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GRE/RS PC Object Oriented FAQ

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Revision as of 14:15, 13 January 2017 by Ka3jjz (talk | contribs)

Welcome to the GRE/RS PC Object Oriented FAQ. The scanners this FAQ will cover include:

GRE Radio Shack Whistler
PSR-7007 Pro-1077
Pro-181,5,8
PSR-8002,5,8 Pro-6682,5,8 WS10802,3,8
WS10882,3,6
TRX-12,3,4
PSR-9009 WS10952,3
WS10982,3,6
TRX-22,3,4
  1. Released around the time the PSR-800 was, but lacking additional/advanced features SEE #5.
  2. Project 25(P25) Phase I and II decoding.
  3. Capable of DMR decoding, with a free Upgrade to the latest Firmware via Whistler's EZ-Scan software.
  4. Capable of NXDN decoding, with a free Upgrade to the latest Firmware via Whistler's EZ-Scan software
  5. Ability to be Upgraded for DMR (and add P25 Phase II to Pro-18) decode with a Paid Upgrade with User paid shipment to Whistler, returned by them. Once, returned, continued forward support is possible via Whistler Repair and EZ-Scan Software, with all the newer additions and features of a WS1080.
  6. Variant with Keypad
  7. Trunking w Analog Voice Only
  8. ALL THE SAME after UPGRADE except silk screening
  9. Never released publicly, subsequently became WS1095


These scanners lack a conventional keyboard; you use proprietary software to write data to a SD card.

Please put all tips, problems and solutions as well as anything GRE or RS did not include in their manuals here. This includes tips for the PSR Software Utility Manager (EZ-Scan) or IScan.


Firmware and Software Sources

RS Pro-18, Pro-107, Pro-668


GRE Scanners
  • GRECom home page
    • has links for firmware, drivers for the PC/IF cable and versions of EZ-Scan


Whistler Scanners
  • Whistler's versions of EZ-Scan, drivers and scanner firmware can be found here


Whistler Remote Control Software


EZ Scan Utility

Operational Tips


  • Do the PSR-800 and PRO-18 work the same way and have the same functions?
    • As of the current understanding, not precisely; see the Pro-18 article to see the functional differences



  • Can these scanners handle the new Phase II systems that are coming online?
    • These systems are identified by Project 25 Phase II in the System Type in the database. Such systems cannot be received by the PSR-700, Pro-107 or Pro-18, but can be heard by the PSR-800 with a firmware upgrade. The Radio Shack Pro-668, Whistler WS1080, WS1088, WS1095, WS1098, TRX-1, and TRX-2 can also receive these systems without a firmware fix.


  • What parameters must be set to hear Phase II transmissions?
    • Make sure the band plan is set to Auto Fill. To do this;
  1. select your system in the trunked radio systems tab
  2. Go to trunked radio system site information below
  3. Select the site details tab
  4. Highlight the site you want to monitor
  5. Select site options tab to the right
  6. Under trunking tables click the down arrow and select auto fill
  • In addition, if the system uses non standard frequency steps, you must turn on Flex Step. You can find it under General Settings tab on the right side, then select Flexible Frequency Entry


  • How do I import a system from the library?
    • Importing an entire system requires these steps:
  1. Press MENU key to display main menu
  2. Select "Browse Library". You're presented with a list of states.
  3. Scroll down to and select state. You're presented with the 3-item "Agencies / Counties / Systems" menu.
  4. Scroll down to and select Systems (this shows all statewide systems).
  5. Press SEL key to select the system.
  6. Press MENU and select "Import Selected"
  7. Select target playlists for talkgroups
  8. Press MENU and select "Import Now"
  9. Wait while scanner parses DB files and builds its run-time data files/structures.
  • Note: If you only wanted a few Sites / Talkgroups, you wouldn't select the entire system in step 5. Instead, you'd drill into the system and select individual sites, categories, and/or talkgroups.



  • How can I improve the performance on decoding LSM CQPSK systems?
    • In the trunked radio systems tab on the radio software click on your system; then below click on the system in the site information area that highlites the error correction adjustment----change it to around low 70 high 98. These adjustments should be made with multi-site systems, not ones that are single-site.
    • You can also adjust the noise threshold from 20 down to 5. You will need to play around with these settings for the best results in your area ( Thanks to IowaGuy1603 and Mancow for these)


  • What is the hierarchy of the database?
    • The scanner has a menu-driven version of the RR DB's hierarchy:

Code: States 

 Agencies
   Categories
     Subcategories
       Frequencies
 Counties / Independent Cities
   Agencies
     Categories
       Subcategories
         Frequencies
   Categories
     Subcategories
       Frequencies
   Systems
     Sites
     Talkgroup Categories
       Talkgroups
 Systems
   Sites
   Talkgroup Categories


PSR-800 and WS1080 Related
  • What are Scan Sets and how do I use them?
    • The Scan Sets feature is geared toward people who have lots of different things (where "different" is based on geography, agency, usage, etc.) they want to monitor, and want a somewhat easier method of choosing what to monitor than the default toggling of individual Scan Lists.
    • There are 200 Scan Lists. Each talkgroup and conventional channel belongs to no, any, or all of those Scan Lists. Scan Lists are toggled on/off via a "Scan Lists" menu (all 200 lists are in that menu).
    • There are 20 Scan Sets. Each Scan Set contains a list of 200 flags, one for each Scan List. Scan Sets are edited (their member Scan Lists toggled) by menus that looks just like the one mentioned in the previous paragraph. Scan Sets themselves are enabled/disabled via another menu (20 Scan Sets with a check box for each).
    • In order to be "scanned," an object (talkgroup or conventional channel) must:
      • be a member of at least one enabled Scan List, where that Scan List
      • is a member of at least one enabled Scan Set
    • By default:
      • Scan List 001 is enabled, all others are disabled
      • Scan Set 01 contains all 200 Scan Lists, all other Scan Sets are empty
      • Scan Set 01 is enabled, all other Scan Sets are disabled
    • These defaults effectively make the Scan Sets feature transparent. Since Scan Set 01 is enabled and contains all 200 Scan Lists, condition (b) above is always satisfied: you can completely ignore the Scan Sets feature, and just use Scan Lists like you might on a PSR-500, PSR-310, PSR-700.
    • The default settings are geared toward the [presumed] majority of users, who will only have a few Scan Lists they want to monitor or toggle. Those users can control what they hear by just toggling a few Scan Lists on or off.
    • For more "advanced" users, who might have many areas or agencies they want to split among many Scan Lists but who might have a few "common listening setups" (certain unique groups of Scan Lists they commonly monitor), toggling 200 Scan Lists might be cumbersome. The Scan Sets are intended to help with that.
    • Example:
      • City PD and FD, county Sheriff, and CHP. A generic example, though, might be something like this:
      • O 10 cities, each with their own PD and FD
      • O specific channels/talkgroups for PD and FD dispatch
      • O 40 Scan Lists: <10 cities> x <PD vs. FD> x <dispatch vs. "everything else">
      • O All 40 Scan Lists enabled
      • O Scan Sets for things like:
      • + All cities' PD dispatch
      • + City #1 Fire (both dispatch and "everything else")
      • + City #2 PD (both dispatch and "everything else")
      • + City #1 and City #2 PD, dispatch only
      • + City #1, City #3, and City #4, all PD and all Fire
      • O Toggling Scan Sets on/off can enable/disable such "groupings" much more easily than going through 40 Scan Lists


  • Why is the 796-806 Mhz range locked out?
    • According to a GRE representative, it's because there are intermod issues with these scanners at this range. Please see the first posting of this thread.



Heap error messages

  • I am getting a Heap Error message. What is causing this?
    • You have some TGRP objects that are not associated with any TSYS. Associate or delete these TGRP objects and reload.
    • To correct the HEAP ERROR condition, look for any TGRPs that have "NEW" as their TSYS, and delete them (press FUNC CL) or associate them with a new or existing trunking system.
    • This can be caused by having duplicate TGRPs in a TSYS.
    • This is the knowledge based article that appeared on GRE's webpage - no longer available ->

Heap Errors are most often caused by one or more talkgroup (TGRP) objects that are programmed into the radio, but not associated with any trunking system (TSYS). When programming an OOUI scanner by hand, this can happen when a new TGRP is saved without mapping it to a new or existing trunking system, e.g., pressing the Save softkey when "NEW" is displayed in the TSYS field of the TGRP object menu. Specifying "NEW" in the TSYS field tells the radio that a new trunking system is needed. If SEL is pressed while NEW is displayed in the TSYS field of the TGRP menu, the radio will present a blank TSYS menu that can configured with the parameters for the new system, named, and saved. Once the new TSYS is saved, it can be used over and over again for more talkgroups on the same system by scrolling through saved TSYS(ystems) using the left/right arrow keys at the TSYS field.

To correct the HEAP ERROR condition, look for any TGRPs that have "NEW" as their TSYS, and delete them (press FUNC CL) or associate them with a new or existing trunking system. To review programmed objects, press PGM, then use the left/right arrow keys to browse through the Scan Lists, and the up/down arrow keys to scroll through objects mapped to the selected Scan List. Third party programming software can also be used to find unassigned talkgroups. For example, the Win500 application has a feature that displays only TGRPs that are not mapped to a TSYS.

In rare cases it may be necessary to restore the radio to factory defaults to clear a Heap Error. To reset the radio to factory defaults, turn the radio on, wait for the Welcome screen to appear, then immediately press 0, then 1, and follow the instructions on the LCD display to reset the radio. This will result in the loss of programming data, so use this as a last resort.

EZ-Scan and IScan Questions

EZ-Scan Questions
  • How do I properly install EZ-Scan? What do I do if my PC already has a driver for the cable?
    • Before Connecting Scanner to PC, You should Install & Update EZ SCAN™ from the download link (found in the Proprietary Software section above) or mini-SD card first, prior to connecting scanner to PC. Use of a mini-SD card reader is a user-best-practice, for all applicable updates & programming, ensuring fastest connection rate possible.
    • If scanner was connected to PC prior to installation of app, the driver initially installed by Windows may need to be manually replaced with the Whistler (unsigned) driver. This driver is stored in a Zip format and will need to be unzipped with WinZip or a third party tool (such as 7-Zip), prior to use. The link for the driver can be found in the Proprietary Software section above.


  • Since the RRDB currently doesn't support DMR / MOTOTRBO or NXDN data properly, how can I download this data to EZ-SCAN?


  • What do I do to fix an error code 740 from the EZ-Scan software?
    • Make sure you mark this software run as administrator


  • How do I manually reband a system?
    • NOTE: This procedure was discovered using EZ-Scan.
  1. Select the system
  2. Select the site
  3. Bring up the trunking tables for the system
  4. Set it from Auto-fill to Custom
  5. Hit the Set Reband button
  6. Load the new configuration to the scanner

Thanks to Troymail for the procedure


  • How do I activate a wildcard on the PSR-800 using EZ-Scan?
    • Look at the Trunked Radio Systems tab on the far right hand side. Click on the image to view it
Wildcard button


IScan Questions

Technical Issues


Additional Resources

Easier to Read Manuals - GRE / RS


Easier to Read Manuals - Whistler


Other websites
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