Pro-96 or Pro-2096?

[rescue161]

I have some extra cash and want to try out a scanner (last scanner I bought was a Pro-2006 MANY years ago).

I am leaning towards the Pro-96/Pro-2096.

Do you guys recommend either one over the other?

I know, I know, "What do you want to do with it?" Well which ever I buy is going to directly influence whether I buy the other one or not.

My plan is to buy 4 all together (2 handhelds and 2 mobiles), but only after I get back to the States. For the meantime, I plan on using/getting used to the one I buy now. I want all of the 4 to be the same.

Things that I do NOT want:

"Tinny" audio - (I'm used to Motorola - LOUD and CLEAR).
Cheap/flimsy crap that is not built to last. I want to be able to "accidentally" drop my radio and not have it go south on me.

Things I want:

Smartzone "like" monitoring. (Yeah, I know...)
LOUD and CLEAR audio.
Durability, durability and durability.

What are the limits on UHF/VHF trunking? Will it trunk any of the UHF/VHF band, or only segments?

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Scott

 

[Colin9690]

Well if you want LOUD audio, you got it with the PRO-2096. The PRO-96 has good audio too without much distortion.

The PRO-2096 is a "hefty" and durable radio. It feels just like a Maxtrac, it's tough!

And finally, both will track UHF and VHF trunking as well as Smartzone!

Hope This Helps,

 

[wa8pyr]

Things that I do NOT want:

"Tinny" audio - (I'm used to Motorola - LOUD and CLEAR).
Cheap/flimsy crap that is not built to last. I want to be able to "accidentally" drop my radio and not have it go south on me.

The Pro-96/2096 have quite good audio, but you're not going to get Motorola-quality audio from any scanner without using an external speaker (preferably amplified). The audio amp and speakers in these things are good, but not that potent.

They are reasonably rugged radios, but keep in mind they're made for the consumer market, not the daily rough-and-tumble use they would get from public safety (unless they're sitting on top of a console in the radio room). I've dropped mine a couple of times and it's fine, but I try to take care not to. I can't afford to have it destroyed by carelessness, or too many "accidents".

Things I want:

Smartzone "like" monitoring. (Yeah, I know...)
LOUD and CLEAR audio.
Durability, durability and durability.

The Pro-96/2096 will allow you to program channels for various SmartZone sites into a single bank, and scan them, so they will do the "SmartZone-like" monitoring you want, to a certain extent.

See above re: audio and durability.

What are the limits on UHF/VHF trunking? Will it trunk any of the UHF/VHF band, or only segments?

The Pro96/2096 will trunk any frequencies they can receive.

You sound like you've already made your mind up that you want commercial grade durability, and that you have the cash to buy several of these scanners at one time. If so, go buy Motorola. Remember, while the Pro-96/2096 are really great scanners, they *are* consumer-grade devices.

Motorola certainly wouldn't be as flexible for monitoring as a scanner, but they have the durability you're demanding. That's why I use my Motorola radios on the fireground, rather than a scanner.

Hope this helps.

Tom WA8PYR

 

[Colin9690]

They will trunk anything EXEPT for the 700 MHz band that can be unlocked by Win96.

 

[rescue161]

You sound like you've already made your mind up that you want commercial grade durability, and that you have the cash to buy several of these scanners at one time. If so, go buy Motorola. Remember, while the Pro-96/2096 are really great scanners, they *are* consumer-grade devices.

Motorola certainly wouldn't be as flexible for monitoring as a scanner, but they have the durability you're demanding. That's why I use my Motorola radios on the fireground, rather than a scanner.

Hope this helps.

Tom WA8PYR

I have about 50 Motorola/GE/Uniden radios now, but I want to get away from using them to track trunked systems (affiliation thing). I also need 4 two for each vehicle and two to be carried around. These will be used by other people than myself, hence the durability issue. I'm gonna go with the Pro-96 for now and then base my next purchase on it. I'll keep you guys informed. Thanks for the info!

Scott

 

[loumaag]

I'm gonna go with the Pro-96 for now and then base my next purchase on it.

Scott, since you mentioned VHF/UHF trunking let me throw two bits of informaiton at you. The Pro-96/2096 (GRE built) are much easier radios to use on VHF/UHF systems then the Uniden cometition. The GRE radios allow control channel trunking on all Motorola systems on bands that they will Trunk Track. This is more like the commercial radios you are used to. If you are going to set up VHF/UHF 3600 bps systems that have more than one BASE/OFFSET/SPACE setups you will need software to program the GRE radios. I would recommend visiting www.starrsoft.com for the software and I would recommend against using the ScanCatLite software that Radio Shack uses in it's stores to program the radio. Now for 9600 bps P-25 systems, the latest Uniden radios actually have an advantage over the GRE radios (at least on VHF/UHF P-25 systems) in that they actually decode the frequency information from the data stream directly. Since the APCO-25 systems can have up to 16 tables of frequency setups the GRE radios cannot handle more than 6 tables so that could be a problem on APCO systems using more than 6 tables (Alaska comes to mind as well as the new one in Montana.) Just thought I would add to your information pool.

 

[rescue161]

Thanks Lou,

I just ordered the Pro-96. I will be using it mostly for UHF trunking while I'm here in Spain (460-480 Type II), I hope it does that and not just 403-433.

When I get back to the States, it'll depend on where I'm stationed as to what I'll be listening to.

Hopefully, I'll be able to go back to the DC area or somewhere in SC.

 

[loumaag]

...I will be using it mostly for UHF trunking while I'm here in Spain (460-480 Type II), I hope it does that and not just 403-433.

Should handle it quite nicely, I have a commercial 450 MHz Smartzone Moto system in mine (belongs to a pretty big power company) and it works great on CC trunking.

 

[rescue161]

Rock on!

I want it to monitor 800 trunked systems when i get back - there is NO 800 here...

Getting tired of buying a crap-load of Motorola radios just to monitor different bands just a few MHz above/below what radios I have already.

I want to get rid of most of my Moto/GE/Uniden stuff as I only need limited TX ability on just a few bands...

 

[ps630]

it just depends if you prefer a base or a handheld.

 

[rescue161]

There is a LOT of MDC here and I don't think I can stand it if I have to hear the "SQUAWK" all day. My Motorola radios are set so I don't have to hear that crap. Does the Pro-96 mute MDC? Hopefully it does...

 

[Voyager]

There is a LOT of MDC here and I don't think I can stand it if I have to hear the "SQUAWK" all day. My Motorola radios are set so I don't have to hear that crap. Does the Pro-96 mute MDC? Hopefully it does...

It all depends in the CTCSS/CDCSS is transmitted during the MDC. If it is, there is no way for the scanner to mute it. If it's not, put the scanner in CTCSS/CDCSS mode.

Joe M.

 

[rescue161]

I didn't know if there was a data lock out mode to omit "19.whatever K" (or whatever MDC is) so the MDC would mute.

 

[Voyager]

I didn't know if there was a data lock out mode to omit "19.whatever K" (or whatever MDC is) so the MDC would mute.

1200, and no.

Joe M.