very new to scanning am lost on how to use scanner

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sfunkman

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Nov 26, 2009
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sfunkman
hey i just bought a gre psr 500 and am trying to read the manual. Very very confusing. This is my first time ever owning a scanner, and have no idea how to use it. are there any recommended sites, youtube videos or info on how to get started besides the owners manual?
 

qlajlu

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Jul 25, 2005
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Welcome to RR.com, sfunkman.

WOW! Nothing like jumping into a new hobby with both feet and more. One thing, you went to one of the top-of-the-line scanners to get started on. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to explain how things work. It is going to take a lot of studying on your part. Remember, anything in blue and underlined is a link to more information.

Programming is a relatively simple task if you have programming software to help you along. Software can help you program manually or if you get a Premium Subscription then the software will do most of the work for you.

Read the documentation that came with your scanner and load the drivers for the USB cable so your computer can "talk" to your scanner. Make sure you load the drivers BEFORE you connect the cable to your computer. Don't worry about doing that until you have some software to use. It is actually the software that allows your computer to talk to the scanner. (Kind of an over-simplified way of putting it.)

There are three different "flavors" of programming software for the 500:
  1. WIN500 (My personal favorite)
  2. PSREdit500
  3. ARC Software by Butel
There is a 30-day free trial period with all of the software so you can select the one that best suits your needs. If you should choose WIN500, you will find an illustrated "tutorial" at UtahRadio.org. That "tutorial" is geared for people with a Premium Membership, but can also help you in programming using WIN500 without the Premium Membership.

There are easy-to-follow shortcuts by RR member fmon that you can use to program the 500 without having any software.

You are going to have a lot of questions and the folks on this Web site are all ready, willing, and capable of answering your questions, but you will have to help us by giving enough information that we can understand the issues you are having.

One thing right away is your location. Many of the questions you will have, and their answers, are going to be location specific and without having your location showing you will be asked over and over again what it is. Using your User Name for a location does no good at all. So I urge you to return to your User CP (the left side of the second blue bar from the top of any page if you are logged in) and edit your profile to include your location (city and state) as you were requested to do in the material e-mailed to you when you registered. Once you fill in your location it will automatically show in each of your posts. So fill it in now and be done with it.

Again, welcome to RR.com.
 
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Terp

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May 4, 2007
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46
Location
Mulberry Indiana
hey i just bought a gre psr 500 and am trying to read the manual. Very very confusing. This is my first time ever owning a scanner, and have no idea how to use it. are there any recommended sites, youtube videos or info on how to get started besides the owners manual?



I hear you, recieved my 500 and looked at the owners manual, wow that manual is not very user friendly, went to the site easy to read gre psr 500, boy you have to be a ITT graduate to understand that stuff, been thinking packing this radio up and sending back before my 30 days is up.
 

Swipesy

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Jan 27, 2003
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Northern Ohio
I hear you, recieved my 500 and looked at the owners manual, wow that manual is not very user friendly, went to the site easy to read gre psr 500, boy you have to be a ITT graduate to understand that stuff, been thinking packing this radio up and sending back before my 30 days is up.

I know when you are new to the latest GRE and Uniden scanners that they look impossible to understand but really they are not (you can get off the floor now from laughing). Don't give up on the PSR500 yet. I might suggest that you download the 30 day free trial of PSREdit or Win500 and then load one of the V-folders that came with the scanner into the software. If you look how the v-folder system is programmed you will see that the scanner is not as complicated as it seems when you are trying to read a manual - a picture is worth a 1000 words.

Basically there are 3 components - (1) Conventional freqencies; (2) Trunked Systems, (3) Scanlists. Once you see how they fit together from looking at a programmed system you will be on your way.

John
 

Terp

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May 4, 2007
Messages
46
Location
Mulberry Indiana
hey thanks, by the way is there a list anywhere that shows the sequence that you use for different uses.for example: press func key, then press pgm key to get to v-folders. thanks

hay nevermind, I found it on easy reading 500. thanks
 
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