PSR-800 New kid...

[tpayne174]

Hey guys!

New to the forums, or at least to posting, so please forgive me ignorance and low knowledge of this topic.

Now, I have a PSR-800. It was bought for my dad a few years back and rarely ever used. I work for a large airline here at MSP and have been an av-geek for a long time. Figured I would blow the dust off and grab the scanner again but we never really fully learned how to use it from the get go, just more so played around with it in the past.

I would like to, and need to, learn more about it and about scanning as a whole. My goal is to be able to listen to MSP and surrounding airports. As well as the ground communication if possible as well. I have a general know-how of the scanner and the utility program, but no where near an expert. Would could give me some rundowns on some settings, and whatnot to have turned on/off to make it work the best for aircomms? For example, no idea what the ATT button is, or what the G icon means, stuff like that. Like, I said, I am sorry for the lack of knowledge. I know this scanner is a more professional equipment, but hey, gotta start somewhere, right?

Thanks!

 

[troymail]

Recommend a scan of this:

Easier to Read Pro-668/PSR800 Digital Scanner and EZ-Scan/iScan Software Manual

Please with the radio - expect to get a little frustrated but in the end, as long as you keep saying to yourself "this is a training exercise", you'll be happier for it.

I'm happy to answer questions you might have but I may respond with "read this". Self-help is the key. On the other hand, some topics are not as clear as the could be (or missing) from user guides. I and others will happily try to help.

 

[tpayne174]

Recommend a scan of this:

Easier to Read Pro-668/PSR800 Digital Scanner and EZ-Scan/iScan Software Manual

Please with the radio - expect to get a little frustrated but in the end, as long as you keep saying to yourself "this is a training exercise", you'll be happier for it.

I'm happy to answer questions you might have but I may respond with "read this". Self-help is the key. On the other hand, some topics are not as clear as the could be (or missing) from user guides. I and others will happily try to help.

Thanks so much. I expect it to be a frustrating learning curve, but that makes it more fun in the end.

The only issue I am having right now is updating it... Two laptops and two cords won't "find" it during the update process. Tried it with both on and off and it keeps throwing that error :/

 

[troymail]

Thanks so much. I expect it to be a frustrating learning curve, but that makes it more fun in the end.

The only issue I am having right now is updating it... Two laptops and two cords won't "find" it during the update process. Tried it with both on and off and it keeps throwing that error :/

Update - PC app, firmware (CPU and DSP?) or the library?

For now, I'd focus on the ensuring the PC app and RRDB library are current.

Remove the SD card from the radio and insert it into your PC to do the library update and/or some programming (you may need a sleeve and/or a SD card reader)

 

[jaspence]

PSR 800

You might also want to check out the Whistler upgrade that adds DMR reception to the scanner. Regular aircraft coms are going to stay on AM for the foreseeable future, but some airlines are using DMR for ground communications.

 

[troymail]

You might also want to check out the Whistler upgrade that adds DMR reception to the scanner. Regular aircraft coms are going to stay on AM for the foreseeable future, but some airlines are using DMR for ground communications.

...but get the basics down first!

 

[tpayne174]

Update - PC app, firmware (CPU and DSP?) or the library?

For now, I'd focus on the ensuring the PC app and RRDB library are current.

Remove the SD card from the radio and insert it into your PC to do the library update and/or some programming (you may need a sleeve and/or a SD card reader)

All of that is good to go, but the program won't see the scanner. Just keeps saying "scanner was not detected" no matter what I do. Two laptops, two cords, different ports, all of that. Keeps showing this error

 

[jaspence]

PSR 800

There are steps being left out in the instructions for preparing the card. Take the SD card and put it in a USB adapter and plug it into your computer after opening the PSR software. Create your database (frequency list) and then select "Prepare SD Card for Use". In the window that opens, make sure all boxes are checked and then click "Format" and follow the prompts. When the process is done, remove the SD card and put it back in the scanner and turn the scanner on. Use the down arrow and select Scanlists. As you go down the selections,push the SEL key to choose what you programmed. Press menu when you have made your selections, and then push SEL to begin scanning. As far as DMR goes, you do not have to worry about color codes or time slots unless you want too. They are no harder to program than P25 talkgroups and tower sights, despite other opinions.

 

[tpayne174]

Alright, I am ready to go and set up. I have everything installed and updated properly. (I had to install the driver a weird and just got around to doing it now)

So, I am reading up on MSP Airport Freqs and they say (Mode: AM), what does this mean to me as a scanner user? Anything really?

Also, any quick guides on the differences between all the letters on the top of the screen when I press the ATT button?

 

[bunnyman98]

Well tpain, in that link that troymail gave they have a pretty good overview of the symbols and what they're for and what they mean. I was a novice scanner used myself when i first got the 800 (its a really capable scanner chock full of features though). That manual in the link helped tremendously.

As for the AM mode, it simply means that the frequencies the airport broadcasts on are the AM band. If you are using EZScan, when you enter the frequencies in the Conventional Frequencies tab, you just enter the number and save it. You can also name the channel and setup the LED to blink or stay on during a transmission. Hope this helps.