Pro 97 Decision for new user?

[dxscannerman]

Hi all, this is sure a great site. Hope I'm in the right forum here.
I have an older Pro 62 that is working just fine on any of our regular freqs. and an older BC 200xlt also. They both work , but with all the trunking systems around here, (Everett, Wa area) I am trying to decide which new scanner I should buy for trunking. I almost picked up the pro 97 after all the reviews I have been able to find, but am reading about the rebanding issues that are about to happen, or are in the works, and am wondering if I should just wait for a while till it is complete so as to know if a particular unit will work for our system ( motorola type II smartzone I think ). We also have LTR , EDACS , and some Project 25 around Seattle also. Does anyone know when the rebanding will be behind us. In the meantime I'm trying to learn everything I can about trunking. Thanks for the help.
PS: any other recomendations for a new radio in the 200 to 250 dollar range would be great also. Thanks from a new user here.

 

[N4JNW]

You want a radio for $250, Why not save a little more and pick up a RadioShack Pro-96? Sometimes, good used ones pop up on here for $399 - $350. The 96 will survive rebanding, is digital capable, and also will trunk for you.

If you don't want a digital scanner just yet, then I'd reccomend the Pro-97 OR the RadioShack Pro-528. It is not known yet if the 97 will survive rebanding, but the 528 WILL. However, the 528 DOES NOT have PL tone capability, and does not have alpha tagging like the 97 does.

I have both scanners. I have had a 97 for about a year, and I love it. I just recieved a 528 today actually, and my initial impression is it's a very nice scanner. I can't say much more about it, because I've not played with it enough. It's charging right now, so tonight I will pit it up against the Pro-97 and see who comes out on top.

Trunking isn't difficult to understand. Don't feel left out, I still fully don't grasp the idea of it, and I've been scanning for 5 or 6 years. I'm learning slowly, and I hope to catch on one day.

If you didn't care about PL tones or Alpha tagging (labeling) your frequencies and talkgroups, then I'd say go with the Pro-528.

 

[kicktd]

The site says the Pro-528 yes is "Upgradeable to comply with proposed rebanding of 800 MHz band" but I'm sure you have to send it in to get the upgrade, just like you would have to do for the Pro-97 *IF* they decide to offer an upgrade for it. But everyone is still in the dark with it.

As far as rebanding goes, no one knows anything yet because they haven't started yet and so the scanner manufactures haven't had a chance to look and see just what the new frequency table is going to look like.

Also what are you interested in monitoring? The Pro-528 doesn't cover the Military area so if you're looking to monitor in the 300Mhz range, the Pro-528 won't cover it.

 

[dxscannerman]

Thanks for the replys, Guys

Thanks for the info, I guess I'll just hang on for a while and use what I have for now.