RadioShack Pro 96 Scanner

[alien55]

I purchased a Radio Shack Pro-96 Scanner about a month ago, I was lucky, a employee at a Radio Shack store in Maple Grove Minnesota, cloned his scanner into mine. He said that he had everything that I sounded interested in listening to. At first only two or three police calls came on, I told the Radio Shack employee, about this, and he said he did'nt know what to do. I went on a forum, like this one, and someone asked me if I had the frequencys for the control channel, and the alternate control channels, I said no, ' I never even heard of them, he than told me about Radioreference and he told me I could get up to date information on the lastest frequencys. So I put the new frequencies in my scanner. The Minneapolis area is on this 201 site and the control frequencies are, '852.36250' I put this into my scanner and the other alternates, first the control channel when I stop on it manuelly, the top line will be,' m 202 ..D.-mo next line is, ' 852.36250, next line is, bank 2 ch o2 next line 96:TD201-bee07-sy4 of and it will change form 80-to 90-then 99% and keep changeing like that, and the static rush noise is very bad, I have to turn the volume off. Does anyone out in the forum know what this is, It comes up on the Minneapolis sites but I'am also getting it with Anoka county control frequencies also. I have called all Radio Shack dealers and they don't know whtat to do. So now all I get is garbble babbling shot noise static. and very little actual comunication. that is clear. I thiinking now that the scanner days are truly all over and I am thinking about putting my scanner for sale on ebay.
If there is anyone out there that can help me please I have my email address please let me know. Thank you babuparadise@aol.com

 

[smokeyjones666]

The "Static rush noise" that you're hearing is the raw digital signal from the control tower. When you hit 'Manual' while scanning a digital system with the Pro 96, that's all you'll hear. You have to actually be scanning to pick up the traffic from the talkgroups.

It can seem a little counter intuitive if you're used to monitoring the old simplex radio frequencies where all you had to do was plug in a frequency and listen. The frequencies are for the control tower to tell the radio who's talking (the 'Talkgroup'), and how to listen to them (the 'Frequency'.) You have to be in 'Scan' mode to actually listen to the decoded audio from the talkgroups you wish to monitor, otherwise all you hear is the digital noise.

That said, I highly doubt anything is wrong with your scanner. I'm not sure how much you know about monitoring trunked radio systems, but from what you've said in your post I think a trip to the Radioreference wiki may be in order. The Trunking Basics article may help to clear up some confusion (http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Trunking_Basics)

I don't know if you have a data cable, a copy of Win96 or a premium subscription to this web site, but if you don't I would highly recommend it. Win96 comes with a 30 day trial, and in my opinion it's the best software you can buy for programming your scanner. If you have a premium subscription to this website, Win96 will help you get all the frequencies and talkgroups you need with a minimum of fuss. (At the very least, try the Win96 trial. Programming your scanner by hand can prove to be a tedious and mind-numbing adventure.)

Good luck! If you feel you're ready to give up, always remember that there are people here who are willing to help. (Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and there'll be a scanner meeting somewhere in your future.)

 

[alien55]

Reply to Thread posted from smokeyjones666

Thank you first of all for your time in responding to my questions pertaining to the Pro-96 Scanner.
I took the scanner today to Radio Shack, and the salesman said everything that you put in your reply. He pulled out a PC to scanner interface cable, and then he called up with a special code to Radio Shack and he first checked out the scanners ' DSP ' He updated my DSP-App: from F1.2, to F 1.5, he said that my scanner is a first generation scanner, he said with this the audio will come in clearer, it will cut down on the raw digital sound, so he hooked the computor cable to mine and downloaded the program Win 96-from Radio Shack, it now has all the control frequencies, and the alternate frequiencies, and he put in the systems in the county in Minnesota I wanted to monitor, they come in ' LOUD-and ClEAR, some grable, but he told me the handhelds will have some of that, he told me to get a GRE base model and a attenaue, that looks like it came of the U S S Nimitz, he said you will get everything with that and like you were in the squad car.
When this salesperson was done with my scanner, he cloned his off of mine. With both of the scanner's on it sounded like you were in a Police Sguad Room. The calls were coming in clear and loud, and together, like stereo, people that were coming into the store, they were lookiing at me and this salesman from RadioShack like we were undercover cops. You know, when you hear the calls come in so clear, and Dispatch calling out the squards and the offiicers responding. The first call that came over loud and clear, and there were several folks in the store was ' Minneapolis Dispatch precient 2, 5 armed with guns in rear of 13th and 2nd, a pause, and then 601 responding, 380 will go to, if you had ten of these scanners for sale the salesman could of sold them with this new software he loaded into my radio, and the upgarde on the DSP. Works great! I have been scanning for 8 years analog, but because of the technology and the cost I just could'nt go out and buy one, well my birthday came up and I purchased on on Ebay, thanks again for the information, its like one member said, ' we gotta stick together, and share the information now with those that love this hobby, I like the guy that said ' Scan it Tell they Ban It. thats about it. Thank you

 

[KGE-7432]

Radio Shack Pro-96 programing problem!!

Guys, I need some help here. I have a Radio Shack Pro-96 Digital Police Scanner, I am attempting to monitor Offutt Air Force Base, it is APCO 25 ( FDMA ), control channel is: 408.9625 Mhz . You can see the Frequency List, by going through the following: Nebraska, Sarpy County, scroll to the bottom and you will see, Offutt Air Force Base. Alright, I have the Base, Offset and Step, all setup the way it is requesting on the Radio Reference page. I see the I.D's showing up on the display, but I Am Unable To Hear The Voice/Audio. I have no problem at all, hearing the 800 Mhz Apco 25 for Omaha & Council Bluffs Law Enforcements. I have programmed the entire list of frequencies and then just the control channel, still not hearing the voice/audio. The 3600/9600 CC Mode, is set to Normal. If anyone out there can help me with this, it would be very much appreciated, thank you. 73's.

 

[wogggieee]

Is it possible that they're encrypted? I know a lot of other government stuff like FBI and secret service is encrypted. I dont see why some airforce base communications would be. Also a suggestion, this is a Minnesota tread, i'd suggest posting this in the Nebraska section. They would be more knowledgeable about this.

 

[mmtstc]

ive has the same thing as the offut AFB problem happen when i listen to other fed trunked systems...

The Fed Bureau of Prisons trunked systems are a bit odd, they are Motorola Type II Smartnet systems, that run with full time P25 in the Fed UHF range, which makes it different than a system like ARMER, which is a standard Motorola P25 800 MHz system.

The Fed UHF Systems will often times change their control channel everyday and with that comes a separate base frequency, which has a purpose, i still have yet to grasp. By that, my suspicion is that your base frequency is off and it may take a bit of sleuthing to figure out. The base frequency is lower than the lowest frequency in use by the system so it maybe be in the 406.000 area...

it sucks, but its the price you pay for listening to the federal trunked systems...

 

[fmon]

guys, i need some help here. I have a radio shack pro-96 digital police scanner, i am attempting to monitor offutt air force base, it is apco 25 ( fdma ), control channel is: 408.9625 mhz . You can see the frequency list, by going through the following: Nebraska, sarpy county, scroll to the bottom and you will see, offutt air force base. Alright, i have the base, offset and step, all setup the way it is requesting on the radio reference page. I see the i.d's showing up on the display, but i am unable to hear the voice/audio. I have no problem at all, hearing the 800 mhz apco 25 for omaha & council bluffs law enforcements. I have programmed the entire list of frequencies and then just the control channel, still not hearing the voice/audio. The 3600/9600 cc mode, is set to normal. If anyone out there can help me with this, it would be very much appreciated, thank you. 73's.

After setting these using FUNC 2 406.0000 12.5 380, set FUNC 4 (9600 CC) to Table instead of Normal.