PSR500 - terrible

[313RADIO]

okay picked up a psr500 - fresh batteries - 800mhz rs ant - factory defaults - tune to strong local control channel on simulcast sys. Full Bars - RSSI 800-820 will not recognize the control channel at all - try to store - stores as conv. try program the TSYS manually - simply will not recognize any data

When i had my pro106 i could do the exact same thing and it would see the trunking system show the system parameters when i prgm it would store a new trunking system with wildcard talk group. Audio would be 75-90% perfect.

whats the deal with the GRE? completely useless on simulcast? Unless theres some weird setting that i need to change i am convineced this thing is broke. Weird thing is it works fine on analog, works fine on 3600 digital works fine on a single site p25 system but simulcast kills it ! what gives?



uP Appl Ver:U2.1
DSP App Ver:U1.4
DSP Voc Ver:F1.0

 

[datainmotion]

Which system are you trying to monitor that isn't working on the 500?

 

[313RADIO]

System 796 Zone 2 Site 19 (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=100)

 

[datainmotion]

System 796 Zone 2 Site 19 (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=100)

Wow, a 9-site simulcast! At any rate, your 106 and 500 should perform the same, since as you know, the 106 IS a 500. Was the one you picked up brand new?

Did you by chance search the Michigan forum to see if others have had issues with reception from that site?

FWIW - I can tell you that my 500 works superbly on the CO State DTRS Site 322, which is a 3-site simulcast.

 

[n5ims]

Sounds like you're getting too much signal so the strong signals from the various towers are mixing and causing distortion (a common issue with simulcast systems). First try using the attenuator to cut down on the signal strength to see if that helps. If not, try using a worst antenna (yes, I said worse, not better) or even no antenna at all. There also may be some help with firmware updates (depending on what level your radio has currently) or by tweeking some advanced settings (explained in the various threads on this topic so I won't detail any here).

Read these articles and threads to see if any of those solutions may work for you. General answers are to reduce the amount of signal strength as I indicated or to isolate your receiption to only a single tower using a directional antenna like a Yagi. Please note that with a Yagi, the goal is to isolate only a single tower, not to maximize your signal so when you aim it your goal is to point it so only one tower is in the signal path, not two or three. This tower may not be the closest, but more likely the most isolated from your location.

Simulcast digital distortion - The RadioReference Wiki
http://forums.radioreference.com/ra...6-simulcast-distortion-anything-i-can-do.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/radio-shack-scanners/178086-pro-106-simulcast-distortion.html

More can be found by searching the forums using the term "simulcast distortion".

 

[313RADIO]

Its not a strong signal problem its a hardware problem. PRO 106 same antenna same system same location works very good. The Psr500 will not decode any simulcast digital at all. Non simulcast works great.

 

[W6KRU]

Its not a strong signal problem its a hardware problem. PRO 106 same antenna same system same location works very good. The Psr500 will not decode any simulcast digital at all. Non simulcast works great.

There must be a setting that is programmed differently between the two since they are the same electronically. The PRO-106 is made by GRE and is just a PSR-500 with a different front panel layout and slightly different firmware.

 

[eriepascannist]

I took my PSR-500 on a trip through Massachusetts a while back and had programmed their very busy simulcast system into my radio. By feeds on this site I know it is a very busy system. i I didn't hear one transmission across the whole state. Next time through I took my BCT8 with preprogrammed state freqs/systems and it was loaded with activity.

I don't have trunked systems in my area so I can't test it out any further.

 

[scannerfreak]

Its not a strong signal problem its a hardware problem. PRO 106 same antenna same system same location works very good. The Psr500 will not decode any simulcast digital at all. Non simulcast works great.

Must be something on your end. Mine works great on the Cincinnati simulcast system, as well as Indianapolis MECA when I'm up that way. Of course there are spots where the simulcast can get bad, but most of the time it's fine.

 

[ratboy]

okay picked up a psr500 - fresh batteries - 800mhz rs ant - factory defaults - tune to strong local control channel on simulcast sys. Full Bars - RSSI 800-820 will not recognize the control channel at all - try to store - stores as conv. try program the TSYS manually - simply will not recognize any data

When i had my pro106 i could do the exact same thing and it would see the trunking system show the system parameters when i prgm it would store a new trunking system with wildcard talk group. Audio would be 75-90% perfect.

whats the deal with the GRE? completely useless on simulcast? Unless theres some weird setting that i need to change i am convineced this thing is broke. Weird thing is it works fine on analog, works fine on 3600 digital works fine on a single site p25 system but simulcast kills it ! what gives?



uP Appl Ver:U2.1
DSP App Ver:U1.4
DSP Voc Ver:F1.0

Clone the 500 from the 106 and see if it cures the issue. If not, the 500 needs to go in for service.

 

[313RADIO]

Quick update confirmed the board inside was bad.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[datainmotion]

Glad you've figured out what it was. Thanks for posting this!

 

[313RADIO]

Also interesting note. The issue was the main RF board. I swapped it with a pro106 to confirm. They are the exact same board.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2