A question about my PSR-300

[Smerri]

For my scanners, I have a PSR-300, a PSR-400, and a Uniden BR330T. My GRE's stay on my desk while my Uniden travels with me in my vehicle. On my car I have a Valor PMM3B which works great. However, today I grabbed my 300 with me when I left and plugged the antenna in and the reception in the car was dreadful. It was having trouble picking up many local signals, tended to be very scratchy and was skipping, and was not even worth listening to. For me, this was interesting as I have never had a problem with the scanner while it is on my desk, and also, I am very close to purchasing a PSR-500. Is this a problem anyone has experienced or one which people could offer out suggestions as to why this would happen? Is it the scanner itself?

Thanks for any help provided.

 

[rchalupajr]

It is said that the GRE scanners are very sensative. I have read on the board that they tend to be overloaded when conneted to an outside/upgraded antenna. Try using the attenuater. I have a PSR-300 and it work's great with a RS 800Mhz duck when mobile.

 

[hiegtx]

For my scanners, I have a PSR-300, a PSR-400, and a Uniden BR330T. My GRE's stay on my desk while my Uniden travels with me in my vehicle. On my car I have a Valor PMM3B which works great. However, today I grabbed my 300 with me when I left and plugged the antenna in and the reception in the car was dreadful. It was having trouble picking up many local signals, tended to be very scratchy and was skipping, and was not even worth listening to. For me, this was interesting as I have never had a problem with the scanner while it is on my desk, and also, I am very close to purchasing a PSR-500. Is this a problem anyone has experienced or one which people could offer out suggestions as to why this would happen? Is it the scanner itself?

Thanks for any help provided.

I don't have the PSR-300, but I do have the 500.

In a large metro area, with the 500, you can definitely overload the scanner with too much signal, causing it to desense. This will give some of the same symptoms you describe, i.e. missed calls, poor reception, etc. When I got the 500, I immediately put one of the Radio Shack 800mhz antennas on it. However, the receiver is so sensitive, multiple cell sites caused the problems described (there are about 8 within a half mile of my house, and well over a dozen, most of these stacked, multiple sites, within a mile). I missed calls on the 500 that my 396 picked up with ease. So, I switched back to using the stock antenna when in town. Problem solved. I get much better 800mhz reception on the trunked systems, plus the stock antenna does better on Vhf-hi than the R/S 800 anyway.

When I get out of the immediate metro area, to a less RF dense environment, I do switch the 500 either an external antenna (I have the same one you do), or one of the Diamond antennas (RH771 or RH77CA), & connect the 396 to the mag mount.

The 300 is basically a successor to the Pro-97 (with improvements, of course), and the Pro-97 was reported to be subject to overload from too much signal. Try it with it's stock antenna, or something without as much gain, & see if you don't get better reception.

 

[Smerri]

I turned on my global attenuator and while my car was stationary it was better, but as soon as I started moving, it started cutting out and coming in very lousy again.

 

[Smerri1029]

Any other suggestions?

Fucn -> ATT [I get my G on top] and my Global Attenuator is activated.

 

[mikey60]

Remember that both the A and the G must be on for the radio to be globally attenuated. If only the G appears, then the radio is in global mode, but not attenuated. If only the A is on, only that channel is attenuated.

Mike

 

[Smerri1029]

Remember that both the A and the G must be on for the radio to be globally attenuated. If only the G appears, then the radio is in global mode, but not attenuated. If only the A is on, only that channel is attenuated.

Mike

Oh ok! I was wondering that so I am glad I asked.

I don't remember the manual mentioning that both letters should be highlighted (unless I read wrong) so glad I asked here. I will give that a shot when I get home from work.

Thank you.

 

[Smerri]

Well, when I put the Attenuator on, it made things worse, leading me to believe overload is not the problem.

It is strange, as when I am stationary things come in fairly clear, however when I start moving, reception becomes very skippy to non-existent.

 

[emscapt9816]

Try Troubleshooting

Check your antenna, cable, and connector. Also see if reception is better with the duck. It could be a loose bnc connector on the radio as well. Has the radio been dropped? If reception was good before then suddenly poor, any of the above situations can cause the problem. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Gilligan]

I have a Pro-97 and had a second one. This is the same radio that the GRE PSR-300 is based off of. The antenna connector inside the radio on both scanners is always coming loose and affects reception just as you describe. I suggest you open the radio up and see if that connector is loose. You would know because the part on top of the scanner may move just slightly. And it could affect reception.

 

[Smerri]

Alright. From the outside, my antenna is tight and secure, doesn't have any wiggle.

On my desktop, my stock duckie, Radio Shack 800 mHz, and Diamond RH77CA all work fine, pick up all my UHF, VHF, 800 mHz Trunked channels, from my nearby communities to Boston (which is approximately 35 miles away). Brought my scanner out to my car and just sitting in my driveway, the same three antennas worked fine, and then plugged my Valor PMM3B Mag Mount into my 300, and sitting stationary in my driveway, it worked fine. However, as soon as I started driving, it come in jumpy and scratchy and lousy. I was even listening to a local town on a medical and when I stopped at the end of a street it was clear, but when I started accelerating, the issues started happening again. I had my BR330T in my car last night with the mag mount and it worked fine, which leads me to believe it has nothing to do with the antenna and is the scanner but could be mistaken