Can't Program PSR-500 To Save My Life - Help

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121940kz

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So i'm about fed up trying to program this scanner, i bought it used on eBay and also purchased an FTDI programming cable on eBay. It said it is the same as the RS 20-546 cable, just technically not the real radioshack branded one. I'm wondering if my issues are stemming from that... So i would like to ask a few questions.

In order to upload to the scanner, do i have to go into the GLOB settings, then Clone Send: then select that and then plug the cable in, in order to do communication? Because if i just plug the cable in it doesn't do anything. It stays scanning and it can't communicate. Furthermore, i am not able to do a CPU update. I put it into CPU update mode, and it still says "Wait for PC/IF" and the CPU updater can't establish communication.

The most communication i have gotten is downloading my current PSR-500 configuration. I have done that successfully, but have not been able to ever upload. The only way i was able to download was to do the procedure above, where i go into the GLOB settings and then put it into Clone Send mode. If i do this again, i can't get the upload to work.

I bought a pro 164 on ebay that was heavily used, and this cable won't do any communication with it either, but since it's been kind of abused i figured that PC/IF jack was bad. Now though, i am questioning the cable.... i dont know guys, what do you think? The fact it won't even communicate to do a CPU update is suspicious, and the fact it won't communicate with the other scanner is also suspicious. Surely they BOTH aren't bad PC/IF jacks. So anyway any insight would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.
 
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SCPD

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I would strongly recommend that you get a program like PSREDIT500 or Win500 .. and program the scanner this way rather than doing it the hard way.

PSREDIT500 PSREdit500 - Configuration Editor for the PSR-500, PSR-600, PRO-106, and PRO-197 Scanners

WIN500 Win500: WS1040, WS1065, PSR-500, PSR-600, PRO-651, PRO-652, PRO-106, PRO-197, PSR-310, PSR-410 Scanner Software for Data Management, Monitoring, and Control

They are both written by RR members and will save you a lot of grief. After the trial period .. you can just pay your money and you are good.

I have been doing it this way .. and it is well worth, but the nice thing you can try them out first.

Hope this helps.
 

121940kz

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I would strongly recommend that you get a program like PSREDIT500 PSREdit500 - Configuration Editor for the PSR-500, PSR-600, PRO-106, and PRO-197 Scanners .. and program the scanner using this program.

There are others .. like Win500. Win500: WS1040, WS1065, PSR-500, PSR-600, PRO-651, PRO-652, PRO-106, PRO-197, PSR-310, PSR-410 Scanner Software for Data Management, Monitoring, and Control

They are both written by RR members and will save you a lot of grief. After the trial period .. you can just pay your money and you are good.

I have been doing it this way .. and it is well worth, but the nice thing you can try them out first.

Hope this helps.

Actually yeah i forgot to mention, i have tried the Arc500 software, PSREdit500, and Win500. I was planning on purchasing one after the trials (i really like Arc500) All have upload issues like i'm describing. The drivers for the cable are installed properly and the correct COM port is selected. I've tried every setting. Do you have any insight on whether you are supposed to put the scanner in Clone Send mode like i described? I know on the pro 164 it detects the cable automatically, but i swear i read somewhere that the newer scanners don't. (mine doesn't) So i assumed you had to put it into that Clone Mode manually.
 

SCPD

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Actually yeah i forgot to mention, i have tried the Arc500 software, PSREdit500, and Win500. I was planning on purchasing one after the trials (i really like Arc500) All have upload issues like i'm describing. The drivers for the cable are installed properly and the correct COM port is selected. I've tried every setting. Do you have any insight on whether you are supposed to put the scanner in Clone Send mode like i described? I know on the pro 164 it detects the cable automatically, but i swear i read somewhere that the newer scanners don't. (mine doesn't) So i assumed you had to put it into that Clone Mode manually.

No you do not need clone mode ... PSREdit just needs Radio / Upload to radio from the menu. Just insert your cable in the side and you are good. The program I believe will assist you on connecting ..

You may want to check in device manager .. as it will show you that the drivers are installed correctly. Check under Ports .. for the PSR500 item.
 

121940kz

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No ... PSREdit just needs Radio / Upload to radio from the menu. Just insert your cable in the side and you are good. The program I believe will assist you on connecting ..

You may want to check in device manager .. as it will show you that the drivers are installed correctly. Check under Ports .. for the PSR500 item.

Hm...Well if that is the case, is it supposed to say that a cable is connected on the screen? Or does it do the work behind the scenes. I think i'm going to just buy the real RS 20-546 and see if this alleviates some pain..i mean i just can't get over the fact that both scanners i bought (from 2 separate people in different areas) would have messed up PC/IF jacks or some other issues that would allow it to work perfectly fine except for using a programming cable.
 

SCPD

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You can go to Configuration / Serial Port Settings in PSREdit.

Then .. select Direct (recommended) or Com Port.

You can either press .. Search For Port (if using Com Port option) .. to get the needed port. You can also see in Device manager what port it is using.

I have never needed this .. I always use Direct and it works fine.

I use the original (Blue Shell - Clear cord) GRE USB cable that came with the PSR500 scanner.
 

121940kz

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You can go to Configuration / Serial Port Settings in PSREdit.

Then .. select Direct (recommended) or Com Port.

You can either press .. Search For Port (if using Com Port option) .. to get the needed port. You can also see in Device manager what port it is using.

I have never needed this .. I always use Direct and it works fine.

I use the original (Blue Shell - Clear cord) GRE USB cable that came with the PSR500 scanner.

Played with that too, no luck. It downloads just fine (only in the special clone mode that i have to specifically put it in), and then when i try to upload the exact same file that i just downloaded, it says "Send Initialize Timeout! Please make sure USB cable is connected and try again."
 

SCPD

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I am assuming that you got the drivers from here ... ? GRE America Inc.

You can also use the drivers from the FTDI website .. as needed.

You may want to try to adding of additional time / delay ... in the PSREdit software also under that same menu location.

Other than that .. I have nothing more to suggest as I have never had problems programming that scanner. Mind you .. I have the original GRECOM part .. and that could be an issue here.
 

121940kz

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I am assuming that you got the drivers from here ... ? GRE America Inc.

You can also use the drivers from the FTDI website .. as needed.

You may want to try to adding of additional time / delay ... in the PSREdit software also under that same menu location.

Other than that .. I have nothing more to suggest as I have never had problems programming that scanner. Mind you .. I have the original GRECOM part .. and that could be an issue here.

I used the FTDI ones, but i just now tried the Grecom drivers and still nothing. I'll return this cable and then try the original RS 20-546 cable. Sure am hoping this clears up everything
 

Spitfire8520

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If this is the same cable as http://forums.radioreference.com/ra...164-wont-connect-computer-bad-pc-if-jack.html, then I would say that you have a bad cable if it doesn't work with either the Pro-164 or PSR-500. As previously stated, the RadioShack FTDI cable is "reversed" where the transmitting and receiving lines are swapped from the "standard." If this is the case, then it will not communicate correctly. A good analogy would be holding a phone upside down and trying to talk to the other person that way.
 

121940kz

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Yes it's the same cable as that thread. So if I buy the real RS 20-546 cable it should be the correct one for both scanners right? I'll report back with my findings when the new cable comes in
 

121940kz

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If this is the same cable as http://forums.radioreference.com/ra...164-wont-connect-computer-bad-pc-if-jack.html, then I would say that you have a bad cable if it doesn't work with either the Pro-164 or PSR-500. As previously stated, the RadioShack FTDI cable is "reversed" where the transmitting and receiving lines are swapped from the "standard." If this is the case, then it will not communicate correctly. A good analogy would be holding a phone upside down and trying to talk to the other person that way.

Can you confirm whether or not when you enter CPU update mode, and it says "Wait for PC/IF", when you plug the cable in, does that message go away? Or does it still say that, the reason i ask is because i am wondering what the normal behavior is since i have not successfully ever upgraded CPU versions on any scanner due to my cable issues (hopefully that is the issue anyway). Thanks
 

Spitfire8520

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Can you confirm whether or not when you enter CPU update mode, and it says "Wait for PC/IF", when you plug the cable in, does that message go away? Or does it still say that, the reason i ask is because i am wondering what the normal behavior is since i have not successfully ever upgraded CPU versions on any scanner due to my cable issues (hopefully that is the issue anyway). Thanks

I haven't updated my CPU in a long time, but I believe it doesn't go away with the cable is plugged in. If I remember correctly, it goes away as soon as the software on the PC initializes communications with the scanner and shows an update bar of some kind.

And going back to one of your original questions:

In order to upload to the scanner, do i have to go into the GLOB settings, then Clone Send: then select that and then plug the cable in, in order to do communication? Because if i just plug the cable in it doesn't do anything. It stays scanning and it can't communicate.

When I upload to my Pro-106 (related to the PSR-500), it can be doing almost anything and doesn't need to be in any particular mode. The software on the computer should be initializing the communication with the scanner in order to upload to it.
 

121940kz

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I haven't updated my CPU in a long time, but I believe it doesn't go away with the cable is plugged in. If I remember correctly, it goes away as soon as the software on the PC initializes communications with the scanner and shows an update bar of some kind.

And going back to your original post that I missed when I read it the first time:



When I upload to my Pro-106 (related to the PSR-500), it can be doing almost anything and doesn't need to be in any particular mode. The software on the computer should be initializing the communication with the scanner in order to upload to it.

Ok, good to know on being able to upload on any screen of the scanner. Just really fishy that i could only get all of the popular programming softwares to download while i was in that special Clone Send mode, and never upload. Weird how it worked downloading though. Anyway i've got an RS programming cable on it's way, should be here this next week sometime.
 

gmclam

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The PRO-164 (or PSR-300) display a message on the display when a cable is plugged in to the PC/IF jack. This is not true for PRO-106 or PSR-500. All work with WIN500/etc.

When using software you do NOT need to select anything in the scanner. The SEND function under GLOB is for cloning scanners directly.

Having your PC find the correct COM port of the cable and having the correct driver installed is just half the battle. This cable being sold on eBay sounds like it does not work with your scanner. The real RS cable actually sends on both lines (tx & rx) in order to be compatible with older and newer models.

If you were in the software, such as WIN500, with the cable connected to the computer, but NO cable plugged in to the scanner; and you tried to download from scanner or upload to scanner; you'll eventually see "time out waiting for scanner". Plugging in the cable from eBay sounds like it does the same thing. Or perhaps it works one way (receiving) but not for programming,
 

Halfpint

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I just checked my GRE cable for my PSR-500 and the Part Number for it is 30-3290. It's the one withthe blue `shell' for the electronics and the plug on the radio end is a `Stereo' plug. It also comes with an `Stereo-to-Mono' adapter for use with older model scanners.

The main reason I'm bringing this up again is that I used to have one from RS that at first glance appeared to be similar to the `official?' GRE cable. After a through inspection and some `general poking around' I discovered that the RS cable appears to have had the `Tip/Ring' connections reversed. (IE: The `tip' on one was the `ring' on the other one.) Unfortunately, I no longer have the RS one as I gave it to someone who had the correct scanner for it so they'd have a spare.

If you are comfortable soldering those sized connections you could make yourself a `reverser' out of a 1/8" inline stereo jack and plug with the `tip' and `ring' connections reversed.

YMMV
 

121940kz

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I just checked my GRE cable for my PSR-500 and the Part Number for it is 30-3290. It's the one withthe blue `shell' for the electronics and the plug on the radio end is a `Stereo' plug. It also comes with an `Stereo-to-Mono' adapter for use with older model scanners.

The main reason I'm bringing this up again is that I used to have one from RS that at first glance appeared to be similar to the `official?' GRE cable. After a through inspection and some `general poking around' I discovered that the RS cable appears to have had the `Tip/Ring' connections reversed. (IE: The `tip' on one was the `ring' on the other one.) Unfortunately, I no longer have the RS one as I gave it to someone who had the correct scanner for it so they'd have a spare.

If you are comfortable soldering those sized connections you could make yourself a `reverser' out of a 1/8" inline stereo jack and plug with the `tip' and `ring' connections reversed.

YMMV
I ordered the original RS cable and since the PSR-500 is basically the same as the pro 106 and 651, it should work. I have a pro 164 I'll try it on, and if it works on that then I know my other cable was in fact bad, and from what ive read it'll work on my grecom. (If it doesnt I know I'll need a gre cable). But anyway the cable should be here tomorrow hopefully. I'll post back with my findings! I hate waiting for things in the mail.
 

TES

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I just checked my GRE cable for my PSR-500 and the Part Number for it is 30-3290. It's the one withthe blue `shell' for the electronics and the plug on the radio end is a `Stereo' plug. It also comes with an `Stereo-to-Mono' adapter for use with older model scanners.

The main reason I'm bringing this up again is that I used to have one from RS that at first glance appeared to be similar to the `official?' GRE cable. After a through inspection and some `general poking around' I discovered that the RS cable appears to have had the `Tip/Ring' connections reversed. (IE: The `tip' on one was the `ring' on the other one.) Unfortunately, I no longer have the RS one as I gave it to someone who had the correct scanner for it so they'd have a spare.

If you are comfortable soldering those sized connections you could make yourself a `reverser' out of a 1/8" inline stereo jack and plug with the `tip' and `ring' connections reversed.

YMMV

GRE part number 30-3290 and RS catalog #20-047 are electronically identical. RS catalog #20-546 is functionally the same as the two cables listed in the first sentence.

The Stereo-to-Mono adapter is not required for any GRE-made scanner.

Look at the Cable Page at Don Starr's—the acknowledged GRE/Whistler scanner-expert—site, http://www.starrsoft.com/.
 

gmclam

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Cables not same because scanners are different

After a through inspection and some `general poking around' I discovered that the RS cable appears to have had the `Tip/Ring' connections reversed. (IE: The `tip' on one was the `ring' on the other one.)
The older scanners, such as PRO-97, were half duplex. That means they received and transmitted on the same connection. Later scanners such as the PRO-106/PSR-500 are full duplex meaning they can receive and transmit at the same time. To make that work, the TX line from the PC (receive to the scanner) was 'swapped'. The newer cables transmit on both TX and RX in order to be compatible.
 

dcr_inc

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If this is the cable sold my Mark Dunkle on Ebay, You have to use the Win500Com version of Win500 to get his cable to work. You will need to set the serial port manually under the configuration tab.
Been there, done that for too many hours before I figured it out.
 
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