robrecht
Member
How important is it to purchase the software for the GRE 500 and has anyone added the "Home Town Programing" that is offered by SCANNER MASTER?
GRE/Software
- Thread starter robrecht
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mikey60
Member
robrecht said:
It's not an absolute requirement to have the software. The software mekes things easier, but you can program the scanner without it.
Mike
robrecht
Member
Mike,
Thanks for the reply. Is the software downloaded or does it come with the purchase?
As more and more of the locals go to digital I have decided to take the plunge.
Thanks for the reply. Is the software downloaded or does it come with the purchase?
As more and more of the locals go to digital I have decided to take the plunge.
robrecht
Member
Mike,
I should have "clicked on" the url you had listed before I replied. Thanks for that information.
I should have "clicked on" the url you had listed before I replied. Thanks for that information.
Programming via software, as opposed to by hand, you can see most of the frequency & talkgroup information at one time, instead of only pieces.robrecht said:
As far as having Scanner Master, or any other dealer, program your new unit, remember this: That's a one time shot. Looking at their prices, they'll charge anywhere from $50 & upwards, & you'll have to tell them the systems/frequencies/tgid's you want loaded. That's going to take time to research on the database here, & put into a spreadsheet or text document to spell it out. Since you're a Premium Subscriber, you could spend the same time downloading those same systems into the software of your choice.
Suppose you decided that it was worth the programming fee, to have the scanner dropped on your desk, loaded, where all you have to do is load batteries and/or plug in the ac adapter, then start scanning. What will you do when one or more of those pre-programmed systems changes?
I have a number of counties, trunked radio systems, and statewide agencies on my RadioRef. 'home page', to keep track of changes. One or more changes something just about every day. Maybe a new frequency for a conventional system, a new talkgroup, a different use, whatever. When rebanding hits, there'll be lots of changes. The software makes simple or complex changes & updates easy.
All three software packages for the PSR500 have a free trial period. Try all three, pick the one you like best, after a trial, & start building your own programming. You're better off in the long run.
mikey60
Member
robrecht said:
They are downloaded... The three available are:
ARC500 available at www.butelsoftware.com
PSREdit500 available at www.psredit.com
Win500 available at www.starrsoft.com
Like the other poster said, they all have 30 day free trial. Give them all a trial, and go from there...
Mike
ARC500 is also available on CD-ROM at Scanner Master and dealers in US.
Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com
Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com
jim49
Member
robrecht said:
Why pay for hometown programming(something like ($69) when you can do it yourself at this website. Although you can get arc500 at a small discount, I'd just buy the scanner from them and purchase psedit500 or win500. No offense to anyone but I bought arc500 with mine and now wish I hadn't. Too many bugs.
jim49 said:
My question exactly. I never bothered with downloading data until I got the 500, but the setup at this website is well thought out and flexible.
73/Allen (N4JRI)
fmon
Silent Key Jan. 14, 2012
I have used all three softwares from the get go and became owner of each when available to purchase.
Each has a dated page to review fixes and changes as they evolved -- many of these changes for all three deal directly with Bugs. All three have progressed very will compared to the first addition. One author has considerably more experience with GRE software then the other two and as should be expected, offers more whistles and bells at this time. One is slightly easier to edit due to page layout, two are about equal for using Windows Copy/Paste from/to a structured Excel file or similar spread sheet.
One sure fire thing...all three give us great support and one author unselfisly provided links to all three in this thread.
This addresses OP issue -- all three are outstanding and evolving well which offers much better scanning for any of us using this scanner.
Each has a dated page to review fixes and changes as they evolved -- many of these changes for all three deal directly with Bugs. All three have progressed very will compared to the first addition. One author has considerably more experience with GRE software then the other two and as should be expected, offers more whistles and bells at this time. One is slightly easier to edit due to page layout, two are about equal for using Windows Copy/Paste from/to a structured Excel file or similar spread sheet.
One sure fire thing...all three give us great support and one author unselfisly provided links to all three in this thread.
This addresses OP issue -- all three are outstanding and evolving well which offers much better scanning for any of us using this scanner.
n4jri said:
If you don't want to pay the premium RR fee for downloadable frequencies, you can always go to user groups like the Yahoo PSR500 group and download pre-made software-specific files to import directly into your program. Without meaning to sound biased, it seems that there are more Win500 files around than those of the other programs (which I assume is because there are more Win500 users in general, which makese sense, so many of us have "grown up" with Starrsoft's programs).
Personally, I found the RR database for NE pre-programmed into the PSR500 Vscanner to be completely useless. It had only three TSYS systems for Mass, and no conventional frequencies at all. This has made me a bit hesitant about forking over the quarterly fee for premium services. But, that might be a GRE thing, and not a RR thing...
Suzie
Suzie,raisindot said:
I'd say that was a GRE thing. The pre-loaded systems for North Texas were much the same wat. Had most of the local trunked systems in there, but nothing in the way of conventional frequencies. There are lots of agencies here in the DFW metro area still using conventional, not trunked, systems, the largest being Dallas. They are all covered in the database, but were not used in the preloaded v-scanner information. Possibly because first time users have much more trouble setting up trunked systems than conventional frequencies.
robrecht
Member
THANKS to all who took the time to reply to my question. A lot of great information-just what I was looking for-now to shop. Dick
RagnarD
Member
Hello Richard,
Check your e-mail.
I'll be in Ashland next weekend.
73
de
chris
kq4z
Check your e-mail.
I'll be in Ashland next weekend.
73
de
chris
kq4z
jim49
Member
fmon said:
Thats the one with the most bugs. I dumped it. With all that experience its the worst.
TES
Member
Hmmmm....
Sounds to me as though there's some confusion as to which author has the most GRE experience. I'm guessing it's Mr. Starr.
But in an earlier postjim49 said:
jim49 said:
Sounds to me as though there's some confusion as to which author has the most GRE experience. I'm guessing it's Mr. Starr.
mikey60
Member
TES said:
I think there was some confusion there. Don Starr definately is the person with the most experience with GRE radios.
PSREdit500 was my first introduction to programming a GRE radio (any radio for that matter). I still have some work to do on it, but it's come a long way since the radio was released.
Gommert has a long history in programming Uniden models, but ARC500 is his first entry into the GRE world as well.
Mike
jim49
Member
My apology. I didn't know Don Starr was the most experienced. I think his win500 program is great. The other psredit500 is great too! No disgrace toward arc500 but I stopped using it because of some past problems encountered.
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