Boatanchor
Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2011
- Messages
- 991
Owned and operated: Three months.
Scanning: Conventional and P25 trunked VHF & UHF systems & AM aircraft bands.
Antenna: Diamond D130 discone
Other comparison scanners: Uniden BCD996XT, BCD396XT & Icom R2500 (with P25 board).
Pro's:
A little cheaper than the Uniden BCD996XT & much cheaper than the Icom IC-R2500/P25.
1/2" shallower than the BCD996XT (may be easier to DIN mount in some vehicles).
Arguably better P25 audio quality than the BCD996XT (although I really don't notice much difference between the two). In this regard, the Icom beats both scanners for recovered P25 audio.
Nice custom search. I tend to prefer the custom search mode on the PSR600 (when the mute is not opening all the time due to interference).
Customizable 'Expert modes'. The ability to change various settings is fantastic and something the Uniden scanner definitely lacks.
Very fast CTCSS decoding. The CTCSS mute closure in particular operates much faster than the Uniden, eliminating squelch burst on some (depending on how the repeater tail is configured) CTCSS equipped signals. Uniden take note!
Full analogue volume control. The Uniden scanners operate a digital volume control and only has a finite number of adjustment steps.
Very fast computer interface (after you spend more money for the PC software).
Full Keypad allowing instant access to scan banks and simple direct entry programming. Critical for a mobile scanner! Hopefully, this won't be the last scanner GRE produces with a full keypad. Of course, it is a lot cheaper to produce a scanner with only half a dozen buttons, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out which direction the manufactures would prefer to go.. EZ scan? Na that's just spin!, its really all about EZ $'s..
Cons:
Awful front end (& IF?) filtering. Where do I start on this? I live about 6 Miles away from a radio site that contains several 1-2kW FM broadcast transmitters as well as some other 50w paging and trunking services. I can actually see the transmitter towers from my house, so needless to say the signal strength from these transmitters is pretty strong with the scanner connected up to an external discone antenna. I have to say that the PSR600 doesn't cope well with such strong signals. In practice, there are so many interfering signals across the 108-174Mhz band in particular that the scanner is almost useless for monitoring VHF aircraft or VHF LMR services. I have found that the only way I can prevent the mute from opening on many frequencies is to turn the attenuator on, but this just eliminates the signals I am trying to listen to. A home brew FM bandstop filter with 30-40dB attenuation across 88-108 fitted inline between the antenna and PSR600 does prevent most problems, but there are still some very annoying interference problems on the PSR600, that the IFX feature on the Uniden scanner just eliminates completely (the Uniden IFX feature is not just a gimmick, it really does work wonders). The fact is that many of these mobile/base scanners will get connected up to more efficient antennas than the stock telescopic whip. If the Uniden UBC996XT can handle it, why can't the GRE? Sadly, this issue alone is probably reason enough for me to offload the unit and purchase another UBC996XT.
Lack of free computer management software. Come on, get real! You spend all your 'hard earned' buying a shiny new digital scanner as complex as the PSR600, that is supplied with a computer/data interface cable and even a CD based manual and yet you are not provided with any software to edit channels? Worse still, if you want some software that actually allows you to make use of the aforementioned data lead and upload or download configurations to or from your PC, you have to spend more money to buy the software... Just UNBELIEVABLE! By the time you buy a PSR600 and then spend another $35-40 on software, you are fast approaching the price of a BCD996XT and the (free) Freescan software.
Inadequate LCD display. Unfortunately, GRE appear to have used the same LCD display from their handheld scanner in their mobile/base version. Lets not beat around the bush here - ITS NOT BIG ENOUGH! A mobile/base scanner needs a display that you can see easily from a distance. The font size on the 996XT is twice the size of the PSR600 and it makes a huge difference. Critically also, on the Uniden the important info such as group or channel names and talkgroup aliases are in a much bigger font that the less important stuff like CTCSS tone frequency and channel/object numbers. Does anyone really care what the object number is, when the scanner stops on a channel/talkgroup? Of course not, so why display it? On the PSR600, all four/five lines of this relevant and irrelevant information are in the same, small font size.
No location based scanning. Admittedly, I have not used it yet, but the Uniden does have the option of GPS based location scanning for the man (woman?) on the move. I can see that this could be a useful feature if you travel over large distances regularly.
No 68-88Mhz. Believe it or not, there are some parts of the world still operating LMR services in the 68-88Mhz band and increasing numbers of these scanners get sold to overseas markets as P25 becomes more widely adopted. Yes, I have several 66-88Mhz LMR services that I like to listen to (on my Uniden scanners).. Guess that pins me down to somewhere outside of the US
The fact that Uniden still includes this band in its scanners is interesting in that this company obviously recognizes that it's market is not just the Con US.. Maybe GRE would sell more product if it took the same view.
Anyway, that's all for now. Although some of these comments may be biased a little by personal opinions, much of the above is also based on simple, indisputable fact..
Scanning: Conventional and P25 trunked VHF & UHF systems & AM aircraft bands.
Antenna: Diamond D130 discone
Other comparison scanners: Uniden BCD996XT, BCD396XT & Icom R2500 (with P25 board).
Pro's:
A little cheaper than the Uniden BCD996XT & much cheaper than the Icom IC-R2500/P25.
1/2" shallower than the BCD996XT (may be easier to DIN mount in some vehicles).
Arguably better P25 audio quality than the BCD996XT (although I really don't notice much difference between the two). In this regard, the Icom beats both scanners for recovered P25 audio.
Nice custom search. I tend to prefer the custom search mode on the PSR600 (when the mute is not opening all the time due to interference).
Customizable 'Expert modes'. The ability to change various settings is fantastic and something the Uniden scanner definitely lacks.
Very fast CTCSS decoding. The CTCSS mute closure in particular operates much faster than the Uniden, eliminating squelch burst on some (depending on how the repeater tail is configured) CTCSS equipped signals. Uniden take note!
Full analogue volume control. The Uniden scanners operate a digital volume control and only has a finite number of adjustment steps.
Very fast computer interface (after you spend more money for the PC software).
Full Keypad allowing instant access to scan banks and simple direct entry programming. Critical for a mobile scanner! Hopefully, this won't be the last scanner GRE produces with a full keypad. Of course, it is a lot cheaper to produce a scanner with only half a dozen buttons, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out which direction the manufactures would prefer to go.. EZ scan? Na that's just spin!, its really all about EZ $'s..
Cons:
Awful front end (& IF?) filtering. Where do I start on this? I live about 6 Miles away from a radio site that contains several 1-2kW FM broadcast transmitters as well as some other 50w paging and trunking services. I can actually see the transmitter towers from my house, so needless to say the signal strength from these transmitters is pretty strong with the scanner connected up to an external discone antenna. I have to say that the PSR600 doesn't cope well with such strong signals. In practice, there are so many interfering signals across the 108-174Mhz band in particular that the scanner is almost useless for monitoring VHF aircraft or VHF LMR services. I have found that the only way I can prevent the mute from opening on many frequencies is to turn the attenuator on, but this just eliminates the signals I am trying to listen to. A home brew FM bandstop filter with 30-40dB attenuation across 88-108 fitted inline between the antenna and PSR600 does prevent most problems, but there are still some very annoying interference problems on the PSR600, that the IFX feature on the Uniden scanner just eliminates completely (the Uniden IFX feature is not just a gimmick, it really does work wonders). The fact is that many of these mobile/base scanners will get connected up to more efficient antennas than the stock telescopic whip. If the Uniden UBC996XT can handle it, why can't the GRE? Sadly, this issue alone is probably reason enough for me to offload the unit and purchase another UBC996XT.
Lack of free computer management software. Come on, get real! You spend all your 'hard earned' buying a shiny new digital scanner as complex as the PSR600, that is supplied with a computer/data interface cable and even a CD based manual and yet you are not provided with any software to edit channels? Worse still, if you want some software that actually allows you to make use of the aforementioned data lead and upload or download configurations to or from your PC, you have to spend more money to buy the software... Just UNBELIEVABLE! By the time you buy a PSR600 and then spend another $35-40 on software, you are fast approaching the price of a BCD996XT and the (free) Freescan software.
Inadequate LCD display. Unfortunately, GRE appear to have used the same LCD display from their handheld scanner in their mobile/base version. Lets not beat around the bush here - ITS NOT BIG ENOUGH! A mobile/base scanner needs a display that you can see easily from a distance. The font size on the 996XT is twice the size of the PSR600 and it makes a huge difference. Critically also, on the Uniden the important info such as group or channel names and talkgroup aliases are in a much bigger font that the less important stuff like CTCSS tone frequency and channel/object numbers. Does anyone really care what the object number is, when the scanner stops on a channel/talkgroup? Of course not, so why display it? On the PSR600, all four/five lines of this relevant and irrelevant information are in the same, small font size.
No location based scanning. Admittedly, I have not used it yet, but the Uniden does have the option of GPS based location scanning for the man (woman?) on the move. I can see that this could be a useful feature if you travel over large distances regularly.
No 68-88Mhz. Believe it or not, there are some parts of the world still operating LMR services in the 68-88Mhz band and increasing numbers of these scanners get sold to overseas markets as P25 becomes more widely adopted. Yes, I have several 66-88Mhz LMR services that I like to listen to (on my Uniden scanners).. Guess that pins me down to somewhere outside of the US
The fact that Uniden still includes this band in its scanners is interesting in that this company obviously recognizes that it's market is not just the Con US.. Maybe GRE would sell more product if it took the same view.
Anyway, that's all for now. Although some of these comments may be biased a little by personal opinions, much of the above is also based on simple, indisputable fact..
