PRo 96 digital scanner.

[alpinestars_2002795]

Ok, so just ordered a pro 96 digital scanner the other day. Is it a good scanner? From the sounds of things i hear yes. Just curious your guys's take on this unit. How it operates the pro's and con's that you may or may not have noticed with this unit.



AlPiNe~

[MikeOxlong]

Yes, it's a good scanner although it's quite dated now.

The newer Uniden's offer more features.

Radio Shack (GRE) is apparently coming out with something newer rsn.

[alpinestars_2002795]

Outdated? Yikes i guess someone should inform radioshack of this as its there latest and greatest as of right now. Even on their web page.


AlPiNe~

[MikeOxlong]

I never said it was outdated, I said it was dated. Take a closer read at what I wrote.

It was originally released in 2004. Uniden released the BC396T in 2005 so among the handheld digital scanner market, it's the oldest.

However, both are frequently upgraded and the Pro96 just had a dsp update about a week ago.

GRE (Radio Shack's main scanner manufacturer) is rumoured to be developing a new scanner to replace the Pro96. If you purchased new, it might have been worth waiting to see what was coming.

and yes, it it Radio Shack's latest and greatest since it hasn't been replaced in 3 years.

[alpinestars_2002795]

Ya. I was hopeing thats what you ment. I mean what more could radio shack come out with tho? I mean what new freq's can you really listen to anyhow? I mean come on. You can't break the encripted stuff. So what is the point in upgrading anyhow? It I guess goes back to what we tell v1 users with 3.826. What is the point in upgrading what do "YOU" stand to gain? Untill there are substaintal upgrades there is no point in blowing money that could be used elsewhere.



AlPiNe~

[MikeOxlong]

Ya. I was hopeing thats what you ment. I mean what more could radio shack come out with tho? I mean what new freq's can you really listen to anyhow? I mean come on. You can't break the encripted stuff. So what is the point in upgrading anyhow?

But in the other thread, you said you could break encryption?? So which is it?

There's a lot of stuff that the newer Uniden 996T does that the Pro96 or the BC396T won't do.

The GPS enabled scanning really is the cat's ass once you get it setup.

Dynamic memory is another really nice feature the Pro96 won't do.

The 96 won't do SCAT sites. I've got a handful in my area that would be unlistenable to on a 96.

Can the 96 properly scan a Motorola Smartzone system with multiple sites? Nope, but the 996T can. This feature actually saves a lot of wasted memory space that the 96 and 396 uses.

The people on Radioreference are anxiously awaiting Radio Shack's next scanner to see if it compares with the Uniden 996.

[alpinestars_2002795]

First of all yes it can be broken i did say that. Also you need to pay attention to detail. I also said highly clasified! I am sure radio shack knows about this. But it would be highly illegal for them to implement, so do you get what im getting at? They won't ever put it in a commerially based scanner get my drift, it would be highly illegal!


AlPiNe~

[MikeOxlong]

I also said highly clasified! I am sure radio shack knows about this.

It's highly classified but Radio Shack knows about it :roll:

I'm sure their employees are all sworn to secrecy.

[GTO_04]

I own both the Pro-96 and the 396. IMHO the Pro-96 is better at decoding digital systems and it is a little bit more sensitive. Yes the Pro-96 is older, but IMHO it is a more proven digital scanner. However it will not trunk track 700 MHz systems, which are not common right now.

The 396 has its advantages. It is much smaller in size (for stealth). You can put it in a pocket and with an earphone, nobody will realize you are listening to a scanner. It is more user-friendly to operate. Everything is menu driven. If there is something big going down on a certain TG, it is much easier with the 396 to manually go to that TG and stop on it. With the Pro-96 that takes multiple steps. That is probably the most annoying thing about the Pro-96. It comes with free programming software (the Pro-96 does not). I prefer the LCD display and blue backlight on the 396.

Neither scanner has been trouble free BTW. The 396 was letting the annoying EDACS beeps through (that's a trunked non-digital system). Uniden provided a free firmware upgrade that almost totally fixed it. Just recently they had another firmware upgrade that was supposed to eliminate the motorboating (control channel noise) on digital systems. I downloaded that, the motorboating got worse and the EDACS beeps came back. So I had to revert to the previous firmware version and it's working pretty good now. There is much less motorboating now.

After a year of use my Pro-96 is hanging up on 867.9625 MHz and won't scan the SAFE-T Indianapolis tower because of that. That is not listed as a birdie frequency either. So I suspect some type of RF issue that will require sending it in for service. Because of that the 396 is my scanner for daily use and it is serving me quite well.

To summarize, each scanner has its pros and cons. Be sure and get the latest firmware upgrade for your Pro-96. It is 1.4 and was just released the other day.

For more information on digital scanning, be sure and check out www.radioreference.com . It has a wealth of scanning information!

GTO_04

[alpinestars_2002795]

Thanks gto excellent reveiw! I have considered sending my pro-96 back for a refund and getting the uniden. Hmm not sure. I have always used radioshack scanners, I understand there systems alot since ive used them over the years for a long time. Great info tho gto. Nma said u knew ur scanners he wasn't jokeing! This no scanning certain freq's has me concerned! The hole reason I spent the big bucks was i wanted to hear all i could! GR. Radioshack is begining to get on my nerves. Yes it is already 1.4 it is coming with 1.4 firmware. You know AlPiNe~ latest and greatest lol. Although if thats the case seems the bearcat is the one to have i might just send back for a refund.



AlPiNe~