Sound Quality Issue on Pro 106

Status
Not open for further replies.

scanmypark

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
8
I must first thank those who have already helped me here by answering my questions.

I have now had my pro 106 for a few months and have had plenty of time to test test it.

It seems that both the sound quality (speaker distortion and frequency range) has much to be desired in such and expensive piece of electronics but I am very discouraged by the ability to lock onto a signal during a transmission and overall quality.

When I have my duty radio with me and the pro 106 there is an extremely noticeable difference in a variety of locations. In listing for a few hours I expect to have parts of conversions cut off with the scanner but in a 6 or 8 hour sift with a duty walkie talkie on the other side of my belt this never happens.

There are some locations where I have virtually no scanner reception but the walkie talkie works fine.
I am most interested in the 160-174 range digital transmissions.

Is there a better aftermarket antenna I can use when walking and hiking or is it that the reception quality of this unit will never match a Motorola walkie talkie?
 

iMONITOR

Silent Key
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
11,156
Location
S.E. Michigan
To begin with, your Motorola radio, and it's antenna, were designed and optimized for one frequency band only. Your PRO-106 scanner is just the opposite. It was designed for multiple frequency bands, so you could say it's a jack of all bands, master of none. If it was a master of one, it would be the 800MHz band. The stock antenna for the PRO-106 is not suited at all for 160-174MHz band.

One of these might be a better choice:

Laird 6"
BNC Connectors - *164-174 Molded/BNC

Laird 17"
BNC Connectors - *164-174 Port Ant, BNC
 

scanmypark

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
8
Great suggestion, ordered both antennas and will now have to wait until they come.

My duty radio has at least a 10 inch whip and based upon the low frequency I am listening too I assumed the stubby stock that comes with the radio won't cut it.

I have to say the speaker quality should be improved by RS in the future.
 

kb2vxa

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
6,100
Location
Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.
That's highly doubtful, no internal speaker can match Motorola quality. I'm sure you can dig one up and put the appropriate plug on it for use with your scanner.
 

GTO_04

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2004
Messages
1,935
Location
Noblesville, IN
Unless something is wrong with the audio on your Pro-106, it actually has better audio than competing scanners from GRE and Uniden.
As others have posted, it is not realistic to expect the Pro-106 to have audio as good as a much more expensive Motorola.

GTO_04
 

scanmypark

Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2009
Messages
8
A quick update.

Custom made antennas I ordered work like a champ and in some cases and now pick up even better reception than the duty radio!

Thanks everyone.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top