Yo! John:
Tuesday May 13 1997 19:48, John Hoyt wrote to Bill Cheek:
 JH> I have a RS PRO-26 and I am interested in ANY and ALL modifications
 JH> that may be available...
Oh.  Ummmm....mods aren't "available" exactly.  Well, let's put it this way, 
there are so many scanners on the active market now that no one can keep 
track of, much less hack, them all.  Mods never were really "available" 
anyway, except that some people wrote up the simpler "clip-a-diode" and 
"add-a-resistor" hacks into ASCII text files and posted them around the 
Internet and BBS circuits.
I suppose the handful of these kinds of files makes people think "mods are 
available" for all scanners.
But in a word, I don't have available any short and sweet text files for mods 
to the PRO-26.  I have developed a number of hacks for the PRO-26, but I 
wrote them up in the WORLD SCANNER REPORT and other copyrighted publications 
so I could be compensated for the extensive time and trouble required to 
develop and write up those mods.  (I have this weird hangup about paying the 
rent on time and putting three square meals a day on the table for the 
family.)
You see, only a FEW scanners (and the PRO-26 is not one) are capable of the 
super simple "clip-a-diode" and "add-a-resistor" hacks.  All scanners can be 
hacked to some extent, but most hacks require extensive verbiage, complete 
with photos, graphics, tables, and charts, and are not suited for free 
distribution in ASCII text files. The PRO-26 is one of the latter...it can be 
hacked, but the hacks require detailed writeups.
 JH> Would it be possible to enable all 800mhz freqs, or is that
 JH> impossible? I mean, does the microprocessors firmware prevent it?
Impossible.
 JH> This scanner is sold in other countries, correct?
I don't think so.  Well, Canada, but they get "our" scanners.
 JH> So, I assume there is no blockage of any of the 800mhz spectrum in
 JH> these NON-US models...
That would not be a good assumption.
 JH> Not having a service manual for it,
First mistake...........
 JH> and without yanking it apart,
Wise move without the manual....available at (800) 442-2425
 JH> I don't know anything at all about this unit, but I am going to have
 JH> assume it, like the majority of late model scanners (for the US) has
 JH> no magic diodes, jumpers, etc, and that the only way to get the
 JH> coverage I desire would be via one or two methods.
 JH> 1) Nasty hack; Grab an image off of another band, etc...
I doubt the PRO-26 has image interference.
 JH> 2) Obtain the microprocessor board from a NON-US unit.
 JH> Option number two looks to be the easiest, although expen$ive.
Good luck.  Call Javiation in the UK and see what they offer.  I'm sure the 
PRO-26 is not sold anywhere other than in the US and Canada, though.
There is a third option:  VD.  (Virtual Downconversion mod)  But it is a 
hokey, flaky hack, VD is, and I don't mess with it nor have any information 
on it. Someone else might......
 JH> What are your (or anyone elses) comments on this?  Where would I
 JH> obtain the board, I mean, would I be able to order it as a part
 JH> through Radio Shack, and if so, who might know the correct part
 JH> number, and how much do you think it may cost?  If I can't just go
 JH> down to my Radio Shack and order the board, would it be possible to
 JH> get someone else (in a NON-US location) to order the part for me?
 JH> Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!
First step, no matter what, is to get the service manual.  Then contact 
Javiation in England and inquire about the European PRO-26 and any parts for 
it that might be stocked.  They will be glad to sell to you at a monstrous 
markup, I am sure.  However, since there is no European PRO-26, you may well 
waste a transatlantic phone call.  But what the heck.  THAT is only the 
START, if you are serious.
You will not find foreign parts in the US Radio Shack system.  So you first 
have to find out where else the PRO-26 is marketed (good luck) and then 
contact someone in that country who handles Radio Shack parts.  Cost will be 
formidable, assuming you find something, and THEN....when you get it all 
bolted together (assuming it works), you'll find cellular in 12.5-kHz steps 
instead of the US standard 30-kHz.
Worth it?  I dunno......... not to me.
But I can tell you that ONLY the PRO-2035 and PRO-2042, to the best of my 
knowledge, have European equivalents where the firmware is interchangeable. 
CPU boards for those rigs run around US$170 from Javiation.
In a word, all scanners manufactured/imported after March 1994 are not 
cellular capable.....or if they are, there are compromises and costs 
involved....but the exceptions are very, very few in number.
Bill Cheek ~ bcheek@san.rr.com
Windows 95 Juggernaut Team ~ Microsoft MVP
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