[Pro2006] Pro 2006 w/ Optoscan 456 4 Sale

[Bob Whiston]

At 15:12 04-10-05, you wrote:
>Hi Jay: I am very much interested in your Pro 2006 and price is not a
>problem. I already have both a 2004 and a 2006, but never had the Opto scan
>feature.  Can you summarize  for me just what it does.  And, is the display
>on yours in good shape. Mine is working, but seems to be dimming. So, not
>sure if it is trying to go out or what.  On the other hand my 2004 is like
>new. Wonder if the opto scan board would install in it too. Understand the
>opto scan boards are not longer available. Please advise. Thanks, Bill/K3YC

         Well...  To answer the last question first...  Why would you want 
to yank out an already functional `456' board from a functional `06?  *If* 
that `04 is in really great condition you probably shouldn't be messing 
with it since, as a fellow `04 owner I can attest to the variability of 
`04s and their ability to still be operating this long after they came 
out.  I've got 3 of them and only *1* is still operational after running 
24/7 since I bought them. (It was, since CO and the county I live in has 
pretty much gone `digital' and I now use a `2096, my `bedside' radio.  The 
others were replaced by `06s w/ OPTO456s as they died and finally became 
`un-revivable', and I *did* try to `revive' them. [The `06s are still being 
used for many other things even though even they have been supplanted by 
`2096s because of CO's going `digital and may actually become my 
`workhorses' again once we can finally move to a new place where they 
haven't yet gone `digital'. {GRIN!}  the `2096s are pretty good radios but 
a '06 w/ OPTO456 and some good software is still a pretty hard combination 
to beat. {CHORTLE!}])

         OK...  On to the 456...  Imagine replacing a goodly part of the 
'06 with an almost exact replica of what you've replaced but which can be 
run, and `programed', via a computer.  (You *do* still use quite a bit of 
the `06 that makes it an `06!)  Further more this replacement has the 
ability to handle decoding, if you've got the *full* OPTO456 *not* the 
OPTO456 Lite, PL tones and DTMF tones.  Now...  further imagine that you 
can have almost literally *1000s* of `channels' programmed in and can 
almost literally change them `on the fly' when needed to do so. (With, 
again, the right software operating the `456. [The `right' software depends 
upon both what *you* are interested in and how you want to satisfy those 
interests. I'll let others here tell you about what they use and why they 
use it.  Personally I use quite a few different programs depending upon 
what I am trying to do and cannot really say which one is better than 
another because of that.  Though...  I suppose that for running my `06s as 
`scanners' *I* would probably say that "Signal Intelligence's" software is 
*my* `pick since I've pretty much been using it since a started running an 
`06 w/456 and was part of the CO SCANList `listening posts' group.  Others 
will probably say that "Probe" is `the best' and still others will have 
something else.  It's a matter of `personal taste' and what you want to 
achieve with the combination. (And maybe also just what your wallet can 
afford? {WAN GRIN!}  Some of the software out there can be pretty danged 
pricey! )])  Next, imagine that you can scan at speeds that you never 
thought that an `06 could scan at before.  Moving some of the `load' over 
to the computer definitely helps.  (I also suspect that RS/GRE limited the 
scanning speed because at the time it was designed and built there really 
wasn't all that much `perceived need' for anything much faster and the 
parts that would be needed would have missed the `price point' they were 
`shooting' for. {WAN GRIN!})  An `06 is a danged good radio to begin with 
but, add an OPTO/456, and it becomes close, if not completely, to being a 
`super radio' even as old as it is is.  (Try finding something as good as 
one with an OPTO board is at the price a good condition one is selling for 
these days!  You will probably have to spend somewhere between 2 ½ to maybe 
3 or 4 times that before buying any software?  [Personally I'd probably be 
picking up several more `06s as `spares' right now except that because we 
*are* seriously working on moving and we don't need anything more to have 
worry about packing up for the move and also need to save every little bit 
we can just in case things end up co$ting a bit more than 
`planned?'.  (`Good?' old Edsal Murphy, his wife claims he's actually an 
`optimist', has a tendency to always try and `throw in his 2¢ worth'! {WAN 
GRIN!})  Hopefully after we finally make our move I'll be able to get some 
`backups' for my backups? {CHORTLE!}])


---
     Doleo ergo sum,
        Bob Whiston


         Some days it just isn't worth chewing through the straps.