Extremely Happy With GRE:)

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tglendye

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
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A couple of weeks ago, I posted a problem with my PSR-500 after the latest firmware update.

http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/233962-firmware-u2-1-psr-500-issue.html

I immediately started having reception problems following the update. I had done enough reading in the past that I knew (and basically believed) that the updates could not harm the scanner, but I could not explain the timing of the problem.

I contacted GRE and received a RMA # and shipping instructions. And then... the scanner started working correctly again. But only for a day or so. The problem began again but then I noticed the problem appeared to be w/n the BNC connector. I told GRE what I believed the problem was and that the scanner was on the way. The scanner is around 4 years old and certainly not under warranty.

The scanner was scheduled to arrive today (Wednesday) at GRE. Around 5 PM (EST), I received a call from Mike w/ GRE. He told me my scanner was fixed and what the problems were. He said it was a loose solder w/ the BNC connector and also found a part (I can't recall which, but hopefully it will be in the bill) that was borderline out of spec. He said the sound on the scanner did not sound right to him, so he replaced that part as well- at no charge.

I am anxious to see how the scanner performs once it returns. I appreciate the customer service of Mike and GRE as a whole.

Thanks!
 

GrumpyAeroGuy

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted a problem with my PSR-500 after the latest firmware update.

http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/233962-firmware-u2-1-psr-500-issue.html

I immediately started having reception problems following the update. I had done enough reading in the past that I knew (and basically believed) that the updates could not harm the scanner, but I could not explain the timing of the problem.

I contacted GRE and received a RMA # and shipping instructions. And then... the scanner started working correctly again. But only for a day or so. The problem began again but then I noticed the problem appeared to be w/n the BNC connector. I told GRE what I believed the problem was and that the scanner was on the way. The scanner is around 4 years old and certainly not under warranty.

The scanner was scheduled to arrive today (Wednesday) at GRE. Around 5 PM (EST), I received a call from Mike w/ GRE. He told me my scanner was fixed and what the problems were. He said it was a loose solder w/ the BNC connector and also found a part (I can't recall which, but hopefully it will be in the bill) that was borderline out of spec. He said the sound on the scanner did not sound right to him, so he replaced that part as well- at no charge.

I am anxious to see how the scanner performs once it returns. I appreciate the customer service of Mike and GRE as a whole.

Thanks!


Though I am still under warranty, they took care of me and went "over and beyond" imho to help me get a local exchange (which, if push came to shove, they could have denied within reason).

I, for one, am a loyal customer and will recommend GRE to anyone.

Funny thing is, I never heard of GRE until I got back into the scanner market after 20 years with a BC235XLT which is going out of style with rebanding and digital trunking, etc. about a month ago (!) Learned about them HERE, and checked them out. Glad I chose GRE over Uniden, as all I have had was unidens up to this GRE. All of my Unidens serve me well to this day, to the best of their capability given advances in radio technology. Nothing against Uniden, but I DO feel the GRE suits my needs better than the Uniden would have.

They do seem to value customers and back it up with actions.... kind of a rarity anymore it seems...

Glad to see they took care of you. Nice.
 
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jackj

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NW Ohio
I have been involved with 2-way service for about half of my working life. I got my first scanner, an 8 Ch, crystal controlled Bearcat back around 1970, don't remember the model. I have always owned Bearcat scanners. The State Patrol went digital but that didn't bother me, I'm not really interested in traffic stops. Then my county announced they were going to a digital trunked system. So I bought the best Bearcat model I could find, a BCD996T. You couldn't understand either Ohio's MARCS or Lucas Co.'s system, mealy mouthed and distorted audio. Two firmware updates later, it now works. Not well but you can understand it about 75% of the time now.

I learned about GRECOM here and have read glowing reports on how well it received digital signals. I bought a PSR-800 and I love it. Ohio's MARCS is 100% copy and even Lucas Co.'s system is around 95-98% copy. It is extremely easy to program while Uniden's user manual was not written by a tech writer and is impossible to understand and follow.

I will never buy another Uniden scanner. They put a scanner on the market that they knew didn't work. They did mostly fix it with firmware updates but I was stuck for about 6 months with a brand new scanner that didn't work. How do I know they won't shaft me again? Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.
 

Ensnared

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Waco, Texas
GRE, Spot-On

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a problem with my PSR-500 after the latest firmware update.

http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/233962-firmware-u2-1-psr-500-issue.html

I immediately started having reception problems following the update. I had done enough reading in the past that I knew (and basically believed) that the updates could not harm the scanner, but I could not explain the timing of the problem.

I contacted GRE and received a RMA # and shipping instructions. And then... the scanner started working correctly again. But only for a day or so. The problem began again but then I noticed the problem appeared to be w/n the BNC connector. I told GRE what I believed the problem was and that the scanner was on the way. The scanner is around 4 years old and certainly not under warranty.

The scanner was scheduled to arrive today (Wednesday) at GRE. Around 5 PM (EST), I received a call from Mike w/ GRE. He told me my scanner was fixed and what the problems were. He said it was a loose solder w/ the BNC connector and also found a part (I can't recall which, but hopefully it will be in the bill) that was borderline out of spec. He said the sound on the scanner did not sound right to him, so he replaced that part as well- at no charge.

I am anxious to see how the scanner performs once it returns. I appreciate the customer service of Mike and GRE as a whole.

Thanks!

Yes, after having dealt with various companies, GRE is a breath of fresh air. GRE has always come through for me with flying colors.

I have experienced problems with their BNC module & had to have it replaced on two occasions. But, I am pretty rough on my PSR 500.
 

tglendye

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
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Virginia
To add a little more to the story, I actually hung up on him when he called. When my cellphone rang, I checked the caller ID and saw a strange area code. I meant to send it to voice mail, but my clumsy fingers hung up on him.

After a google search of the phone number and seeing it came back to GRE, I thought what are the odds of me calling the number and actually getting to the person that called from a major company. Well... I dialed the number and the gentleman answered, "Hey Todd... this is Mike with GRE". He was real nice and explained what they had found and it was repaired.
 

KD6HRI

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Dec 8, 2011
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Location
Citrus Heights, CA.
Customer service is one HUGE reason why I like GRE besides building a very good scanner. My PSR-500 had a gimpy antenna from the git go and I called GRE and without question they shipped out a replacement. Although I rarely use the stock antenna and run either a Diamond RH-77 or RH-519 their quick and courteous response helped me on what was a relatively minor issue. Many thanks GRE!
 

steve888

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Fairfax County, Virginia
Wow, nice to hear all of this about GRE. I've had my PSR-800 for three weeks and I'm loving it so far. Sound quality is amazing for such a small speaker and the reception is incredible. I routinely pick up traffic a good 16-18 miles away without any problem at all (but that's on an Austin Condor antenna that I added to replace the stock antenna). I can also pick up helicopters radioing to K-9 units on the ground. Last night I was listening to firefighters inside a burning house who were using the radio units inside their full face masks to radio back to their battalion commander on the street outside...

AWESOME!!!
 

IowaGuy1603

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Jones County Iowa
I had a problem with my 800 where I broke the power connector .............they charged me about $80 to fix it....but it was my fault (under warranty)


The connector became loose again this last month..............generated a ticket and sent it back to GRE................they re-soldered the connection and the radio is once again working like a charm

No charge the second time
 
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KeyWest35

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St Louis County Missouri
I cannot say enough good things about GRE. I had problems installing the software when i received mine last July and Raj from customer support talked me through it. I have been listening to public service radio since the fifties and my 800 does everything i want it to do and can't wait till the 900 becomes available. The reception of signals especially digital is awesome. I am picking up digital signals that a friends Uniden wouldn't at my house and i am farther away from the transmit site than i should even receive its signal and in a valley at that. My friend was so impressed with the 800's reception he bought one too.
 
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i also love mine but hate how it eats batteries my pro-96 would last for days on one charge on batteries to bad i dont monitor mine a lot because i hate to keep a power plug into the scanner i was looking into buying the 900 but i think someone said it would not trunk a phase-2 system and were getting a 700mhz phase-2 system here in cleveland for Ohio Marcs.
 

CMale0624

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Gre 500

I've been noticing a lot of good comment's about GRE scanner's and was thinking of getting one at around $350 at scannermaster.com but I notice a lot of you people are talking about GRE as if they have a web site or online store where you can purchase one. Is that where most of you guy's got your's? I'm more interested in a company that offer's help, stand's behind their product and explain's thing's to you rather then someone like Radio Shack which I'm not to crazy about. Anyway, can someone be so kind as to tell me where you got your GRE? Since I'm a newbie I've been thinking of the GRe 500 since I've never had a digital scanner before.

Chris
PRO 42 PRO 97
 

pepsima1

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I've been noticing a lot of good comment's about GRE scanner's and was thinking of getting one at around $350 at scannermaster.com but I notice a lot of you people are talking about GRE as if they have a web site or online store where you can purchase one. Is that where most of you guy's got your's? I'm more interested in a company that offer's help, stand's behind their product and explain's thing's to you rather then someone like Radio Shack which I'm not to crazy about. Anyway, can someone be so kind as to tell me where you got your GRE? Since I'm a newbie I've been thinking of the GRe 500 since I've never had a digital scanner before.

Chris
PRO 42 PRO 97


I have bought my GRE PSR 500 and 800 from Amazon.com and there is a store call Online Best Deals and they took care of me. The cheapest in town. No tax and a great deal.
 

CMale0624

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I saw the $338 one's at Amazon from Online Best Deals but I would need a company that would stand behind it and answer any and all question's after I bought it. My experiance with scanner's never went past having a Pro 97 and manualling entering frequencies into it and listening to the few that I entered. Nowadays with have computer's where we can program scanner's with and a whol;e new field has opened up with digital and trunking. Sorry if I ask a lot of question's but I'm pretty stupid when it come's to scanner's. Please forgive.
 

pepsima1

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I saw the $338 one's at Amazon from Online Best Deals but I would need a company that would stand behind it and answer any and all question's after I bought it. My experiance with scanner's never went past having a Pro 97 and manualling entering frequencies into it and listening to the few that I entered. Nowadays with have computer's where we can program scanner's with and a whol;e new field has opened up with digital and trunking. Sorry if I ask a lot of question's but I'm pretty stupid when it come's to scanner's. Please forgive.


I am going to be quite truthfully honest with you. There is no company that is going to sell you a new digital scanner radio and going to be able to answer alot of questions for you. They are either going to charge your to program your radio to the specs that you want which is your state, county, and city. With these new digital trunking scanners you are going to have to have alot of hours and alot of your time to read the manuals, search the internet and also alot of time on RR to have people on this forum answers some questions. These radios are quite complicated since the trunking systems that these cities and counties and states are using are pretty complicated too. Just buy the best one out there right now which is the GRE units by far because they have the best tech support and just dive into it. You are going to spends alot of hours learning but when you get the hang of it you will have it dialed in and it will work nice for you.
 

IowaGuy1603

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I saw the $338 one's at Amazon from Online Best Deals but I would need a company that would stand behind it and answer any and all question's after I bought it. My experiance with scanner's never went past having a Pro 97 and manualling entering frequencies into it and listening to the few that I entered. Nowadays with have computer's where we can program scanner's with and a whol;e new field has opened up with digital and trunking. Sorry if I ask a lot of question's but I'm pretty stupid when it come's to scanner's. Please forgive.
That is just not going to happen for the most part.

I hope you don't expect the clerk at Radio Shack to be able to tell you how to work yoru Pro97...they probably know how to turn it on..............maybe.


I bought my 800 off ebay......................I couldn't tell you what company or store it came from.


When I had trouble I went straight to the GRE website -------generated a problem ticket...and when I got an RMA from GRE ---I sent it into the company for WARRANTY repair.

As far as learning how to do things.............that what this forum is for.................you get your answers/tips from people who actually use the product ---not a salesman
 

CMale0624

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I'm beginning to understand that, it's just that I was trying to find the best price at the best company. Scannermaster has a better price then buying from GRE direct but then when you add all pre-programming and all the bells and whistle's they just basically are about the same. I appreciate the answer's to my question's, guess I'll just jump in and get my feet wet.

Chris
 

jackj

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NW Ohio
Chris, I bought my 800 from Amazon.com. It was a little over $400, don't remember exactly how much, but no sales tax or shipping. I think that when you figure in the cost of a computer program to use to program the PSR-500 you will be close to the cost of the PSR-800. The 800 comes with free updates to the frequency data base on RR, programing software and cable.

You don't program the 800, just select the systems you want to listen to. The radio knows how to pick them up. It is very simple to set up, I would recommend the 800 over the 500 for someone who is just starting out.
 

krokus

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When you replaced your 500's BNC, did you use the GRE-sourced replacement, or did you go with another company's BNC? If another company's, which one?

I'm needing to replace mine, and have a BNC that I purchased from GRE, but am leery of installing the same thing that tends to die. (It looks like the same BNC that GRE used, when they made my Pro-39, which I replaced with another company's BNC.)
 

krokus

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I would have to agree with this. The PSR-800 is a much easier to use interface. You also get the added benefit of a few year's newer technology in the radio, so it decodes some digital systems better.
 

krokus

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Have you upgraded to newer technology batteries? The newer radios use more power than the older ones, but they are doing a lot more work for you. (The overall power efficiency has improved, there is a lot more inside the box, especially for decoding digital systems.)
 
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