My thoughts on the PSR-800

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mtindor

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Actually, I really can't really express how disappointed I am in the PSR-800 without using profanity. As far as I am concerned it's garbage due to its liimted usefulness.

  1. There is no way to enter a trunked system in without a computer and the software
  2. There is no multisite STAT option
  3. There is no numeric keypad
  4. There is no TUNE option (think PSR-500/600 and PRO-197/106)
  5. You can't charge the batteries and actually use the scanner at the same time
  6. I don't get nearly the life out of a set of rechargable batteries as I do when using those same batteries in a PSR-500

I just can't imagine GRE having the Multisite STAT option in the PSR-500/600 but not carrying it over to the PSR-800. Seriously, this has to be something easily addressed in firmware. I voiced this concern before, but people just don't seem to get the importance. I don't care if the PSR-800 has the room to add 100+ sites of a statewide system and hundreds of talkgroups for each site. It's totally inefficient, and every time you find a new talkgroup that might be used across multiple sites you have to attach it to a computer, fire up the software, and add the new talkgroup to each site of that networked Moto trunked system. At least if they supported Multisite STAT you could add a single site with 20 control channels covering 10 actual sites and have just one list of talkgroups.

Not having the TUNE function available is just crazy. The scanner is capable of doing so much, but you aren't afforded the opportunity to use it for sleuthing trunked systems without the TUNE mode.

Apparently you can't even access a TSYS object in a PSR-800 to modify it, select one of its frequencies to analyze, etc.

Seriously, I've had the scanner for months and just couldn't bring myself to use it because of such unnecessaary shortcomings. The only reason I still have it is because I got it at such a discount. I'd consider selling it off to an RR Admin.

There is just so much I could [and probably should] write here, but it isn't worth my time. I haven't seen any firmware updates come out for months, and the one that did really didn't add any new functionality. I get the feeling that GRE has no intentions on doing anything more with it. I hope I'm wrong. Just from what I've seen so far, they aren't supporting this scanner like they did the PSR-500/600.

Then I look at what Uniden has done with updates/upgrades since the original HP-1 came out. What a turnaround. They should own the market with the HP-1.

All of the things I've mentioned have been talked about ad nauseum in a hundred different threads. I imagine the only response I'll get to this is from all of the people that swear by this unit. But it is totally dependent on a computer and software to program it, which makes it totally useless to use to sleuth out new data for new trunked systems / sites.

Then, you can't simply lock out individual sites or trunked systems unless you hook it up the computer again and use the software to do so. I suppose I could just add each site and its associated talkgroups to separate scanlists and then enable/disable those scanlists. Even enabling/disablign scanlists is inefficient. And why should we have to do this when the PSR-500/600 already had these capabilities built in.

I'm sure I'd find much more to gripe about, but I can't bring myself to use the dev ice anymore than I already have.

Mike
 

Ed_Seedhouse

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  1. There is no way to enter a trunked system in without a computer and the software
  2. There is no multisite STAT option
  3. There is no numeric keypad
  4. There is no TUNE option (think PSR-500/600 and PRO-197/106)
  5. You can't charge the batteries and actually use the scanner at the same time
  6. I don't get nearly the life out of a set of rechargable batteries as I do when using those same batteries in a PSR-500

Um, excuse me but I looked at the brochure on line before I bought it and so I knew these things BEFORE I ordered it. Why didn't you do that and if you did why did you buy it then?

I bought a separate battery charger anyway as it is a far safer way to charge rechargeable batteries, but since I don't use the scanner 24 hours a day so far the batteries have always had a full charge when I've left the house with it in my pocket and have remained fully charged for the duration of my trips. Just in case I carry an extra set of charged batteries anyway, haven't have to use them yet.

But why would you buy it if you read the brochure which is posted on the web? And if you didn't read the brochure why would you buy it - I always make sure I take a look at the brochures and if possible the manuals before I buy.

I got mine yesterday and I really like it. I knew more or less what I was buying and it's lived up to what the brochure said it would do.

No, it isn't perfect and has some flaws. And it cost a couple of hundred bucks less than the Uniden alternatives for digital scanning, which will also have their own, probably different, flaws.
 
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mtindor

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Ed,

Good question. I was a fool, and I was tempted by an extra good deal. I have a PSR-500 and a PRO-197, and they are stellar performers [except for overload issues]. For some reason I thought the next GRE product would be a step up, not a step backward in functionality.

Mike
 

torontokris

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I agree with your points on STAT feature and adding new systems etc.

Guess the limitation of changing a system is just a drawback on the new RR database scanners... even the HP-1 cant modify the systems, you need to add to favorites then edit there.

Uniden has gone a long way to address the issues (not perfect but working on it), hopefully GRE does the same
Stat hopefully can be added with a firmware update... even a modified stat that monitors only 5 towers or something (not having to go through 100 towers of a statewide system).
 

mtindor

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I agree with your points on STAT feature and adding new systems etc.

Guess the limitation of changing a system is just a drawback on the new RR database scanners... even the HP-1 cant modify the systems, you need to add to favorites then edit there.

Uniden has gone a long way to address the issues (not perfect but working on it), hopefully GRE does the same
Stat hopefully can be added with a firmware update... even a modified stat that monitors only 5 towers or something (not having to go through 100 towers of a statewide system).

I wasn't aware that you couldn't modify systems on the HP-1 either. Guess it's "just how it is" for the new generation stuff. I don't like it one bit though, and fortunately the stuff I monitor is not likely to change very soon. If it does, it'll go encrypted / Nexgen / Trbo, So I'm not really out a whole lot.

I'd learn to live with the inability to modify systems and simply program in a frequency if I had the STAT feature and a TUNE option. I don't want to have to add a trunked system just to be able to grab its trunked data via the PC/IF interface.

Mike
 

IowaGuy1603

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Actually, I really can't really express how disappointed I am in the PSR-800 without using profanity. As far as I am concerned it's garbage due to its liimted usefulness.

  1. There is no way to enter a trunked system in without a computer and the software
  2. There is no multisite STAT option
  3. There is no numeric keypad
  4. There is no TUNE option (think PSR-500/600 and PRO-197/106)
  5. You can't charge the batteries and actually use the scanner at the same time
  6. I don't get nearly the life out of a set of rechargable batteries as I do when using those same batteries in a PSR-500

I just can't imagine GRE having the Multisite STAT option in the PSR-500/600 but not carrying it over to the PSR-800. Seriously, this has to be something easily addressed in firmware. I voiced this concern before, but people just don't seem to get the importance. I don't care if the PSR-800 has the room to add 100+ sites of a statewide system and hundreds of talkgroups for each site. It's totally inefficient, and every time you find a new talkgroup that might be used across multiple sites you have to attach it to a computer, fire up the software, and add the new talkgroup to each site of that networked Moto trunked system. At least if they supported Multisite STAT you could add a single site with 20 control channels covering 10 actual sites and have just one list of talkgroups.

Not having the TUNE function available is just crazy. The scanner is capable of doing so much, but you aren't afforded the opportunity to use it for sleuthing trunked systems without the TUNE mode.

Apparently you can't even access a TSYS object in a PSR-800 to modify it, select one of its frequencies to analyze, etc.

Seriously, I've had the scanner for months and just couldn't bring myself to use it because of such unnecessaary shortcomings. The only reason I still have it is because I got it at such a discount. I'd consider selling it off to an RR Admin.

There is just so much I could [and probably should] write here, but it isn't worth my time. I haven't seen any firmware updates come out for months, and the one that did really didn't add any new functionality. I get the feeling that GRE has no intentions on doing anything more with it. I hope I'm wrong. Just from what I've seen so far, they aren't supporting this scanner like they did the PSR-500/600.

Then I look at what Uniden has done with updates/upgrades since the original HP-1 came out. What a turnaround. They should own the market with the HP-1.

All of the things I've mentioned have been talked about ad nauseum in a hundred different threads. I imagine the only response I'll get to this is from all of the people that swear by this unit. But it is totally dependent on a computer and software to program it, which makes it totally useless to use to sleuth out new data for new trunked systems / sites.

Then, you can't simply lock out individual sites or trunked systems unless you hook it up the computer again and use the software to do so. I suppose I could just add each site and its associated talkgroups to separate scanlists and then enable/disable those scanlists. Even enabling/disablign scanlists is inefficient. And why should we have to do this when the PSR-500/600 already had these capabilities built in.

I'm sure I'd find much more to gripe about, but I can't bring myself to use the dev ice anymore than I already have.

Mike


I guess the radio isn't for you.

Kind of like the HP1 isn't for me since I don't like the design, or the interface, or the clumsy way of using zip codes to get the thing to scan an area..

I did a lot of research and looked at a lot of scanners before I bit the bullet on a $500 scanner.
 

RoninJoliet

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I think "mtindor" is mostly correct on having a "keypad" to make quick adjustments etc....The new technology in scanners (been scanning for 45 years) is a foot forward but for older guys like me who are NOT computer savvy its two feet backward and creates alot of headaches....I also have the GRE500/RS197 using them here on the ILL Digital Starcom and they both do great but when your in the mobile there are new TG's etc that need to be entered quickly....Way too many key presses into a "library" that in most instances does not have the most recent information...I been trying to update what i can here in ILL but i see on the rr.com database many errors....Lets bring out the ??GRE510 with same guts and a keyboard that will do TDMA.....
 

UPMan

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I wasn't aware that you couldn't modify systems on the HP-1 either. Guess it's "just how it is" for the new generation stuff.

For the HP-1, at least, it would be a real nightmare to have made a bunch of personalized modifications in the main database, only to have it either overwritten or mostly duplicated in the weekly updates. I suspect that similar considerations drive design considerations for the other "RadioReference Database"-based scanners out there. But, with the Extreme Upgrade, you can edit anything you want using the front-panel once you move it to a Favorites List (safely out of the way of weekly updates).
 

KE4ZNR

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Kind of like the HP1 isn't for me since I don't like the clumsy way of using zip codes to get the thing to scan an area..

Actually selecting your local area is far from clumsy with the HP-1.
You can select your local area one of several different simple ways:
1) via zip/postal code
2) via first few letters of city name.
3) via latitude & longitude
4) via auto discovery

If you consider all of the above "clumsy" then no radio is going to be simple
enough for you. The HP-1 is the most user intuitive radio on the market today.
Marshall KE4ZNR
 

KeyWest35

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I too am not sorry i bought the 800. I can actually now monitor a digital system over 17 miles away and i live in a deep valley where i could never pick up the old trunked system. I did a lot of research and for me it payed off and does most of what i need it to do.
 

CWR

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The new technology in scanners (been scanning for 45 years) is a foot forward but for older guys like me who are NOT computer savvy its two feet backward and creates alot of headaches....

I like to say: "I didn't leave the hobby , the hobby left me."
 

IowaGuy1603

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Actually selecting your local area is far from clumsy with the HP-1.


If you consider all of the above "clumsy" then no radio is going to be simple
enough for you. The HP-1 is the most user intuitive radio on the market today.
Marshall KE4ZNR

That is your opinion not mine.

I have no problem with the 800 interface. I use it daily, I use it mobile, I change scan lists on the fly with no problem------it just takes some set up before hand.

The entire point of my post was that different people use radios differently and have different preferences..............That is why manufacturers make radios with different options and different controls

To each his/her own.
 

VE3RADIO

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Common guys... cooler heads.. personally I have a HP and a GRE800 and both have a good use.. for me the HP is my bedside scanner/weather alert station while the 800 comes along on trips on the commuter train or to far away cities.. i think the two compliment each other. Nothing is stopping you guys from buying a PRO 197 or a 996XT.. both of these scanners are still the current model being produced in their respective area.... the hobby did not leave anyone.
 

fmon

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:confused: In multisite system scanning why would you travel statewide with STAT?. Ya get away from one tower and pick up the next strongest tower. STAT or ROAM requires the scanner to go shopping for strongest signal anyway. Not having that feature requires the scanner to go shopping for strongest signal and you are always driving towards or parallel to that signal until ya pick up the next strongest.

IOW, ya can't travel anywhere in Virginia using this scanner without picking up STARS. Guess what, ya can't travel across VA without picking up STARS using the GRE 500 family scanners and using ROAM, STAT or setting this feature to OFF.

This avid user of all 5 GRE/RS digital scanners (and I now travel with the 600, 500 and this 800) would certainly like to have a keyboard for switching scanlist and systems rapidly like the GRE 500 family. However, til I get out of this state, I scan only STARS LAW systems on this PSR-800 scanner. Same with other states.

One nice thing, I can scan VA, WV, DE, NC, SC, IN, IL, and KS in one Scanlist. These are all state wide trunking systems with MD and MO soon to come online with trunking systems. That leaves FL and KT of states I travel that I'm required to shift to another Scanlist.

Lot more here than I need to say in this thread, but I have total respect for all of ya in this thread, but I surly like this scanner even with it's several limitations.
 

mike_s104

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I like to say: "I didn't leave the hobby , the hobby left me."

No, more like "I didn't leave the hobby, the hobby left me behind." With new computers costing less than a new digital scanner and the easy to use scanner software and OS' , there isn't any reason to not have a PC and use it. A PC can open up a whole new world. Plus, if you're here, you have some kind of access to a PC and you can't be that useless with a PC. The Home Patrol and the PSR-800 make is so easy to scan whatever you want with no understanding of how anything works. I have a friend that his wife's grandfather is something like 80 YO+, half deaf and half blind...he uses a PC just fine. Age isn't a reason, but an excuse.

Lot more here than I need to say in this thread, but I have total respect for all of ya in this thread, but I surly like this scanner even with it's several limitations.

Can't agree with ya more.
 

Drafin

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I think the missed point is that the Hp-1 and the 800 are not for users that want absolute control and manipulation of data. They are for new users or very specialized users (users that travel or users that need to monitor many systems and frequencies. Uniden and GRE are both pretty clear on this.

Both scanners seem to do what they were designed to do very well, plug and play scanning.

Draf
 

mtindor

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:confused: In multisite system scanning why would you travel statewide with STAT?.

Don't be confused. I am able to reliably monitor 10 towers from my home alone. There are five just in my county. I want to monitor at least 8 of them routinely because they are either in my county or near the border. So, from home, STAT is the only way to go with 10 towers.

With that said, I ended up redoing my configuration in the PSR-800 so that I have 11 towers in 11 separate scanlists. Obviously they all have their own group of talkgroups [which is a pain, and STAT would avoid me having to do this]. But, given the capacity of the PSR-800 (esp with a 32 GB SD, or whatever it was that i bought aftermarker - i think i was 32 GB), and with the large number of scanlists available, I am okay with not having STAT.

Also, I noticed that each tower by default is sampled a lot quicker than it was in my PSR-500 when I had it set up with separate towers in separate scanlists. It takes about a second to sample each tower. And of course there is no getting around the extra time it takes trying to scan ten towers... regardless of whether STAT is available.

So I have less of a beef with STAT now that I see it's scanning each towers' scanlist in a second or less. I still don't like having to duplicate [and worse, update] talkgroups in 10 scanlists associated with the same system -- if STAT were available I'd have just one copy of the talkgroups, in one scanlist, and I'd have a TSYS object with 20 control channels added. Much neater, and much easier to update.

STAT or ROAM requires the scanner to go shopping for strongest signal anyway.

STAT does not require the scanner to go shopping for the strongest signal. It samples each control channel listed in a TSYS object when in STAT mode [if a signal is present of course]. I do understand the point you are making.

If I weren't such an "explorer", this scanner would be fine since I'd rarely have to reconfigure it. But a large part of the time I'm searching for new frequencies, talkgroups, and systems. Although the guts have all the capabilities to do this and more, the lack of ability to do this from the interface (TUNE / ANALYZE) is a shortcoming that I would think isn't too difficult to add.

I'm using it more, I'm liking it better. I still think the battery life is pretty sad on rechargeables. Once I get an AC adapter to plug the USB into for charging, I probably won't whine about this anymore either.

Mike
 

dugan

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I got the 800 and it fooled with it for a couple of weeks and I found myself going back to my PSR-500. I just really like having control over things. It's no big deal, because I gave the 800 to my son and he is very happy that I didn't find it useful.

I have been scanning for 40+ years and I have been computing for about the same length of time. I can't imagine living in today's world of technology if I hadn't spent most of my life designing and working with computers.

Before you complain too much about the modern stuff, I remember hunting down crystals for the my old 8 channel scanner. I don't remember complaining then, because, at the time, I thought that my 8 channel scanner was amazing.

I remember when the first mapping gps's came out. People were complaining about slight discrepancies between maps and the the gps's display of your position. Most of us were walking around in awe of the magnificent technology we were holding in the palms of our hands. Watching while the amazing receiver picked up miniscule signals, compared them to an almanac, ran them through a complex and precise set of calculations to locate your position in space and compare it to a set of maps to show you where you were on the planet and yet people complained it wasn't accurate enough or easy enough to use. Time solved that problem.

The market will sort out the details and the best designed scanners will prevail. Until then, if you can't afford a mistake you had better do your research before you make your purchase. I bought the 800 just to play with it. I found myself going back to my 500. So that's my review. I like the PSR 500 better, but that's just based on my experience.
 
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