I have just purchased a Radio Shack PRO 97, and my only goal is to
program the local Fire Dept.
They are now an 800 trunking system. I have all of the 800
frequencies that I need, and I have a list of the 5 digit "Codes"
that I need to monitor them in the 'closed' mode, but I'm not able to
make this happen.
I'm pulling my hair out. I called the 900 number for RS and they said
"oh yeah,,, no problem, the instructions are on page 74.

Why is this so difficult? Are all scanners this hard to program?

Dave

As I re read my post, let me be a little more clear.

I have my scanner programmed, and I can listen to all of the City PD
and County Sheriff, along with snow plows and city maintance crews.

All that I want to listen to is Fire calls. (I'm a ff. and I like
knowing what is going on when it is busy).
The book tells me that I can plug the code in and only listen to what I
want to hear but I'll be darned if I can get it to do it.

"dave" wrote in message
ups.com...
As I re read my post, let me be a little more clear.

I have my scanner programmed, and I can listen to all of the City PD
and County Sheriff, along with snow plows and city maintance crews.

All that I want to listen to is Fire calls. (I'm a ff. and I like
knowing what is going on when it is busy).
The book tells me that I can plug the code in and only listen to what I
want to hear but I'll be darned if I can get it to do it.


When you are listening to these, does the "talk group" #'s come up with each
call? Do you have the control Channel / channels programmed? Are you able to
follow the conversations without the scanner stopping on the control
channel? If it follows the conversations, is not stopping on the control and
you are seeing the Talk groups, all this is assuming you are listening to a
Motorola system, then yes all you need to do is change the bank to closed
mode. The 97 I had would not work, but from the instructions it looks almost
the same as the 95. Look in the manual under Open and closed" mode. You
"may" be almost there. You also may only have loaded the frequencies they
use, but may not have the scanner set up to trunk, so it's just stopping on
the frequency it finds traffic on. It does take a little to get used to,
when our system went to the 800 it took me a while to figure out the way to
get the 95 to trunk. If someone else here that knows the 97 better than me
does not make this any easier, try the Radio Reference site. They have some
great info to help you understand how Trunking works and how to get to where
you hear only what you want.
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."
[Lazarus Long]

Your question: When you are listening to these, does the "talk group"
#'s come up with each call?
Answer: I'm pretty sure that they do. On the bottom line where it
says "ID" then it has 4 numbers. Nowhere do the fleet ID's show
up. Even when I typed in the ID's they converted to another 4 digit
number.

Your question: Are you able to follow the conversations without the
scanner stopping on the control channel?
Answer: It is difficult to follow the conversation since the
transmissions don't stay on the same channel. If they weren't
interrupted with other conversations, I'm sure that I could follow
them. The control channel only comes on when I hit "Manual".
Otherwise, it is quiet.

I have the bank on closed, but I'm picking up conversations from the
cops, and I didn't insert their ID's. This is where I'm confused.

"dave" wrote in message
ups.com...
Your question: When you are listening to these, does the "talk group"
#'s come up with each call?
Answer: I'm pretty sure that they do. On the bottom line where it
says "ID" then it has 4 numbers. Nowhere do the fleet ID's show
up. Even when I typed in the ID's they converted to another 4 digit
number.

Your question: Are you able to follow the conversations without the
scanner stopping on the control channel?
Answer: It is difficult to follow the conversation since the
transmissions don't stay on the same channel. If they weren't
interrupted with other conversations, I'm sure that I could follow
them. The control channel only comes on when I hit "Manual".
Otherwise, it is quiet.

I have the bank on closed, but I'm picking up conversations from the
cops, and I didn't insert their ID's. This is where I'm confused.

Sounds like you are on a different system than we use here. I know how to
use the Motorola Type II because that's what we use. There are no Fleet ID's
so it sounds like you are on a different system. Hopefully someone here who
knows will be of more help. In the mean time it would help if you post what
city you are trying to listen to. There may be others here who also live
there. Also did you check the Radio Reference page, and see if it has the
info for your city/ county? If it does it may be able to explain it to you.
It (RR) may at least tell you which type of trunked system you are trying to
listen to. There are a few different types of trunked systems and the
scanner has to be set up for them differently. It can be frustrating. I know
when they were switching here I had a hell of a time trying to just do it
with the manual on my old 95. Some help from the net finally gave me what I
needed, but unfortunately I only know how to use the one system. Hopefully
someone here can show you what needs done. I'm sure it's a simple fix. Try
posting to alt.radio.scanner also. I'm sure someone will know how to set it
up once they know what kind of system you are trying to scan.
--
"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites.
Moderation is for monks."
[Lazarus Long]