Pro-96 Repair Update

[Reggie1951]

It's Back

Well I got tired of waiting for Radio shack store to call me. So I gave them a call today 9/26/04 Sunday. They told me it came in Friday 9/24/04. I asked when they where going to call me and let me know. their response was our system is down. I pointed out to them that my name and telephone number is on the service invoice. They then said all of the Radio Shack stores systems are down. It's funny even thou their computers are down their phones still seem to work just fine.

Anyway I have not had a chance to check to see if the scanner works any better, but I will say this it came back with a lot of new sratches. One on the screen and many on the bottom of the scanner. Looks like they did some rough handeling of the scanner. Maybe they were a little ticked that they had so many scanners come to them for repair, and treated them in a rough maner.

I will say this RadioShack will never see my face in their stores again.
I will either do without or buy from someone else.
I still like the pro96, but radioshack sucks.

Reggie1951

 

[pro961]

It's back

Dropped of pro-96 8/1/04. I called Service center on Sat 9/25/04. They said scanner was shipped out last monday. Called my local shack and asked if it was in. "oh yea it's here." Come in and pick it up. Went into store and said I was there to pick up my scanner I dropped off two months ago. Salesman says "did we call you" I said no I callled YOU.

Good news> It's upgraded, no damage and it sounds better than ever.

 

[Voyager]

Re: It's back

Good news> It's upgraded, no damage and it sounds better than ever.

Can you put this in more concrete terms? HOW does it sound better?

Joe M.

 

[doctordave]

Any idea if new 96's in stores are possibly already upgraded variants? Or, are stores only stocked w/ the 96's that warrant a send-off to TX?

 

[Voyager]

Any idea if new 96's in stores are possibly already upgraded variants? Or, are stores only stocked w/ the 96's that warrant a send-off to TX?

Read PRO-95's last post (up about 6 posts up). While I'm sure many stores still have 1.2 units in stock, and I wouldn't be surprised that some even have some 1.1 units in stock, the majority should now be 1.3. Of course, check the date code for 06A04. As a failsafe check, hit the number 3 when it's booting up to make sure the CPU is 1.3.

Joe M.

 

[doctordave]

Yes....he did indeed answer that for me. Guess my coffee level was wearing off when I perused the board last PM Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[shackmgr6073]

For the person asking about the availability of new models, we have about 10 in stock. I no longer have 1.2s or any 1.1s. I can check with your local stores if you want me to, just give me their address, and I will save you the hassle of trying to explain what you are looking for... Ross

 

[pro961]

Joe m It just sounds very loud and clear . The digital sounds very clear, audio is very loud. Could be that being without it for 2 months it just sounds good.

Sorry I cannot discribe it any better.

 

[wupatki]

It seems that the majority of people that received the upgrade experienced this. I know I did and I do think that compared to a friends with a 1.1 cpu it DOES sound clearer somehow.

 

[mstarn]

My upgrade has a significant increase in volume. I used some red model paint on the two knobs on my PRO96 to show were the indent marks are when I first bought my scanner. That way I can set the volume and squelch when I first turn it on fairly accurate. The squelch is better and definitely the sound quality on digital signals is much better. Extremely pleased with the performance on the scanner since the upgrade. However, I sure hated the 9 week turn around time for the upgrade.

 

[pratzert]

What do you all think? Am I better off to purchase a Brand New Pro-96 With V.1.3... OR get one "Upgraded" which has been sent to the Repair Facility for an update. Which one will perform better ?
If one goes to the shop for an upgrade, I assume they take the time to double check everything AND "Tweak" it to the best possible specs.
If you buy one off the assembly line, it may not have the same extra attention given to adjusting the radio to ultimate specs.
Opinions Please.... (Especially from any RatShack Employees).
Thanks, Tim

 

[shackmgr6073]

I don t have a clooh, Ratshack dont tech my nuthin.

 

[daz1138]

Wow, I have been amazed at the length of the turn around times on the upgrade for people posting here. I took my Pro-96 to the store the beginning of September and had it back two weeks later, upgraded and ready to go.

There does not appear to be any reason anyone should be waiting 6-8 weeks for the upgrade.

 

[Voyager]

What do you all think? Am I better off to purchase a Brand New Pro-96 With V.1.3... OR get one "Upgraded" which has been sent to the Repair Facility for an update. Which one will perform better ?
If one goes to the shop for an upgrade, I assume they take the time to double check everything AND "Tweak" it to the best possible specs.
If you buy one off the assembly line, it may not have the same extra attention given to adjusting the radio to ultimate specs.
Opinions Please.... (Especially from any RatShack Employees).
Thanks, Tim

There should be no difference between an upgraded and 'born' 1.3 radio, but as you pointed out, an upgraded radio may have been gone over specifically to check the specs while a born radio may just be one of the bunch.

I also really have to wonder if the radios were gone over and checked for specs, or just checked to make sure the new chip is operating. That could also be an explaination for the seemingly clearer audio if it was checked for frequency tolerance since the crystals have all aged up to a year and any drift realized could be compensated while a new unit will drift on the shelf. I'm not sure there is much else to adjust in the radios other than the frequency reference, but that may be enough.

Now that I think of it, I may have to try that on mine that was not upgraded and see if the audio improves.

Joe M.

 

[Pro-95]

Yep, what Joe said.

The tech does perform a compliance specification test as part of the upgrade as it is part of the general scanner fix list oif things to do. Any scanner that crosses a repair techs bench will be tuned for maximum compliance to specifications. So yes, if your scanner was within tolerance but not fine tuned it will sound/act better once the tech has worked the magic.

 

[rdale]

New Jersey lost my scanner so I picked up a new one today - ended up with v1.3 after all!