I recently picked up a Pro-97 to use. It's been a few years since I have messed with any scanners so I'm a little lost on how to program one again. For the Pro-97 I am using the database and just using the basic frequencies and not the trunking system right now. However, when I enter the regular frequencies, should I also change the mode?
For example, I entered 155.74500 for one of the frequencies according to the database. The tone says 167.9 PL which is a CTCSS tone. So, should I change the mode from FM to CT for the CTCSS tone? When I do this it just says CT: Code Search. Is there a way or do I need to enter the tone manually or am I just over thinking this entirely and need to leave it at FM?
Entering the tone on a scanner should only be done if you want to restrict what you hear to only stations that transmit that particular tone. If you program no tone, you'll hear anything broadcast on that frequency, regardless of what tone (if any) is sent by that station.
Why you might want to program a tone:
1) If that particular frequency is used by several agencies in your area (and each agency uses unique tones) and you only want to hear a specific one programming a tone is one way to accomplish this.
2) If you have interference on a frequency, programming a tone may prevent you from hearing that interference. For this to work, the agency would need to transmit a tone and the interference would need to not have that tone.
Why you might not want to program a tone:
1) Scanning is generally faster if no tone is programmed. When one is programmed the scanner would need to first check for a signal on that frequency, next check to see if the programmed tone exists (and only then is the audio sent to the speaker), if not there is generally a slight wait to see if that tone appears (only after that pause will scanning resume). Although these pauses are not long, they may turn into a significant amount if they delay just enough so you miss transmissions.
2) The tone may be used by your local agency, but not one that has some very interesting traffic from a distant agency that you normally wouldn't hear but just happens to be strong at the time due to atmospheric conditions.
3) The agency may change tones at any time and when they do you could miss transmissions until you discover that they have and reprogram your scanner.
3a) The agency may use a certain tone for most of their traffic, but also use other tones for special traffic. Generally most agency radios are programmed to use the tone so that agency will only hear that traffic. To allow another "channel" that offers some privacy for a special group in that agency (PD supervisors for example), they may use a different tone for that group of officers to hold a "private" discussion. With no tone programmed, you'll hear that "private" discussion while normal officers wouldn't.
Code search will scan for the tone in use and display it on your screen. To restrict, you'll need to manually enter the desired tone (or select it from the list). See the "Programming Tone Codes" section of this link (
Easier to Read Pro-97/2055 Scanner Manual) for specifics on programming your desired tone.
