Loose screw inside the GRE-COM PSR-500 Scanner

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emscapt9816

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As written on mods.dk by W8HRN;

"A small screw inside the scanner near the BNC antenna connector has been found to be loose on early production units. If it falls out, it can cause a short circuit and damage the scanner.

To gain access to the screw, remove the four long external screws and two short screws at the bottom of the scanner in the battery compartment. Carefully remove the rear cover and locate a small silver colored screw near the BNC antenna connector. Do not over tighten it and apply a drop of Super Glue or other glue.

Re-assemble the scanner and enjoy.

GRE is aware of this problem."

I stumbled on this article by accident while looking up some other mods. I do not want to start a panic, however I felt this was an important article to share. Please remember, if you crack open your rig, you risk voiding the warranty.
 

tobarger

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Opened my radio and found this screw to be loose.
BTW - You do not need to remove the two short screws at the bottom of the scanner in the battery compartment.
 

Cambion

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For what it's worth, I opened a remedy ticket at GRE America to ask about this, since I just bought my PSR-500 this last weekend. I had asked for the serial number range that was affected by this quality issue, and the gentleman responding told me he didn't know. But he did offer to send me instructions on how to open and tighten along with a photo. He also stated that doing this would not void my warranty.

Regards
Scott
 

Statevillian

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I need some clarification. I had a small silver screw fall out one day via the battery pack compartment. Since it fell out, am I OK?... Or was the issue that the screw may hit something and short things out?..... The BNC connector base is solid.

So, anyone....with the screw falling out on its' own, am I wasting my time opening it up to check and putting it back in?.....
 

jf222

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Checked mine = serial # 001306 - screw was tight

NB you really need a very small phillips screwdriver to check the inside screw
 

mikey60

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Statevillian said:
I need some clarification. I had a small silver screw fall out one day via the battery pack compartment. Since it fell out, am I OK?... Or was the issue that the screw may hit something and short things out?..... The BNC connector base is solid.

So, anyone....with the screw falling out on its' own, am I wasting my time opening it up to check and putting it back in?.....

The primary concern was the possibility of the screw coming out and causing a short on the circuit board. If it's not in the scanner anymore, that threat is not there.

Mike
 

Cambion

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This is good to know. My serial # is 001570. Might still crack mine open to investigate.

Scott


jf222 said:
Checked mine = serial # 001306 - screw was tight

NB you really need a very small phillips screwdriver to check the inside screw
 

DaveIN

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I had one 500 with a tight screw and one with a *slightly* loose one. That a 50% fail rate or passed compliance, depending on what side of the international date line your standing on. ;)

I just put some fingernail polish on mine as I mentioned on the repeated thread.
 

Cambion

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Here's a photo of the screws location. Again, the tech support guy at GRE said opening the radio and checking the screw doesn't void the warranty.

Scott
 

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Statevillian

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Relieved

mikey60 said:
The primary concern was the possibility of the screw coming out and causing a short on the circuit board. If it's not in the scanner anymore, that threat is not there.

Mike


Thanks for the help. I appreciate it........
 

gmacka

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Yes u guessed it i had 2 check mine and i am happy to say it,s tight.
Yes u only have 2 take out 4 long screws.
However it does help 2 take battery pack out 1st.
Also have your smallest watch makers screw drivers ready to deploy.
Degree of difficultly EASY!
JUST MAKE SURE U ARE SOBER NO SHAKING HANDS!
 

Cambion

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Finally cracked mine open. The screw was nice and snug. Recommend using a PH#0 screwdriver. Fits the screws perfectly.

To Recap:

00118x = Loose
00130x = Tight
00157x = Tight
 

doug408

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Mine (in the high 1100s) was a fraction of a turn loose; not enough to cause problems any time soon, but enough that I'm glad to hear the suggestion to check it.


Cambion said:
Finally cracked mine open. The screw was nice and snug. Recommend using a PH#0 screwdriver. Fits the screws perfectly.

To Recap:

00118x = Loose
00130x = Tight
00157x = Tight
 

DigitalByte

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New 4 day old PSR-500 Ser Number 197# with horrid analog reception on all bands, GRE tech advised it looks to be a "bad unit". I'm going to check the screw inside the unit to see if that helps. I do not have a digital receiver other than this one so I have no idea what is par. Thanks for the photo location of the screw.
 

wwhitby

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DigitalByte said:
New 4 day old PSR-500 Ser Number 197# with horrid analog reception on all bands, GRE tech advised it looks to be a "bad unit". I'm going to check the screw inside the unit to see if that helps. I do not have a digital receiver other than this one so I have no idea what is par. Thanks for the photo location of the screw.

I was having intermitent reception problems with mine. Sometimes recption was fine, other times I couldn't pick up anything - even the national weather service - with any kind of antenna.

I checked the screw, found it pretty loose, and tightened it. That also cured the reception problem!

Warren
 

bacon

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Cambion said:
Here's a photo of the screws location. Again, the tech support guy at GRE said opening the radio and checking the screw doesn't void the warranty.

Scott
Thanks for the photo. I finally checked mine (S.N. 00101x) and it was not tight. It took over 3 revolutions to completely tighten. The jury is still out on whether reception was affected.
 

bwinking

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Quincy, IL
sn 00167X tight .

and the stock antenna that came with the 500 gives poor reception. the radio shack 800 or gre 800 rubber ducks are much better , and the seeker is twice as good and costs twice as much.
 

DigitalByte

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My issue was with analog signals in ALL bands, buying a antenna "tuned" for 800mhz would be going the wrong way. That would kill most reception under 200MHZ. The comparison was with stock wide band antennas, even swapping with the other handheld antennas did not help. Just to try all options I hooked up my Comet CH-722Sa with minimal gain (146MHz 3.0 dBi 1/2wave 446MHz 5.5 dBi 5/8wave x2). The GRE tech feels sure it's a bad radio that I sent back today. The new one to be in tomorrow. Thanks for all your input!.
 
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