GRE PSR-500 Post Release Thread

[kikito]

I know that nobody wants to hear it but the receiver's ability to filter out junk is terrible. Matt

We DO want to hear it, just as long as the usual and needed disclaimer is also mentioned:

YMMV

 

[h8tdigitalradio]

That is the only thing that I found it not to get along with, my monitor. Other than that I haven't found anything else that it doesn't like (including my laptop).

Hello,

The PSR500 doesn't get along with my 4 year old Compaq Presario notebook because of the CPU fan. However, the unit loves my 2 week old Dell Latitude D830 notebook, just gets along fine. The /\/\oto STBs don't cause any issues. The connectors are compression fitted, and its FiberOptic TV (FiOS).

The unit is desensitized by /\/\oto service monitor.

73

Dave AKA the Tripzter

 

[troymail]

Just got back from a tour around the area attempting to see what happens if I took the PSR-500 "closer" to the systems I've been seeing problems -

The Maryland Aviation Admin (BWI Airport) system (P25) http://radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=4790

and

Howard County Maryland (http://radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=1707)

Again - side by side monitoring of the PSR-500 and the BC-396...

Getting closer appears to make no difference.... half of the time, both of these systems don't even seem to decode the control channel when there is an active talkgroup and during the roughly 50% of the time it does decode and display the talkgroup that is active, half of those result in no voice activity.

As I mentioned earlier, there did appear (at least on the Howard system) to be some sort of "pattern" - when voice was heard as expected, it always seemed to be on the same couple of system frequencies.

As for the BWI system, if you're wondering how close I got to the system - at one point, I was close enough that I could almost have connected a cable to the tower....

So it isn't all bad - these systems seem to be working just fine:
Anne Arundel (http://radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=187)
Fort Meade (http://radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=3923)
Baltimore County (http://radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=189)
Baltimore City (http://radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&ctid=1212)

Now I know how the folks up north felt when the systems there didn't decode properly when the 396 first came out... let's hope GRE can use the available information to determine what the problem is and send us a firmware update that fixes the issues...

EDIT: some I finally got the CCDump function working -- I dump the Fort Meade 380Mhz system and see steady, constant data from 380.55Mhz CC but when I run the 866.2625 CC for the BWI/MAA system through I get bursts of similar data...the Fort Meade CCDump output always seems to refer to a BASE frequency of 380.000000 but the BWI/MAA system seems to be alternating between BASE (in the output) between 851.006250 and 762.006250.... (I have no idea what that means - just once again hoping the GRE folk "listening" can figure that part out).

 

[mharris]

Matt,

Actually I DO want to hear this. What type of mobile computer do you have? I have a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 and we are very close to switching to a Motorola APCO P-25 800 mHz digital trunked system at work. I probably won't be able to listen to it a lot during work, but I would like to have the option when I can, but if this doesn't receive well near a Toughbook, then that is an issue for me, too.

Jim NØJS

Hi Jim,

I am using the scanner along side a Data 911 MDC, and an XTL-5000 (Type II analog system here in Columbus). The audio on analog talkgroups is drowned out by some sort of noise. It may be a combination of RF from cellular/Nextel and the MDC. I am not sure. My Uniden 396 is not susceptible to whatever is getting into the 500.

Matt

 

[wwhitby]

I know that nobody wants to hear it but the receiver's ability to filter out junk is terrible.

My PSR does experience interference from my desktop, however its only on a couple of VHF frequencies. I don't get any interference while monitoring a UHF or 800Mhz trunked system. I do want to add a caveat that the only thing that my desktop doesn't cause interference on is my MT-1000 and that is only when using PL/DPL tones.

Warren

 

[mancow]

This thing flat doesn't work on P-25 trunked systems and it's a shame. It's a neat radio. I like the rest of the features. :evil:

I have it and a 2096 connected to the same signal splitter (electroline). It will work fine for a while then just flat stop. I am seeing the same things Troymail is seeing. There is plenty of signal and that is referenced by the S meter. I will hear a few transmissions then that's it. The 2096 will catch every one every time but the 500 just sits there for no obvious reason at all.

I have tried messing with supertrack, dwell and other settings but nothing works.


As I type this the 2096 is chatting away on the strongest tower near here. I heard nothing on the 500. However, the 500 just did open the audio on the start of the next transmission. It's as if it won't decode unless it gets in on the very first of the transmission each time.

The system is the new Kansas 800 Mhz P-25 system. So, it's not like it's an issue of differing firmware values or settings on thier end. Everyone uses XTS5000s and they are all fairly new.

I'm at a loss here as to what to do next.

 

[troymail]

This thing flat doesn't work on P-25 trunked systems and it's a shame. It's a neat radio. I like the rest of the features. :evil:

Do you have more than one P25 system to try? I have at least one 380Mhz Fed (fully?) P25 system working just fine....but another (n 800Mhz system) doesn't.

Baltimore City is working (I think it's a 3600 system with P25 voice) but Howard County (same I believe) does not...

This would make more sense if all systems of one type or another didn't work but that doesn't seem to be the case. I'm still hoping that GRE may be able to take in the information available and find the common denominator...

 

[mancow]

No, I don't have any other P-25 systems unless a band opening occurs. I did have it working on the 380 mhz Leavenworth Fed Prison system when I was in KC Saturday night but there wasn't enough traffic to get a good feel on what it was doing.

I started a new thread specifically about this topic in the GRE section. I thought it might make it easier to keep things all in one spot but I'm not a mod so I might get told otherwise.

 

[DaveIN]

Matt, Did you try the attenuator?

I know that nobody wants to hear it but the receiver's ability to filter out junk is terrible. I bought the radio to use at work in my cruiser (yes I know that the MDC and monitor are bad for reception). On analog trunking the radio emits a sort of buzzing noise which makes hearing the audio on a talk group almost impossible. If I move the radio around inside the car it does not help. Digital signals do not seem to have this problem, however some voice traffic is missed in this mobile environment. The radio works fine outside and in the house.

The signal strength meter indicates full strength on weak signals and sometimes on no signals at all. Very strange.

My 396 does not suffer from this receiver issue. I can use it in the cruiser with the MDC running all day long. In todays world there are many mobile computers in use. I cannot endorse a scanner that cannot be used near an MDC when there are other scanners on the market that can be used(296, 396, 996). This is a HUGE, HUGE issue for me. If you do not plan on using the radio in a mobile computing environment then you should enjoy it. It does have many nice features.

I like the scanner outside of the cruiser. The digital audio quality is nice, it seems to be very "crisp". I like the NAC decoding very much, and the screen displays a lot of good information.

I know there is nothing wrong with my unit, but I am still considering taking it back because I should be able to use it in the car. If the Uniden's didn't work in the car either, then I wouldn't complain as much. Come on GRE, tightening up the front end on a radio these days should be TOP PRIORITY with all of the wireless devices in use around us. I'm not saying you have to build an XTS front end, but please just something that works around other electronics. Remember also that regardless of price, this is a TOP end scanner, it should be held to a standard well below an XTS, but good enough to receive in all environments.

Thanks for reading my comments everyone.

Matt

 

[bc780l]

Quickie comments:

P25 Decode = Fantastic. Beats the pants off my 396! Quality of decode and quality of P25 audio is great! (non-trunked)

The radio has issues with Smartnet simulcast (at least in my market) that need to be fine-tuned, if not resolved. Lot's of chuffing, buzzing noise, and phase problems--much worse than my 396 with this particular system. I'm not happy in that respect. The "T" trunking symbol blinks rapidly during transmissions on this system, more when it's in bad phasing and is reflected in the quality of the audio, sometimes unusable even with full signal strength--and when the 396 is giving acceptable performance.

The "silent squelch tail" was advertised stating this was enhanced. I don't see any enhancements to this effect. Don't really know how they were going to do this other than recognize and process any present reverse bursts--albeit do it efficiently and consistently. It's a bit better on some CTCSS systems, but definitely no different on DCS systems than with my 396.

 

[KC1UA]

Wasn't there some extensive beta testing for this scanner? It's amazing that something this major would be overlooked. I wish I could help, but no such systems scannable from my location. Just about all P25 from here is conventional.

 

[fmon]

No, I don't have any other P-25 systems unless a band opening occurs. I did have it working on the 380 mhz Leavenworth Fed Prison system when I was in KC Saturday night but there wasn't enough traffic to get a good feel on what it was doing.

I started a new thread specifically about this topic in the GRE section. I thought it might make it easier to keep things all in one spot but I'm not a mod so I might get told otherwise.

Right now I can't agree with you on one P25 VHF system because it's doing better then the 96/2096. I'll be testing an 800 P25 system tomorrow.

 

[rdale]

Works flawless on MPSCS which is a full P25 system. If it really is a radio problem, I'd guess none of the beta testers live in Kansas?

 

[LEH]

Well mancow started a thread for the P25 issue. I put some comments there, so rather than repeat myself here, I'll be bad and reference it

http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showpost.php?p=632395&postcount=2

A bit of additional comments here though.

I did a side by side comparison with an analog non-P25 system and had no problems. The P25 decode is marginal. It is capturing a signal, it just does not know what to do with it.

My Langley system, which is a 3600 baud digital seems to be working fine. I'll test that more tomorrow when maintenance goes back to work.

I wonder how this might impact the VA STARS reception. Is this 9600 baud P25 800 MHz only or all 9600 baud P25 systems? I think I saw a comment on this, but don't recall what it said now.

Right now I am going to install the PSREdit software and see how well it works. Released about twenty minutes ago.

 

[kikito]

Wasn't there some extensive beta testing for this scanner? It's amazing that something this major would be overlooked. I wish I could help, but no such systems scannable from my location. Just about all P25 from here is conventional.

Well, the same thing happen with the BCD396T when it first came out.

In fact, what's being describe with PSR-500 it's exactly what the BCD396T was exhibiting when I first used it on our local system. It would keep blinking on and off whenever a talkgroup became active and very few times it'll lock on to one. Within 2 weeks it was isolated to a problem processing talkgroups higher than 5000 and a firmware update released. I too, was wondering at the time how could they have missed that....

Heck, when the BC296D and Pro-96 first came out, neither would track our P25 VHF system. Here I had a thousand dollars worth of radios and both were worthless to track our system.

Moral of the story, now more than ever there's hope to get this problem resolved. Like I've said, I've been there twice, long before there was the level of knowledge about P25 systems that we have today.

 

[mikeh]

If you only want the talk groups (known numbers) that you have already entered then remove the wildcard from that scanlist. That's all there is to it. Without the wildcard the radio can not wander off and look for stuff that isn't specifically known.

I ended up clearing the slate, grabbing a cold beer, and I sat down and started all over. I am set up pretty good now. I have a Fed list, local list, State P-25 list, etc....

It takes discipline but if you take your time your efforts will be rewarded.


Also, I spent the $14 to get the manual printed and binded today. That is the biggest help I've had so far.

Manual on a channel. Use the right and left to jump to your first scan list. Then use the up and down to see what's in it (ie: 1-XXXX, 8-XXXX) If you know you don't want 8 in 1 then edit it and remove it. Make sure you clean house and all scan lists only contain objects you want in them.

After that make sure the system you are trying to scan does not have a wild card with it. Other than that I don't know what to say.

It will dawn on you believe me... it just takes time.

keep trying

well after three days i got it to work right just the talkgroups well
holy batman GRE if you are listening
if you what to Compete with the e the 500 pound
montster Uniden then it is a good idea to put out a munual we can understand
and how one button for talkgroups and one for search
on most scaaner i hit one or too buttons
you can make to complex, and you did that here.

 

[diskmonger]

well after three days i got it to work right just the talkgroups well
holy batman GRE if you are listening
if you what to Compete with the e the 500 pound
montster Uniden then it is a good idea to put out a munual we can understand
and how one button for talkgroups and one for search
on most scaaner i hit one or too buttons
you can make to complex, and you did that here.

I've seen you GRE bashing in almost every thread in this forum. If your that unhappy with the radio maybe you should return it.

 

[DonS]

well after three days i got it to work right just the talkgroups well
holy batman GRE if you are listening
if you what to Compete with the e the 500 pound
montster Uniden then it is a good idea to put out a munual we can understand
and how one button for talkgroups and one for search
on most scaaner i hit one or too buttons
you can make to complex, and you did that here.

Based on the above text, it seems somewhat obvious that the PSR-500 manual would be difficult to understand.

 

[mikeh]

can you this

Based on the above text, it seems somewhat obvious that the PSR-500 manual would be difficult to understand.

ok i am typeing fast because it makes no sense can you read this
the book that comes with the radio is no help at all can you read this
have a nice day.


i am not pick you i thing when you lay out 500$ gre sould thing a good book

 

[Statevillian]

OK been a long weekend but here is my opinion, my experience, from the "Take it for what it's worth Department"....... My mini-review of the 500. It took me time to learn. Many of the concerns I have seen listed here and my initial panics were due to HUMAN ERROR. ME. Spend time really reading and experimenting with settings, etc. I have become comfortable now. Trunked systems?.....Motorola 800 and 900...excellent. 800 EDACS?...Superb. Conventional...VHF and UHF...excellent. 400Mhz LTR trunking and VHF LTR trunking....great! I plugged in several freqs willy-nilly in the freqs section and like majic a short time later I went back into the frequency list and they had autmatically went to the appropriate LCN. Starcom21 700/800Mhz trunking in Illinois?....great for the most part. Simulcast sites are shakey and the 500 cannot deal with them very well. I saw reports of interference posted. I have had only 1 experience with interference...none next to my laptop...which is wireless. But, I was within 2-3 miles of EDACS tower and I got some interference on an 800Mhz voice channel in the same range...867.xxxx. Software will help sooooo much. Right now my big fingers are cramped from all this programming. Very tedious. Overall, I am very happy. Even in side by side with the Uniden 396 with same settings each had missed aTG transmission here or there but not many and not one way or the other as far as the units were concerned. I have no complaints about the manual either. Overall, a fantastic unit for the money. Software is really gonne take me to a whole new level of scanning. Can't wait.