Pro-668 Wont receive trunked systems

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Theruler

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I'm sorry that i have to post this here but i have searched for 4 hours and found nothing ( or i am blind ).

I have a pro-668 scanner i got from radio shack cheap when it was going out of business. Now i have installed the software updated everything i could inside the program imported all the info from my city, double checked all the info in the trunked system. but i can not get the trunking to come in on the setup.

Location : Philadelphia, Pa
Scanner: RS pro-668


Now i did read on the site here about TDMA systems.

Scanner Support for TDMA
The following scanners can decode P25 Phase II and Motorola X2-TDMA systems. Note that if a scanner can do Phase II then it can do Phase I

Radio Shack Pro-668, Pro-18 with a paid upgrade from Whistler

Does this mean that i have to pay the $60 from whistlers website to get the Phase II TDMA systems from philadelphia working is that the reason why i can not get anything?
 

simmsrep

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I took a quick look at philadelphia and it looks like it's a simulcast system. Depending on where you live you may have simulcast distortion. I think i read somewhere here that the radio shack/ whistler scanners are not that good with simulcast. You can do a search on this topic and you may find something that can help you.
 

Wackyracer

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Recent firmware updates have improved the problem....if your on stock RS firmware that is much of the problem.
 

Theruler

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Whatever firmware i am on it is the update from the software on the computer. So might be that just looking to figure out if there is a way to get the systems working. Funny thing is its not even for me its for a friend who is a cop and just wants to listen to the bands when he is off duty
 

Wackyracer

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Whatever firmware i am on it is the update from the software on the computer. So might be that just looking to figure out if there is a way to get the systems working. Funny thing is its not even for me its for a friend who is a cop and just wants to listen to the bands when he is off duty

When you turn it on does it come up with the radio shack logo or Whistler?

If radio shack...to fix many problems he should spend the $60 to send it to Whistler to be upgraded to a ws1080 which also uses better software ezscan for the ws1080 and it will also update via ezscan as radioshack no longer supports anything so the scanner is way behind in firmware and software fixes.

See whistlers website for "legacy upgrade".
 
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I have a Pro 668 which is still on the original RS software (with the last "real RS" update). It does pick up APCO P25 systems near me and I have gotten Phase 2 which is twice as loud as phase one on this unit. It will pick up Phase 1 & Phase 2 (TDMA) on the stock RS software. I believe the Cpu/Dsp updates to it would improve things, yes. Plus they give you DMR, yes. But my PRO-668 works fairly well even with the original RS software.

Be sure you have setup your P-25 Trunking System in the RS IScan software Trunking Tab. Be sure that you have setup a "Site" in the sites field, be sure you have listed all of the Trunking Channel Frequencies in the Frequencies Box. Just setup for One site Only, the closest one to you, add all of the trunking frequencies into the fields for that site Only. Don't add any other sites for now. Also skip adding any conventional frequencies into this specific "Scan Selection" list. Be sure you have some Talkgroups listed in the talkgroups fields and at least one Wildcard channel setup. You can add a Wildcard to the talkgroups if you don't have one. Be certain to have at least one. Be sure you Enable this Set in you Scan Selection List. See if you get any audio even garbled audio. See if you get any S bars for signal levels. See if you get a flashing "T" indicator light (trunking channel locked in) on the display. If you don't see this flashing "T" you're not getting the control channel and you won't hear the talkgroups.

When I lose the flashing "T" light, I lose the signals, that's the main thing to use. If I physically move the radio it relocks on the trunking channel again. But the orignal RS software had a great deal of the "Robotic sound" and chirps heard with marginal signals. (You can mess with the ADC Gain/DSP level adjust for that.) You need to try the Pro 688 scanner in different locations, find the signal sweet spot and then it works pretty good even with the stock RS software.

I have set the unit for a ADC Gain of +2 because I believe this increases the RF gain of the preamp, which should give you more signal level if you need it. I have set the DAC Gain at 0 because this changes the audio level to match conventional channels. I have set DSP Level Adapt to 64 then 14 and 150 but I can't say it does much. (I think it varies the CPU/signal processing speed).

If the scanner pauses on something and shows an "E" box in the display, that's for encrypted and it will play a busy signal tone on the speaker. That's bad. But you should get plenty of Wildcard hits if you have the trunking setup right. If you don't see the Wildcards show up for you, then trunking it is not working right. You have to see some Wildcards TGs appear for trunking to work. I have overlooked many items in the programming fields more than once. Hope these help out.
 

Wackyracer

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Do the legacy upgrade with whistler.....you will be glad you did as it fixes many problems with the scanner.plus allows you to use ezcan for the ws1080 which jas many update over its abandoned cousin iscan.
 

Theruler

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Thanks doing a lot of other research now making sure i tell him the right things
 

trp2525

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...but i can not get the trunking to come in on the setup.

Location : Philadelphia, Pa
Scanner: RS pro-668...

You didn't mention what antenna you are using on your PRO-668. If you are using the stock antenna that came with it, a MUCH BETTER choice for 800 MHz would be the Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna (or the Remtronix brand equivalent): https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-800mhz-scanner-antenna

Also +1 on the recommendation to do the PRO-668 Legacy Upgrade from Whistler: https://whistlergroup.com/products/upgrade
 

Theruler

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I have the default antenna for testing as well as my ham radio antenna a diamond srh77ca as well as a few made from paperclips
 
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