154.5050

[btritch]

The Local EMS Base Here Went To Narrowband FM on the Freq. of 154.5050... However when I put it in my PSR 500 it puts it in as 154. something.. Is there way to put that freq. in the 500 without it dropping down to 154 something?

 

[ibagli]

If you can't hear it on 154.4975, it should enter fine if you enable FlexStep. If you're doing it by hand, Pgm, Func, F3, then it's 17 down from the top.

 

[btritch]

Not hearing without it on freq. The flex step option was off. I turned it on.. Still won't let me put it in as 154.505, Reverts Back.

 

[RKG]

Did you "save" after activating Flex Step?

 

[ibagli]

I just checked the manual, and 154.505 apparently isn't in its frequency range. It skips from 154.4975 to 154.515.

150.8525 - 154.4975 MHz 7.5 kHz FM
154.5150 - 154.6400 MHz 5 kHz FM

 

[btritch]

Dang It!!! That's About Right! Well Thanks For The Help Anyway...

 

[Mike_G_D]

If you have WIN500 go into the Extended Settings and check the "Allow 5KHz steps 138-174MHz" setting and save and upload to the scanner. That will allow you to enter 154.505MHz - it worked for me. I have both the FlexStep and that setting checked.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the actual setting on the radio using manual entry to do this so I only know how to do it using the WIN500 software - I suspect that PSREDIT has a similar control. The only manual setting I could find that might be related is the choice of bandplan - US or Canadian; if that is it that would seem somewhat strange but, oh well...

-Mike

 

[btritch]

If you have WIN500 go into the Extended Settings and check the "Allow 5KHz steps 138-174MHz" setting and save and upload to the scanner. That will allow you to enter 154.505MHz - it worked for me. I have both the FlexStep and that setting checked.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the actual setting on the radio using manual entry to do this so I only know how to do it using the WIN500 software - I suspect that PSREDIT has a similar control. The only manual setting I could find that might be related is the choice of bandplan - US or Canadian; if that is it that would seem somewhat strange but, oh well...

-Mike

I have win500 so I can do that... I don't know what they're gonna do now, They were supposed to have changed but are still on the old one now...So we'll See.. But I do have win500 and I will fix that setting! Thanks For The Info! I never thought of that!!

 

[RKG]

<Pgm>
<Func>F3
<Func><DnArrow>
step up to "138-174 5 KHz"
Right arrow to change "No" to "Yes"
F1 (Save)

 

[DonS]

<Pgm>
<Func>F3
<Func><DnArrow>
step up to "138-174 5 KHz"
Right arrow to change "No" to "Yes"
F1 (Save)

That menu item was changed to "Bandplan" (USA vs. Canada) a few versions back.

 

[Mike_G_D]

That menu item was changed to "Bandplan" (USA vs. Canada) a few versions back.

That's what I suspected since I couldn't find the "old" "5KHz Steps..." as RKG indicated. I didn't try it at the time. I personally think they should have stayed with the old name as the new one can be somewhat misleading (for those of us in the states, anyway). I assume it still only applies to the 138MHz to 174MHz band? If it applies to other bands now, however, it could be a problem.

Anyway, I am glad you kept the "old" name for that function the same in your software, Don!

-Mike

 

[btritch]

so the only way to get it to work and change it now is in the Win500 software that I use? It can't be done manually...Thanks for the help guys! 'Preciate It

 

[ibagli]

The bandplan change can be done manually, through the process RKG mentioned. The final menu option has been changed to "Bandplan," though, with "USA" and "Canada" as the choices.

 

[Mike_G_D]

so the only way to get it to work and change it now is in the Win500 software that I use? It can't be done manually...Thanks for the help guys! 'Preciate It

Actually, no; I think you can change it in the current firmware versions manually by selecting the "Canadian" bandplan as opposed to the "USA" version. If I am understanding correctly what DonS said, the function simply got renamed to "bandplan" as opposed to "Enable 5KHz steps...etc." with the later firmware revisions. The name seems silly and misleading, of course, but that's how I understand it. I only hope that it only affects the 138MHz to 174MHz band as it apparently used to.

This is still one of my biggest beefs with the GRE way of thinking in terms of their scanners. They keep trying to force usage of a "bandplan" based on, I am guessing" whatever official government documents they can access and research at the time of the scanner model's development. This invariably leads to issues later when standards change, specific allowances for new steps are made, or simply because of errors in the documents themselves (they DO occur) or even because of a misinterpretation of the documents in the first place.

I wish they would just give up the whole preprogrammed "bandplan steps" effort and just make steps easily user adjustable in both search and standard frequency enter mode (along with modulation mode - including NFM, BTW) in 1.25KHz increments. You could have preset standard step sizes like 5KHz, 6.25KHz, 7.5KHz, 12.5KHz, 15KHz, 20KHz, 25KHz, 30KHz, and 50KHz - those nine are the most common step sizes in the land mobile bands in the USA and Canada. They would be the "defaults" with the 5KHz step size selected as default for the civilian non-federal portions of the VHF-HI band and the 6.25KHz step size selected for the federal and military portions (I know that the default will soon be 7.5KHz for the civilian non-federal portions of that band but for now, 5KHz would suffice fine and with the ability to easily reprogram those steps this would become a non-issue). The UHF and above ranges would default to 6.25KHz except for the military aircraft band of 225MHz to 400MHz wherein the default could be 50KHz steps. Then the user should have the easy ability to change those steps as needed in 1.25KHz increments. That's it! NO set bandplan stuff!!

Oh well...I can wish.

-Mike