GRE PSR 800 Upgrade By Whistler

[rja1]

So I'm rooting through my closet & find my PSR 800 scanner. I was an early adopter & had trouble with the face plate paint.....more on that later. I decided to send it off to Whistler for the upgrade. I got an email from them on 6/3 saying they received my scanner. Their update page says turn around time for the upgrade is 2-3 weeks. This morning @ 10:31, I receive another email saying the scanner has been shipped. I guess they are not so busy.

Back to the face plate problem. I wasn't aware that GRE was sending replacements & decided to try to fix it myself. Couldn't use carb cleaner, that would probably melt the plastic. I ended up with Hoppy's #9 (used for cleaning guns) & it took the flat black paint off, didn't hurt the plastic, I had an 800 with a gloss black face plate. Looked great & still looks great.

For those who have have the upgrade, are there any other benefits aside from DMR? Improved P25 reception? Improved battery life?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[RaleighGuy]

YES YES YES!!! Seriously, improved reception across all modes, ability for firmware upgrades, and better battery life. Best $60 I ever spent.

 

[jaspence]

I had it done on a PSR 800 and a RS Pro-18. Except for the color led, the RS now works as well as the 800, and both are improvements over any previous firmware update. Whistler also made some needed improvements to the programming software.

 

[whooey]

I have 2 PSR 800's maybe I should send them in. Any improvements on Simulcast with the upgrade?

 

[wally74]

I totally agree with N1GAW. I own an 8 year old Radio Shack Pro-18. I shipped it off to Whistler and for $60 they worked a miracle. In less than 2 weeks, they added the DMR/Phase 2 programming. My reception improved greatly.
I could not be happier with the results.

 

[fredva]

I have 2 PSR 800's maybe I should send them in. Any improvements on Simulcast with the upgrade?

It's a mixed bag. Some people have reported improved reception on simulcast while others haven't noticed much of a difference. I had a PRO-18 upgraded and I'm not sure if it helped the monitoring of one local simulcast system or not. But reception of the other simulcast system in my area is definitely still poor.

 

[bravo14]

I've had my psr800 since 2012. I sent mine in when they first did this. A year later it won't hold time/date settings I don't know what happen there. And also the sd card has errors also it can last 1 week to 3 months..........

 

[whooey]

Thank you for your replies.

 

[Whistler_Support]

I have 2 PSR 800's maybe I should send them in. Any improvements on Simulcast with the upgrade?

The Upgrade has no implied improvement for Simulcast however many bug fixes, new functions, and the addition of DMR should that be of interest to you. As many have reported, it woke up their scanner making it more useful and less costly than purchasing a new one.

 

[DJ11DLN]

I've had my psr800 since 2012. I sent mine in when they first did this. A year later it won't hold time/date settings I don't know what happen there. And also the sd card has errors also it can last 1 week to 3 months..........

Have you tried a different card? I haven't had a card error on my Pro-18 & Pro-668 since the upgrade. I have had a couple of bad cards over the years though.

 

[bravo14]

Have you tried a different card? I haven't had a card error on my Pro-18 & Pro-668 since the upgrade. I have had a couple of bad cards over the years though.

Yes tried different ones.

 

[iMONITOR]

Be careful using Hoppe's No. 9 Gun Bore Cleaner around electronics, it dissolves copper very effectively!

 

[kb6lpm]

So I'm rooting through my closet & find my PSR 800 scanner. I was an early adopter & had trouble with the face plate paint.....more on that later. I decided to send it off to Whistler for the upgrade. I got an email from them on 6/3 saying they received my scanner. Their update page says turn around time for the upgrade is 2-3 weeks. This morning @ 10:31, I receive another email saying the scanner has been shipped. I guess they are not so busy.

Back to the face plate problem. I wasn't aware that GRE was sending replacements & decided to try to fix it myself. Couldn't use carb cleaner, that would probably melt the plastic. I ended up with Hoppy's #9 (used for cleaning guns) & it took the flat black paint off, didn't hurt the plastic, I had an 800 with a gloss black face plate. Looked great & still looks great.

For those who have have the upgrade, are there any other benefits aside from DMR? Improved P25 reception? Improved battery life?

Thanks,
Bob

Face plate paint? I am sorry to be a little late but what is up with face plate paint?
Whistler is still doing upgrades?
DMR might be cool to listen to some of the ham radio stuff.