What's wrong with a Pro-2097?

[Marcopolo456]

I'm in the market for a moderately priced digital scanner that is caqpable of picking up the Armer system in the Twin Cities and analog signals like air, rail etc.. The radio would be for my 88-year-old dad. I am a computer support tech, so I think I can get through the programming portion of it (especially with the great files uploaded in this forum!). My question is, there are alot of Pro-2097's listed in e-bay that seem to go for $250-$350 consistently. What is the big difference between that scanner and the newer pro-197? Keep in mind that my dad is 88 years old and just wants to listen to the cops and robbers and ambulances etc in the South St Paul area.

Thanks very much,
Mark

 

[wogggieee]

The pro-2097 is not digital and wont work on the ARMER system.

 

[Citywide173]

I'm not sure where to start....there's more clarification needed here. There is no such thing as a Pro-2097. There is a Pro-97, which is the portable version of the Pro-2055, neither of which are digital, and there is the Pro-2096 and Pro-96, which were the predecessors to the Pro-197 and Pro-106 respectively.

If you are referring to the Pro-2096, and you're only looking for basic monitoring of a P25 digital system, it's not a bad radio. Yes, the Pro-197 has some better decoding and audio (and more bells and whistles), but for the casual listener, it's not enough to garner concern. I am currently feeding the Providence Fire Department with a Pro-2096, and with the exception of very sporadic (3-4 every 24 hours) decoding errors, it works fine.

 

[MarcoPolo123]

You're right, Citywide. I meant to say the pro-2096. I'm going to pick one of these up for Dad next one I see.

Thanks,
Mark

(By the way, Boston is my favorite city in the world! Love New England!