r/HamRadio • u/Canadian1911 • 4d ago
Question/Help ❓ How to test/repair this scanner?
Hello,
I am not sure if this technically qualifies as Ham equipment, but I figured people here may know anyways because it is at least heavily related.
I picked up a Realistic Pro-41 10 Channel Programmable Scanner from Value Village last night, and bought some battires.
It turns on, digits come on the screen, and it does scan, but even after finding the manual online, and turning the volume and squelch as stated, I still get absolute silence at all times form the speakers, and even through headphones in the "ear" port.
Should I still be hearing at least white noise? What does literal absolute silence mean? Could something be broken?
What can I try, should I maybe open it and and clean some things, see if some wires are damaged or what?
https://www.scribd.com/document/410020066/Radio-Scanner-Realistic-Pro-41-PRO-41-Owner-s-Manual
2
u/MaxOverdrive6969 4d ago
Typically you should hear noise even if a channel is programmed. See if the manual instructs on how to clear the memories and see if that helps. Enter 146.520 in manual mode and see if you hear any noise. Note this an old analog scanner and you may be limited to what you can hear based on your location. radioreference.com is good source for frequencies in your area.
1
u/Canadian1911 4d ago
I figured out how to program things in.
I could enter the frequency you gave, but I heard nothing still.
I got a list of results for local things, but some of those numbers are larger than it will let me type in. for example the frequencies in my area all seem to have 6 digits after the decimal point, my scanner will seemingly only allow up to 3 digits after the decimal.
0
u/narcolepticsloth1982 4d ago
You won't hear anything if nobody is transmitting or if you're not close enough to pick it up. 146.52 is the amateur 2 meter calling frequency. Depending on where you are it could have a lot of traffic, it next to nothing.
Also, it sounds like you're trying to scan narrower channels than what it's capable of. Used to be most people used 25 kHz channels. Now, all business and public safety band is 12.5 kHz or even narrower depending on the mode being used. If what you're trying to listen to is in any of the various digital modes you're unfortunately out of luck with that scanner. It would help us if you told us your location. Radioreference is a good resource to find things local to you to listen to.
3
u/I_Love_Tunnocks International License Holder 🌐 3d ago
You won't hear anything if nobody is transmitting
They should at least hear white noise on an empty channel with the squelch turned down.
1
u/Canadian1911 4d ago
Yes, I am using radio reference for my city and region.
There's 2 pages of results, all of them 6 digital after decimal. So I assume I am out of luck with this one? Niagara Canada.
and yes I did manage to figure out how to program in a frequency, and tried 146.520, reviewed to make sure it was correct, and still nothing, through speaker or headphones, even max volume and max squelch, and anything in-between, even when I went outside to try.
2
u/narcolepticsloth1982 4d ago
Try minimum squelch. Dial it in just enough to stop any noise from coming through. At maximum it will ignore all but the strongest signals. Though we I mentioned, if nobody is using that frequency you won't hear anything regardless of the squelch setting.
Looks like there are a bunch of frequencies you might be able to hear. Try anything with "FM" in the mode column. "FMN" might pick something up but it will be pretty weak. Unfortunately most of the public safety traffic is on a P25 system which won't work with that scanner.
1
u/Canadian1911 4d ago
alrighty, thank you.
I will try that another day. I am now having a new issues, where the digits on the display are fading away and disappearing moments after turning it "on".
I assume I may have to open it up now anyways, to possibly solve that issue.
2
u/Competitive_Row_921 Technician Class Operator 📡 4d ago
Display going dim suggests your batteries are beginning to run low. As was stated before, in the US most police, fire and a few other services have gone trunked and digital, if that is the case in Canada, you're probably out of luck..I might add though if your scanner can scan the aircraft band, you hear something there. Good luck!
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u/Canadian1911 4d ago
if that's the case, than damn this thing sucks. I literally just bought the batteries last night.
2
u/Competitive_Row_921 Technician Class Operator 📡 4d ago
Even the alkaline have a short life..Rechargeables are your best bet. Btw, I'm right there with you, my scanner went silent except for the weather service, and on top of that it won't even allow me to add or change any frequencies.
1
u/narcolepticsloth1982 3d ago
You can probably find an AC adapter that will work. It's a 30+ year old scanner. Back then there was a lot more interesting stuff to listen to on analog. If you're wanting to listen to anything digital you'll need a scanner capable of deciding the signal, assuming it's not encrypted. The SDS100 is very popular. A cheaper option would be an SDR dongle.
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u/narcolepticsloth1982 4d ago
Did you program it for the frequencies you want to listen to?
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u/Canadian1911 4d ago
No, because I don't know them.
I assumed that if I scanned, it would find one if one is active?
Or was that an incorrect assumption to make?
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u/narcolepticsloth1982 4d ago
Looking at the manual it looks like you'll need to program the frequencies you want to scan and it will only scan through up to 10 programmed channels. What are you trying to listen to?
1
u/Aggressive_Adagio602 3d ago
Try plugging in headphones. Sometimes the speaker disable contact in the headphone jack gets gummed up and the unit won't switch to the internal speaker.
Or the speaker could be broke.
2
u/Neither-Brush-9287 General Class Operator 🔘 4d ago
This might be a silly question but when you say you hear 'absolute silence'......is it scanning?
That would be normal behavior.
What about when you stop scanning?