PSR-600 recieving problem

[Danny37]

there's this odd issue I'm having with my PSR-600 it seems to be missing alot of traffic. I'm listening to mostly analog conventional frequencies in the UHF band. The RSSI indicator will be 5 bars then all of a sudden they'll be no signal. I have my Motorola recieving right next to it so I can see all the data.

On weaker stations (2-3 rssi) it takes a good minute or so until the radio finally opens up to recieve the transmission. It's like the radio is struggling to decode the frequency.

I'm lost as to what it could be thats causing this. I thought it might be my monitor overloading the scanner but I turned it off and unplug it and the issue still remains.

Any thoughts?

 

[buddrousa]

Sounds like you are having desese problems gre built scanners have problems with close transmissions

 

[Danny37]

Sounds like you are having desese problems gre built scanners have problems with close transmissions

Well that sucks. I'm thinking about getting a whislter trx-2, hopefully that radio is built better.

 

[buddrousa]

Nope still suffers I have a trx1 and trx2

 

[kruser]

Most of the recent models use the same front end that GRE designed. I'm not sure what models first had the front end overload problems like that seen today but it's been a problem for urban area users for quite a while. Get out in the sticks away from the high RF levels of many cities and the GRE models can work great and sometimes much better than the Uniden models.
When the TRX models came out, rumors said the internal filtering in the TRX series was much improved over the older models but that's not what was found.
If I don't have notch filters inline, my newer GRE based models will all desense. Mostly from FM broadcast and VHF paging signals in my case. I must keep the squelch set at almost it's highest setting without filters. With the notch filters, I can get by with a squelch setting of 9 in most bands.
My older GRE designs like the old Pro-2004, 2006, 2035 and 2042 models handled high RF levels much better.

 

[iMONITOR]

What are you using for an antenna? Did you try the attenuation? A FM-Notch Filter might help, even though its VHF. An overwhelming strong FM broadcast station can desensitize the entire scanner as mentioned by buddrousa.

 

[Danny37]

Most of the recent models use the same front end that GRE designed. I'm not sure what models first had the front end overload problems like that seen today but it's been a problem for urban area users for quite a while. Get out in the sticks away from the high RF levels of many cities and the GRE models can work great and sometimes much better than the Uniden models.
When the TRX models came out, rumors said the internal filtering in the TRX series was much improved over the older models but that's not what was found.
If I don't have notch filters inline, my newer GRE based models will all desense. Mostly from FM broadcast and VHF paging signals in my case. I must keep the squelch set at almost it's highest setting without filters. With the notch filters, I can get by with a squelch setting of 9 in most bands.
My older GRE designs like the old Pro-2004, 2006, 2035 and 2042 models handled high RF levels much better.

I have a radio shack pro-163 and a uniden 536 both aren't having these issues. I think its a nearby transmitter that's overloading the scanner. Most likely the nearby police station.

 

[Danny37]

What are you using for an antenna? Did you try the attenuation? A FM-Notch Filter might help, even though its VHF. An overwhelming strong FM broadcast station can desensitize the entire scanner as mentioned by buddrousa.

An outdoor antenna out of the window. I think its a nearby police station thats overloading the scanner. The channel seemed to break into another frequency on a different channel. Even with the PL enabled, it still broke through.

 

[kruser]

You could use one of your other scanners set to the PD you think is the problem. When you see the signal problem on the PSR600, see if the PD is transmitting on the other scanner.

 

[Danny37]

You could use one of your other scanners set to the PD you think is the problem. When you see the signal problem on the PSR600, see if the PD is transmitting on the other scanner.

Yup, its the culprit. Do they make notches specific to one frequency only? All the police frequencies are in the 476/477mhz range, i don't want to wipe out the whole spectrum with the notch filter.

I took the antenna off the scanner and its still recieving the frequency at 3 bars. So I'm assuming their antenna is really close.

 

[gmclam]

there's this odd issue I'm having with my PSR-600 it seems to be missing alot of traffic. I'm listening to mostly analog conventional frequencies in the UHF band. The RSSI indicator will be 5 bars then all of a sudden they'll be no signal.

Sounds to me like interference from a Cell signal. Simply apply the ATTenuator on the desired channel(s).

 

[kruser]

Yup, its the culprit. Do they make notches specific to one frequency only? All the police frequencies are in the 476/477mhz range, i don't want to wipe out the whole spectrum with the notch filter.

Most if not all notch notch filters will attenuate a range about 2 MHz wide or 1 MHz below and 1 MHz above the notch frequency you specify.
If all the other signals in that range are fairly strong now, chances are good that you would still receive them but at a lower signal strength.
Any signals that are weak now will likely be lost with the filter inline. The filter should attenuate the offending signal enough to where the PSR-600's AGC circuit can work again.

I had a problem with VHF paging signals here. They killed our new statewide VHF P25 systems signals which also uses a lot of frequencies between 152 and 153 MHz. I put a 152 MHz paging band notch filter inline and was surprised to find that it worked really well. It did attenuate the states P25 frequencies near 152 MHz but they still made it through with plenty of signal strength to overcome the deep notch of the filter. At the same time, the notch filer attenuated two 152 MHz flamethrower signals on hospitals very near me and allowed for normal reception again of the VHF range around the paging band.

 

[kruser]

You might also setup some limit searches on one of the other scanners.
Search between 454 and 455 MHz and 462 to 463 MHz and see if any strong paging signals pop up that are in sync with the PSR-600 interference.

It's kind of rare that a PD signal would cause the problem you have but it's not unheard of either. PD transmitters are usually much less power than paging signals are. If this PD station is right next door then it is likely the problem as you seemed to have found but I'd still run some limit searches before spending cash on notch filters just to be sure.
You may also want to run a couple VHF limit searches of the paging bands there. 152 to 153 and 158 to 159 and 162 to 163. If a NOAA signal is near you, they do make NOAA specific filters also. The chances are good though that your offending signal is in the UHF range somewhere.

If you hear a background hiss type sound on a lot of frequencies, it's likely from FM broadcast stations. An FM broadcast filter is almost a must in urban areas when using GRE designed scanners!

 

[Danny37]

Honestly, I'm not even sure if it's worth it to invest into a notch filter at this point. I bought the scanner at a yard sale for $40 thought it would be a fun project to mess around with win500 and the android client but its been headaches ever since.

If any of you know of a whistler scanner that doesn't have this issue that I can use with win500 or the TRX windows server, please let me know.

I'll just go back to messing around with my 536 and proscan for the time being.

 

[Danny37]

I do use a fm filter but really haven't noticed any changes.

 

[Danny37]

A couple minor fixes I tinkered with to help the overloading. Using a unity gain antenna and setting the frequencies to NFM even if they aren't narrow.

Sucks that I have to sacrifice the weaker stations but I guess there's nothing I can do about it at this point.

 

[K9DAK]

If you have the CTCSS set to search or a specific code it might take a while to decode. Try setting CTCSS to "None." That helped a lot with my PRO-106, essentially the same scanner.

 

[Danny37]

If you have the CTCSS set to search or a specific code it might take a while to decode. Try setting CTCSS to "None." That helped a lot with my PRO-106, essentially the same scanner.

I do have it enabled since I'm in NYC and theres alot RF here but I'll mess with it tomorrow and report back