Gre psr500

[blueangel-eric]

On my scanner, when on manual mode on a RR channel, i noticed that there's a 1-2 second delay before it picks up something but my 2 meter radio picks up the signal right away. this is also for strong signals. on the scanner it's like the squelch doesn't open fast enough. that's not acceptable especially on manual mode. the first word of a transmission gets cut off. Is there anyway to tweek the squelch opening?

 

[airwolfbell222]

I don't own a 500, but on similar radios, is the modulation set to auto, or NFM/FM?

 

[blueangel-eric]

I don't own a 500, but on similar radios, is the modulation set to auto, or NFM/FM?

freq i'm monitoring at the moment is 161.010 FM mode.

 

[ScannerSK]

I have a PSR-500 and it does not experience any delay in reception when set to FM mode. I can rotate the squelch knob back and forth and the squelch breaks instantly as well. I believe the problem may be that the squelch mode for the frequency must also be set to either CTCSS or DCS to prevent a 600 ms delay.

The following article may help:
PSR-500/600 Why do I Notice a delay in Unmuting on certain Analog Talkgroups and Channels? - Powered By Kayako SupportSuite

Shawn

 

[KC4YIN]

Check to make sure there are no priorities turned on such as weather priority etc.

 

[blueangel-eric]

railroad freqs don't use tones and i don't use priority. This is really annoying me. i was making some important recordings of the railroad signal guys doing some signal work and i keep missing the first 2 seconds or so of each transmission. the radio in the other room i can hear them say"roger" and the scanner picks up just in time for the squelch tail. i think i noticed it when using it in the car too. i noticed that weaker signals gets muted out as well sometimes. i think the selectivity is too strong. it also mutes data signals. i have to open squelch to hear data signals. so i think the radio is "too smart". when receiving the weaker signals it shows it's receiving but it just won't open or unmute the audio so i can hear what it's receiving. never had this problem in all the last 20 yrs of scanning and been thru lots of Radio Shack and Uniden scanners. For a $400 scanner i would expect more in the performance. i had a $90 RS Scanner one time a pro 83? It's the small silver one. anyways it was a basic scanner but the receive was real good. I don't know why a high end scanner can't receive as good as a cheap one. same deal with the Pro95 and 97. desense on those real bad.

 

[737mech]

Force Analog

railroad freqs don't use tones and i don't use priority. This is really annoying me. i was making some important recordings of the railroad signal guys doing some signal work and i keep missing the first 2 seconds or so of each transmission. the radio in the other room i can hear them say"roger" and the scanner picks up just in time for the squelch tail. i think i noticed it when using it in the car too. i noticed that weaker signals gets muted out as well sometimes. i think the selectivity is too strong. it also mutes data signals. i have to open squelch to hear data signals. so i think the radio is "too smart". when receiving the weaker signals it shows it's receiving but it just won't open or unmute the audio so i can hear what it's receiving. never had this problem in all the last 20 yrs of scanning and been thru lots of Radio Shack and Uniden scanners. For a $400 scanner i would expect more in the performance. i had a $90 RS Scanner one time a pro 83? It's the small silver one. anyways it was a basic scanner but the receive was real good. I don't know why a high end scanner can't receive as good as a cheap one. same deal with the Pro95 and 97. desense on those real bad.

You need to set the freqs up to squelch mode "ctcss Search" and squelch code "Search" this will tell the 500 to force analog, the scanner searches for digital first unless you force analog. I also set all my aircraft freqs this way.

 

[jaspence]

Railroad tones

Railroads do use tones. Check the metra line in Chicago area and you will see several listed.

 

[blueangel-eric]

Railroads do use tones. Check the metra line in Chicago area and you will see several listed.

not widespread though. I had some NS freqs on tone search and picked up tones at Centralia IL and then different tones when i was in northeast alabama. Though I don't know how they're used in relation to the crews.
But out here in KS railroads don't use tones except the dispatcher link freqs at 452.900/457.900

 

[blueangel-eric]

You need to set the freqs up to squelch mode "ctcss Search" and squelch code "Search" this will tell the 500 to force analog, the scanner searches for digital first unless you force analog. I also set all my aircraft freqs this way.

I have the railroad freqs tone squelch set mostly to "none". i dont understand why i need to put it on analog search since there's no tones being used?
thanks

 

[N8IAA]

Re-read post #7. The reason for putting it in CTCSS search, and Search will take it to FM quickly. Otherwise, it is looking for digital. That is the hold up to opening the squelch. NS here in GA uses PL occasionaly on dispatch. So, it is used
HTH,
Larry

 

[blueangel-eric]

Re-read post #7. The reason for putting it in CTCSS search, and Search will take it to FM quickly. Otherwise, it is looking for digital. That is the hold up to opening the squelch. NS here in GA uses PL occasionaly on dispatch. So, it is used
HTH,
Larry

OMG it worked!!!! i even got 118.8!!!! I've never heard of BNSF or UP using tones for the standard freqs. not sure if it's DS or both sides. but what do they do when they go to other areas or lines? or does the crews tx the tones but not recieve it and the ds only receives the tones to cut down on interference?
edit: with the 118.8 tone in i couldn't hear other trains and the DS talking. so one transmission had the tone but not the others. weird.

 

[nanZor]

You need to set the freqs up to squelch mode "ctcss Search" and squelch code "Search" this will tell the 500 to force analog, the scanner searches for digital first unless you force analog. I also set all my aircraft freqs this way.

I can confirm that too. Even on conventional channels with NO pl, like aircraft as you mentioned, forcing the 500 to try analog first this way, worked great. It did feel weird programming it for a ctcss search knowing there never would be one, but that tip really made conventional monitoring much nicer.

 

[blueangel-eric]

I can confirm that too. Even on conventional channels with NO pl, like aircraft as you mentioned, forcing the 500 to try analog first this way, worked great. It did feel weird programming it for a ctcss search knowing there never would be one, but that tip really made conventional monitoring much nicer.

yeah GRE has a weird setup with the scanners. don't know if it's a firmware or hardware issue. maybe they can get a firmware update to fix it. I wonder if the Uniden digital scanners have this problem?

 

[rfking123]

I have had the same problem and I acquired the EASIER TO READ PCR 500 MANUAL and got into the expert settings. There you can change squelch and a host of other settings for more optimum settings. For me, it greatly improved squelch, scan rates etc. for a smoother scan/receive.The best to you!

 

[gewecke]

Re-read post #7. The reason for putting it in CTCSS search, and Search will take it to FM quickly. Otherwise, it is looking for digital. That is the hold up to opening the squelch. NS here in GA uses PL occasionaly on dispatch. So, it is used
HTH,
Larry

Good point! I Forgot all about this idea.

73,
n9zas

 

[rfking123]

And me!

Good point! I Forgot all about this idea.

73,
n9zas

Try Mark's Scanners if you do not have the book for the PCR 500 but Mark does on his site to scroll!

 

[gewecke]

Try Mark's Scanners if you do not have the book for the PCR 500 but Mark does on his site to scroll!

It's just one of those features I never gave much thought to, but I have all the documentation on mine. :wink:

Thanks,

73,
n9zas

 

[Mojaveflyer]

PSR-500 Problems

I made the same changes to my PSR-600 and found it made a huge difference on both aircraft and railroads!