PRO-96 Review

DRAFT PRO-96 review by DV

The PRO-96 was the first P25 trunktracker, and for being a first generation digital scanner, it still kicks a lot of ass.

Being manufactured by GRE and based off of the PRO-93/PRO-95, the PRO-96 returned PL functionality, which has been missing since the PRO-92. The PRO-96 introduced a DSP capable of handling P25 voice and data while also offloading all of the subaudible decoding duties onto it. Unfortunately, it did not return LTR to the mix, instead waiting until the PRO-97, and LTR did not appear on another GRE-made digital scanner until the PSR-500.

As far as a physical overview goes, it is almost the same in size and shape as the PRO-92, and retains much of the design language of it and the PRO-93/95. GRE made the decision to paint the front portion, with the exception of the corners, silver. Personally, I prefer the dark gray of the PRO-92/93/95. The button layout is also quite a dramatic departure from previous generations, but the keys are backlit, so there's that. The backlight is bright orange, a definite improvement in brightness over the older green backlights, even if the color isn't as pleasing.

GRE also brought the 500 channel storage space over from the PRO-92. It definitely starts to seem a little small, especially compared to its 1000 channel competitor, the BC250D/BC296D, but it seems to have less wasted space overall. The extra channel space would be needed to complete only one bank in my scanner, otherwise the rest is wasted space. It did bring an improvement over both the PRO-92 and its Uniden competitors in the talkgroup list, allowing up to a total of 150 ID's divided into 5 talkgroup sub-banks per bank.

Operation through the front panel is very similar to previous models. It's fairly straightforward, but the function key combinations can definitely be somewhat confusing if it's not a regular habit.

My PRO-96 is the most sensitive scanner I own. It does a phenomenal job with the PRO-92 antenna on the most common bands (VHF-Hi, UHF, 800) and picks up the 380 and 700 MHz bands without a hitch, using Win96 to unlock those frequencies. It scans at a rapid (for the time) rate of 60 channels per second, significantly faster than the 25 channels per second of the PRO-92.

I was blown away by the digital audio. GRE definitely did something right with whatever DSP they used, everything is very crisp and it's just about crystal. It brings out discrete differences not normally noticable with a professional radio. It's easy to hear differences in radio programming and between makes and models themselves. The Digital AGC circuit is like no other, it keeps most audio within a tight range and keeps me from having to fiddle with the volume knob on digital transmissions. There is a side effect of noise being more pronounced, but I think that this is a welcome tradeoff.

Trunking is a breeze with this radio once you set it up, only requiring the control channel to be entered for Motorola and P25 systems. Unfortunately, it is missing some or all of certain capabilities found in newer scanners.

Multiple sites within the same system can be scanned by placing a programmed conventional channel between control channels. The PRO-96 also introduces display of system information, a feature not really present on the PRO-92.

For Motorola systems, the PRO-96 will display

M36:xxxx yy%

on the last line with x being the system ID and y being the decode success rate.

On P25 systems, the last line will cycle through the following

96:SYiii yy%
96:Trrss yy%
96:wwwww yy%

with i being the system ID, r and s being the RFSS and site ID of the current tower, and w being the WACN, all of which are in hex. y is the decode success rate.

You do need to input the channel identifier tables manually for any Motorola or P25 system operating in any mode other than the standard 800MHz bandplan for either mode. This can be done either through the preprogrammed tables or through a custom channel identifier slot. If your system requires more than one channel identifier slot, you must enter it in software. This difficulty only applies to the initial programming of the system in the scanner and is not noticed afterwards.

The PRO-96 somewhat handles multi-block TSBK's, but some system data is lost in translation. On a multi-block system, the display will show

96:----- yy%

instead of cycling through the proper fields. The decode rate is also lower, typically achieving a rate of 74% on my site, but on other sites, depending on how many neighbors are attached to them, I see decode rates of between 66 and 84%. This value also goes down when a voice grant comes through.

In addition, it seems to occasionally miss traffic on multi-block systems. With CPU and DSP 1.4, the chance of this occurring is reduced. On single block systems, it works well.

Sometimes the scanner has too much hang time before switching back to the control channel and instead catches another voice transmission on a different talkgroup. This only happens if the site is extremely busy or just by sheer luck.

The only other real downside is the inability to trunk in the extended frequency ranges unlocked by software. For example, the scanner will not track in the 380 or 700 MHz bands due to restrictions imposed in the firmware.

EDACS systems can now be mixed with conventional frequencies, an improvement over the PRO-92 where the system had to be in a bank by itself. Unfortunately, scanning multiple sites within a bank is still not allowed. This scanner will only track standard wide EDACS systems. It will not do narrow or ESK.

When parked on the control channel, EDACS systems will show

ED: CTL-xx

with x being the LCN of the control channel. When a voice grant is received, the CTL message will be replaced with:

ED:  gggg

with g being the talkgroup ID. It does not show the LCN like it did with the PRO-92. As you move out of range of the system, it will change to

ED:  None

when it loses sync with the control channel.

Overall, I think the PRO-96 was a very welcome upgrade to the PRO-92 and PRO-93/95. It is one of my favorite scanners, not only for its audio, but also for its sensitivity and versatility. I wish it would trunk in all bands, handle multi-block P25 systems better, and include LTR. For a first generation trunktracker, however, it's excellent.