In Myrtle Beach with a gre 300

[darmie]

I listen here on line to the local MBPD and thought it would be nice to have my own scanner. I understand that the police department is trunked so I ask for a trunking scanner and received one for Christmas. Now, I'm really at a loss on trying to program the unit. I'm really concerned if I have the correct scanner since it's Not digital but is trunked. Did I receive the wrong scanner? It's a PSR300 grecom.

Now, the next step is to program it for the local Myrtle Beach police if it can be programed.
Thanks for your help.

Darmie.//

 

[LarrySC]

Horry Co is Analog. I would not waste any time trying to PGM it by hand. WIN97 software from starrsoft.com is best. I can send you a basic program for M Beach Area if you Email me direct: larryscan@charter.net Pending any reply, Larry

 

[darmie]

Larry, thank you so much!! I've spent most of the day, picking up and putting down this radio and then thought I may have the wrong radio. The manual is nothing but a joke. Now, don't get me wrong, Licensed with a general license (kd4ddk), RC cars, planes and being a retired United States Navy Air Interceptor Controller back ground, this thing was trying to beat me down. i will take you up on your offer and drop you a note. Now, is the computer interface port something that can be made easy or is it just best to purchase one?

Thank you again..
Darmie.//

 

[brian]

You'll probably want to purchase the programming cable (it's USB, by the way) and the software. Each are about $30, I think?

While a PSR300 will work for the Horry County system (which is what MBPD uses) and SCHP are anolog for now, look for the Horry County system to change to digital sometime in the next 18 months or so. So, for that particular system, that radio will have a limited time of usefulness. That's not to say you should return it now, but you would be wise to begin to budget for a digital scanner for the not-so-distant future.

 

[darmie]

Well folks. Tonight I figured it out.
With the help on this web page,
Easier to Read Pro-97/2055 Scanner Manual
I sort of got the hang of where to put the frequencies in each channel ect ect. Then by reading a bit in my manual and on that web site, I was able to understand that there are banks and channels in each bank. Well, long story short. the scanner was talking. Then I was able to understand how to tag the decimal numbers into talk groups. Since I live here at the beach, I'm mainly interested in local dispatch. Although now, I'm starting to tag a few other talk groups. Though my main goal was to hear myrtle beach dispatch, I'm enjoying what else I can hear.

I'm sure there is more to it, but for now, I'm pleased.
I do have a quick question though.
On the Horry County info page
Horry County Public Safety Trunking System, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Scanner Frequencies
Do you program in more than the 4 red frequencies or are just the red all you need?

Thanks again.
BTW, Larry, your email is very helpful.

I must say, coming from a ham, trunking is amazing. It's amazing to me how you can get so many groups on just a few frequencies.

Ok, Going on 3:30am I'm turning off the scanner and calling it a night...

 

[brian]

Just those four red frequencies will do. Seems to me, when I've visited, that the control channel changes every couple of days.

It's good to hear you got the radio working and you're hearing what you want to hear. Enjoy.

Brian

 

[hntsgt]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Myrtle Beach scanning! I do not own a GRE radio, so I will be of little help, technically. I have been monitoring Georgetown & Horry radio for about 3 years, so if I can assist you in any other way just send me a PM.

 

[darmie]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Myrtle Beach scanning! I do not own a GRE radio, so I will be of little help, technically. I have been monitoring Georgetown & Horry radio for about 3 years, so if I can assist you in any other way just send me a PM.

Thanks for your reply. I haven't tuned in to the Georgetown area yet. Still a LOT going on up here. The county always has something exciting going on.

The wife and I usually go out for coffee and ride around MB while listening to MB dispatch and other local traffic. It's like watching a night of COPS on tv but only live. Sure I could spend a dollar on a redbox movie, but we'd rather waste $6.00 in gas keeping up with the play by play.

I think I have figured out for the most part how to use this scanner. The first link I posted is real helpful. I keep the link handy on my bookmark. I've also wrote down on my manual some simple steps to turn on or off different trunk banks. This is helpful when we are riding around and want to just scan local MB and not county. Then, while at home, I'll turn back on the other trunk bank. That's one just to name a few, but the point is, it's up and running and I'm learning new features. There's always a lot of noise down at the water front for some reason, may be due to the taller buildings I'm not sure, but the Attenuate (ATT) feature is a big help here. By using ATT, it removes a lot of the noise in this area with out loosing much of the repeater signal.

Anyway, I'm enjoying it. Again, thanks for your reply...//