GRE PSR-500 Post Release Thread

[jat1129]

Thanks, I missed that page completely.

 

[kikito]

But if you hold it down sort of hard, it will take it.

Obviously, the cheapness of the keyboard, etc.

Obviously, it's either a defective keyboard (first one I've heard of so far) or you're just not use to it yet.

Personally, this is one of the best keyboards I've come across (in feel and quality especially). Just like with the Pro-96 which I've had long before my BCD396T, the keyboard still looks and functions like it was yesterday I got it. Can't say the same thing for the Uniden's keyboard and print on the radio....

 

[jameshober]

Has any one tried to scan for just one radio id on a 800 truncked sys. The manual implies you can on page 36 in hint. If this works I will be runnig to the radio store monday.

 

[rdale]

You mean only listen to transmissions from a particular radio? Cannot be done, not sure what hint you are reading.

You could write software that is hooked to the radio and only unmutes for transmissions from that radio I suppose. But certainly not built-in.

 

[jameshober]

Yes at late night(bed time). I would like to just listen for one radio say fire chief radio. Set a tgrp object to private not group and have it scan for that radio id. I would only be waken up if the chief comes up on radio. Read the second hint on page 36. I would love to know if this works.

 

[radionut44]

What manual are you reading from? I have NO HINTS on page 36 of Version 1.9 of the manual.

 

[kikito]

Yes at late night(bed time). I would like to just listen for one radio say fire chief radio. Set a tgrp object to private not group and have it scan for that radio id. I would only be waken up if the chief comes up on radio. Read the second hint on page 36. I would love to know if this works.

The top of page 41 has something to that effect:

• Private Call with ID: will only monitor private call radio traffic
on the specified TGID (enter the desired Radio ID in the TGID
field, and set the Type field to Private)

But what that means is that you can monitor a single radio ID ONLY when they're in an active private call, NOT every time they key up their radio during regular talkgroup transmissions.

 

[jameshober]

The download manul psr-500v1.9_manul.pfd I,m sorry page 39.

 

[jameshober]

I was hoping to be able to just listen to one radio at night not all the dispacth.

 

[kikito]

The download manul psr-500v1.9_manul.pfd I,m sorry page 39.

The same thing I said above applies.

 

[jameshober]

Would this be do to the scanner or the trunking systerm.

 

[kikito]

Would this be do to the scanner or the trunking systerm.

It's most likely due to the scanner not supporting that option but then again, there's no scanners that I know of that can do that YET.....

 

[swest90]

Overall since receiving my psr500 my enthusiasm fades by the day. Once again I have been let down by GRE, a long history dating back to the pro-92 fiasco.

Comparing this unit to the 396/996/2096/pro96/xts3000/xts5000, It lags behind, mainly due to the horrible memory system limitations.

The casing is cheap and flimsy, I don't understand for the life of me why they cant use a decent compound, like commercial grade radios. As a test place your psr in your hand and give it a half decent squeeze and watch it flex and hear it creek. I am worried about the first fall this is inevitably going to take. On the other hand I've dropped my 396 quite a few times now from my truck and its hit the pavement and kept ticking, and of course everyone knows most Motorola's can take a beating with minor surface scratching IF that.

I am quite surprised there hasn't been a lot of talk regarding the very limited scan lists and 1800 objects. Now I'm sure someone is going to chime in about how great the vfolders are, but why would anyone want to limit themselves with vfolders? Give me more scan lists, like 200 and more importantly 10-20 sub-lists inside the scan lists. I shouldn't have to choose between systems that are stored in separate vfolders. The way the memory is setup is not far off from the pro92, something a decade old. 20 lists for 1800 objects, is around 70-90 objects per list (knowing that each system will take up objects also), that leaves you NO option to quickly toggle between agencies or users, you have to go locking/unlocking things which is a real pain when you are in a hurry. Perhaps that doesn't bother you people in the middle of Kansas, but here in southern California or any metro areas you will find a LOT of agencies in a smaller area. Each of these agencies should be grouped just like you would in a commercial radio, by systems with zones and then channels/talk groups per zone. You can NOT even put each city or agency in its own scanlist as there are far more than 20 agencies here. The 396 beats the pants off this PSR500 when it comes to memory allocation, the 396 allowing you 1000 ways to split up your data and I've used that all up too.

I did not come across the problems that some experienced with missing calls on certain systems, so I will count myself as lucky. However it severely suffers from front end overload from cell phones, using my cell phone or when its about to receive a call, I will lose almost all coverage and the scanner starts spitting out digital interference, blips, boops and clicks, but the phone is one of the original razor's which is famous for its interference problems, so I'm taking this issue with a grain of salt for now. Other then that I don't notice it doing any better or worse than the 396 or any other radios here. The roaming control channel option is really nice and long overdue.

Digital audio is still lacking, sounding shallow & 'tinney', I couldn't tell you the difference between it and the 396 when I did a test. Both are adequate for hobby use, but are useless with any decent background noise. The Motorola XTS/Saber's blow them out of the water in both audio quality and volume.

The front buttons are a bit stiff and often do not respond requiring you to double key them. I am hoping this was per design and as they get use they will ease up a bit and end up lasting a lot longer later on. I can only hope anyway...

I really enjoy the fact that you can set a LOT of the internal options, its nice to have a bit of control over the hardware.

Overall the memory issue just kills it for me, 20 scan lists was not enough 20 years ago, it should have never made into production until they figured out a more manageable and extended memory system. They started off with a great idea with the objects, just see it through... don't stop 'half-ass' (right Wayne?)

If you have any professional need or you simply have the money to do it right, get yourself some Motorola gear and you will only go back to the scanners for special occasions.

I hope there can be some more discussion about the short-comings of this scanner. They cant and more importantly, won't fix these issues if we don't express our views and our perceived problems. I understand each of us uses this hardware in a different manner in different circumstances and therefore will have different requirements. You GRE mega fans should take a few steps back and try to imagine whats possible, not just what they put in front of your face.

Looking forward to hearing from others on these issues.
Sorry for any typos or stupid mistakes I haven't caught, I am doing this right before bed.

Enjoy!

 

[W4KRR]

swest90, I agree with you about the memory system. I also made the same observation that it reminded me of the way the memory was set up in the old PRO-92. 20 scan lists just isn't enough for me; 50 would have been better, 99 would be better still. I still prefer the way the BCD396 memory is set up in this regard, with the "System Quick Keys" and "Group Quick Keys". Yes, I know people say "But the '500 has V-Folders", yes that's true, but they are more cumbersome to switch around than the Uniden system. JMO.

 

[Tom_G]

swest90,
Commercial radios like Motorola sabers and XTS's always sound better then scanners.
While $500 is a good chunk of money to spend on a scanner, its way less then a Motorola.
So I don't think thats a fair comparison.
I wish someone would make scanner that sounded like a commercial HT ! (Anyone Listening................)

The digital audio on my PSR-500 is awesome. The best I have heard.
It is better then the PRO-96.
The Uniden 396/996 in my area produce way too much motorboating and missed syllables that I could not use them without wanting to throw them out the window.

I do like Unidens memory management paradigm although I found it hard to remember all of the quick-key's I set-up.

Many people have been asking for smaller radios over the years and it usually means smaller audio.
Larger Radio = Larger Speaker = Better Audio

Happy Holidays.... Tom/G

 

[detroit780]

Motorola

Amazing isn't it that a $3,500 Motorola radio designed for 700MHz and 800MHz ONLY sounds better than a $500 scanner designed for a much broader frequency range. Now let's compare Apples to Oranges next. Apples can be eaten without peeling, oranges are rather nasty unless you peel them first.

The PSR 500 sounds better than any scanner I have used, it's easy to use, 1800 objects seems to work well. Althought in Michigan you can't fit every talk group and every tower into 1,800 objects. But then again why would you need to? You aren't going to receive all of the talk groups and all of the towers every day. Programming the radio by region is a simple work around. Then as I drive across the state (Not that I do it everyday, although I do drive across 2 counties each day) in seconds I can bring up the next v-folder. Not much more work than turning off a bank or remembering which bank I want turned off or on.

At this point I would say the excitement for the PSR-500 grows each day I use it. No point in bashing it or GRE in here. Maybe you'd get more applause in the Motorola or Uniden forum.

Since you are so disappointed in your radio why not post it for sale I'm sure it will be snapped up quickly. In fact if you have 7 or 8 of them you should be able to purchase a new Motorola to replace them all.

Overall since receiving my psr500 my enthusiasm fades by the day. Once again I have been let down by GRE, a long history dating back to the pro-92 fiasco.

Comparing this unit to the 396/996/2096/pro96/xts3000/xts5000, It lags behind, mainly due to the horrible memory system limitations.

The casing is cheap and flimsy, I don't understand for the life of me why they cant use a decent compound, like commercial grade radios. As a test place your psr in your hand and give it a half decent squeeze and watch it flex and hear it creek. I am worried about the first fall this is inevitably going to take. On the other hand I've dropped my 396 quite a few times now from my truck and its hit the pavement and kept ticking, and of course everyone knows most Motorola's can take a beating with minor surface scratching IF that.

I am quite surprised there hasn't been a lot of talk regarding the very limited scan lists and 1800 objects. Now I'm sure someone is going to chime in about how great the vfolders are, but why would anyone want to limit themselves with vfolders? Give me more scan lists, like 200 and more importantly 10-20 sub-lists inside the scan lists. I shouldn't have to choose between systems that are stored in separate vfolders. The way the memory is setup is not far off from the pro92, something a decade old. 20 lists for 1800 objects, is around 70-90 objects per list (knowing that each system will take up objects also), that leaves you NO option to quickly toggle between agencies or users, you have to go locking/unlocking things which is a real pain when you are in a hurry. Perhaps that doesn't bother you people in the middle of Kansas, but here in southern California or any metro areas you will find a LOT of agencies in a smaller area. Each of these agencies should be grouped just like you would in a commercial radio, by systems with zones and then channels/talk groups per zone. You can NOT even put each city or agency in its own scanlist as there are far more than 20 agencies here. The 396 beats the pants off this PSR500 when it comes to memory allocation, the 396 allowing you 1000 ways to split up your data and I've used that all up too.

I did not come across the problems that some experienced with missing calls on certain systems, so I will count myself as lucky. However it severely suffers from front end overload from cell phones, using my cell phone or when its about to receive a call, I will lose almost all coverage and the scanner starts spitting out digital interference, blips, boops and clicks, but the phone is one of the original razor's which is famous for its interference problems, so I'm taking this issue with a grain of salt for now. Other then that I don't notice it doing any better or worse than the 396 or any other radios here. The roaming control channel option is really nice and long overdue.

Digital audio is still lacking, sounding shallow & 'tinney', I couldn't tell you the difference between it and the 396 when I did a test. Both are adequate for hobby use, but are useless with any decent background noise. The Motorola XTS/Saber's blow them out of the water in both audio quality and volume.

The front buttons are a bit stiff and often do not respond requiring you to double key them. I am hoping this was per design and as they get use they will ease up a bit and end up lasting a lot longer later on. I can only hope anyway...

I really enjoy the fact that you can set a LOT of the internal options, its nice to have a bit of control over the hardware.

Overall the memory issue just kills it for me, 20 scan lists was not enough 20 years ago, it should have never made into production until they figured out a more manageable and extended memory system. They started off with a great idea with the objects, just see it through... don't stop 'half-ass' (right Wayne?)

If you have any professional need or you simply have the money to do it right, get yourself some Motorola gear and you will only go back to the scanners for special occasions.

I hope there can be some more discussion about the short-comings of this scanner. They cant and more importantly, won't fix these issues if we don't express our views and our perceived problems. I understand each of us uses this hardware in a different manner in different circumstances and therefore will have different requirements. You GRE mega fans should take a few steps back and try to imagine whats possible, not just what they put in front of your face.

Looking forward to hearing from others on these issues.
Sorry for any typos or stupid mistakes I haven't caught, I am doing this right before bed.

Enjoy!

 

[bonus1331]

Swest90, I agree with your opinion.
Much prefer the Uniden DMA to the 22 scanlists.
I also agree with the front-end overload. Live in a medium sized city (Charlotte) and was constantly having to toggle the attenuator off and on depending on the situation.
If the 500 showed a marked improvement in P25 I would have accepted the trade-offs and kept. I just didn't hear any difference between the 396 and the 500.
These issues may only affect certain individuals in certain markets.
Sold it.

"These are only the opinions of the author and in no way should be misconstrued as an attack on anyway who is enjoying their 500."

 

[kikito]

Overall since receiving my psr500 my enthusiasm fades by the day. Once again I have been let down by GRE, a long history dating back to the pro-92 fiasco.

Sorry you feel that way. Most of what you mentioned seems to come down to your personal preference and maybe being used to other brands of scanners or "real" radios. A lot of what you mentioned I experience with the Unidens personally. And to put it differently, what I was missing I could never know since there wasn't even a sign of it....

I'm really happy with my PSR-500 and so are many other people. Works great for me and the feature set is amazing.

Just voicing my opinion and experience just like you have.

 

[kikito]

If you have any professional need or you simply have the money to do it right, get yourself some Motorola gear and you will only go back to the scanners for special occasions.

If you can program an XTS5000 for me to monitor our VHF P25 trunked system, I'll be more than happy to pay for everything including your time.

But that's very unlikely that you'll be able to do that....

 

[MaizeBlueFlyover]

Amazing isn't it that a $3,500 Motorola radio designed for 700MHz and 800MHz ONLY sounds better than a $500 scanner designed for a much broader frequency range. Now let's compare Apples to Oranges next. Apples can be eaten without peeling, oranges are rather nasty unless you peel them first.

Thank you for taking the words out of my mouth Les. I'm not sure how anyone can sit and compare their PSR-500 to a Motorola XTS3000 or XTS5000. Give me a break...

I've stopped using my PRO-2096 the PSR-500 works so well for me. I've been hooking it to my outdoor antenna and using it that way.

Also, 1600 objects is a ton of memories. Throw the V-Folder thing in there and it's even better.

Thank you again GRE!