Nor would I. I haven’t modified ANY of my radios as I’m afraid I’ll fry something if I try to do it myself.
Realistic Pro-2004 Purchase
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Nor would I. I haven’t modified ANY of my radios as I’m afraid I’ll fry something if I try to do it myself.
G & G Communications currently has the PRO-2004 listed on their "No Repair Scanner List" because of "circuit board design flaws": G & G Communications
NYRHKY94
Member
All good feedback guys - thanks! Given the $69 price and the excitement of owning a 1988 scanner in pristine condition (always liked the slanted design and metal case of the 2004), I'll be happy having it just sit in the shack as eye candy ;-). If I had stumbled onto the other new in box 2004 this same seller had, I would have bought that one too.
slicerwizard
Member
Adding a CE-232 would be a lame thing to do, since it's not a whole lot more than a button pusher. A proper software/hardware product would fully control the radio, allowing for unlimited scan channels, unlimited search ranges, trunk tracking, yadda, yadda. The CE-232 doesn't do that and was never upgraded thanks to Bill's inability to work with others, like the programmer who looked after the software side. Even if cancer hadn't taken Cheek out, the CE-232's limited feature set would remain frozen as trunking took over the RF landscape.
NYRHKY94
Member
Very nice Steve! Date code of July 1987 (oldie but goodie). Enjoy 
Very nice Steve! Date code of July 1987 (oldie but goodie). Enjoy
I bought mine new on closeout from Radio Shack when the 2005 came out (right around 1988-89). Forget how much I paid for it, but I figured it would be the last scanner I would ever need.
Boy was I wrong.
Still works just fine, although I periodically perform an alignment just to keep it at peak performance.
Very true, and the Optoscan boards mostly filled that need (excepting only remote programming), but when Bill created the HB/CE-232 interface it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Thinking that I would connect it to my Pro-2006 also, I built mine in a modem case and used a 25-pin cable to connect it to the scanner, so it could be moved from one to the other and used on both after running the config program. Never happened that way, but it still works just fine.
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TailGator911
Silent Key/KF4ANC
I bought my 2006 from a guy on eBay who said that everything that could be done to this radio (mods and upgrades) had been done and it was a hotrod. I didn't really care that it was a hot-rod, I figured I would never use half of the mods anyway (cellular, not interested...discriminator tap, never use it, squelch tone was ok...SSB if and when I use it, probably never...now the backlight mod is nice, brighter, and the scan speed is nice, faster...and it goes up to 1300mhz...so what....some other stuff he listed I will never use or ever verify) .Once I had checked the scanner and took it for a spin around the block and kicked the tires, I gave him an excellent feedback for fast shipping, and got what I wanted. It was a mint Pro-2006 and it worked flawlessly for what I needed it for - a good scanner dedicated to conventional frequencies with decent sensitivity. I don't care about all the bells and whistles on an older scanner that are standard issue on newer scanners today.
IMHO, this scanner has always been King Tut in the Analog Empire. I use it for a lot of different things because of its sensitivity - milair, railroads, itinerants, local business, FRS/GMRS and it gets the hits sometimes better than my other scanners on the same discone antenna on the roof. I have switched it to the directional yagi but it seems to fare better working Omni-directional with the Diamond Discone. I will never sell this one, it's definitely a keeper and a fine addition to my station.
This is silly, but the real reason the 2004 caught my eye back when it came out is because it resembled the MDTs (Mobile Data Terminal) in police cruisers with the multi-colored membrane keypad. I know I know...it's a geek thing
IMHO, this scanner has always been King Tut in the Analog Empire. I use it for a lot of different things because of its sensitivity - milair, railroads, itinerants, local business, FRS/GMRS and it gets the hits sometimes better than my other scanners on the same discone antenna on the roof. I have switched it to the directional yagi but it seems to fare better working Omni-directional with the Diamond Discone. I will never sell this one, it's definitely a keeper and a fine addition to my station.
This is silly, but the real reason the 2004 caught my eye back when it came out is because it resembled the MDTs (Mobile Data Terminal) in police cruisers with the multi-colored membrane keypad. I know I know...it's a geek thing
dkf435
Member
Been there done that mid 90s, NO MORE PRO 2004 ever
TailGator911
Silent Key/KF4ANC
I should clarify - I didn't do the mods on this, I bought it that way. My message sort of implies that I performed the mods on my first 2006 - nope. I had a couple things done to it by a guy in a CB shop next door to a Petro truck stop in Missouri. I sold back in 2008 I think. I should also clarify that I didn't buy this one just because of the mods done to it, I bought it for the rock solid reputation of the scanner itself
If I found one NIB, I wouldn't do any of the mods. I'd leave it virgin.
I still have 2 in Near Mint condition, but not like the OP's.
Here's one of mine I picked up for $14 from a goodwill store last year.
Damn! Can't beat that! Guess I should start checking out my local Goodwill store, huh?
kc2kth
Member
Great find. I remember seeing one of these new in a Radio Shack in or around Canyon City CO in 1990. The 2005 was already out so this was probably one of the last remaining leftovers in a store. Personally I had and still have my 2005 purchased right before the 2006 came out. Both speed mods done and I (poorly) changed the display many years ago when it started acting up. I had a 2006 for a while as well, but never did get a 2004. Enjoy!
N1SQB
Member
Excellent Find!
I wanted one for years, then heard about the problems with the boards and decided to go for the 2006. I passed on the 2035,42 models cuz I was so happy with my 2006. About 2 years ago, I scored a brand new in a box 2042. I can still remember opening the box and getting that new scanner smell and feel. It's still sitting there chugging away on the civil and mil air bands.
Manny
I wanted one for years, then heard about the problems with the boards and decided to go for the 2006. I passed on the 2035,42 models cuz I was so happy with my 2006. About 2 years ago, I scored a brand new in a box 2042. I can still remember opening the box and getting that new scanner smell and feel. It's still sitting there chugging away on the civil and mil air bands.
Manny
n1das
Member
I had a 2004 back in the day and did those mods. Very worthwhile. I later acquired a second 2004 and did the same mods to it.
One mod I also did to both was optimize the amount of hysteresis in the squelch circuit. GRE like Uniden designs in 6 dB of hysteresis, which I find to be WAY too much. Many scanner designs are cursed with too much hysteresis in the squelch circuit. I like no more than about 1-2 dB of hysteresis, just enough keep it more or less stable at the threshold and no more than that. In the Pro-2004, change R148 to adjust the amount of hysteresis. The original value is 47k ohms. Try R148 = 150k ohms initially (3x original value) and then adjust if needed.
I don't have my 2004s anymore but have a pristine 2005 I'm currently using to keep an ear on GMRS/FRS and MURS. I've done the diode clip mod and same squelch hysteresis mod to it many years ago. The original resistor value for squelch hysteresis is 33k ohms. Increasing this resistor to 100k ohms (3x original value) for less hysteresis works nice.
The 2005 was short lived. IIRC, a transformer part went End of Life (EOL) unexpectedly and GRE's engineers had to redesign part of the circuit to use a different part. While they were at it, they increased the scan speed and marketing added the Hyperscan name to become the 2006. I'm not sure what else changed between the 5 and the 6. Circuit boards from a 5 should be able to be swapped into a 6 and vice versa.
These were definitely some of the best scanners manufactured during the former "Free Radio Listening" era.
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dave524
Member
Darn , wouldn't you know , I keep my old 2004 in the basement on my workbench, use it infrequently. Went to input a couple of frequencies and found the 7,8 and 9 on the keyboard no longer work, all the other keys on the membrane seem OK, any ideas anyone? I mostly use it searching air band so that is OK and possibly could transfer anything that can't be entered directly by using search and monitor to program a channel.
still got my Pro 2006 and 43 handheld at my usual listening post, so it is not that bad.
still got my Pro 2006 and 43 handheld at my usual listening post, so it is not that bad.
james1095
Member
Hey that's a nice looking example, I was just playing with my Pro-2004 this morning, the volume pot got noisy so I gave it a shot of control cleaner and it's nice and quiet now.
I'd have to disagree about the lameness of the CE-232. I replicated it some years ago and built a few of them that I installed in my Pro-2004 and 2006 and they really add tremendously to the usability of the scanners. The software is antiquated but runs nicely under DOSBox on a modern PC and it is capable of some pretty advanced functionality. It's not "just a button pusher", it also reads the display so it can do logging, frequency lookup and scripting. For me it was worth it to be able to keep a spreadsheet of frequencies, tailor it on a modern PC and then auto-program the scanner. Manually entering 400 frequencies from the keypad is a real drag. The reason development stopped was not so much that Bill was unable to work with others, but the fact that he died of lung cancer at a relatively early age.
These scanners are not nearly as much fun these days as so many communications have gone digital and they lack support for trunking, but there is still a fair amount of activity on the airwaves. The Pro-2004, 2005 and 2006 are solidly built and great performers, I only wish I'd had one back in their heyday but I was just a kid then and they were far beyond what I could afford at the time.
I'd have to disagree about the lameness of the CE-232. I replicated it some years ago and built a few of them that I installed in my Pro-2004 and 2006 and they really add tremendously to the usability of the scanners. The software is antiquated but runs nicely under DOSBox on a modern PC and it is capable of some pretty advanced functionality. It's not "just a button pusher", it also reads the display so it can do logging, frequency lookup and scripting. For me it was worth it to be able to keep a spreadsheet of frequencies, tailor it on a modern PC and then auto-program the scanner. Manually entering 400 frequencies from the keypad is a real drag. The reason development stopped was not so much that Bill was unable to work with others, but the fact that he died of lung cancer at a relatively early age.
These scanners are not nearly as much fun these days as so many communications have gone digital and they lack support for trunking, but there is still a fair amount of activity on the airwaves. The Pro-2004, 2005 and 2006 are solidly built and great performers, I only wish I'd had one back in their heyday but I was just a kid then and they were far beyond what I could afford at the time.
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