GRE PSR-500 Post Release Thread

[SCPD]

Got the 500 in today...

I do not remember if this has been addressed in the previous 300 posts and the search turned up nothing...

So if I have a system that I only want to have a wildcard group search added to it... and I do NOT want to add it to a scan list... and I want to go to MAN mode, sit on the wildcard, and listen to all of the groups... And say I get on the water department. How do I search for some other group? The manual does not address this directly.

For instance, I have a system I would never really listen to, thus, I have absolutely no need for it in a scan list. Say it is the power company (Entergy). One night my power may go out, and I want to find out what is going on. I go to the Entergy TSYS, and my wildcard group object. It could get stuck on a group, and I want to search for the one I want to hear. On the 96, you could just keep hitting scan, then pause to hold on the group you wanted.

Any clues??

Maybe someone else already answered this... All you have to do is to un-select it from all scan lists and the radio keeps track of the object as a "ns" no-scan-list object. You can then either PGM EDIT FIND, then press MAN, or just press MAN and type in the ID number.

 

[SCPD]

Today, all day i compared the PSR500 to my PRO96,2096 and especially the 396...On the ILL-Starcom System the PRO96,2096, and 396 all hear on three different towers,113,101,125- 90% of talk groups while as others have mentioned the PSR500 has a flickering "T" with a 5 bar signal but NO modulation...As mentioned by one poster its specs may be too tight...On my CM5094A outside antenna with 9913 coax where the 2096 and 396 are flawless it was the same, no difference...Its a "fantastic" scanner=great sensativity,audio,programming is not hard....Excellent light display...#s keys pretty small,would rather have groups like Uniden396 rather than one big dump of IDs, hard to keep track of where they are like the PRO92....Changing antennas made no difference on ID drop-outs, when it wants to talk it talks...The SNFM 7.5 audio is pretty "low" until you use the "Audio-Blast-6%"....My personal opinion is its a keeper but its gonna need a adjustment on hearing these Starcom towers just a little better however, at least my wife is not screamming at me about that god-awful machine-gunning....Thirty five years in the hobby, just my OPINION, thanks for reading....

I mentioned this in the other P25 thread... Someone mentioned that setting the TSYS SuperTrack = off helped. There is a SRCH SuperTrack setting in the global menu, but this is just for Tune and Search modes (per the built in help). So try the setting in the TSYS of interest. From what I hear the SuperTrack = Off is similar to the Pro-96 F1.2 DSP, and SuperTrack = On is similar to the Pro-96 F1.4 DSP. As we know 1.2 vs 1.4 performed differently in various areas and there were passionate opinions on each. Maybe this will help. I am curious as to what everyone finds. Maybe it should be posted over in the P25 Audio thread.
http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84626

 

[SCPD]

Its quite possible that GRE didn't have any beta testers in those areas to attempt to monitor those systems.

I don't know anything about how GRE did their beta testing, so that's just a WAG on my part.

Warren

I was part of the beta test program, and we did not have any reports about this at all. Actually the reports we had among the testers were very good on reception. I have contacted them, and they are following the threads and have some ideas in work for a release pretty soon. I think trying SuperTrack On/Off per the one user that did this with a good improvement will be helpful information for them. I think GRE did their homework and still are so it is good to provide detailed information and not worry so much about if they are listening or if they will do something. Detailed information like:

1) When you are on a voice channel and not hearing audio, does the display also show "DG".

2) I know we are all passionate and bad = BAD, but if we describe what percentage of lost audio vs the other radios, this is also good. For example, the Pro-96 receives 90% of transmissions, and the PSR-500 receives nn%

3) Some have mentioned that it used to work and now it does not. That is interesting for sure. Did location change or proximity to possible interference? Did you try with the Att on and off to look for a difference.

I recommend not making an opinion until listening within a two or more radio comparison for at least 15 minutes. I would also recommend changing the position of the radios to negate any nulls etc.

The above kind of information would help in a quick understanding and possible fix.

They are listening. Like others here I have a day job, so I can not give an opinion on all issues, but felt that it would be useful to bring some focus to the posts and reassure everyone that I have been told GRE is listening and has some options on how to address this. What they need is specific information that they can track. I'll add this to the P25 Audio thread too..

 

[kikito]

Well, a quick report from me:

The PSR-500 is tracking our ALMR P25 9600 VHF trunked system perfectly. http://www.radioreference.com/modules.php?name=RR&sid=2447

What's even better is that using the "FlexStep" expert setting works great at properly tuning and displaying the irregular frequency steps of 12.5kHz in the 154.6500 to 156.2400 range. This was an annoyance with the PRO-96 since it would tune to the nearest fixed step instead.

It's been running side by side with the Pro-96 and BCD396T and doing great so far.

I'll post more by tomorrow to see if it keeps working fine since there's reports that some radios have gradually stop decoding P25 in the long run.....

Here's another update from my area.

I'm starting to notice some of the same symptoms people are describing with the problem of not tracking properly or sporadically. I haven't been able to put my finger on it yet but in my case I'm zeroing in a couple of things:

-- One is the "FlexStep" option I'm using. It seems that some voice transmissions and some control channels that fall outside the "native" frequency step when using this option, don't quite receive reliably. For example: one control channel's true frequency is 156.1375. With FlexStep Off, that rounds to 156.135. When I go to analyze that CC, it always shows good reception/decoding and you can hear the CC data audio. With FlexStep On, the frequency shows the correct step of 156.1375. However, when I go to analyze, it's hit or miss if I get a reliable decode rate and most of the time I get no data audio coming through the speaker. When I go to tune and punch in 156.1375, it's also hit or miss if it shows reliable data BUT when I step the frequency down two steps to the "native" 156.135 of the radio, it's starts showing good decode rates and audio again. SuperTrack On or Off doesn't seem to make a difference in this.

-- The other thing is setting Multi-Site to STAT. Let me start by saying that the radio works perfectly when you're tracking one single site and Multi-Site to Off. That said, it seems that when I have several control channels in the TSYS object and is set to STAT, it starts off tracking fine and on all the control channels. After a few minutes, it seems like it starts skipping some of the control channels, especially one of the best and strongest ones I have in my vicinity. It also gets some transmissions kind of broken and sometimes locks on to a TG but no audio, like other people have reported. It likes to lock on more often to one of our known "Multi-Packets" sites. (Which by the way, just like in the Pro-96, when you analyze this site, it doesn't even show the site ID, SysID, etc. I'm sure in the future GRE could come up with an update to show that info on such sites like Uniden did.) Anyway, what's also interesting is that when is tracking that site, I can see the TG is also active on the better site on the other scanner, so as soon as I hit MAN, it goes to the same talkgroup on that better site. So I don't know why it's skipping some sites, especially good reception ones.

P.S. I'll also post this to the following thread: http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84626

And I'll continue my observations over there.....

 

[kikito]

doesnt having to remember object ids kinda void the whole point of not having to remember talkgroup ids?

Not really. It's just one more choice on how to get to channels directly that we didn't have before on this type of "dynamic" memory radios. Otherwise, you can use the same or similar methods you use with the Unidens to accomplish the same thing if you so desire.

In fact, now we have two extra choices to look for channels, the one mentioned above by direct Object ID and by doing a search within the radio.

 

[RoninJoliet]

OK, in regards to info from "CPUNUT", i have changed the "GLOB-Menu-SRCH SUPER TRACK to "OFF", placed the 500 in the same spot i hear Tower125 800mgz on the ILL-Starcom on my 1.2ver PRO96 perfect. For the last half hour the two radios side by side have performed equel, had the PSR500 set to the "Wildcard" for the system tower 125, had the PRO96 set to the same tower in bank "8" CC-867.3875...DG shows up every transmission and at this point the 500 has shown no drop-outs...This shows promise!!!..I do see when i have a "drop-out" it goes from "DG" to "ID" to "VC" and scans on....The IL-Starcom is a virgin statewide system with kinks but comparing the 500 to the PRO96, both are equel still at this time..I will keep testing but THANK YOU very much for this in-put and i really like the scanner...I have also the 2096,396 and been in scanning for many years....

 

[kikito]

OK, in regards to info from "CPUNUT", i have changed the "GLOB-Menu-SRCH SUPER TRACK to "OFF", placed the 500 in the same spot i hear Tower125 800mgz on the ILL-Starcom on my 1.2ver PRO96 perfect.

But I thought the "Srch Supertrack" in the Global menu was only for the Tune and Search features? The one you were supposed to change for a trunked system was in the TSYS menu for that particular system like cpunut also mentioned earlier.

 

[DaveIN]

There is a Supertrack in the Global menu under TSYS parameter also. "Alternative DSP decoding algorithm. May help reception on some systems." Maybe Ron was referring to this one?

 

[RoninJoliet]

Yes , i found the one in the per system and changed it to "OFF" it seems to help but not to the point of controling the dropouts...I have one tower 800mgz near by that trunks perfect on the 500 as it does on the 96 and 396 but the 700mgz towers that trunk fine 90% of the time on the 96 and 396 have more dropouts on the 500...I see the % on the 500, it shows 92% on the data but the "T" is not solid for trunking , its blinking wildly, some thing in the sensativity seems like the squelch is different at opening the sensativity in DG trunking than it is in "CONV"...The signal graph shows 5 bars but at times the trunking "T" at the same time is not there, some thing is giving a false reading....On the PRO96 when you see 92% you get 92% but here thats not the case....Just trying to help the situation here....Being not a very good technicion but having the time to sit and watch and firure this out....Ron

 

[troymail]

Hey folks -- just in case anyone believes I haven't posted anything positive about the PSR500 (I know it's not true but just in case)...

This thing is AWESOME when it comes to receiving distant 800Mhz systems and (in most cases) the digital decoding and voice quality... I am listening to systems from my house that I've never been able to listen to before - some better than others...

Also - the GLOB ATT features helps quite a bit if you enter an area where a cell tower or some other interference is covering the system/talkgroup you want to listen to...

I'm still having some decoding issues but I have no doubt that in time, GRE will get them worked out.

 

[bee]

Have the 996 and bdt 15. May buy the gre 500. Would just like to know about the sound quality of this unit. In particular, the volume for a mobile installation!

 

[trido]

Statement from Gre America

GRE is aware that a few users have reported problems with their PSR-500 scanners. They tested this radio extensively all over the United States and are as concerned about these problems as you are. They are actively investigating these issues, and take these reports very seriously. They ask for your patience while they continue their investigation, and when they have results, they will let you know what they find. Thank you for trusting GRE with your scanning receiver needs.

Thanks to all
Gre is listening and acting, please give them some time

 

[scansomd]

Help - I messed up somehow

I was looking at different channels on my scanner, then turned it off. When I came back on, I received a message: "waiting for DSP". I have been unsuccessful in clearing this message.

I guess I can reset it to factory settings, but don't want to unless I have to. Does anyone know how to get the scanner to ignore and go back to the main menu?

 

[scansomd]

Fixed it. Performed a global power on, and then zero, and then two.

I was looking at different channels on my scanner, then turned it off. When I came back on, I received a message: "waiting for DSP". I have been unsuccessful in clearing this message.

I guess I can reset it to factory settings, but don't want to unless I have to. Does anyone know how to get the scanner to ignore and go back to the main menu?

 

[RoninJoliet]

Found another small problem on my GRE500 that i think was mentioned by the actual first users....On my Will County ILL Edacs STD (Wide) 6 channel trunk system the 500 misses the actual start of the transmission vs the PRO96...The PRO96 on Edacs opens the squelch a fraction before the 500 missing the first word on the 500...In quick conversations back and forth the 500 misses the quick call back....The 500 squelch is set on the "edge" as the PRO96 is....I have found many excellent features on the 500 and as mentioned im sure GRE will be very intent on solving the situations as my intent is to replace some old equipment with the new PSR600 base .....

 

[Statevillian]

1) When you are on a voice channel and not hearing audio, does the display also show "DG".

When comms drop, the display will show ID and the TG number instead of DG and the frequency. Then the ID sign will drop off and VC will appear along with the frequency and then just as fast the comms may reappear and show DG agin. When dropped, the alpha tag hangs there WAY BEYOND the delay time. That's how I first noticed the comms were not over and going back into search mode.

2) I know we are all passionate and bad = BAD, but if we describe what percentage of lost audio vs the other radios, this is also good. For example, the Pro-96 receives 90% of transmissions, and the PSR-500 receives nn%

I am not using a Pro96 for comparison but with another brand the drop offs on the IL Starcom simulcast tower in Cook County they are fairly the same rate at various times. But, the 500 drops on average 4 or more comms per minute compared to 2 on the other brand.

3) Some have mentioned that it used to work and now it does not. That is interesting for sure. Did location change or proximity to possible interference? Did you try with the Att on and off to look for a difference.

Att on & off, supertrack on & off, flexstep on & off but nothing noticable changed.

I recommend not making an opinion until listening within a two or more radio comparison for at least 15 minutes. I would also recommend changing the position of the radios to negate any nulls etc.

Change in location did help in about 20% of transmissions but drop offs on those Starcom simulcast sites just kept on happening. Signal strength meter constantly showing 4-5 bars.

The above kind of information would help in a quick understanding and possible fix.

They are listening. Like others here I have a day job, so I can not give an opinion on all issues, but felt that it would be useful to bring some focus to the posts and reassure everyone that I have been told GRE is listening and has some options on how to address this. What they need is specific information that they can track. I'll add this to the P25 Audio thread too..

I appreciate all your efforts to ask some good questions for guidance and for everyone's time and effort in this matter.

 

[Paz]

Help! My radio is stuck in "Waiting for DSP". What do I do?

 

[mancow]

Real quick, can somoene tell me how to access flexstep? I can't seem to find the menu item.

 

[DaveIN]

Help! My radio is stuck in "Waiting for DSP". What do I do?

See Scansomd's post above.

 

[Paz]

Thanks anyone. Got it re-set. But if anyone knows how to program Ontario Fleetnet trunked system, I'd be happy to hear from you.