WIN500 for Pro 106 AND 163??

[topgun1986]

After a 6 month hiatus from WIN500, I figured it was time to update my Radio Shack Pro 106, so I purchased the key for $35, from Starrsoft....

#1) How long is the "key" from Starrsoft good for?
- Is it a one year subscription, so I can continually update my scanner with the WIN500 software throughout the year? First time, I just used the free 30 day trial.

#2) Will the WIN500 software also program my Radio Shack Pro 163?
- I purchased the Radio Shack 20-047 programming cable (for my Pro 106) and have read that it may work as well for my Pro 163.

3) After 20-30 minutes of having WIN500 open on my PC, I get a message stating that WIN500 has shut down. Therefore, I have to make sure I constantly save my new files every 5-10 minutes. I purchased a new PC months ago, thinking that was the problem. But the software is still shutting down with new computer. Anyone else have this problem?

Yes, I did try the search forums. Thanks.

 

[ka3jjz]

RE whether Win500 will program the PRO-163 - no it won't. What will program it is listed here...

PSR-300/400 Software and USB Support - The RadioReference Wiki

The memory management is very different between the 163 and the 106, so they're incompatible with one another..Mike

 

[Ensnared]

Windows 8?

After a 6 month hiatus from WIN500, I figured it was time to update my Radio Shack Pro 106, so I purchased the key for $35, from Starrsoft....

#1) How long is the "key" from Starrsoft good for?
- Is it a one year subscription, so I can continually update my scanner with the WIN500 software throughout the year? First time, I just used the free 30 day trial.

#2) Will the WIN500 software also program my Radio Shack Pro 163?
- I purchased the Radio Shack 20-047 programming cable (for my Pro 106) and have read that it may work as well for my Pro 163.

3) After 20-30 minutes of having WIN500 open on my PC, I get a message stating that WIN500 has shut down. Therefore, I have to make sure I constantly save my new files every 5-10 minutes. I purchased a new PC months ago, thinking that was the problem. But the software is still shutting down with new computer. Anyone else have this problem?

Yes, I did try the search forums. Thanks.

I hope you saved your long user name & key because you will need it to re-activate Win500.

I don't know if Win550 has been modified to work with Windows 8.

 

[topgun1986]

Thanks Mike.

Ensnared, not sure I follow you. Win550?
Yes, I did save my long user name.

 

[n5ims]

#1) How long is the "key" from Starrsoft good for?
- Is it a one year subscription, so I can continually update my scanner with the WIN500 software throughout the year? First time, I just used the free 30 day trial.

The key is good "forever". You can use it to unlock the software whenever you need to and on future PCs when you upgrade them.

#2) Will the WIN500 software also program my Radio Shack Pro 163?
- I purchased the Radio Shack 20-047 programming cable (for my Pro 106) and have read that it may work as well for my Pro 163.

No, you will need to get a copy of Win-97 for your Pro-163. Win-500 will not work for that model of scanner. You may want to make your Win-97 files your standard if you're interested in having both your Pro-163 and 106 programmed similarly. Win-500 will read the Win-97 files, but Win-97 will not read the Win-500 files. If you initially program with Win-97 and save the file (you should always save the file!!!) you could then open Win-500 and import the Win-97 file as a common starting point for programming your 106.

3) After 20-30 minutes of having WIN500 open on my PC, I get a message stating that WIN500 has shut down. Therefore, I have to make sure I constantly save my new files every 5-10 minutes. I purchased a new PC months ago, thinking that was the problem. But the software is still shutting down with new computer. Anyone else have this problem?

Make sure you're not running the program from the .zip file. You need to extract all of the files in the .zip file to a folder on your computer and run it from there. Running directly from the .zip file will cause all kinds of issues such as what you're experiencing.

 

[topgun1986]

Thanks, N5ims! Will try extracting files into a different folder.

 

[topgun1986]

Extracted WIN500 application, to a folder on my desktop. So far, it has not shut down. Problem now is that WIN500 does not recognize my programming cable. I have installed the VCP driver it has told me to 3 times and it still does not pick it up. I've extracted the VCP file to the same folder on desktop my WIN500 application is with no luck. I've shut down and rebooted computer with same result. I've unplugged and plugged up cable, shut off Pro 106 several times with same result. WIN500 recognized cable last night just fine with multiple uploads to the scanner. Problem seems to have started since I unzipped WIN500 application to my desktop folder. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Highpockets]

Extracted WIN500 application, to a folder on my desktop. So far, it has not shut down. Problem now is that WIN500 does not recognize my programming cable. I have installed the VCP driver it has told me to 3 times and it still does not pick it up. I've extracted the VCP file to the same folder on desktop my WIN500 application is with no luck. I've shut down and rebooted computer with same result. I've unplugged and plugged up cable, shut off Pro 106 several times with same result. WIN500 recognized cable last night just fine with multiple uploads to the scanner. Problem seems to have started since I unzipped WIN500 application to my desktop folder. Any help would be appreciated.

Try going here, over on the right under the "Comments", get the 2.08.30 setup executable file, without the cable plugged in run the file. You may be asked to reboot, then plug the cable in and see if that helps.

Virtual COM Port Drivers

 

[topgun1986]

Good news & bad news.

Good news....I fixed the problem.
Bad news....programming cable was plugged into headphone port instead of PC port.

At least I'm man enough to admit my mistake, right?
On the plus side, I did learn a lot about my computer's control panel & device manager!

 

[Highpockets]

Good news & bad news.

Good news....I fixed the problem.
Bad news....programming cable was plugged into headphone port instead of PC port.

At least I'm man enough to admit my mistake, right?
On the plus side, I did learn a lot about my computer's control panel & device manager!

The bottom line is that's it's working. Many here have done that, sometimes the solution is right in front of your face and you miss it.

 

[mrnavy2]

Glad it worked out for you. I plan on dloading WIN500 this week since I now have the Pro 197.