RS Pro-97 vs. Pro-95

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b18c1crx

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I got a smokin' deal on a new Pro-97, with the hopes it would be a mild upgrade to my Pro-95. I have found that it doesn't work nearly as well as my Pro-95 does. I can set the two about three feet apart from one another and the 95 catches at least 50% more of the conversations. These are both programmed identically (Frequency,Delay,Closed Mode,and Talk Groups) and the Pro-95 works ten times better. I was curious if anybody else had noticed this at all, or had any problems with one that was bad out of the box.I have used the Win97 software to program the 97, and Win95 to program the 95. I don't know much on the Triple Trunking of the Pro-97, but we don't use it where I live anyways (Portland, OR). Any help or ideas would help or your opinions on maybe changing some of the settings. If I didn't get such a good deal on this thing, I would almost take it back and just keep rolling the Pro-95.
 

Dubbin

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This almost sounds like you have a bad unit or you do not have the squelch set correctly on the PRO-97.
 

rpowley

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It could be that your particular 95 is just that much better. My older 95 blows away my other scanners especially when receiving more distant signals. I have it next to and on the same antenna as my 2096 and there is a distinct difference. Even doing a side by side with my other 95 you can tell a big difference.
 

fireant

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I have to agree while my Pro 97 is sensitive my Pro 95 is more sensitive than my 97 but the Pro 97 is a better scanner.

fireant
 

amusement

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My PRO95 is very sensitive too. I think ... I hurt it's feelings when I purchased two PRO94's. The two PRO94B's were NOT sensitive UNTIL they were sent to the shop for repair and cleanup.

NOW both PRO94B's are now the same sensitivity as the PRO95.

Side by side test in 800mhz motorolla trunking and conventional frequencies using the same antennas showed ALL the scanners are equal.

Maybe ... some scanners (including PRO97) need an alignment, and their switches / controls cleaned?

I like what the PRO97 capabilities.
 

gatorhater

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I have to agree with fireant. I have found the same observations to with my 97 and 95. For some reason the 95 has better reception.
 

maalox

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Dubbin said:
But you guys are finding the PRO-95 to be 50% better? That seems odd to me.
i agree to. the pro-97 much better than 95. thats like saying the pro-43 is much better than the 330t. lol
 

Dubbin

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maalox said:
i agree to. the pro-97 much better than 95. thats like saying the pro-43 is much better than the 330t. lol

I'm not trying to say that one is better then the other. Oh and don't knock the PRO-43, its still a great receiver.
 

b18c1crx

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97 vs 95

Well. I swapped out the Pro-97 today at the shack, because all I can figure out is maybe it was dropped or it was just bad out of the factory. The 97's come in one of those new lame plastic packages which I hate instead of the cardboard box that the 95's came in, so maybe it was just junk out of the box. I dropped the same frequencies and settings into the new one and it seems to perform about the same as the 95 now, but I will have to watch it over a few hours/days and see what it does. Also I do have the original and 800mhz only antenna and I have tried them on both, and really don't notice much of a difference between the two antenna's. Now the stubby on the other hand works fine at the house but is useless in my truck!

Side note- The guy at the RS did mention he had "heard" also from other customers/employees that the Pro-95 was the best unit that RS put out and didn't seem to surprised that the 97 didn't pick up as much as the 95. I guess I just need to get a 96 and call it a day ... Also ordered the kenwood knobs today to replace the stock ones!
 

maalox

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Dubbin said:
I'm not trying to say that one is better then the other. Oh and don't knock the PRO-43, its still a great receiver.
yes it is . to bad it did not have alpha tags and ctcss.
 

blueangel-eric

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gatorhater said:
I have to agree with fireant. I have found the same observations to with my 97 and 95. For some reason the 95 has better reception.
my pro95 overloads/ desensitizes on most real antennas more than the pro97 and the pro95 is slow to open squelch and scans over weak to medium strenght signals like they're not there but if i go manuel its better or if i manuelly open squelch then it'll hear. so there's a squelch problem. i don't wnat to spend money for an alignment. is there some way i can try to tune it myself? probably not. if so please enlighten me. so anyways my pro97 does great although on UHF not so sensitive untill using a Diamond whip RH77CA i think it's called. i don't think the radios these days are consistant with their tuning/quality control.
 
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