parnass@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (01/21/86)
x
Scanner Survey: Radio Shack
(made by General Research Electronics of Tokyo)
Bob Parnass, AJ9S
PRO2001: Early, discontinued single bank 16 channel pro-
grammable. Reasonable coverage of the 3 traditional bands,
minus aircraft band. LED digital display as well as an LED
per channel. Mechanical lockout switch for each channel.
Delay is either on or off for all channels at a time. High
synthesizer noise level. Troublesome plated through holes
on digital board in some units renders radio virtually
unfixable. Could never get mine to work more than a few
days in a row; always another bad connection. Some owners
have no trouble.
PRO52: Discontinued 8 channel VHF-Lo/Hi base unit. No UHF
band or provision for mobile operation. Good little scanner
despite limited frequency coverage and Spartan lack of
frills. Front mounted, vertical speaker always a win.
PRO2003: Radio Shack's top of line. 50 channels + 10 FM
commercial broadcast band channels. Includes aircraft.
Good frequency coverage and functionality, but at a high
price. Poor human engineering: difficult to read keyboard
makes the PRO2003 hard to operate unless in a well lit room.
Keyboard label coloring improved on newer units. Rather
slow scan rate and high price. Although there are provi-
sions for 12VDC operation, the cabinet shape and lack of
mounting bracket makes mobile operation impractical. Scan
rate only 8 channels/sec vs. 15/sec in Regency and Bearcat.
Causes RFI: Plastic case permits scanner to radiate signals
into nearby receivers.
PRO30: 16 channel programmable portable with aircraft band.
Good frequency coverage. Extra controls on top allow con-
trol of SCAN, MANUAL, and PRIORITY functions while worn on
belt. Good belt clip. Low audio output. Plastic case
prone to break at BNC antenna connector under severe use,
vs. metal frame in Regency HX1000. High price, no discounts
or sales yet. I had 6 or 7 PRO30s, having to return them
several times during the 1 year warrantee, although other
owners have had little or no trouble. Troubles included
oscillation in IF stage, no UHF band reception, case broken
around base of antenna connector, etc.
PRO24: Only 4 channels in this crystal controlled portable.
Covers the three basic bands, but no aircraft. Easy to
obtain batteries and crystals. Characteristic Radio Shack
squelch problem, fixable by changing one resistor. All-
plastic case larger than Bearcat Thin Scan and clones.
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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414