Realistic Pro-2004 Purchase
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All these posts are inspiring me to clean up my 2004, that I picked up at a ham fest
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I had both of his books and did many of the mods including a modified version of his multi-thousand channel (which I felt was ridiculous, we were in disagreement with the usefulness of that). We came up with a scaled down version of that that added 400 more channels on top (literally) of the original banks by stacking another identical chip above the existing one and switching the chips back and forth using the 'CE' pin. Works like a charm, but even that was overkill. I used the 2nd chip for the analog 800 cellular channels to keep them separate from the PS etc. services.
What was this about the 'Feds'??
I tried looking for the manual for this, but couldn't find anything (that was valid).
Anyone know where I can get a copy?
Anyone know where I can get a copy?
Pro-2004: http://dream-machine.myzen.co.uk/Radio Shack - Realistic/PRO-2004 (Owner's Manual).pdf
Pro-2005: http://www.repeater-builder.com/radio-shack/pro-200x/pro-2005-om.pdf
Pro-2006: http://www.repeater-builder.com/radio-shack/pro-200x/pro-2006-om.pdf
Found it with a 5-second search on Google.
What was this about the 'Feds'??
I don't typically get snarky about many things, and I'm usually very pro-law enforcement, but this was one of the situations which got me seriously cynical about the Federal government.
Bill for a time made available on his website the plans for a variety of small devices, the parts for which were readily available at Radio Shack, one of which was a data slicer to use for things like packet radio and trunked system control channel monitoring, among other legitimate uses.
A guy in NY built one and used it to decode the unencrypted MDT channel of the local police, then posted pages and pages of the decodes on his web page. He got busted and the locals found out where he got the plans; the US Attorney then got involved, whereupon Bill was charged in Federal court with "conspiring to use interstate commerce to distribute prohibited electronic communication intercepting devices."
A variety of Federal storm troopers then raided Bill's house outside San Diego early one morning as if he were some sort of drug dealer or other violent felon, while he and Cindy were still in their bathrobes having breakfast. They were handcuffed, the house and shop searched and various confiscations made, and they were hauled off. After awhile they were permitted to post bond by a benevolent government.
Major overreach by the Feds. The data slicer is a common circuit used for all sorts of legitimate purposes by ham radio operators and scanner enthusiasts alike. One other thing the Feds never mentioned and that was never brought out at a trial is that the MDT communications in question were unencrypted ASCII. There was no prohibition then (nor is there now, as far as I know) against decoding unencrypted data transmissions. The only exceptions are specifically mentioned in the ECPA.
At the time Bill was suffering from the cancer that ultimately took him, and he died before the case went to trial. I'm convinced this situation hastened his death.
radiostationx
Member
Thanks WA8PYR for giving us the story about Bill Cheek.
Should be a sticky post, I dont have any of Bills books but I do know he pioneered many of the modifications we see and do today.
Should be a sticky post, I dont have any of Bills books but I do know he pioneered many of the modifications we see and do today.
Wow! I'm almost sorry I asked. One would think this was fallout from the Cheney-Rumsfeld 2001 WWII like Hitler tactics with their UN-patriot act.
We were corresponding back and forth US mail at the time IIRC regarding the channel mod. I think I asked about adding a 2nd memory chip and he came up with the idea if using the chip enable pin.
There was a publication (scanner related), I forgot the name where I saw his articles and/or column which got the whole thing started. I didn't find out until well after he passed away that it happened. I had no idea of any of what you posted.
A dirty rotten shame, again just like WWII Germany.
We were corresponding back and forth US mail at the time IIRC regarding the channel mod. I think I asked about adding a 2nd memory chip and he came up with the idea if using the chip enable pin.
There was a publication (scanner related), I forgot the name where I saw his articles and/or column which got the whole thing started. I didn't find out until well after he passed away that it happened. I had no idea of any of what you posted.
A dirty rotten shame, again just like WWII Germany.
Ok, to change the subject somewhat,
for those who have/had BOTH a 2004 and a 2006, based on intermod rejection (my #1 concern) and overall performance, was there any differences between the two models?? (not counting the obvious physical changes)
for those who have/had BOTH a 2004 and a 2006, based on intermod rejection (my #1 concern) and overall performance, was there any differences between the two models?? (not counting the obvious physical changes)
The main one I know of was that the 2004 came with only 300 channels.
A simple snip (or addition) of a diode made it have 400 channels.
I have copies of a post I'd made to a local BBS back in those days detailing my find. It was long before Bill Cheek posted about it but I never worried about someone else taking the credit.
Not long after 400 channels was announced, people started making keyboard overlay's to reflect the new channel numbers available in the 2004 as the OEM keyboard overlay was now incorrect!
Then the original ECPA hit removing the old AMPS cellular band.
Again, a simple diode addition or removal was all that was needed to restore the AMPS band in the 2004. I don't recall if cellular could be restored in the 2005 and 2006 or if it was actually blocked before being sold but something tells me at least one of those models may have had the cell band still unblocked and they later came out with a B revision where the cellular band was blocked.
Later in life, the FCC updated the ECPA rules causing manufacturers to seal the band switching area of the circuit boards in radio receiver's so the end user could no longer receive the cell band via images. They also made manufacturers hard code the cell band block in firmware so the average user could not restore it with a firmware hack.
This caused Icom to produce good receivers (The R or PCR versions of the R1500 and R2500 models come to mind) that were full of holes in coverage for fear the FCC would not approve them for sale in the USA if they found a frequency where a cell signal could be received from an image.
All that did was raise the cost of receivers as manufacturers now had to make a blocked and an unblocked version if they wanted to sell worldwide.
For at least the Pro-2004, the cellular band also had default tuning steps of 30 kHz which was the default channel spacing for the old AMPS band. That could not be changed by the user. Again, I forget now if the cell band could be unblocked in the 2005 and 2006 models.
Both the 2005 and 2006 models came with 400 channels from the store so the user no longer had to perform a mod with a diode to gain 400 channels.
I'm sure there were other changes as well but the amount of memory channels was the biggest one I can recall.
Edit: as far as image rejection or intermod went, they were identical between all models, the 2004, 2005 and 2006. The front end designs did not seem to change other than possibly a physical change in the RF board size, shape and component locations.
The Pro-2021 someone posted a picture of here earlier also had a mod available. That model did not cover anything above 512 MHz but there was a diode mod one could do that enabled the 800 MHz band in the radio! The only problem, the mod did not work. Many did the mod only to never hear anything. The RF board in the Pro-2021 did not have the components needed to ever receive anything above 512 MHz. You could program 800 MHz frequencies all you wanted but you were never going to hear anything.
I thought I recalled reading that RS released a B version of the 2021 that did receive 800 MHz but I don't know if that were true. I could see them coming out with another model which such a significant feature but I just can't see them adding 800 MHz into an existing model. It was probably just a rumor.
Edit 2: Actually, the picture someone posted was a 2022. not the 2021! The 2021 had more of a 2004 look I think as I think it had the sloped front unlike the 2005 and 2006 which had flat front panels.
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Wow! I'm almost sorry I asked. One would think this was fallout from the Cheney-Rumsfeld 2001 WWII like Hitler tactics with their UN-patriot act.
Actually it happened in March, 1999.
Thanks, but I was specifically looking for performance (AKA reception) differences.
My HX1000 is the only receiver I owned that has halfway decent in rejecting intermod. Not that it was as good as a professional dedicated fixed channel receiver, but the few other radios I tried (at the time), they all stunk!
Typical consumer POS's; features (gimmicks) to sell, performance wasn't a factor in the marketing department since it cost more (production) that they couldn't 'spin' that in advertising. :wink:
My HX1000 is the only receiver I owned that has halfway decent in rejecting intermod. Not that it was as good as a professional dedicated fixed channel receiver, but the few other radios I tried (at the time), they all stunk!
Typical consumer POS's; features (gimmicks) to sell, performance wasn't a factor in the marketing department since it cost more (production) that they couldn't 'spin' that in advertising. :wink:
The Patriot Act was signed Oct. 26, 2001 The one that no one read and just signed. All 300 pages of it.
Yep, I noticed that was what you were after after I'd made the post. I did edit my post to say there were no differences in that aspect between the models but you probably read it before I'd added that at the bottom.
I owned them all back in those days (still have them all hooked up and running as well!) and they were all great radios back in their day and still are in my book.
I have the Optoscan board in one of them and another mod (forget the name of it) in two of the others. I actually own three 2004's but just one of each of the two newer models. I loved the triple conversion RF section as that took care of my intermod issues very well. Living in a dense urban area full of high power stations, intermod was horrible. Had the 2004 not came out, I may have never kept radio as a hobby due to the horrible intermod! It made listening less than fun by far.
It's funny as I still have and use all my older scanners that suffered so much from intermod. Back in those days, finding a notch filter was next to impossible. At least anything cheap so most were stuck with intermod. Today I have decent filters where needed and my old models usually work fantastic.
I never had the privilege of owning an HX1000. I remember them well but never purchased one for some reason.
Oh, they read part of it - the title page; specifically the two words "Patriot Act". How can you be against something titled "Patriot Act"? Sign here, please, Congressman.
Back to cell phone blocking... I remember the discussion of blocking the 800 MHz cellular bands back about 1989, which spurred me to hurry up and buy a Uniden 800XLT just so I could monitor cell phone calls before it became illegal!
There was a trade off with the 1000, lack of features and a very poor power supply problem;
The memory backup relied on 1/2 of thr 8 AA NiCad's meaning that side of the pack would have a tendency of running down faster then the rest. Add the fact (unlike the Pro 43 for comparison), the pack was a single unit, not individual cells (which I see was changed in the later versions (1200 & 1500), but I also see performance dropped (again intermod).
I did a mod by inserting a 'button cell' in a holder I had, bypassing the battery pack. That as a year ago and it's held up fine. The 3rd wire (backup) was cut off the pack and I can remove the pack completely and run it off the drop in charger (2nd version, not the original 'quick charge').
The lack of aircraft & 800 meg seems to make a difference regarding better intermod performance.
The memory backup relied on 1/2 of thr 8 AA NiCad's meaning that side of the pack would have a tendency of running down faster then the rest. Add the fact (unlike the Pro 43 for comparison), the pack was a single unit, not individual cells (which I see was changed in the later versions (1200 & 1500), but I also see performance dropped (again intermod).
I did a mod by inserting a 'button cell' in a holder I had, bypassing the battery pack. That as a year ago and it's held up fine. The 3rd wire (backup) was cut off the pack and I can remove the pack completely and run it off the drop in charger (2nd version, not the original 'quick charge').
The lack of aircraft & 800 meg seems to make a difference regarding better intermod performance.
smason
Member
Wow, looks minty fresh! Nice find.
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