Best GRE settings for fleetnet

[uncleblackie]

Hi all,

Getting a little frustrated with my PSR-500.

I bought it specifically to monitor fleetnet when mobile, but I must say I'm not impressed by the poor decode rate I am getting.

Tried changing the extended settings based on the screenshot of the info given in a previous thread to try and help Spastictyper but it doesn't seem to help.

Even when getting a good signal the decode rate can sometimes be poor. I know about the overload problems in high rf areas but I am talking about traveling the hwy 11 corridor between North Bay and Barrie. Definitely not an area I would consider a problem.

Tried different antenas including a 1/2 wave specifically cut for 142mhz with no noticeable difference.

My 396xt on the same antenna decodes almost flawlessly.

Also what do you find works best for the threshold roam settings on fleetnet?

Thanks

 

[uncleblackie]

btw, yes I have the latest firmwares 1.4 & 1.8 and Canadian bandplan selected.

Gonna try the recommended settings in Marks easier to read scanner guide and see what happens.

 

[Forts]

My Roam settings use the default values of 75 & 95. I also have NFM, Digital AGC and Supertrack all checked. Beyond that I'm not sure why you would be getting such crappy reception... There aren't many settings that need to be tinkered with on these radios. I almost sounds like it's trying to receive from a more distant site. I guess verify that all the correct frequencies are in place, or... as a test, delete all the frequencies except your closest site (and turn Roam off) and see if anything changes.

 

[torontokris]

try STAT just for fun and let it bounce off different towers and see if anything improves.

 

[uncleblackie]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

After reading these threads here:

http://forums.radioreference.com/gr...setting-making-huge-difference-reception.html

http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/188343-changing-pro-197-hold-time-roam.html

And with credit to Marks' easier to read Scanner guide, I took another trip south yesterday with the changed expert settings and RSSI levels and I found that reception has improved significantly. Still a few interference issues but noticeably improved. I also dropped my roam settings to 65Lo & 75Hi from the default and it resulted in an improvement in picking up the millar hill tower and being able to hold it longer.
I may also change those threshold settings again to 55/85 on my next trip south as reccomended in Marks' guide to see if it improves again.

Maybe the higher threshold settings will work better in Zone 1 where the tower density rate is higher???