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Why Probe?
Computer control scanning offers far more flexibility than normal scanning. Import FCC database information so as to customize the frequencies that you would like the unit to scan. You can scan up to 65+ channels per second using Probe software. I have been using the Probe software for a long time. The first disk I can still find is version 1.2, but I think I may have used it before that. Over that time, I have tried other computer control scanner software, but I keep coming back to Probe for my every day scanning. I have tried about everything that would work with my scanner set up and like Probe the best! Why? I think I can sum it up with two words - Speed and Flexibility! Lets talk about speed (performance). One of the things that I am looking for when using a computer and software to control my scanner is improved performance that includes scanning speed and the number of frequencies I can have to scan. If you are not scanning the channels fast enough, you tend to loose a lot of the communications. With Probe, I can scan 65+ channels per second! This is a real improvement over the stock scanner that has a scan rate of 13 - 26 channels per second. This is also an improvement over some of the software that is estimated to scan at 10 - 15 channels per second. If you can't scan the frequencies you have entered fast enough, you are going to miss a lot of the activity. Another part of performance is the number of frequencies you can store. Even with the 100 - 400 channel scanners you can still fill them up if you are active with your scanner. With Probe, you can have up to 4,000 groups on your drive, each group contains 99 banks, and you can store up to 1,000 frequencies per bank! That is as many as 99,000 channels at one time and you could have 4,000 groups like this on your drive! Flexibility is the other important reason for using a computer and software to control my scanner. Probe let's you import and export data to make it easy to establish and change your files. With functions that most scanners (and some of the other software) do not have like TacScan, SmartScan, Hyperbanks, dual delay settings, tape recorder control, squelch options, tone decoding, alarms and templock, you can 'tweak' your scanner for the way you like to monitor. I can 'weight' my scanning so while I am scanning all the area active frequencies, I am primarily monitoring for activity close to me and special emergency frequencies. This flexibility is truly important once you understand how to use it and you will never want to scan without it. Now with the latest version of Probe and the introduction of TacScan, this concept of flexibility moves to a whole new level of scanning. It lets me scan the way I want to scan; not how someone who wrote the software thinks I should scan. It lets me change settings on the fly with Hyperbanks so I can adjust as my mood for scanning or events move me to change. In my opinion, if you cannot achieve the Speed and Flexibility that Probe gives you, why use a computer and software to control your scanner? Just punch in a bunch of frequencies to your stock scanner and hope you catch the activity. Why do I keep coming back and using Probe? That is easy, for the reasons above and one more reason - it works! Probe is dependable, easy to use and works well. |