thread vanishes.

73 Mike

 

[John_M]

John,

That might make life a little easier. Then again I'm the type of guy who likes my scan list in just the right order, so a better approach might be for the user to push the objects around until they are in the prefered order, and then have the software "reassign" (maybe a "resort" option?) all the object numbers into that same order you just moved them to. Then when you "insert" new objects where you want them, and the object number defaults to the next open memory allocation, the "resort" feature would match the order again. It would make elvolving files much faster to edit.

What do you think?

Thanks,

Phil

Resort would work. Sort and resort would be basically doing the same thing.

 

[TES]

. . . so a better approach might be for the user to push the objects around until they are in the prefered order, and then have the software "reassign" (maybe a "resort" option?) all the object numbers into that same order you just moved them to. . .

I think Win500 pretty much does all you're asking for & more. On the All Objects tab it's possible to select from one to all of your objects and renumber them. You're even given the choice of starting number and step size. If selecting just some of the objects for renumbering, the objects don't have to be adjacent to each other. Additionally, it's possible to select a single object or groups of objects (again, adjacent or not) and move them up or down in the list of all objects. It's also possible to sort the objects in ascending or descending order on most of the columns.

Put all of these capabilities together with your imagination and I think you can do all you're asking for - plus.

 

[icom1020]

what is the best setting for cc capture? I use roam since I drive around alot with the 197, but is still seems like the signal is either being overridden (maybe front end) or the cc setting needs to be tweaked somewhere else? Are there any other settings I may have missed?

 

[Hoofy]

I'm not very happy with my new 197. It's been practically a daily trial and error experience to get it to decode the MPSCS trunking very well and the conv freqs reception leaves something to be desired too. The ole 96 still out performs it.

You shouldn't have to go in and change a bunch of default parameters so that it works well.

Maybe the early reviews were skewed by the electronics geeks who may prefer to play and tweak with the equipment as much or more then to listen to the traffic. I guess I'm old fashioned but I thought if you buy a quality scanner you should be able to program it with (freqs) objects turn it on and it would do its thing like my 2096 and 96 did.

I think I'm going back to my 2096.

 

[iMONITOR]

I'm not very happy with my new 197. It's been practically a daily trial and error experience to get it to decode the MPSCS trunking very well and the conv freqs reception leaves something to be desired too. The ole 96 still out performs it.

You shouldn't have to go in and change a bunch of default parameters so that it works well.

Maybe the early reviews were skewed by the electronics geeks who may prefer to play and tweak with the equipment as much or more then to listen to the traffic. I guess I'm old fashioned but I thought if you buy a quality scanner you should be able to program it with (freqs) objects turn it on and it would do its thing like my 2096 and 96 did.

I think I'm going back to my 2096.

Maybe try resetting everything back to default and start over. Are you using this in a vehicle, or at home? Are you in a multi-site, or simulcast environment? What are you using for your antenna?

I'm in lower Michigan, and both of mine worked great with no tweaking. I don't know anyone in Michigan that had to change any of the default parameters. Possibly yours is defective.

 

[Hoofy]

I'm in the U.P. on the Keweenaw peninsula northern Houghton County. The scanner sits on a shelf above my ham radio desk.
Everything dealing with emergencies is MPSCS except the fire depts are paged out on vhf and then usually go to 800. Road commissions, street dept. villages, etc. are still on vhf but I don't usually listen to them very often.

I've done the reset prior and reprograming several times and at this point it is receiving and decoding as good as it has so far. I've tried several antennas and the stock antenna is working the best so far. I started with an attic antenna that worked great on the 2096 but seems to be overpowering the front end on the 197. I've had to atten. all the conv. freqs and a couple of the trs towers which has helped some.
The priority function on a conv. freq. will take out part of the trunking traffic so I disabled that.

Don't get me wrong... This is a very good scanner but not as good a plug and play unit as the 2096.
If I hadn't been listening to the 2096 for several years and then have the 96 next to it for comparison I would probably say it worked good to great but I just expected more because of what I was reading on the reviews.
I just don't think much of it as a plug and play scanner.

I've programmed a number of 2096 for people up here and most of them have no clue as to how anything on it functions. All they want to do is listen to it. The 197 and 106 are technically way over the heads of many scanner owners and has a lot of bells and whistles that are valueless to the plug and play listeners.

It's kind of like the home computer user. They know how to turn it on, connect to the internet for whatever and email friends, oh and maybe play some solitare. Probably getting 2% or less of the capabilities out of their computer.

 

[iMONITOR]

Just as a test, have you tried it in a different room or location in your home? Sometimes metal furnace ducts, or wiring in the walls can have an adverse effect on the 800MHz band. If I move my scanners about 1 foot to the right of where they are, they don't work well at all.

 

[Hoofy]

Yup, tried that too.

I thought it was going to be a step up (in the reception portion) from what I had. I don't have a need for all the extra features.

 

[iMONITOR]

Yup, tried that too.

I thought it was going to be a step up (in the reception portion) from what I had. I don't have a need for all the extra features.

I would try and exchange it for another one before you give up.

 

[Hoofy]

I don't think it's defective.
With just the MPSCS trs scanning I can reduce the squelch threshold setting to where decoding is nearly equal to the 96. When I add the vhf conv. freqs I have to change the squelch setting and then the MPSCS suffers some.

If it was equal to the 96 I would still be unhappy because I thought it would be a better receiver.

Others think it is a lot better because it has a lot of new and different features. Just a lack of understanding on my part I guess as to what others thought made it a better scanner.

 

[Bote]

I've programmed a number of 2096 for people up here and most of them have no clue as to how anything on it functions. All they want to do is listen to it. The 197 and 106 are technically way over the heads of many scanner owners and has a lot of bells and whistles that are valueless to the plug and play listeners.

It's kind of like the home computer user. They know how to turn it on, connect to the internet for whatever and email friends, oh and maybe play some solitare. Probably getting 2% or less of the capabilities out of their computer.

Public safety users can themselves be plug-n-play users because they have a radio shop do all the hard work for them. Since you and I have no radio shop, that task falls to us. If you are not willing to figure it out I suppose your only choices are to pay someone to program it for you or sell it.

Trunked radio is more complicated than conventional radio, just like repeaters are more complicated than simplex; but trunking is more complex by a factor of 10.

Digital radio systems are more complex by a factor of 100. They are not only transmitting audio any more, think of it as the transmitter and your scanner working together as parts of a computer program exchanging data. There can be many variants so that sometimes the slightest difference or incompatibility can prevent you from hearing a particular system. This problem will only grow as more variants appear on the bands. I'm not sure how the scanner manufacturers will be able to keep up.

Bottom line: it's gonna take work to keep up with the Motorolases and everybody else.

 

[buddrousa]

Just a thought how many have heard radios that were load and radios that were not so load the radio techs do not always use a standard setting and the digital is not going to be any different so if the tecs set thr trans hot and turn down the rec how is the scanner gonna know what to do? You have to make the tweaks so it works right. Not the scanners fault.

 

[SOFA_KING]

I think Win500 pretty much does all you're asking for & more. On the All Objects tab it's possible to select from one to all of your objects and renumber them. You're even given the choice of starting number and step size. If selecting just some of the objects for renumbering, the objects don't have to be adjacent to each other. Additionally, it's possible to select a single object or groups of objects (again, adjacent or not) and move them up or down in the list of all objects. It's also possible to sort the objects in ascending or descending order on most of the columns.

Put all of these capabilities together with your imagination and I think you can do all you're asking for - plus.

That is what I have been doing, but it is not as easy as having the software just renumber everything after I insert new objects. What I do now is locate the place where I want the new object, reassign the objects above that point to 500, insert the new object(s) which assigns the next open memory address number, and then drop the objects I moved to 500 back down to the next open memory address. Then everything is in order.

That is a little work, but before I got the lists in order it was a lot more work. I was bouncing groups everywhere so I could reassign them into a logical order. Once you get it in order, it is not to hard to keep it that way. Still, it could be easier.

Phil

 

[iMONITOR]

I don't think it's defective.
With just the MPSCS trs scanning I can reduce the squelch threshold setting to where decoding is nearly equal to the 96. When I add the vhf conv. freqs I have to change the squelch setting and then the MPSCS suffers some.

If it was equal to the 96 I would still be unhappy because I thought it would be a better receiver.

Others think it is a lot better because it has a lot of new and different features. Just a lack of understanding on my part I guess as to what others thought made it a better scanner.

The squelch is completely out of play when receiving digital mode. It should have no effect. Something doesn't sound right.

 

[iMONITOR]

Hoofy, if you want to post your data file, I'd be glad to take a look at it.

 

[yooper927]

Hey Hoofy, I have been reading a lot of comments on the 197's hot front end, I wonder if TV 5 is causing you some problems up there. Plenty of guys posting about using filters to get rid of FM and TV station interference. I have used my pro-96 in Houghton and Twin Lakes and it worked beautifully, my 197 down state here is giving me grief too compared to the 96. Nice radio but not a huge improvement as far as I've noticed yet, best of luck to you..

 

[Bote]

object numbering

That is what I have been doing, but it is not as easy as having the software just renumber everything after I insert new objects. What I do now is locate the place where I want the new object, reassign the objects above that point to 500, insert the new object(s) which assigns the next open memory address number, and then drop the objects I moved to 500 back down to the next open memory address. Then everything is in order.

Phil

That will work.

Where possible I have been numbering my talkgroup objects based on the scan list I put them in, just as a mnemonic to remember where they are when I'm mobile and want to type in the object number quickly to zoom to a channel.

It can't always do it as some of my larger groups spill over into the next hundreds block, but it's a start. Since I put my "important" objects first in each list I can hit x00 and zoom right to the important stuff quickly.