Technical information

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Orders must be postmarked by November 22nd, 1997. MC / Visa / check / money orders accepted. Orders
can be sent to DataFile, Inc., PO Box 20111, St. Louis, MO, 63123. Additional information and / or questions
regarding Probe can also be directed to DataFile via email at
[e-mail] . There is a web page
which has information, screen shots, frequency files and additional documentation provided by a Probe
user, Steve Hancock, on his web page at
http://home.ptd.net/~pro2006/probe.html . This web page is
primarily dedicated to those interested in the PRO-2006 (which would also cover the PRO-2005 and other
similar scanners) and has a wealth of information on it. Steve’s home page address for his "Monitoring Post" is
http://home.ptd.net/~pro2006 .
The OptoScan 456 works with Radio Shack’s PRO-2005, 2006. The OptoScan 535 works with Radio Shack’s
2035 and 2042. Optoelectronics reports the OptoScan has not been tested with the PRO-2045 reported in the
last article, and to my knowledge does not work with the PRO-2045. Perhaps this was a typo?
(Oops - you
caught me! - Sorry about that)
If in fact the OptoScan does work with the PRO-2045, I
would be most interested in hearing of this. There is also an OptoScan Lite which is less expensive than the
regular 456 and 535 and works with Radio Shack’s PRO-2005, 2006. The only difference between the Lite
version and the regular versions is it does not support signal strength readout, tone control or DTMF readout.
For additional information regarding the OptoScan, contact
Optoelectronics at 954-771-2050 or you can write them at 5821 NE 14th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33334.
Optoelectronics also has a web site at
http://www.optoelectronics.com or you can email them at
<[e-mail]>
While Roger expressed some concerns for the documentation, I would like to note I do provide support via
email virtually seven days a week. When you need support, you talk directly to the programmer. Try that with
Microsoft or most other software vendors. New purchasers of Probe are advised through a cover letter they
should read the documentation for Probe to get the most from it. It should also be noted the program was
intended to be easy-to-use and some previous experience with scanning was expected. For novice scannists,
Probe was designed to be grown into.
I read where the default colors of Probe were "hardly legible" and wonder whether a custom color file was
inadvertently included by Bob when he provided the evaluation software to Roger. The default color of Probe
for data text is bright white on black and the data descriptions are red on black. Probe also has an easy one-
button setting for black and white or amber monitors. I do agree with Roger regards the descriptions for
color selections, however given the input I’ve received on this issue to date, I haven’t received any specific
suggestions on how to better describe the colors selections. It’s important to note I am always am
interested in any suggestions on how to improve Probe. To a very large degree, feedback from Probe users is
what has made Probe the product it is today. In fact, I have kept a copy of the review done by Roger so I
may implement some of his suggestions in any potential revisions.
Regarding "no help" for Windows ’95 users, I will look to revise the documentation in the future to cover this
issue. In simple terms, run Probe as a DOS program in a Window’s window. There are no specific or
non-specific instructions or settings required beyond that. Anything beyond this information becomes Windows
specific, and as with DOS, is well beyond the scope or the Probe documentation and should be covered in the
operating system / computer hardware documentation.
In terms of instructions for "editing" the "CONFIG.SYS" file, Probe automatically checks the "CONFIG.SYS"
file upon startup. If it is incorrect, Probe advises you of this condition and will automatically make changes if
the user agrees to let the program do so. Again, if Bob provided Roger with previously installed copy of Probe,
this message may not appear. Another scenario is if Probe did not detect any requirement for changes, no
message would appear and the program works fine. The only real requirement Probe has for the
CONFIG.SYS file is "FILES=40" or more.
I somewhat agree with Bob’s comment on the "user’s interface screen should do something to appeal to and
enhance that imagination". With all due respect, Probe is meant to be a high speed interface, utility style