GRE PSR-800 Post Release Thread

[TDHG4U61]

GRE PSR 800 Short review

I got mine yesterday and very impressed with the looks. I am still playing with it so I won"t be able to post the full scoop, still learning. First off it is about the same measurements as the Uniden 396 (slim), except 3/4 taller, 1/4 wider in order to accept 4 AA cell batteries and the display is slightly larger. The stock antenna is fairly good but I would recommend using an aftermarket 800 antenna for surperb reception for the 800mhz band, and a few choices of Welcome screens and of course, the multi color LED light as in the PRS-500.

The menu is somewhat easy to use once you get the hang of it but for some reason, I assigned what I wanted to add a third scanlist but keep getting an error message "nothing to scan", or, if there is a way to reset and start over I can find my mistake. All USA and Canada info is stored on a tiny micro SD card so do not loose it! As for now, you can select the radio to scan or menu mode everytime you power up the radio regardless where you were last (even when you press pause) before power off. Battery life is excellent, 200 scan lists, LCD is fantastic with an adjustable dimmer, it displays TGID, EDACS radio ID and Moto P-25 radio IDs, does EDACS ESK and many screen displays as well, cool.

To rap this short review I can only say what I experienced in the last 24-hrs and I can"t keep my hands off the radio, and just as the photo shows, it looks like an Ipod radio with a menu driven selection, less buttons to press. It comes with a swivel beltclip but it does not lock into any position, the radio is the counterweight and always stay upright and charging is done from the USB port IF you select the slide switch to Nicad.
P.S., as far as I know just for now but not to jump the gun, you can pause on an active station but can not scroll within the list (from disp-1 to tac-7) whthout using the menu. The only two things I am not happy with is the way the pause/scan mode work and the way you have to use the menu to select lists while scanning. In some ways the Uniden or another scanner is simpler, you be the Judge.

Amos

 

[mancow]

We should probably take this to the post release thread but so far my biggest three pluses are the incredible audio quality, sensitivity without annoying dead carriers and audio recording.

Simply amazing. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised with a product. GRE did their homework and got it right.

 

[Tom_G]

I just read the post release threads...
Dammmm, Looks like I'm going to have to buy one now.....
My PSR-500 will be up for sale soon!!!!!

 

[DaveIN]

This is good news for those who use V-Scanner:

With the PSR-800, all V-Scanner folder creation and
management is performed using the PSR-800 PC application.
Data in your VS-II folders is updated automatically in the field as
you use them. Unlike previous versions of the V-Scanner feature,
It is not necessary to “save” and “load” the VS-II folders you are
working with - just select the desired VS-II folder and the radio
handles the rest automatically.

 

[scannerfreak]

We should probably take this to the post release thread.

Moved

 

[DaveIN]

For those of you attempting to check firmware for updates. If you find you have the same firmware version in the dialog box, and want to go back to the welcome screen on the radio after hitting done, you'll need to press the "menu" button again to escape. I did not find this in the dialog box, help file, or owners manual. The DSP update dialog did not exhibit the problem. I tried this on both Windows Vista and XP 32 bit versions and was only able to recover by removing a battery until I realized the menu button would release the firmware update method.

For what it's worth, there were no updates since the factory release apparently, so you wont need to update for anything new.

 

[trido]

radio lib
i did via software have 5 sites and ALL SAFET groips in one scanlist a ok.

 

[DaveIN]

I just read the post release threads...
Dammmm, Looks like I'm going to have to buy one now.....
My PSR-500 will be up for sale soon!!!!!

Think about that for a while Tom. Unless you will not miss the keypad and Tune features on the PSR-500.

This radio is really sensitive also, I'd say more than the 500. I don't know your monitoring locations, but a few more tests in metro areas with attenuation on and off may be helpful, but in thick RF environments it may or may be a problem for some.

 

[DaveIN]

The menu is somewhat easy to use once you get the hang of it but for some reason, I assigned what I wanted to add a third scanlist but keep getting an error message "nothing to scan", or, if there is a way to reset and start over I can find my mistake.

Amos, you should be able to select and delete anything you want using the EZ Scan software via the menu.

 

[mancow]

I noticed there were DSP and EZScan application updates this morning.

 

[DaveIN]

Don, is there any difference in the battery compartment switch other than enabling or disabling the battery charging circuit?

"Battery Charge Option: This setting controls the charge time when charging Ni-MH batteries internally. A setting of 0 will disable the internal charger. A setting of 99 will use the internal default value."

What is the charging value of the 0-99?

Also, for a low setting on the backlight I see some flicker with voice and audible tone, do you have a good setting for blink time that you have tried on the low setting?

 

[DaveIN]

I noticed there were DSP and EZScan application updates this morning.

I saw the EZ Scan update 1.01, but what was the DSP difference? It says 1.0 (0.66) I believe, yet the 1.0 looked to be the same.

The release note was still 1.0 for DSP, did you see something different?

 

[DaveIN]

Anyone at Hamcation 2011 ham fest? Check out the GRE booth at 62-63 and let us know if you see anything new (besides the PSR-800 of course).

 

[mancow]

Yes, the DSP in my radio was .88 or something like that and the application downloaded new DSP firmware and updated it to 1.0.

I saw the EZ Scan update 1.01, but what was the DSP difference? It says 1.0 (0.66) I believe, yet the 1.0 looked to be the same.

The release note was still 1.0 for DSP, did you see something different?

 

[DaveIN]

OK, I'll update just in case then. Thanks mancow.

 

[DonS]

Don, is there any difference in the battery compartment switch other than enabling or disabling the battery charging circuit?

Yes. It also affects the threshold voltages (Alkaline vs. NiMH) for the battery level indicator and auto-power-down.

"Battery Charge Option: This setting controls the charge time when charging Ni-MH batteries internally. A setting of 0 will disable the internal charger. A setting of 99 will use the internal default value."

What is the charging value of the 0-99?

0 = charger disabled
99 = "default time" (16 hours)
1-98 = <x> hours

Also, for a low setting on the backlight I see some flicker with voice and audible tone, do you have a good setting for blink time that you have tried on the low setting?

Is the flicker in the backlight itself? Or perhaps "aliased" with LCD refresh rate? (I don't see any flicker on mine on any light level setting, with or without voice or tone audio.)

 

[DaveIN]

Yes. It also affects the threshold voltages (Alkaline vs. NiMH) for the battery level indicator and auto-power-down.

Good to know. I'll be doing this with the NiMH then. I was thinking I would use the Alkaline setting to avoid charging the NiMH in the radio, but I'll just use the 0 to disable until I purchase a new set of NiMH for the 800.

0 = charger disabled
99 = "default time" (16 hours)
1-98 = <x> hours

Hours, got it. Seems excessive, but understood.

Is the flicker in the backlight itself? Or perhaps "aliased" with LCD refresh rate? (I don't see any flicker on mine on any light level setting, with or without voice or tone audio.)

I saw it with Alkaline batteries yesterday after your post to conserve power via the lower light levels. I also saw it with the IF output in use. I'll look at it some more and see if I can re-create. I'm running stealthy today.

 

[DonS]

Good to know. I'll be doing this with the NiMH then. I was thinking I would use the Alkaline setting to avoid charging the NiMH in the radio, but I'll just use the 0 to disable until I purchase a new set of NiMH for the 800.

Keep in mind that batteries are only charged while the scanner is in its "standby / off" state (i.e. it's showing the "clock" on the LCD).

Hours, got it. Seems excessive, but understood.

Depends on your batteries

 

[DaveIN]

Don, on MPSCS I can create a scanlist with all 195 sites and all TGID's. In a second scanlist I have added just "specific" sites and all the TGID's from the radio menu, but I can't do this from the EZ Scan program. I can only assign the TGID's I want to each of the scanlist to use without using a V-Scanner.

Is the ability to add independent sites from the same TSYS to a different scanlist, something that can be added to the EZ Scan program? The TSYS objects can obviously be shared between scanlist from the radio, but not the scanlist using the EZ Scan program as it's currently set up.

It would also be helpful to be able to copy and paste sites within the Trunked tab to go with the new and the delete options in the EZ Scan Trunked tab.

 

[DonS]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Neither a TSYS nor its sites belong to any scan list. Only the talkgroups and radio IDs (which can be associated with exactly one TSYS) belong to scan lists.