Pro96Com Version 1.11.7 is released!









Pro96Com is a free software package that will decode a P25 Control channel data stream from the following scanner models:
  • Whistler WS1040
  • Whistler WS1065
  • Whistler WS1080
  • Whistler WS1088
  • Whistler WS1095
  • Whistler WS1098
  • Whistler TRX-1
  • Whistler TRX-2
  • Radio Shack Pro-96
  • Radio Shack Pro-2096
  • GRE PSR-500
  • GRE PSR-600
  • GRE PSR-500C
  • GRE PSR-600C
  • GRE PSR-800
  • Radio Shack Pro-106
  • Radio Shack Pro-197
  • Radio Shack Pro-651
  • Radio Shack Pro-652
  • Uniden BCD396XT
  • Uniden BCD996XT
  • Anritsu S412D Monitor

Latest Software Updates:


Pro96Com Version 1.11.7 Changes and additions (Released November 25,2017)

  • Added year to all date fields

  • Added missing packet processing

  • Added code to handle some instances where the issue addressed in 1.11.6 would still come through.

  • Corrected spelling errors.

  • Fixed issue where the call sign may be lost on Motorola version 7.16 systems.

  • Added better filtering of selection of channel to monitor when using a second scanner to monitor the system.

  • Added support for raw PSR-500 Family control channel dump data to be decoded in the Decode from File section.

  • Fixed issue where the patch list on the activity screen was not using alternate background colors to separate lines.


Pro96Com Version 1.11.6 Changes and additions (Released January 11,2017)

  • Resolved an issue when monitoring a Motorola P25 system with version 7.16 software where BSI(Base Station Identification) messages that indicated the control channel was being used for the ID would cause the program to lose the control channel decode.


Pro96Com Version 1.11.5 Changes and additions (Released April 23, 2016)

  • Grant log will now include the Station ID even if the voice only option has been enabled.

  • Corrected some system flavor detection issues that occured under certain cases.

  • Corrected some decode issues with some packet types.

  • Added work-around for some systems that are sending explicit voice channel grants and updates with invalid input channel numbers.

  • Changed text for the System Identification grant from CWID to Station ID.

  • Radio IDs will now be added to the radios file when an alert is sent.


Pro96Com Version 1.11.4 Changes and additions (Released April 24, 2014)

  • Fix to the data loss bug that would clear the radio, talkgroup and system data for a system under certain cases.

  • Added site flavor indication to the System Activity screen.

  • Added site flavor indication to the site information file.

  • Added system flavor indication based on the last site decoded to the system.ini file.

  • Fixed an issue where Pro96Com would not return to the quiet frequency when holding on a talkgroup.

  • Fixed error message that appeared at the end of an import from the RadioReference.com database.

  • Updated the Assumed/Confirmed column on the identifier table listing. This makes it a clearer indication of the source of the table where Assumed means there has been no identifier tables transmitted on the control channel, and confirmed means that the information was received from the control channel.

  • Fixed an issue where the position of the screen was not being restored properly when the save option is enabled.

  • Added a button to enable/disable the packet dump process to the packet dump screen.


Pro96Com Version 1.11.3 Not Publicly Released


Pro96Com Version 1.11.2 Changes and additions (Released April 15, 2013)

  • Added support for both versions of Multi-Block OpCode 0x21 (Unit registration command)


Pro96Com Version 1.11.1 Changes and additions (Released January 27, 2013)

  • Updated copyrights to include the year 2013

  • Corrected the column headings on the affiliation log save process.

  • Updated the tower information to handle RFSS and site ID values greater than 99. Note that this change will cause the tower site files to be renamed from TowerRRSS.TXT to TowerRRRSSS.TXT when saved. The program will handle the conversion of the file names.

  • Corrected an issue when calculating the input frequencies when explicit input channels are used. This is most common on VHF systems.


Pro96Com Version 1.10.7 Changes and additions (Released December 20, 2012)

  • Fixed memory leaks in the decode process when enabling and disabling the decode process.

  • Added support for some previously unknown Op codes.

  • Fixed the channel grant decode when using extended packets for the data channel grant.


Pro96Com Version 1.10.6 Changes and additions (Released October 23, 2012)

  • Corrected typo in the TDMA Sync Broadcast logging.

  • Corrected an issue with decoding data from the PSR-800 with the Phase 2 Beta firmware installed.


Pro96Com Version 1.10.5 Changes and additions (Released November 27, 2011)

  • Corrected an option on the -d command where placing only the -d command line switch will revert Pro96Com to using the program folder as the data path similar to version prior to 1.10.x.

    Example: Pro96Com -d

  • Added -c command line parameter. This parameter will allow the the selection of an alternate configuration file. By default, Pro96Com will use the Pro96Com.ini file located in the data folder. If a full path is provided, the program will use that location instead.

    Example: Pro96Com -c alt.ini

    Will use the alt.ini file from the default data folder for it's configuration settings.

    Example: Pro96Com -c c:\alt.ini

    Will use the alt.ini file located in the C:\ folder


Pro96Com Version 1.10.4 Changes and additions (Released November 23, 2011)

  • Disabled a debug option that would create the file ConfigDebug.log in the program folder. This was used to debug the scanning of COM ports in the configuration screen.

  • Added full support for storing the input frequency information on VHF systems. Previously the data would be shown correctly on the screen and in the trace logs, but not be stored correctly in the tower information files. This change will update the file version for tower information files to version 7.

  • Updated some of the ACK and Deny messages in the decode trace logs.


Pro96Com Version 1.10.3 Changes and additions (Released November 8, 2011)

  • Corrected an issue with importing from the RadioReference.com web service where imported sites would not be imported with the correct RFSS (zone) value.

  • Corrected an issue with the RadioReference.com import when selecting the option to clear and reimport all tower sites where the existing sites were not being cleared before the import.


Pro96Com Version 1.10.2 Changes and additions (Released October 28, 2011)

  • Fixed issue with decoding the -d command line option.


Pro96Com Version 1.10.1 Changes and additions (Released October 27, 2011)

  • Please note! The default location for your data files has changed in this version!

    By default, Pro96Com will now store it's system data files in the "My Documents\Pro96Com" folder. This is due to Windows UAC (User Account Control) issues on Windows Vista and Windows 7.

    You will need to move all of your SystemXXX folders from the program files directory to the folder mentioned above to keep using the old files.

    Note that this can be overridden using the -d command line parameter as follows: Pro96Com -d "C:\Program Files\Pro96Com"

    In this case, Pro96Com will look for the files in the C:\Program Files\Pro96Com folder instead of the My Documents folder.

    This option also determines where Pro96Com looks for the Pro96Com.ini file.

  • Added decode support for the PSR-800 scanner.

    Note: To effectively decode a system on the PSR-800, you must enter the system with a talkgroup that will not become active, and have a single site.

  • Upgraded RadioReference.com web service to version 9.

  • Various other minor bug fixes and adjustments.

  • Fixed affiliation bug where affiliations would show as denied when the affiliation type was set to global.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.7 Changes and additions (Released January 25, 2011)

  • Added support for explicit unit to unit voice grant messages.

  • Added support for explicit unit to unit voice grant update messages.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.6 Changes and additions (Released September 27, 2010)

  • Fixed a TX offset calculation for UHF/VHF systems.

  • Updated the BCD396XT scanner profile with feedback from a user.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.5 Changes and additions (Released August 29, 2010)

  • Added support for the Harris P25 Patch messages.

  • Fixed issue where if a TDMA X2 identifier table was received before a standard identifier table, the standard table would be set with a slot value of 2, which is incorrect.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.4 Changes and additions (Released June 25, 2010)

  • Added support for Anritsu data file decoding. Currently only a single file format is supported.

  • Added support for Motorola OpCode 0x0A. I'm not positive what these opcodes are used for yet, but they may possibly be related to activation of the emergency button on the radio.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.3 Changes and additions (Released April 30, 2010)

  • If you switch from one site to another on the same system (i.e. the SID does not change), Pro96Com will no longer reload the talkgroup and Radio ID data. The new site information will be loaded from the computer's hard drive, but the Talkgroup and Radio ID data will be preserved. Switching sites is much faster now.

  • Added filtering for MA-COM/Harris packet type 0x33, which contains nothing more than the control channel identifier table and channel entry.

  • Made modifications to the screen resizing processing to keep the group boxes and read radio data button on the screen at all times.

  • Set minimum screen size to 550 x 550, since the value of the displayed data on anything smaller than that is extremely limited.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.2 Changes and additions (Released December 22, 2009)

  • Corrected pointer with TDMA systems where it would point to all channels with the same frequency instead of the specific channel with the highest priority.

  • Added Encryption Seen flag to the Talkgroups.txt file. This flag will be set to "Y" if encryption has ever been seen on the talkgroup.

  • Added hit counts to the talkgroups.txt file. The hit counts will be incremented when the talkgroup is seen.

  • Tower files updated to version 6. Now support storing the frequency lists with the TDMA Slot numbers. Identifier tables also include the number of slots in the table.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.1 Changes and additions (Released December 15, 2009)

  • Updated RadioReference.com SOAP interface to version 7.

  • Removed support from the ini file for changing the URL for the RadioReference.com WSDL file for the SOAP interface. This information is now hard coded into the program.

  • Added support for the Motorola experimental TDMA systems that are being tested in some area. While these systems cannot be monitored currently, the control channel can be decoded. As a part of this update, you will notice a /0 or /1 after the frequency on TDMA voice grants. These values signify the slot number on the frequency being used by that transmission.

  • Added "S" column to the identifier table lists. The number in this column signifies the number of time slots available in that table. This value is used to calculate the frequency used in addition to the base frequency and spacing.


Pro96Com Version 1.9.0 Changes and additions (Released April 20, 2009)

  • Added support for the output from the Anritsu S412D monitor for decoding the control channel data stream.

  • Added support for the April 2009 edition of the RadioReference.com CD-ROM. Backward compatibility with the October 2008 edition as well. Pro96Com will detect the version of CD-ROM automatically.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.9 Changes and additions (Released April 4, 2009)

  • Adjusted the position of the extended system information boxes on the right side of the screen to give a little more room on some lower resolution screens.

  • Added support for the new RadioReference.com soap2 interface.

  • Added support for version 2 of the RadioReference.com web service. This update adds support for the new administrative zone field in the database.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.8 Changes and additions (Released March 12, 2009)

  • Added a rescan button on the Decode Configuration screen and on the Scanner Control configuration screen. These buttons will rescan the available serial ports and update the listings on the pull down list next to the button.

  • Added some INI file options (no settings in the GUI at this point) to restore the old serial port methods from the current method. The current method will scan all possible serial ports and then list only those that are found during the scan. To restore the old method where all ports are shown within a range, even if they do not exist on the machine, you may add the following keys to the Pro96Com.ini file in the [Communications] section:

    ShowAllPorts=Yes
    HighPort=64

    The ShowAllPorts key will enable the listing of all ports in a range from COM1 to the value in HighPort. If HighPort is omitted, COM64 will be the highest value shown. Valid settings for HighPort are 16 to 255.

  • Fixed the timestamp when saving Unknown Packets to the log file.

  • Fixed a timeout bug that was occuring on limited computers. The allocated frequencies were not being properly released after the timeout period.

  • Repeater timeout period was adjusted to about 1.7 seconds after the last update message is recieved from the control channel. This timeout period may be changed by editing the Pro96Com.ini file and adding the following key to the [Global] Section of the file:

    TGTimeOut=##

    Where the ## is the number of tenths of a second (i.e. a value of 17 is 1.7 seconds) to use for the time out period. The default value is 17.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.7 Changes and additions (Released March 2, 2009)

  • Added support for OpCode 18 - Unit Status Update. This opcode is used to indicate a unit's status. The actual meaning of the status code is up to the system managers. (i.e. a status of 1 on one system may mean the unit is available, where on another system it may mean that the unit is busy). This message hasn't been seen on too many systems at this point.

  • Added option to save and reload hit counts between restarts. Hit counts will always be saved to the tower information file. This option controls whether these hit counts will be read back and set when the tower information file is read and parsed.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.6 Changes and additions (Released February 13, 2009)

  • Added a decode indicator to the screen in the lower right corner. This indicator will give you a quick visual indication of how well the control channel is being decoded. This indicator is only visible when not using the Abbreviated System Informtion option.

  • Added option to change the color of the decode indicator. This setting is located on the Decode Configuration tab of the Configuration editor.

  • Possible fix to the voice scanner control logic not releasing the frequency when a transmission ends.

  • Changed the process used to determine when a talkgroup should be released from a frequency. There's no message on the control channel to indicate when a particular talkgroup is done using a frequency, so in Pro96Com it's a simple timeout loop to determine when to release the frequency. This timeout loop is what has been redone.

  • Added a hit counter for the frequencies on the activity screen. These hit counts are reset to zero each time a decode is started.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.5 Changes and additions (Released January 25, 2009)

  • Fixed a bug when using the Usage Code Descriptions button where the button would not be re-enabled once the Usage code Description screen was dismissed.

  • Fixed an issue with the RadioReference.com web service import where the the same System ID was used on multiple systems, the import would not work. The drawback to getting this to work correctly is that the decoding of the system stops while requests to the web service are being processed.

  • Only valid com ports are shown in the Decode and Control configuration screens. If the cable is not plugged in when setting the ports, you may need to plug in the cable, and then switch to another tab and back to the tab you were working with to rescan ports.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.4 Changes and additions (Released November 27, 2008)

  • Fixed the sort on the Last Affiliation column on the affiliation listing screen.

  • Added code to detect the premature termination of the screen update thread, with the option to restart the thread if necessary.

  • Fixed issues with the auto save of the various screen data, especially the affiliation log data.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.3 Changes and additions (Released October 25, 2008)

  • Pro96Com no longer hogs all of the CPU cycles when running. While it played nicely with other processes that needed CPU time, it would use as much CPU time it could get when running. This version uses considerably less CPU time when running.

  • When starting a decode, Pro96Com now properly detects when an error occurs opening the communications port. If there is an error, you will be notified and the decoding processes will be stopped.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.2 Changes and additions (Released October 6, 2008)

  • Fixed the issue some people were seeing with the buttons off the bottom of the various tabs.

  • Fixed an issue with the backup in progress and the RadioReference import status update information not linked to the size of the screen as they should have been.

  • Added support for the upcoming RadioReference.com database CD-ROM. This option will allow you to import information about a system without a connection to the Internet. Note that the speed of the data import is dependent on your computer hardware and speed. On large statewide systems, this import may take a very long time from the CD-ROM. Pro96Com has no control over the time it takes to do this import.


Pro96Com Version 1.8.1 Changes and additions (Released October 3, 2008)

  • Added support for the new Uniden "X" series scanner control channel data output. This feature should be considered to be a beta feature at this point since the radio has not been released yet, and I only have the data provided by Paul Opitz to work with at this point.

  • Changed the references to the PSR Dump screen to Raw Data Dump screen since this screen also supports the data provided by the new Uniden "X" series scanners.

  • Separated the Affiliation Log and Affiliation listings onto separate tabs. This gives more room for the information in each list.

  • Added a Last Affiliation column to the Affiliation list screen. This will show you when each radio last affiliated with the tower site.

  • Added a talkgroup description column to the affiliation log screen. Previously only the talkgroup number was shown in this list.

  • Added the ability to filter the affiliation log based on ranges of radio IDs. When the filtering is enabled, only the radio IDs that are within the specified ranges will be logged to the affiliation log. All other radio ID affiliation information will be discarded. (All affiliated radios will still be shown in the affiliation listing). Up to 40 ranges may be set.

    Note that only the information that is in the affiliation log screen will be saved to a file when the save button is clicked, or the auto save is enabled.

  • Custom colors created while in the configuration editor, editing a talkgroup, or editing a radio ID are now saved when the OK button is pressed on those screens. These custom colors are then re-loaded on the next run of Pro96Com.


Pro96Com Version 1.7.5 Changes and additions (Released September 24, 2008)

  • Fixed a display issue when a talkgroup was being held for the voice scanner. With this fix, the held talkgroup is now displayed correctly.


Pro96Com Version 1.7.4 Changes and additions (Released September 22, 2008)

  • Fixed another timestamp display issue in various screens related to the auto save feature. This appears at this point to be a compiler bug, but I've found a way to work around it.


Pro96Com Version 1.7.3 Changes and additions (Released September 20, 2008)

  • Fixed the timestamp display issue in various screens (I Hope). Since I couldn't reproduce this here, I'm hoping that the code changes I made will correct this issue.


Pro96Com Version 1.7.2 Changes and additions (Released September 19, 2008)

  • General code clean-up throughout the program.

  • This version of Pro96Com no longer supports previous versions of the pro96com.ini file. This file has undergone many revisions since the release of version 1.0.0 of Pro96Com, and up until now has been as backward compatible with each of those version's ini file formats.

    The code that handles all of that backward compatibility has become quite ugly, so starting with this version, only the current format of the file is supported. This should only cause a problem if you are upgrading from a very old version (I think the last real change to that format was around the 1.4.1 range).

  • Added support for Patched Multi-Block Group Voice Grants.


Pro96Com Version 1.7.1 Changes and additions (Released August 21, 2008)

  • This version is primarily a conversion from an old version of my development environment to the latest version. In the new environment there are a number of new tools available that were not previously included. This should open up some new doors for future enhancements.

  • Added an option to the automated backup procedure to add the date to the folder name when performing a backup. If a backup path is set the backup copies of the system folders will be placed in a sub-folder in the format YYYYMMDD. If no backup path is specified, the backup information will be placed in a subfolder of the main system folder named backup-YYYMMDD.

  • The Check for updates code is a conversion to a new HTTP library that is included in the development environment. Please test this code, especially if you connect using a Proxy server.

  • The import from Radio Reference is all new code. Pro96Com is now using the new Radio Reference Web service configuration. Please let me know if it does not work properly for you.

  • I think I've finally fixed the issue with the program starting up monitoring the control channel on a controlled radio. Please let me know if you still see this happening.


Pro96Com Version 1.7.0 Changes and additions (Released July 31, 2008)

  • Removed the help text related to the Pro-96/2096 so that more room is available on the right side of the screen for the system and site names. It became apparent when doing RR imports that the space provided previously for these fields was not sufficient.

  • Added RadioReference.com web service import. You must configure the service on the configuration screen before the service can be used. The actual import option may be found under the System Menu. While the import is in progress, "* Import in Progress *" will be displayed next to the Data read button.

    Note: One beta tester has reported that there may be issues with the RR import on the Windows Vista operating system. I have been unable to reproduce this issue in my testing. Please be sure to have a backup of your data files before using this option for the first time.

  • Added scheduled data backup option. If enabled, Pro96Com will check to see when the last time a backup occured at startup, and once every hour after that. If the number of days specified in the configuration screen have elapsed, a backup of all System### folders will occur. The backup may be scheduled anywhere from once a day, to once a year.

    By default, backup data will be placed in a sub-folder of the System### folder called "Backup". You may also specify an alternate location to store this backup information in the configuration screen.

    While a backup is in progress, the text "* Backup in Progress *" will be displayed next to the data read button. This text is in the same location as the Import in progress text, but will be hidden if a data import is occuring.

    Note: The check time (how often Pro96Com checks for a scheduled backup) is also configurable, however there is no option present in the GUI. By default it's set to every 60 minutes but can be changed by changing the value of the "CheckTime" key under the [Backup] section of the Pro96Com.ini file. The value of this key is in minutes.


Pro96Com Version 1.6.10 Changes and additions (Released June 24, 2008)

  • Fixed an issue with the color priority selections in both the activity screen and the Grant log screens. The Talkgroup and Radio ID settings were being reversed.

  • Added the manufacturer code to the control channel dump and unknown packets screen. These will be shown whenever there is an unknown packet, or when a non-standard packet is seen on the control channel.


Pro96Com Version 1.6.9 Changes and additions (Released June 17, 2008)

  • Fixed a crash bug that showed up primarily when the Save Screen Sizes option was turned on, and Pro96Com was maximized. There was also a reference to memory that had not yet been allocated in that same area that contributed to the crash.

  • Made some memory configuration changes in the P25 class that should help a little with the speed of processing P25 control channel packets and help with memory management in that area.


Pro96Com Version 1.6.8 Changes and additions (Released June 13, 2008)

  • Added high and low threshold settings to the program. These allow you to control what you hear when controlling a second scanner for audio. The scanner will only be tuned to a talkgroup if the priority of that talkgroup is between the high and low values inclusive.

  • Added additional CRC checking to the incomming packet data to ensure that only valid data blocks are decoded.

  • When holding on a talkgroup and using a second radio to decode the voice transmissions, Pro96Com will now follow the conversation even when the held talkgroup is patched to another talkgroup.

  • Added check for updates option to the Help menu.

  • The COM port pull-down boxes now go up to COM32 (Previously the upper limit was COM16).

  • Support for multi-block control channel messages (aka Multi-Packets) is now included in Pro96Com. In order to decode these messages, a PSR-500 or PSR-600 scanner with CPU firmware version 1.4 or higher and DSP firmware Version 1.3 or higher is required. The Pro-96 and Pro-2096 do not provide this data to the PC/IF port (and will likely never provide this data), and will not support the Multi-Block messages.


Pro96Com Version 1.6.7 Changes and additions

  • First Version available on the PSREdit web site. See release notes file for a history of the program.