Point out the greatness?

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corbintechboy

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Hello all,

Don't by any means want to start a flame here but I am wondering what is so wonderful about the PSR600/500? I just bought a 600 and got it in 2 days ago and am trying to figure out what is so special. Please don't get me wrong I like the radio.

I owned a PCR-1000 for around a year and decided to sell it. To me the PCR was a great radio just lacked the features of a more advanced rig. Then I bought a pro-96, radio was great and sounded good on the Kentucky state police. But the recieve went south on that radio and returned after tracing all over the world. So with the money I purchased the PSR600. I do like the radio but don't even feel that the recieve is as good as even the pro-96. My PCR1000 blows them both away hands down on recieve.

Is there something I am missing? I would not think it is any kind of overload as I live in the semi country and it's a small town with crappy radios. I tried the radio with ATT on and off no change.

With the PCR and 96 I picked up a county not to far away from here although weak I did recieve it. Not 1 hit on this radio. Maybe I am missing something who knows...
 
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tommyscan

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Maybe it might be a lemon? Or maybe a freakish thing like a loose bnc connector? From what I read on the psr600 its solid and performs flawlessly!!
 

hypersight

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I guess everyone has their reasons why the 500/600 is so great. A few of my reasons are:
- Scanlists, not banks
- Audible alerts
- Does LTR (my previous scanner didn't have that capibility)
- Spectrum Sweeper
- Option to ROAM or Stationary on trunking systems
- Great Audio
- Easy to program or edit objects without using software
- Great price for what you get. (accessories included)
 

corbintechboy

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Maybe it might be a lemon? Or maybe a freakish thing like a loose bnc connector? From what I read on the psr600 its solid and performs flawlessly!!

BNC is good and tight. Have no QC issues with my setup just not getting what I thought I would get outta it. I bought it for the fact everyone praises (or hates it) for it's great sensitivity, I have not seen this.
 

tommyscan

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Has your antenna system changed? Or maybe you need a more directional antenna to hear that county away system??!! I have noticed over my years of having different radios that some perform better on certain frequency ranges and trunking systems. I owe it to construction parts. My psr500 failed in 8 months. I am VERY HAPPY to report that my problem was confirmed by a gre tech that I had a loose rf/connector!! Dont know why it happened since I have a 22 year old uniden that literally was thrown around in boxes,car,etc and no problems?? So ALL scanners are NOT made equal!!!
 

mancow

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Short of the real deal Moto or GE stuff, it's the single most sensitive hand held I've ever owned.
 

n4jri

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I have 2 500's and am pretty happy with the sensitivity on both, though I could stand more.

To me, the greatness of these radios lies in their powerful feature set, and the dedication of the manufacturer to troubleshoot and improve the firmware.

These days, it's hard to look at something as a pure radio. You're still carrying a radio, but also the computer which is operating it. The 500/600 is hard to resist in light of that.

73/Allen (N4JRI)
 

corbintechboy

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Thanks for the replies!

Still have the same exact antenna system I had with my other radios. I have a RS "Sputnik" sitting next to my window in this wood framed vinyl sided house. This radio just really is not at all what I expected after reading all the great reviews and whatnot. I will surely agree that you do in fact get alot for what you pay.
 

hoser147

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I gotta agree with it being a sensitive scanner, I got 2 96s and it blows both away as far as reception. I only use mine for 800 systems and use a RS 800 antenna on all three. 2 days isnt long, give it more time and you more time to learn it. Good Scannin Hoser
 

Forts

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Another positive for the 500's and 600's.... yet another firmware release today. Keeping the folks happy by listening to constructive criticism sure goes a long way.
 

corbintechboy

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I am very happy about the fact they listen to the customers, unheard of these days for sure. however I really don't understand the recieve issues with this rig. I am still reading reviews of this thing and it gets much praise for how great the recieve is. I just don't see it. I would love to join the masses and be able to say that this radio is the best reciever I have ever had but I can't. It's nowhere even close!

Maybe I should ask is it weak in the 150-158 mhz range? Or even the 450-465 mhz range? Maybe this is the problem because everything I listen to falls in those ranges???
 
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Patch42

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A couple things come to mind. A careful reading of your message indicates you haven't done direct comparisons of the radios you mention. It sounds like you haven't had the PCR1000 for quite a while and have been without a working Pro-96 for a while too. The memory is recognized by experts as being very faulty, particularly with subjective impressions. Also, conditions change. Without comparing the radios head to head, under identical conditions, it's almost impossible to have anything but a vague impression of something like sensitivity.

You aren't very specific about the antennas you've tried. The antenna that comes with the 500 is optimized for 800-900MHz. Performance in other frequency ranges is rather less than optimal. I have no idea what antenna in included with the 600. You mention a "RS 'Sputnik'", which I can only assume refers to a discone antenna. Those tend to be much wider range, but the ones I've seen are still far less than optimal in the 150-158MHz range you mention.

You say you live in "semi country" in a town with "crappy radios". Broadcast radio is far from the only source of RF that can desensitize the 600. I used to live about two miles from a pager tower. When that thing went off my frequency counter would instantly lock up on it. It takes quite a signal for a frequency counter with a 2" antenna to lock on from two miles, particularly in the RF jungle in which I was operating. You should also consider whether you're anywhere near a cell tower. Even "semi country" regions have decent cell coverage these days. All these things could be contributing to the problem.

Another thing I've found is that compact fluorescent lights can put out a ton of interference. I have a three-way CFL that obliterates a huge amount of bandwidth when operating in either of the first two positions. It will make an excellent radio sound like junk if it's within five feet of that lamp.

Street lights, bad electrical transformers, neighbor's cheap televisions can all add to the problem. There's really no practical way of knowing for sure if the radio is being desensitized short of getting some kind of high-pass or band-pass filter. Or take it somewhere way out in the middle of nowhere and see what comes in.
 

jrplmil

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I have one comming and hope its as good as I hear. I have 2 BC898t now and had to repair the BNC on both as for some reason that works loose and it they go def. Just tighten them up and thew work as good as new.
 

corbintechboy

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A couple things come to mind. A careful reading of your message indicates you haven't done direct comparisons of the radios you mention. It sounds like you haven't had the PCR1000 for quite a while and have been without a working Pro-96 for a while too. The memory is recognized by experts as being very faulty, particularly with subjective impressions. Also, conditions change. Without comparing the radios head to head, under identical conditions, it's almost impossible to have anything but a vague impression of something like sensitivity.

You aren't very specific about the antennas you've tried. The antenna that comes with the 500 is optimized for 800-900MHz. Performance in other frequency ranges is rather less than optimal. I have no idea what antenna in included with the 600. You mention a "RS 'Sputnik'", which I can only assume refers to a discone antenna. Those tend to be much wider range, but the ones I've seen are still far less than optimal in the 150-158MHz range you mention.

You say you live in "semi country" in a town with "crappy radios". Broadcast radio is far from the only source of RF that can desensitize the 600. I used to live about two miles from a pager tower. When that thing went off my frequency counter would instantly lock up on it. It takes quite a signal for a frequency counter with a 2" antenna to lock on from two miles, particularly in the RF jungle in which I was operating. You should also consider whether you're anywhere near a cell tower. Even "semi country" regions have decent cell coverage these days. All these things could be contributing to the problem.

Another thing I've found is that compact fluorescent lights can put out a ton of interference. I have a three-way CFL that obliterates a huge amount of bandwidth when operating in either of the first two positions. It will make an excellent radio sound like junk if it's within five feet of that lamp.

Street lights, bad electrical transformers, neighbor's cheap televisions can all add to the problem. There's really no practical way of knowing for sure if the radio is being desensitized short of getting some kind of high-pass or band-pass filter. Or take it somewhere way out in the middle of nowhere and see what comes in.

You are correct... I should remain fair and I will. I have not had my 1000 for around a month and the 96 went back within a week or so, I feel the performance is fresh in my mind... But I will keep it fair! The RS Sputnik is this antenna http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...Type/Scanner/HAM&fbc=1&parentPage=family and seems to be what I needed for what I monitor and got some good reviews, just not as good as it could be in 800 MHz but that don't matter to me. As far as cell phone towers I really don't know. I know there have been many people come to this house and have no service, we have a Nexhell in the house and she has to walk out the from door to get a single bar. Do have a FM radio station about 2-3 miles from my house but what I do pick up I do pick up well.

I will keep playing with the radio. I am not dead set against not liking the radio so I will work with it. I know very little about filters and such. There could be some stuff around here in the 800mhz band I really don't know.

I do thank you for the reply :D
 
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kikito

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Let me "point TO the greatness", it's attached below. :twisted: :lol:
 

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tglendye

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...To me, the greatness of these radios lies in their powerful feature set, and the dedication of the manufacturer to troubleshoot and improve the firmware...
73/Allen (N4JRI)

I think Allen hit the nail on the head. Though I can't compare it w/ a 396 because I've never had my hands on one, I am very happy with the 500 and I like the fact that they are improving the product and we're getting a firmware update every month or so.

Their customer service is very helpful and above-par. I've submitted two help tickets to GRE and received good information in what I would consider a quick fashion. The first ticket was a wish list (some of which others were also asking for and were included in updates). The second ticket was about the radio's capability... I also submitted the same question to Uniden- and have yet to receive a reply even though they indicated they would respond w/n 3-5 business days. That was on August 10th.:roll:

That being said, I'd still like to get my hands on a 396 and see how it performs and feels. Looks like it should be a good radio. Just not very happy w/ Uniden's customer service right now: from what I've read from other's and now my own experience. I am one happy GRE scanner owner.

Todd
 

gd9704

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My 500 just plain kicks butt. The firmware updates are like trading up to an improved scanner every month or so for free.

I've had no issues or problems, and reception has been fantastic with the supplied rubber duck antenna.

Looks good, sounds good, gets better with every firmware upddate.......can anyone find any negatives here????
 

bneilson

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For me the #1 reason I went with the 500 was the memory.

There is not another scanner on the market that can store as many talk groups associated with a single system and contained in a single list as the GRE. Sure on a uniden you can break them out into the various banks but this presents a problem when searching for unknown talkgroups.

With the GRE, I can simply enable a Wildcard and only hear things that are not programed in the scanner. Since I can add every talkgroup in, I only hear what hasn't been identified. This was my #1.

Now that I have had it for a while, I have to say the GRE is another great thing about the scanner. GRE is involved and listening to us and working to make the product better every day. What have we seen from Uniden....anything....I think they said they were working on stuff, but have turned nothing out and provided no details. With GRE, we get quick response to support questions and what is almost turning out to be monthly releases.
 
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