PSR800 Firmware update wants

[rwier]

............................
Hi, DonS and ResQguy!!

I just lost my smile (not your fault). Did the whole thing, a new V-S folder (CDAT_VS>002) for a far away place, zipped it up for attachment to the RR Forum post, and was destroyed by the message:

"Your file of 307.1 KB bytes exceeds the forum's limit of 195.3 KB for this filetype."

What a disappointing moment, to say the least! Well, I still know more than I did.

Thanks again, guys.

Update: Busted that sucker up into 4 zip files that RR Forum rules will allow!! Successfully completed my post with 4 attachments (another thread) here on the Forums!!

Thanks again for the instructions!!!
Rob

 

[RadioFlyer2012]

For anyone currently employed at Gre here, consider adding the ability to add/edit new frequencies, systems, sites, and talkgroups for the Psr 800 using just the scanner alone.

Yes the original sale intention of the device was marketed for the inept, but it is not hard to do as I may personally know someone who has already done it.

Although one can assume this was not done solely to sell more 500s.

The only thing the unit doesnt have compared to the current declassified civillian market competitors would be Unis close call feature, which we can assume is currently being tackled.

 

[Drafin]

The only thing the unit doesnt have compared to the current declassified civillian market competitors would be Unis close call feature, which we can assume is currently being tackled.

Ummm is the "Spectrum Sweeper" feature not the same as "Close Call"?

Draf

 

[DaveIN]

*BUMP* How about using the available alert noises as an option for Encrypted blocking, or something other than the telephone busy signal, or nothing?

 

[Gilligan]

I would love to have these as options, and have actually submitted a ticket to GRE about two weeks ago on just this idea. It's a little awkward being out in public and having a phone's busy signal sounding from your scanner... As if it's not bad enough that it draws attention in the first place when making such a sound, the ignorance of many would lead them to believe that you are listening to phone calls and such nonsense. I completely agree that there should be other options for this.

 

[woodpecker]

How about GRE charge 50 bucks for an extreme upgrade so we can all get the features we want and get the 800 out of chimp mode and into a pro mode?

This could have been such a great scanner....

 

[BoboPinky]

Make the SQL. "knob" a button, the way the Vol. is now, and put a real Volume knob on the top of the radio. How often do you adjust the Sql. vs. the Vol??? (Ha! now THAT would be one heck of a firmware update! But, it could be done.)

 

[Gilligan]

Well they won't be able to change that squelch/volume issue until they issue a 2nd version of the scanner (it's hardware, not firmware), but I completely agree in the worth of an extreme upgrade firmware edition.

 

[Gilligan]

The simple fact is that many people have sent in legitimate, needed firmware requests, and the one firmware upgrade that has been released recently has pretty much tackled none of them. In fact, the latest release appears to be more oriented toward making the scanner sell better than to actually do anything that has actually been asked for by the customers who shelled out the money for it.

 

[BoboPinky]

Well they won't be able to change that squelch/volume issue until they issue a 2nd version of the scanner (it's hardware, not firmware), but I completely agree in the worth of an extreme upgrade firmware edition.

Yep, or a "dual knob" that way many "HAM Radio" HT's are. Fun radio as it is now, but could be better!

 

[woodpecker]

The simple fact is that many people have sent in legitimate, needed firmware requests, and the one firmware upgrade that has been released recently has pretty much tackled none of them. In fact, the latest release appears to be more oriented toward making the scanner sell better than to actually do anything that has actually been asked for by the customers who shelled out the money for it.

I agree, but GREs implementation of location based scanning is piss poor compared to Unidens HP1 and you can't even hook a GPS up to it, they would have been better sorting out the raised issues with the 800 firmware and re-thinking location input with a new unit that could better cope with it.

I've put quite a few support/feature requests in to GRE, one was a keypad lock, surely that could have been implemented in a few minutes.

The dropping of search and sweeper objects and no remote control protocol from the 500 to 800 is ridiculous. Its like driving a car stuck in limp mode!

 

[DonS]

GREs implementation of location based scanning is piss poor compared to Unidens HP1

Details for this comparison?

(We must ignore GPS connectivity, of course, since the PSR-800 doesn't have a serial port.)

 

[DonS]

no remote control protocol from the 500 to 800 is ridiculous.

The PSR-800 does have a remote control protocol comparable to the PSR-500. It's almost exactly the same.

 

[zzdiesel]

The PSR-800 does have a remote control protocol comparable to the PSR-500. It's almost exactly the same.

Where is it?

 

[DonS]

Where is it?

It might not be documented in the user's manual, but it's there. Anyone who's interested could look at the PSR-500 documentation and pretty easily deduce the exact PSR-800 protocol.

 

[woodpecker]

Details for this comparison?

(We must ignore GPS connectivity, of course, since the PSR-800 doesn't have a serial port.)

No we must not ignore GPS if comparing, if your moving between counties or states the GPS just works, with an 800 you've got to start scrolling through menus, you can't do that and drive.

Ok lets take the buggy EZScan software for a start:-

Open a new V-Scanner
Go to import, select By County
Set state Florida
Set county Osceola
Click All On for import
Click Import

I get 316 conv systems, 3 trunked, 5 sites, 152 TGs.

Close EZScan (as if you were coming back later to do another import)

Open EZScan
Open a new V-Scanner
Go to import, select By County
Set state Florida
Set county Osceola
All categories are still ticked for import so just click Import

Now you get 69 conv systems, 1 truned, 1 site, 52 TGs.

EZScan shows everything selected for import but it doesn't select everything, its buggy, did they not bother to beta test it?

 

[woodpecker]

The PSR-800 does have a remote control protocol comparable to the PSR-500. It's almost exactly the same.

If that were true I am sure you would have released a WIN800 and Gommert an ARC800.

You just posted the 800 had no serial port? Does it or not? Via USB?

If you can control it, it could accept GPS data if GRE got the fingers out and wrote some decent firmware for it.

 

[DonS]

No we must not ignore GPS if comparing, if your moving between counties or states the GPS just works, with an 800 you've got to start scrolling through menus, you can't do that and drive.

Ok lets take the buggy EZScan software for a start:-

Open a new V-Scanner
Go to import, select By County
Set state Florida
Set county Osceola
Click All On for import
Click Import

I get 316 conv systems, 3 trunked, 5 sites, 152 TGs.

Close EZScan (as if you were coming back later to do another import)

Open EZScan
Open a new V-Scanner
Go to import, select By County
Set state Florida
Set county Osceola
All categories are still ticked for import so just click Import

Now you get 69 conv systems, 1 truned, 1 site, 52 TGs.

EZScan shows everything selected for import but it doesn't select everything, its buggy, did they not bother to beta test it?

What does the bold part above mean? What are the exact menu items you're selecting?

I presume that in the first import you're selecting "Custom Types" when prompted, then checking every one of the RR tags. In the second import, if you're again selecting "Custom Types" and checking all of the RR tags, you should get exactly the same thing. (I just tried this, and the CONV, TSYS, SITE, and TGRP counts were exactly the same between the two imports).

If, however, you're selecting "Default Types" in the second import, the resulting data will almost certainly be different (smaller). "Default types" does not mean "the last types I imported"; it means "a specific set of default channel types".

 

[DonS]

If that were true I am sure you would have released a WIN800 and Gommert an ARC800.

When I read "remote control protocol" above, I interpreted that to mean the remote monitoring and control protocol that Win500 uses on its "Monitor/Control" tab.

Yes, the PSR-800 has such a protocol. I haven't created a "Win800" because such a program would be limited to only monitor and control functions. It wouldn't have the "programmability" functions that are in the GRE "EZ Scan Digital" PC software.

You just posted the 800 had no serial port? Does it or not? Via USB?

The PSR-800 is a USB device. One of the interfaces provided is the "USB CDC" device: a COM port in Windows language. However, the "COM port" part is only provided by the Windows driver (USBSER.SYS). There is no EIA-232 serial port on the scanner. A "serial GPS" cannot be connected to the PSR-800, because there is no compatible hardware on the scanner.

If you can control it, it could accept GPS data if GRE got the fingers out and wrote some decent firmware for it.

Unlikely.

Every GPS device I've ever owned which had a USB port would only connect to a "USB host" - like a PC. Such a GPS is itself a "USB device", and (by definition) cannot connect to any other "USB device".

The only "firmware" solution would be if you had GPS connected to a PC, and the PC was also connected to the scanner. With appropriate firmware in the scanner, the GPS could send NMEA location data to the PC and the PC could echo that data out to the scanner (via the USB CDC "serial port"). If you really think this is a viable solution, ask GRE for that feature; if they get enough such requests, perhaps they'll consider adding such a thing.

 

[woodpecker]

What does the bold part above mean? What are the exact menu items you're selecting?

I presume that in the first import you're selecting "Custom Types" when prompted, then checking every one of the RR tags. In the second import, if you're again selecting "Custom Types" and checking all of the RR tags, you should get exactly the same thing. (I just tried this, and the CONV, TSYS, SITE, and TGRP counts were exactly the same between the two imports).

If, however, you're selecting "Default Types" in the second import, the resulting data will almost certainly be different (smaller). "Default types" does not mean "the last types I imported"; it means "a specific set of default channel types".

First time I clicked "All On" for import, second time I didn't click either "All On" or "Default" as all the categories are ALL still ticked (black boxes) so one can assume it will still import all, it does not, its buggy, the Sel column should not show all selected if the software has defaulted back to the RR default or something other than All On which is what the display implies.