Pro-83 Questions

[DJDarknez]

Sort of a long post, my apologies:

Heya folks. Just bought a Pro-83 tonight for RS's little special clearance price. A friend of mine brought his scanner into work, so I just had to get one after we were fooling around with his.

I've been reading through some of the posts, and trying to make sense of some of the terminology. I realize this makes me seem like the quintessential n00b, but I suppose that can't be helped.

If I'm reading correctly, this scanner will not picked up trunked channels? Does that mean I'll only be able to hear one side of the conversation? And this "rebanding"...that will allow trunked scanning?

I'm trying to input channels manually, which I guess is done by pressing Hold, entering the freq, then pressing hold again (according to the book). However, when I do that, it just says "Error". Anyone else come across that?

Thanks much!

 

[n3ncn]

Sorry sir, your 69.97 scanner is not a trunking radio. Trunking scanners cost from 200 at cheapest without a sale to over 500 with Digital capability.
This is a fun hobbie but you will need to find someone local to maybe can show you what you will need and canguide you in the right direction.
You can also check the Wiki here I belive there are some beginner pages that will help you.
Mark

 

[DickH]

If I'm reading correctly, this scanner will not picked up trunked channels? Does that mean I'll only be able to hear one side of the conversation? And this "rebanding"...that will allow trunked scanning?

I'm trying to input channels manually, which I guess is done by pressing Hold, entering the freq, then pressing hold again (according to the book). However, when I do that, it just says "Error". Anyone else come across that?

Have you heard the old adage, "When all else fails, read the instructions" ?
Start on page 26 for how to enter freqs.

About trunking. No it will not follow trunked conversations, BUT you can hear them. This is how you can follow a conversation if it is not a very busy system.
1) Enter all the freqs.
2) One of them will have a harsh buzz. That is the Control Channel that carries the data to and from all the radios on the system. Lock out that freq.
NOTE: Motorola systems can use up to 4 freqs. for Control Channels. Some systems rotate those freqs. often (daily?) - some hardly ever. When it changes, you will need to lock out the active data freq., then UN-lock the one you initially locked out.
3) Make sure DELAY is not on.
4) When someone talks, then stops, the scanner will start to scan. If no one else is talking on the system, it will stop on the reply to what you just heard. If another person is talking, it may stop there, so hit SCAN quickly until you hear the right answer. It will take a littl practice, but it's do-able.

Rebanding will not affect this non-trunking scanner.

We have a Yahoo group for the PRO-83. It's free to join. In the group's FILES section there is a free program called LOAD83 that will let you load freqs. into the scanner from your PC, but you'll need a cable to connect the two. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PRO-83

Let us know what city you want to monitor. If the system is digital, you are out of luck.

Dick

 

[STiMULi]

Sorry sir, your 69.97 scanner is not a trunking radio. Trunking scanners cost from 200 at cheapest without a sale to over 500 with Digital capability.

Check out the Uniden BCT8. It is sure to go on sale soon with the new BCT15 coming out. The BCT8 is a trunking Scanner with a lot of possiblities but also with alot of faults as well.

It sells new for around $170 all over.

Depending on where you live it may be all you need.

 

[n3ncn]

You are correct STiMULi 170. 200 was just an example without having to search out the lowest price. BCT-8 was originally a little over 200. and is not a bad radio at all. The main point was to compare 69 to 200 or over.

 

[DJDarknez]

Yeah, I guess that's what I get for not doing any research before buying. It was something of an impulse buy and I just wanted to get a cheapo. I didn't know the differences between conventional and trunking.

Ah well, time to keep shopping! Thanks guys.

 

[STiMULi]

You still did good with the PRO 83. It is a good non-trunking scanner with the "Close-call" equivilent. For the money you can't beat it. I bought 2 at $66 ea and gave one to my dad. Because of it's size I carry it in many places with headphones attached just to see what is going on.

I once heard Office Max employees talking big Doo Doo about a very large woman shopper. The conversation was going on between the Security guy and the front counter people. They were all using headsets thinking that no one could hear them. I looked like I was listening to an IPOD. When I got to the front counter I approached one of the employees talking the DOO DOO and told her word for word what she said about lard ass and that if I didn't get my items for free I would tell lard ass. I was just kidding about the free thing but I was going to tell lard ass but she beat me out of the store.