Requesting assistance in programming PRO-2096 for P25 Phase 1

[camrad114]

Hello, I am looking to program my scanner for Madison County, Indiana for the MESA system. I am very, VERY new to this and the instructions have thrown me for a loop. I have managed to get the banks downloaded via ARC96. I tried to follow a youtube tutorial which said I needed to go into settings and change mot 9600 to Multi tables, and input for Hi channel "4095", base "851.0125", and step: " 12.50 ". When I uploaded the programming to my scanner VIA USB/PCIF all I hear is static. any help would be appreciated.

The channels that I am wanting are:
Fire: Command ,Fire: Control, Fire: Dispatch, Fire ground 1, 2, 3, 4,
MC Disp 1, Ops 1, ops 2, ops 3, ops 4,
EMA ops 1, ops 2, ops 3, ops 4

 

[tvengr]

Try leaving Mot 3600 and Mot 9600 both set to Normal. For now, leave the Closed Mode box unchecked. The scanner will be in ID Search which means you will receive all talkgroups on the site. In Closed Mode, you will receive only the talkgroups programmed. One problem you may have is simulcast distortion. The site actually consists of multiple subsites all transmitting on the same frequency at the same time. The signals from the subsites all arrive at your scanner at slightly different times which degrades its ability to properly decode the control channel. That results in missed transmissions, garbled audio, or possibly no reception at all. Try turning on the attenuator. When dealing with simulcast sites, less signal is more. Try pointing the antenna in various directions and moving the scanner around the room. You may find a sweet spot where it works OK. Also, the PRO-2096 is very old. Both the PRO-96 and PRO-2096 suffer from frequency drift. Frequency accuracy is critical for decoding P25 systems. Crystals can change frequency as they age, normally decreasing in frequency. Inside the scanner, you may need to adjust VR3 to compensate for the frequency drift. Usually, a slight move counterclockwise will fix the problem. Make a note of the position of the pot before adjusting it.

 

[camrad114]

Try leaving Mot 3600 and Mot 9600 both set to Normal. For now, leave the Closed Mode box unchecked. The scanner will be in ID Search which means you will receive all talkgroups on the site. In Closed Mode, you will receive only the talkgroups programmed. One problem you may have is simulcast distortion. The site actually consists of multiple subsites all transmitting on the same frequency at the same time. The signals from the subsites all arrive at your scanner at slightly different times which degrades its ability to properly decode the control channel. That results in missed transmissions, garbled audio, or possibly no reception at all. Try turning on the attenuator. When dealing with simulcast sites, less signal is more. Try pointing the antenna in various directions and moving the scanner around the room. You may find a sweet spot where it works OK. Also, the PRO-2096 is very old. Both the PRO-96 and PRO-2096 suffer from frequency drift. Frequency accuracy is critical for decoding P25 systems. Crystals can change frequency as they age, normally decreasing in frequency. Inside the scanner, you may need to adjust VR3 to compensate for the frequency drift. Usually, a slight move counterclockwise will fix the problem. Make a note of the position of the pot before adjusting it.

Thank you, I will give these a try.

 

[camrad114]

Unfortunately I have not been able to get it to work, though I feel I am a couple steps closer. I am at least hearing a repeater sending the digital data where as before it was silence. I will go back through the manual and re-read the steps and see if I skipped a step by mistake. If all else fails I may get a different radio all together. Cheers though!

 

[KC0CCB]

if that doesn't work you might look into upgrading to a Pro-197 that's a newer Phase-1 scanner

 

[camrad114]

if that doesn't work you might look into upgrading to a Pro-197 that's a newer Phase-1 scanner

I will probably get this and use my 2096 for other stations. Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[tvengr]

Did you set Mot 9600 Systems Bandplan to Normal? You do not need custom trunking tables.
I have ARC96 also. Please attach your programming file so I can take a look at it. You will need to zip the file to be able to attach it. Click on Attach files and open the zipped file.

 

[wtp]

that is a lot of simulcast for the county.
and that can cause too many problems to list.
can you set up the SAFE-T system to see if you get anything on that ?

 

[camrad114]

Here is the ARC96 BIN file.

Did you set Mot 9600 Systems Bandplan to Normal? You do not need custom trunking tables.
I have ARC96 also. Please attach your programming file so I can take a look at it. You will need to zip the file to be able to attach it. Click on Attach files and open the zipped file.

 

[camrad114]

UPDATE: It works! I followed: "Did you set Mot 9600 Systems Bandplan to Normal?" and "Try leaving Mot 3600 and Mot 9600 both set to Normal. For now, leave the Closed Mode box unchecked." I can hear MC Disp 1 under MCLAW while in scan mode and locking out the banks I do not want. Is there a way to use the manual mode to select a specific channel?

 

[tvengr]

Glad to hear you got it working! I don't have a 96 or 2096. It's been a while since I had my hands on one. I have programmed several for others. One thing I noticed about your programming is that you have Law, Fire, and EMA in different banks. You will need to scan the same site three times which will result in missing the beginning of transmissions. While scanning Law, you will miss the beginning of any transmissions in the Fire or EMA banks. While scanning Fire, you will miss the beginning of any transmissions in the Law or EMA banks. While scanning EMA, you will miss the beginning of any transmissions in the Law or Fire banks. If all of the talkgroups are in a single bank, the scanner will immediately go to any transmission. Each bank is divided into 5 sub-banks of 30 talkgroups each. You can put the Law, Fire, and EMA talkgroups into the first position of the first 3 sub-banks. You can then turn the sub-banks on and off to select Law, Fire, and EMA or any combination. Here is what I found in the owner's manual:

Talkgroup ID hold

You can set your scanner to follow a trunking signal that you want to track during scanning.
1. While the scanner is stopped on a voice channel (VC appears), hold down TRUNK (or press and release PAUSE) until ID hold ON appears on the display.
2. To manually activate ID hold mode on a selected ID, enter the ID list, scroll to the desired ID, then press FUNC TRUNK. The scanner will initiate ID hold operation on the selected talkgroup.
3. When ID hold is activated and the scanner receives a voice channel, the scan indication S at the first digit in the top line changes to H to indicate that the call is being monitored while the scanner is in ID hold.
4. To release ID hold, press SCAN, PAUSE, or TRUNK.

Turning an ID sub-bank on or off

1. Press TRUNK repeatedly to select the desired sub-bank.
2. Press FUNC 1 to toggle the sub-bank on or off. The on/off state of the sub-bank will appear in the scanner’s display.

To turn the ID sub-bank on or off during the scan mode:

1. The channel storage bank must be set to Closed Mode to change the state of a sub-bank while scanning.
2. Press FUNC and then TRUNK while the scanner is stopped on a voice channel transmission. The bank text display is replaced with a sub-bank status display, T IDbk 01234. The f l ashing cursor indicates the current active sub-bank.
3. Press FUNC and the number of the sub-bank you wish to turn on or off (0-4). For example, to toggle sub-bank 4 on or off, press FUNC, then 4.

 

[camrad114]

Glad to hear you got it working! I don't have a 96 or 2096. It's been a while since I had my hands on one. I have programmed several for others. One thing I noticed about your programming is that you have Law, Fire, and EMA in different banks. You will need to scan the same site three times which will result in missing the beginning of transmissions. While scanning Law, you will miss the beginning of any transmissions in the Fire or EMA banks. While scanning Fire, you will miss the beginning of any transmissions in the Law or EMA banks. While scanning EMA, you will miss the beginning of any transmissions in the Law or Fire banks. If all of the talkgroups are in a single bank, the scanner will immediately go to any transmission. Each bank is divided into 5 sub-banks of 30 talkgroups each. You can put the Law, Fire, and EMA talkgroups into the first position of the first 3 sub-banks. You can then turn the sub-banks on and off to select Law, Fire, and EMA or any combination. Here is what I found in the owner's manual:

Talkgroup ID hold

You can set your scanner to follow a trunking signal that you want to track during scanning.
1. While the scanner is stopped on a voice channel (VC appears), hold down TRUNK (or press and release PAUSE) until ID hold ON appears on the display.
2. To manually activate ID hold mode on a selected ID, enter the ID list, scroll to the desired ID, then press FUNC TRUNK. The scanner will initiate ID hold operation on the selected talkgroup.
3. When ID hold is activated and the scanner receives a voice channel, the scan indication S at the first digit in the top line changes to H to indicate that the call is being monitored while the scanner is in ID hold.
4. To release ID hold, press SCAN, PAUSE, or TRUNK.

Turning an ID sub-bank on or off

1. Press TRUNK repeatedly to select the desired sub-bank.
2. Press FUNC 1 to toggle the sub-bank on or off. The on/off state of the sub-bank will appear in the scanner’s display.

To turn the ID sub-bank on or off during the scan mode:

1. The channel storage bank must be set to Closed Mode to change the state of a sub-bank while scanning.
2. Press FUNC and then TRUNK while the scanner is stopped on a voice channel transmission. The bank text display is replaced with a sub-bank status display, T IDbk 01234. The f l ashing cursor indicates the current active sub-bank.
3. Press FUNC and the number of the sub-bank you wish to turn on or off (0-4). For example, to toggle sub-bank 4 on or off, press FUNC, then 4.

Thank you very much for the help, and thank you to everyone who contributed. Hopefully if someone else finds themselves in a similar situation they can follow this advice and get theirs working.