Radio Shack has recently made available the PRO-197 mobile and PRO-106 handheld digital scanners. These scanners are made by GRE and more than resemble the GRE PSR-600 and PSR-500.
From what all has been said, the guts of these new Radio Shack scanners are the same as their GRE counterparts, and the features mimic those features found in the GRE PSR-500/600. Obviously, there is not much more I can say about these scanners that has not already been said about the GRE counterparts.
I own the GRE PSR-500, and so I can only compare the PRO-197 based upon the fact that it is a mobile scanner. All of my other scanners are handhelds so I am not used to using a mobile/base scanner.
The main thing I noticed is that the audio quality from the speaker is magnitudes better than the audio quality from the PSR-500 handheld speaker. This difference in audio itself makes the mobile so much more pleasant to listen to than the handheld. Although, they really should have put the speaker on top instead of on the bottom. I find that unless I use the mobile mounting bracket, mounted facing the bottom so as to lift the scanner off of the desktop and expose the speaker, the speaker audio is a bit muffled. If you purchase this scanner, the first thing you will want to do is make sure that the speaker on the bottom is unobstructed to ensure that you achieve the best audio.
Another thing I really like is the backlight. The backlight has various brightness levels (up to 16). By default it is set at 16. There is a DIM button on the front panel that allows you to switch, at the push of a button, from full brightness to reduced brightness to turning the backlight off totally. I found the display to be very easily readable with the backlight on in all conditions, even if the brightness is turned down. All buttons on the PRO-197 are backlit, and you can choose to have the backlight turned on for the display, the front panel buttons, both or none.
Access to the PC/IF port is via the front panel, as is headphone audio output. On the back you have the power supply jack and an external speaker jack.
The squelch knob and volume knob are on the same post, but they are easily differentiated and they are precise. I hate a sloppy squelch, and there are no worries here.
The multifunction button for nagivating the menu and selecting options in the menu is a pain in the ass. You can’t expect to navigate the menu unless you are either holding onto the scanner casing or have the scanner mounted firmly somewhere. Otherwise, when you press one of the buttons or use the menu navigation button you will find the scanner sliding all over the place.
The scanner case is quite solid, similar to that of the Uniden BCD996T. The scanner comes with a DIN sleeve, a mobile DC cable for powering the scanner from battery, the mobile mounting bracket, the DIN mount and associated mountingscrews.
Performance-wise, the scanner performs just the same as the GRE PSR-500/600, as one would expect since this scanner shares the same guts. This of course is great if you are in need of high sensitivity. But, if you are in a high RF environment you most certainly will find yourself battling front end overload resulting in desense and you will find a lot of imaging in various bands. I suspect this scanner is just as likely to be swamped when using it in a high RF urban environment. The ATTenuator will be a godsend in those situations. Of course, using the attenuator defeats any bonus of added sensitivity once you turn it on. Perhaps one day we’ll find ourselves with the choice of a scanner that has the sensitivity of the PRO-106/197 and PSR-500/600 and much greater selectivity and immunity to front end overload.
I am pleasantly surprised at how well this scanner sounds on the digital systems in the area. Sure, the audio quality is significantly better than that which you will hear from the speaker on the PRO-106 or PSR-500, but I also have to wonder if there is some better firmware in this beast. The digital audio from the local digital systems appears to be significantly more clear with the PRO-106 versus my PSR-500 handheld. If the PSR-500/600 and PRO-106/197 do indeed share the same guts, the only explanation for better sounding digital audio could be the firmware.
The firmware that came with the scanner is v1.6 (and the latest for the GREs is v1.6 also), and so far there hasn’t been any updated firmware. The firmware for the PSR-500/600 and the PRO-106/197 are supposedly not compatible. So, I’m not sure if use RS users can expect the same number of firmware updates as the GRE users get or not.
In summary, this scanner seems to perform exactly like my PSR-500 handheld with the exception of substantially better audio quality from the speaker as well as the perceived better digital audio quality while monitoring the local digital system (Ohio MARCS, Ohio County Public Safety).
Radio Shack had an insane multi-day sale on the PRO-197/106 starting on the 18th of December 2008 and ending on December 25th. The sale price was $299.00, and you there was a coupon code you could use to get another $20.00 off. That made the scanner $279.00 plus tax plus S/H. For many people they paid just a tad under or a tad above $300.00. $300 for a $500 scanner? You can bet that shitloads of these scanners were sold. I needed another digital scanner like I needed a hole in the head, but I couldn’t pass up the sale pricing. I figured if I didn’t like it, I could easily get all my money back. As it turns out, I won’t be selling it. I did see another person on RadioReference selling five of these for $375 (shipping included) brand new in the box. Most assuredly he bought them all at the sale price and is unloading them for a small profit. Even at the $375 price, it’s still a great bargain.