Win93 Download Page

(For information about "ScanHack" click here)

Copyright © 2002, 2003 Don Starr - All Rights Reserved, portions by Ken Plotkin, Bill Petrowsky

Questions or comments- email: Win93@starrsoft.com

NOTE: If you downloaded version 00.29 before 08:40 PST on Friday 07 Feb 2003, you'll need to get it again. There was a small bug that killed the Serial Configuration function

Though it is free to use, Win93 is copyrighted software. Please read the License Agreement.

Programming Cable Information

Win93 is a Windows "GUI" application for the Radio Shack Pro-93 trunking scanner. It allows you to read data from the scanner, make changes via the GUI, and write the modified data back. It will read / write the scanner in less than 60 seconds. You can maintain a "library" of data files to be downloaded or shared. Win93 uses the 'standard' P93 data format for its files, as well as a text file format that can be used for printing or manual editing.

Click here for a sample screenshot (141 kB)

Extended Frequency Ranges!
As of version 00.23, Win93 allows you to enter any frequency between 5 kHz and 1.3 GHz, excluding the cellular ranges. This fills the "gaps" in the PRO-93's coverage (e.g. between 54 MHz and 108 MHz). For ranges below 460 MHz, the step size is 5 kHz; for ranges above 460 MHz, the step size is 6.25 kHz.
This feature can only be used in programmed channels - it does not work in the user-defined Limit Search (SR5). The scanner makes additional checks for "valid" frequencies. It has to, so that it can jump between its valid ranges as it's scanning.
UPDATE! You can search through the Extended Ranges! Using Win93, program an out-of-range frequency into some channel. On the PRO-93, select that channel in "manual mode". Press FUNC TUNE. The scanner will no search up (or down) from that frequency. If you let it enter a "valid" range, it won't go back to the invalid range, so you'll have to select the channel and hit FUNC TUNE again.

NOTE: There has been an item sold on eBay that claims to "unlock" the frequencies in the PRO-92/2067, PRO-93/2053, and PRO-95. I have been informed that this item is merely a set of 151 .P95 files (for use with my Win95 app). Together, these files contain all of the frequencies in all of the "extra ranges" as added by Win93 and Win95. One could create this data himself by using a program like Microsoft Excel to fill columns with incremental frequency data, then copy and paste to Win93 or Win95. Instructions for doing this can be found at this link.

Reception in some ranges may be affected by filtering and other characteristics of the scanner. For example, while the scanner will tune and receive commercial FM broadcasts, reception will be distorted. FM broadcasts are wideband, while the scanner is a narrowband receiver.
NOTE: This does not enable any cellular frequencies. The scanner appears to block any such frequencies.
Revision History

The use of the program should be pretty self-explanatory. You download from the scanner, select Open from the File menu to load an existing P93 or text file, or select New from the File menu to start from scratch. You then set up your frequencies, trunking information, and other scanner settings. Next, upload to the scanner and save the file. I'll post Q & A stuff on this page as people have questions. (There's actually a bit of information on the Win92 page that applies to Win93, as they share common features and operation.)

If you're interested in the various cable, CPU, and serial port configurations, there is a table here that is a compilation of reports from users. NOTE: As of 12 Feb 2002, this page now includes a list of pro93.com cable purchase dates, adapters, and status, as reported by users.

Download latest version (this is a ZIP file - you'll need WinZip, PowerArchiver, or an equivalent decompression utility in order to extract files)

The link above is the program only - it doesn't include a couple of system files that are required to run it. If you're using a recent version of any Microsoft product, then you should already have these files. If Win93 complains that it can't find a file or component necessary to run (or something like that), you can get the required files in this ZIP file. Merely extract the DLLs into the same directory/folder where you put the Win93.exe program.

For cables - I would recommend the "Casio cable" available from Purple Computing. You'll also find there the Radio Shack part numbers for two adapters you will need. Everybody I've heard from has had great success with this cable/adapter combination. Some computers may not like this type of cable - since the circuitry in the cable draws its power from the lines in the serial port, the computer's COM port must be able to supply a certain amount of current. Some computers can't supply enough power on their serial port lines. For such machines, the only alternative is to build a self-powered (uses batteries) cable. Schematics for these can be found in the Yahoo PRO-92 group.

Version 00.31 13 February 2003, 11:50 PST

Revision History