PSR-300 Owners Opinions

CStarr59 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-30-2009, 10:14 PM

I would like to hear from PSR-300 owners who have had their radios for some time. How well is it working for you? Are you satisfied with your radio? I've had mine for about 8 months now and it is working very well. I had a few issues in the beginning with overload, but it has gotten much better and has become my best scanner yet. please chime in with your opinions, good or bad! Also post what antenna you are using with your 300. Myself I'm using a RS 800 antenna and it has been very good!

Eng74 · #2 (**permalink**) 08-30-2009, 11:48 PM

The 300/400 are just updated Pro-97/2055. I was glad to see they fixed the DCS problem that the 97/2055.

StoliRaz · #3 (**permalink**) 08-31-2009, 08:18 AM

I've had mine for about a year. It's a pretty nice scanner, the only things I dislike is that it's a little difficult to understand how to work, and you only get 1 priority channel. The trunking works great, reception is very good. I use the RS800 with mine. That antenna is probably the best for the pricf. Definatly get the PC cable and the Butel software to program it. You'll need it. Overall, a very nice scanner that can be had on Ebay for around $180. Good luck.

gmclam · #4 (**permalink**) 08-31-2009, 07:37 PM

I have all of the analog GRE hand-held scanners from the PRO-92 and upward. The most notable change in the PSR-300 from the PRO-97 is the change of the CPU so its firmware can be upgraded. But there are some clear other changes.

At home I run a discone for conventional scanning, which is the PSR-300's job. When I had a PRO-97 in this position, it would pick up a near/STRONG paging signal mixed in with some reception. This does not happen with the PSR-300. Also, when mobile I get quite a few images when driving by a 100kw NOAA transmitter on the PRO-97 and there are definitely less images and what I do have are lower in strength with the PSR-300. In other words, they must have made some changes to the "band selection" and/or front end.

I love the new S meter on the PSR-300, but I question the levels it shows (I started a thread here sometime ago on this issue). I hear stuff at 5 bars that does not have full quieting, while stuff with 3 bars can sound quite good. AM signals do seem to match ok.

When mobile I run a mag mount which has a spec of 25-1300 MHz. The reception has been awesome on all bands. I do also use the stock rubber antenna when not at home or driving and it works well across all bands.

The owner's manual is still horrible. There have been firmware updates, but no changes to the manual. One of the f/w updates was so it could handle rebanding, but there's no user information on how to program that. I do use WIN97, although I am just as capable of programming it manually.

I have run many tests with the earlier GRE PRO-9x scanners side by side, connected to the same antenna and compared reception. The PRO-95 has beat the PRO-97 every time. When I compared the PRO-95 with the PSR-300, the winner was not so clear. I feel the '95 still won, but they clearly made an improvement over the '97.

Bottom line, it is now my first choice for monitoring analog conventional channels or rebanded MO 800 MHz channels.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoliRaz

Overall, a very nice scanner that can be had on Ebay for around $180

LOL. I bought mine brand NEW, from ScannerMaster (who supports RR) for $149.99 when they ran a sale. The shipping was free and the purchase included an AC adapter. Even the RS sales of the comparable PRO-164 can't come close to that.

StoliRaz · #5 (**permalink**) 09-01-2009, 08:29 PM

Well, I guess the price has come down since I bought mine. The cheapest I could find was $180 w/free shipping when I bought mine. ScannerMaster had it for $199 at the time. Guess I missed the good sale. Oh well, win some, lose some. If you can find one that cheap, hop all over it and more power to you!

TheJerk · #6 (**permalink**) 09-02-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoliRaz

Well, I guess the price has come down since I bought mine. The cheapest I could find was $180 w/free shipping when I bought mine. ScannerMaster had it for $199 at the time. Guess I missed the good sale. Oh well, win some, lose some. If you can find one that cheap, hop all over it and more power to you!

I just looked...$149 for the GRE300 at scanner master. I bought mine last week for $169...DOH!

CStarr59 · #7 (**permalink**) 09-02-2009, 09:57 PM

Thats an excellent price. Paid $189 for mine several months ago. No regrets though, well worth the money.

wrhenker · #8 (**permalink**) 09-04-2009, 12:36 PM

I have one for sale, like new, in original packaging, for $130 with adapter.

wrhenker · #9 (**permalink**) 09-04-2009, 12:38 PM

The radio I have for sale is the Pro-97, from Radio Shack. It is the same as the GRE PSR300.

1979lee · #10 (**permalink**) 09-04-2009, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmclam

I have all of the analog GRE hand-held scanners from the PRO-92 and upward. The most notable change in the PSR-300 from the PRO-97 is the change of the CPU so its firmware can be upgraded. But there are some clear other changes.

At home I run a discone for conventional scanning, which is the PSR-300's job. When I had a PRO-97 in this position, it would pick up a near/STRONG paging signal mixed in with some reception. This does not happen with the PSR-300. Also, when mobile I get quite a few images when driving by a 100kw NOAA transmitter on the PRO-97 and there are definitely less images and what I do have are lower in strength with the PSR-300. In other words, they must have made some changes to the "band selection" and/or front end.

I love the new S meter on the PSR-300, but I question the levels it shows (I started a thread here sometime ago on this issue). I hear stuff at 5 bars that does not have full quieting, while stuff with 3 bars can sound quite good. AM signals do seem to match ok.

When mobile I run a mag mount which has a spec of 25-1300 MHz. The reception has been awesome on all bands. I do also use the stock rubber antenna when not at home or driving and it works well across all bands.

The owner's manual is still horrible. There have been firmware updates, but no changes to the manual. One of the f/w updates was so it could handle rebanding, but there's no user information on how to program that. I do use WIN97, although I am just as capable of programming it manually.

I have run many tests with the earlier GRE PRO-9x scanners side by side, connected to the same antenna and compared reception. The PRO-95 has beat the PRO-97 every time. When I compared the PRO-95 with the PSR-300, the winner was not so clear. I feel the '95 still won, but they clearly made an improvement over the '97.

Bottom line, it is now my first choice for monitoring analog conventional channels or rebanded MO 800 MHz channels.

LOL. I bought mine brand NEW, from ScannerMaster (who supports RR) for $149.99 when they ran a sale. The shipping was free and the purchase included an AC adapter. Even the RS sales of the comparable PRO-164 can't come close to that.

well gmclam you may have sold me on buying a 300 now!
i purchased the rs 164 and it was a POS, horrible reception, ( i exchanged it 3 times at different rs stores) so i was kind of wary of buying the gre300, but it sounds like the 300 is a better scanner the old rs pro97 i need to replace.
so off to the scanner master site i go.

dxradio2003 · #11 (**permalink**) 09-06-2009, 02:04 AM

I know you asked about the GRE, however, the Pro-164 is a decent similar radio, but with one fault. The issue is overload on the 800 band. When monitoring SCPD motorola trunked, I still get a frequent hum and desense, likely caused by cell phone sites (Nextel?).

This causes difficult reception of 800 at times (and at various locations). Still, this radio is better in this regard in comparision with my Pro-106.

judas12 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-06-2009, 03:19 AM

I have the PSR-300 and the RS PRO-162. They are both great. They work awsome, i love them. I use the watson antenna super gain

gmclam · #13 (**permalink**) 09-07-2009, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrhenker

The radio I have for sale is the Pro-97, from Radio Shack. It is the same as the GRE PSR300.

NO it is NOT. The PRO-97 does not receive 700 MHz, does not handle rebanded MO trunked systems and can not have its firmware upgraded. There are also other minor changes including the addition of an S meter on the PSR-300.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dxradio2003

I know you asked about the GRE, however, the Pro-164 is a decent similar radio, but with one fault. The issue is overload on the 800 band.

I find a difference between the earlier PRO-97 and the PSR-300. I am not experiencing near the problems with the PSR-300. Certainly you could put an attenuator between the antenna and scanner if you have a problem - as that is what it seems like with some Uniden models I've checked. They might not have the overload, but they don't have the same sensitivity either.