Subject: Pro 2006 <-> computer interface
There is a need for an interface between the Radio Shack PRO2004/5/6 series
scanners and a computer. It looks like we should have a reasonably priced
interface kit and software soon. The following file is from Bill Cheek's
Hertzian Intercept BBS in San Diego:
COMMTRONICS ENGINEERING
PO Box 262478
San Diego, California 92196-2478
Computer BBS: (619) 578-9247 (6:00pm - 1:00pm, PDT)
July 10,1992
PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT ADVISORY NOTICE
COMING SOON, the neatest and most powerful scanning tool ever created! The
HB-232 Scanner/ Computer Interface turns your PRO-2004, PRO-2005 or PRO-2006
scanner into a TOTAL SYSTEM with power that equals or exceeds anything
comparable in the most expensive World Class radios to date! So many features
and powerful possibilities are available that it is impossible to discuss them
all here, but following is a brief presentation enough to convince you that an
awesome performance package is about to make an unprecedented debut!
The HB-232 Scanner/Computer Interface connects between a PC/XT/AT/386/486
clone computer (512-k min) and the scanner. A standard serial cable connects
the HB-232 to the computer's COM port. The HB-232 can be installed inside the
scanner for a tidy package, or it can be installed in a small project box, with
a short cable and plug to mate with a receptacle mounted on the scanner. A
serial cable connects the computer to the box. This latter method permits use
of the HB-232 with more than one scanner! The scanner is not appreciably
modified in either method; rather, 20-wires are connected from the HB-232 to
various points in the scanner. Absolutely no scanner features or performance
are altered or lost! Now here is what the HB-232 can do!
* Auto-magically download up to 400 frequencies at a time into the memory
channels of your choice in the scanner, along with any desired custom settings
such as DELAY, MODE and LOCK-OUT. The time required to auto-program the
scanner with 400 custom configured channels is less than 9-minutes! (Try to
program 400 channels by hand in any time under than an hour or two, and
WHAT IF you find a mistake with your channels out of sequence back on Ch-30?)
* See and control every standard keyboard function from the computer! Your
computer monitor displays a facsimile of the scanner's keyboard and the LCD
Display area. Whatever shows in the scanner's LCD Display at any given time is
simultaneously displayed on the Monitor. Press M on the computer keyboard for
MANUAL; or press S for SCAN; or press P for PRGM. All 29 keys of the scanner's
keyboard are active on your computer's keyboard! Anything and everything that
shows in the scanner's Display also is displayed on your Monitor screen. The
scanner is operated straight from the computer keyboard exactly as it is
operated from the front panel. In fact, you can operate from either location
simultaneously at any time.
* AutoLog to a text file every event that the scanner sees! For instance, in
the AutoLog mode, every time the SQUELCH breaks (a signal comes in) the
computer writes & appends a line to a text file that contains the channel
number or SEARCH Bank; frequency; mode (NFM, AM or WFM); DELAY setting, On or
Off; SEARCH increment (if applicable); Date; Start Time; and Duration of
transmission! This file is "comma-delimited" to make it exceptionally easy
to load it into your favorite database manager for further processing &
sorting as desired!
* Anti-Birdie Function, when activated, compares the frequency that the
scanner stops on to a "birdie file", and instantly resumes SCANning or
SEARCHing, if that frequency is in the file! Thus, the scanner will never
again lock up on "birdies", if you don't want it to. Neither will it AutoLog
momentary "birdie" stops! This superb feature is not limited to just
"birdies"; you can put any number of other undesired frequencies into the
"birdie file", such as for pagers, computer data channels, continuous tones,
encrypted signals, and any other frequencies that you don't want the scanner
to stop on or to AutoLog. In fact, there are even ways to automate the
collection of undesirable signals for adding to the "birdie file". Gone are
the days of obnoxious lockups on uninteresting freqs.
* The HB-232 generates its AutoLog files in the same format that it needs for
programming. Therefore, an AutoLogged SEARCH file can be programmed back into
memory channels for a powerful SEARCH & STORE feature.
* The HB-232 comes with a powerful "scripting" or macro feature to allow you
to automate virtually any process that you would normally do by hand. The
scripting feature can be used to generate a file of what's been programmed
into the memory channels; to set a time limit for stops on various frequencies
or channels; to lockout every frequency found during a SEARCH session so that
duplicate log entries can be avoided; and the possibilities just go on and on!
* The HB-232 includes four user-definable switches that can be controlled from
the keyboard or through a script! These switches are useful for controlling
any modifications that you may have added on your own, including extended
memory blocks, automatic tape recorder switches; data/tone squelch; and you
can even wire one of these switches to control the stock SOUND SQUELCH
function, if you want. Another switch can be wired to give access to the
scanner's back-panel RESTART function! A little work in the scanner could
allow you to use one of these switches for the ATTenuator switch on the
scanner's back panel, too! The possibilities are nearly endless!
* The HB-232 comes with an easy-to-use built-in text editor to help edit your
AutoLogged and AutoProgram files and any other text file, for that matter!
Features and benefits of the HB-232 Scanner/Computer Interface are simply too
numerous to continue with here in this limited space.
Now I have to tell the rest of the story ......the bad side! Really, there
isn't a bad side, but if anything at all must be said against the HB-232,
it's that it comes ONLY as a Kit of Parts and a Program Disk. You have to
build and install the HB-232 yourself or have someone to do it for you, if
you can't. The HB-232 Kit includes a professional printed circuit board, one
Motorola microprocessor chip and special socket, six other IC's, four resistor
networks (similar to an IC), a quartz crystal, one discrete resistor, and
fifteen capacitors. NOT supplied are the required serial cable; five common
IC sockets (four 14-pin DIP and one 16-pin DIP); wires, plugs, connectors;
tools, solder, project box (if an external installation is desired), etc. The
functional part of the HB-232 Kit is complete, however. Depending on your
skills and ability, it will take 2-4 hours to assemble the board and 2-6 hours
to install it. Add to this another 1-4 hours for preparation. Assembly of
the board is straightforward and requires only basic soldering skills and the
ability to match component locations with a parts location diagram; easy
enough. Installation, whether in a project box or internal to the scanner, is
a bit more technical, though well within the capability of the electronic
hobbyist. The finished HB-232 board measures 3-1/8"L x 2-5/8"W and the
thickness of the board, counting all parts mounted thereon is about 1/2".
The PRO-2004 is the easiest scanner in which to do the installation, because
all wiring points are readily accessible and identifiable. The PRO-2005 &
PRO-2006 are easier than the PRO-2004 in twelve of the wiring points, but five
wires have to be tack-soldered on the BACK SIDE of the Logic/CPU Board that's
mounted inside the front panel of the scanner. This is a straight- forward
job, but might intimidate the scannist who has never removed that board before.
Still, the directions are methodical and clear enough and the main requirement
is only PATIENCE and the ability to locate five solder pads on the board from a
picture that's provided. Frankly, the hardest overall part of the job is the
fabrication and wiring of the PCB. So it's mostly time consuming, but if you
are patient and can handle a soldering pencil and do a little mechanical work,
then this project is not beyond your scope.
Since there is practically nothing in the scanner to modify (other than solder
wires to specific points), it is unlikely that serious harm will be done to the
scanner, even if you err. I and others who have tested the HB-232 have all made
errors of one sort or another in the development of the HB-232 and not yet has
any irrepairable harm come to either the HB-232 or the scanners!
So what now? The HB-232 is not available for sale yet, but it is in the final
stages of "Beta Testing". Pre-announcement will be available upon conclusion
of the Beta Test, starting in late July or early August. Discount prices will
also be available until the formal announcement probably in September or
October. The discounted "Charlie Test" price, will be $129.95 + $5 S&H.
I suspect there will be limited quantities of the HB-232 for a while because of
the expensive and hard to get microprocessor chip, but I will be happy to
accept advance reservations for the HB-232 on the condition that you make a
deposit of $25 and be willing to wait for delivery through at least the end of
August. A refund of your deposit will be available for the asking any time
before shipment is made. You can also reserve an HB-232 Kit without a
deposit, but it's first come, first served to those who make a deposit and
then to those who are on the no-deposit reserved list. If you are not able or
willing to build and install the HB-232 Kit, I can be available to do it for
you. The cost to build the board only (you install it) will be $50 plus the
cost of the Kit. Installation inside the scanner, including building the board
will be $150 plus the cost of the Kit. Construction and installation of the
HB-232 in an external project box and the necessary wiring of one scanner will
be $225 plus the cost of the Kit.
Additional scanners can be wired to accept an external HB-232 for a cost of $50
per extra scanner. Return shipping for all scanner installations will be
$12.00, and shipping of Kits or fabricated circuit boards only will be $5.00.
You might be interested to know that while the first HB-232 units will be
available only for the Realistic PRO-2004, PRO-2005 and PRO-2006 scanners,
there is a good chance that the developer can adapt the HB-232 to the Uniden
BC-760/950XLT, BC-590/600XLT and the Regency R-1600. For the latest on this
and other developments of the HB-232, contact us by US Mail or at our
Computer BBS, the Hertzian Intercept, between 6:00pm-1:00pm, PDT, at
(619) 578-9247.
Bill
