Ok, how about within 1 hour. 
Pro-651: PRO 651
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JLAB
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Sorrry. Haven't tested it extensively but used it quite a bit for NYC systems which seem to come in fine.. Seems fine for NYC systems in range. DOITT 800 and DOITT UHF. Build quality seems fine also. Made in the Phillpines.
To confirm the most important thing, is that the Easter egg that was in the pro 106/197 still works in this radio! hehe
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johnnyelectron
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What easter egg might that be?
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Problems with APCO 25 phase I in Colorado
Long story short; fire up ARC500 and locate the sites and talk groups for Colorado DTRS (APCO 25 Phase I is state wide except for a small county that's Phase II I don't care about many miles away). Something like 219 sites and MANY talk groups. I hit the default on the branch for all sites and talk groups. I upload to my Pro 651 and fire it up. Nothing. Sites and talk groups are on the scanner but it never mutters a squelch break. Meanwhile my BCD 436 HP is chattering along right beside it, so I know there is traffic. Hmmm.....next I switch to only sites and talk groups for El Paso county. Upload only those and fire it up. Nothing. Just for grins I upload some conventional frequencies in the area. They work fine. No APCO. Obviously I'm not understanding something about how sites and their associated talk groups work. But I thought the default "everything" in the branches would work and the scanner would pick and choose what it wants. Guess not. At this point I'm out of ideas and my BCD 436 is laughing it's a** off at the 651. Help!
Thanks in advance for all comments.
Long story short; fire up ARC500 and locate the sites and talk groups for Colorado DTRS (APCO 25 Phase I is state wide except for a small county that's Phase II I don't care about many miles away). Something like 219 sites and MANY talk groups. I hit the default on the branch for all sites and talk groups. I upload to my Pro 651 and fire it up. Nothing. Sites and talk groups are on the scanner but it never mutters a squelch break. Meanwhile my BCD 436 HP is chattering along right beside it, so I know there is traffic. Hmmm.....next I switch to only sites and talk groups for El Paso county. Upload only those and fire it up. Nothing. Just for grins I upload some conventional frequencies in the area. They work fine. No APCO. Obviously I'm not understanding something about how sites and their associated talk groups work. But I thought the default "everything" in the branches would work and the scanner would pick and choose what it wants. Guess not. At this point I'm out of ideas and my BCD 436 is laughing it's a** off at the 651. Help!
Thanks in advance for all comments.
Redneck0410
Member
Do you have the sites/talkgroups assigned to any scan lists? If possible, you can upload the file here via a .zip file and one of us can take a look at it and see what's going on.
Spitfire8520
I might be completely clueless! =)
For State of Colorado DTRS, you will need to program the specific sites that will carry the traffic you are seeing. The Pro-651 only allows you to program a maximum of 32 sites for a single system if you only the primary control channels (red in color). It's probably better anyways as the El Paso County talkgroups aren't carried on anything but the Zone 4 sites in Colorado. For a majority of Colorado, you only need the red frequencies as the alternate control channels are rarely used if ever. There's also enough overlap so that in the event that one does changes, another site should effectively still give you coverage.
You also need to ensure that your talkgroups are assigned to a scanlist and that the scanlist is actively scanning. Other than that, I'm not sure what the issue might be without more detail as have never used ARC500, so I don't have experience with the software. Are you seeing the signal indicator filling up and a little T popping up next to the signal indicator along with the system name in the bottom row? The icon needs to be lit up before you can follow a system and the system name showing up on the bottom indicates that it's programmed to scan.
The Object-Oriented scanners (GRE/RadioShack/Whistler) ends up performing excellently in Colorado when you can get it up and running, especially for CSP talkgroups since they're patched together more than not (as far as I'm aware, all the Uniden BCDs do not do P25 patching).
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Pro 651 problems
Yes, I got the warning about the 32 trunk frequencies; it asked me if I wanted to create multiple copies of the trunk system with duplicate talk groups. I tried both ways yes and no. When I clicked no it said to go back and reduce the number of trunk frequencies. If I do that, then it doesn't let me choose all the sites for El Paso County. It's a little frustrating, because in my opinion the software is supposed to solve these issues as to what talk groups go with what sites. And no, as the scanner scans, all I get is a string of text across the bottom line that says "State of Colorado DTRS". I also get an error message that says no frequencies have been programmed for these talk groups, yet when I click on the individual objects the frequencies are definitely there for the entire site. Is there a different software package you recommend for the pro 651? Trying to do it manually is completely out of the question and way too time-consuming. I will figure this out because It's too expensive a scanner (even the deal I got) to listen to nothing more than conventional frequencies and aircraft. But I gotta say, the 436s method of loading the entire national database onto an SD card and then entering your ZIP Code and letting the scanner figure out where you are and what you're going to listen to seems to be a much more intelligent solution then getting a degree in radio trunking.
Yes, I got the warning about the 32 trunk frequencies; it asked me if I wanted to create multiple copies of the trunk system with duplicate talk groups. I tried both ways yes and no. When I clicked no it said to go back and reduce the number of trunk frequencies. If I do that, then it doesn't let me choose all the sites for El Paso County. It's a little frustrating, because in my opinion the software is supposed to solve these issues as to what talk groups go with what sites. And no, as the scanner scans, all I get is a string of text across the bottom line that says "State of Colorado DTRS". I also get an error message that says no frequencies have been programmed for these talk groups, yet when I click on the individual objects the frequencies are definitely there for the entire site. Is there a different software package you recommend for the pro 651? Trying to do it manually is completely out of the question and way too time-consuming. I will figure this out because It's too expensive a scanner (even the deal I got) to listen to nothing more than conventional frequencies and aircraft. But I gotta say, the 436s method of loading the entire national database onto an SD card and then entering your ZIP Code and letting the scanner figure out where you are and what you're going to listen to seems to be a much more intelligent solution then getting a degree in radio trunking.
You just have to divide up the trunking sites into two TSYS's
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PRO 651 problems solved. To be brief, instead of just programming control channels for said talk groups, I was trying to enter entire site frequency sets for the talk group thinking that when the scanner locks on to the control frequency, it would then need the other frequencies allotted to the site to "see" what to hand off to as it trunks among the group. DOH!!!!! Although that sounds very reasonable to me, that's about as far from what really happens as one could get. After doing a quick two hour read-up on trunking radio systems, and how digital scanners follow trunking systems, I very quickly realized what I was doing wrong, and no wonder it the 651 didn't work; I had it as confused as I was. I cleared the scanner, then just added back the control channels (the ones in red in Radio Reference), I fired it back up and it roared to life. I hope this can be of some help to anyone struggling with getting a digital scanner to work properly. The bottom line for me is RTFM. I did, but not nearly enough to understand what I was about to undertake. I knew just enough to be dangerous---as they say. Thanks for the replys and the help.
johnnyelectron
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So the 651 is as good as the BC?
Spitfire8520
I might be completely clueless! =)
Excellent to hear! Just to put this out there, but if you ever find yourself with questions specific to Colorado, you can an always visit the Colorado Radio Discussion Forum to find some localized information or help.
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RE: Is the PRO 651 as good as the BCD436 HP?
Both scanners have great features, both are very capable units. Now that I have the 651 figured out and programmed correctly, both of them do a great job in APCO 25. A slight edge to the 436 because it will decode both phase 1 and 2, the 651 will only do APCO 25 phase 1. A lot of the preference for me comes down to purely aesthetics, and bells and whistles. For easy out-of-the-box set up and use, without a doubt the 436 is the clear winner. Add the national frequency database to the onboard SD card, give the 436 your ZIP Code, and you are up and scanning. The software for the 436 which is called Sentinel is free, and the USB programming cable comes in the box. I had to separately purchase the ARC 500 software for the 651, and had to separately purchase the programming cable plus a subscription to the radio reference database. That was an additional $100 cost to the price of the 651. I like the built-in recorder for recording your scanning sessions to the SD card on the 436, but I also like the hit counter on the 651. The 436 has a built in sleep timer. The 436 display has a lot more information about what is being scanned and doesn't seem as "busy". Both have lots of display options for the back light, the 436 also has a fire tone-out that you can program. I think the design of the 436 is much more elegant and feels better in my hand. The 651 feels heavier and a little beefier to hold. Both have excellent sensitivity and pick up everything I have programmed quite nicely with great audio tone. I'm getting nitpicky, and it's probably mostly the extra hundred bucks I had to spend on the 651 even though I got a killer deal on it. Nonetheless, I hope that gives you some insight into two great scanners that I plan to completely wear out.
Both scanners have great features, both are very capable units. Now that I have the 651 figured out and programmed correctly, both of them do a great job in APCO 25. A slight edge to the 436 because it will decode both phase 1 and 2, the 651 will only do APCO 25 phase 1. A lot of the preference for me comes down to purely aesthetics, and bells and whistles. For easy out-of-the-box set up and use, without a doubt the 436 is the clear winner. Add the national frequency database to the onboard SD card, give the 436 your ZIP Code, and you are up and scanning. The software for the 436 which is called Sentinel is free, and the USB programming cable comes in the box. I had to separately purchase the ARC 500 software for the 651, and had to separately purchase the programming cable plus a subscription to the radio reference database. That was an additional $100 cost to the price of the 651. I like the built-in recorder for recording your scanning sessions to the SD card on the 436, but I also like the hit counter on the 651. The 436 has a built in sleep timer. The 436 display has a lot more information about what is being scanned and doesn't seem as "busy". Both have lots of display options for the back light, the 436 also has a fire tone-out that you can program. I think the design of the 436 is much more elegant and feels better in my hand. The 651 feels heavier and a little beefier to hold. Both have excellent sensitivity and pick up everything I have programmed quite nicely with great audio tone. I'm getting nitpicky, and it's probably mostly the extra hundred bucks I had to spend on the 651 even though I got a killer deal on it. Nonetheless, I hope that gives you some insight into two great scanners that I plan to completely wear out.
johnnyelectron
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Thanks Chevellefan; I was debating trying the whole SDR dongle-thing (in no way portable) vs a new scanner to decode a simulcast system here. Did you get either scanner at Radio Shack? I'm wondering if they'll keep these high-ticket scanner items in the stores during clearance, or remove them and sell them online at full price?
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Re: PRO-651 versus BCD 436 HP
Johnnyelectron,
The BCD 436 I got at Amazon because I had a leftover gift card from Christmas. All said and done, I got it for half-price and free shipping. A rockstar deal. The PRO-651 I wasn't even planning on buying; I just happened to wander in to a RadioShack in my area (One of the ones that is not scheduled to be closed), and was looking at it; it was the only scanner they had in the store. I happened to mention the difference between the shelf price and what Radio Shack advertised as the online price. He said he would sell It to me at the price they had online minus 50 bucks. I couldn't pass it up. It was not a referb, and was new in the box. So even though I had to buy the programming cable, and Butel's ARC 500 to program it, I still got a smokin' deal on a great scanner. I would definitely recommend the BCD 436's on board recording versus having to rig up a recording dongle. I bought an 8 gig SD card for the 436 because the 4 gig that came in it was bad. But with 8 gigs of storage it easily fits the complete national frequency database and mega-hours of scanner traffic recording. It's a very elegant solution that works flawlessly. I recommend it.
Johnnyelectron,
The BCD 436 I got at Amazon because I had a leftover gift card from Christmas. All said and done, I got it for half-price and free shipping. A rockstar deal. The PRO-651 I wasn't even planning on buying; I just happened to wander in to a RadioShack in my area (One of the ones that is not scheduled to be closed), and was looking at it; it was the only scanner they had in the store. I happened to mention the difference between the shelf price and what Radio Shack advertised as the online price. He said he would sell It to me at the price they had online minus 50 bucks. I couldn't pass it up. It was not a referb, and was new in the box. So even though I had to buy the programming cable, and Butel's ARC 500 to program it, I still got a smokin' deal on a great scanner. I would definitely recommend the BCD 436's on board recording versus having to rig up a recording dongle. I bought an 8 gig SD card for the 436 because the 4 gig that came in it was bad. But with 8 gigs of storage it easily fits the complete national frequency database and mega-hours of scanner traffic recording. It's a very elegant solution that works flawlessly. I recommend it.
I have a new pro-651 and programed in 5 Buffalo Police N.Y. P25 Phase 1channels into the scanner and the decoding sucks. All I get is broken up audio the it makes it so hard to make out whats going on. I have a Uniden BC536HP hand audio is much better. Does anyone have any recommend changes to the scanner that will improve the decode quality. I tried the Advanced setting posted by Mark on RR. Is any one experiencing this issue.
Redneck0410
Member
Did you use software to program it? There might be a setting deep within that got inadvertently fouled up. I haven't had any experience with a P25 channel like what you have. All mine down here are P25 trunking.
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Yes i used Bu-tel ARC500Pro and copied the Channel off RR site and entered them in on keypad. how ever the local power company uses P25 Phase 1 and it sounds ok for the most part.
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