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PSR-800

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GRE COM PSR-800 scanning receiver

PSR-800LG.jpg

The PSR-800 is manufactured by GRE in China.

General Specifications


Frequency Coverage
Freq. Step Mode (Default)
25.0000 − 26.9600 MHz 10 kHz AM
26.9650 − 27.4050 MHz 10 kHz AM
27.4100 − 29.5050 MHz 5 kHz AM
29.5100 − 29.7000 MHz 5 kHz FM
29.7100 − 49.8300 MHz 10 kHz FM
49.8350 − 54.0000 MHz 5 kHz FM
108.000 − 136.9916 MHz 8.33 kHz AM
137.000 − 137.995 MHz 5 kHz FM
138.000 − 143.9875 MHz 12.5 kHz AM
144.000 − 147.9950 MHz 5 kHz FM
148.000 − 150.7875 MHz 12.5 kHz FM
150.800 − 150.8450 MHz 5 kHz FM
150.8525 − 154.4975 MHz 7.5 kHz FM
154.5150 − 154.6400 MHz 5 kHz FM
154.6500 − 156.2550 MHz 7.5 kHz FM
156.2750 − 157.4500 MHz 25 kHz FM
157.4700 − 161.5725 MHz 7.5 kHz FM
161.6000 − 161.9750 MHz 5 kHz FM
162.0000 − 174.0000 MHz 12.5 kHz FM
216.0025 − 219.9975 MHz 5 kHz FM
220.0000 − 224.9950 MHz 5 kHz FM
225.0000 − 379.999375 MHz 6.25 kHz AM
380.0000 − 419.987500 MHz 12.5 kHz FM
420.0000 − 450.000000 MHz 5 kHz FM
450.00625 − 469.99375 MHz 6.25 kHz FM
470.00000 − 512.00000 MHz 6.25 kHz FM
764.00000 − 781.996875 MHz 3.125 kHz FM
791.00000 − 796.996875 MHz 3.125 kHz FM
806.00000 − 823.987500 MHz 12.5 kHz FM
849.00000 − 868.987500 MHz 12.5 kHz FM
894.00000 − 939.987500 MHz 12.5 kHz FM
940.00000 − 960.000000 MHz 6.25 kHz FM
1240.0000 − 1300.00000 MHz 6.25 kHz FM
137.0000 − 174.0000 MHz 5 kHz FM (Canada)
380.00000 − 512.00000 MHz 12.5 kHz FM (Canada)
  • Dimensions approximately 5 5/16 x 2 1/8” x 1 1/16” (135 x 67 x 28 mm) (HWD)
  • Weight approximately 7.4 oz. (210g) without accessories and batteries
  • Operating voltage
    • DC 4.8 Volts (“AA” cell x 4pcs. Ni-MH Batteries)
    • DC 6 Volts (“AA” cell x 4pcs. ALKALINE Batteries)
    • Ext. power and charge voltage USB Power (DC 5V 500mA)
  • If batteries and the power cable are removed for more than ~1 minute, the clock and time will need to be reset by hand or through the software.
  • The PSR-800 uses a normal USB device cable. The 800 uses a logical device and installs drivers for both the radio and the microSD card.
  • Recording / playback of objects or all received audio at a set volume unchanged by the volume control.
    • Audio codec is AU format and is time/date stamped at the header file of the audio sample.
    • AU audio files can be played via Windows Media Player, WinAmp, and other players.
    • Additional information such as frequency, TGID, etc. can be see using the included software.
  • Clock display while "off" (and connected to external power)
  • Auto power-on ("alarm clock")
  • Audio alert tones
  • Power-on password
  • Object oriented memory management. See the Object Oriented Scanning Described article for more information.
  • Built in IF discriminator data output can be enabled to the headphone jack and can be used with UniTrunker, Trunk88, and Treport decoders with a standard stereo audio patch cord.
  • Built in discriminator data output in simple ASCII output using the PC/IF port can be sent to a com port or internal microSD card.
  • Tri-color alert LED - Object programmable; eight factory default colors to any color / brilliance you want by having direct access to the R-G-B drive values (including flash) to assign to talkgroups, frequencies, agencies, etc. Example settings are shown in the owners manual.
    • LATCH option; the color of the last received object stays on until reset.
  • Motorola Smartzone systems
    • Scanner option to look for the site with the best received CC decode rate.

(Not the same as RSSI on the Motorola rigs, but similar in operation.)

  • Scan Set; create a scan list tailored to your favorite scan list settings.

One button operation to get to this set.

  • EDACS and Motorola TGID Patch (when used on system), currently in the HEX display format only.
  • Regular LTR trunking with auto-arrange for LCN.
  • Spectrum Sweeper Near field frequency capture
  • Triple conversion
  • Virtual Scanner Memory Management system (Second generation); One copy of working memory can hold a virtual numbers of objects, meaning any combination of talkgroups, conventional channels, and trunking systems. Each V-Scanner II folder holds one copy of working memory. Actual memory size is determined by the size of the microSD card memory size used.
  • Preprogrammed with all systems currently in the Radioreference database with ability to update as needed or once a week.
  • Scan rate 70 CPS (without trunk scan)
  • Search speed 80 CPS
  • User defined service search and limit search
  • Default Option keys; return to default setting for any menu
  • Selectable digital AGC
  • Adaptive digital tracking (ADT)
  • Digital signal processing (DSP)
  • CTCSS/DCS abilities
  • Network Access Code can be programmed to only break squelch when receiving the correct NAC in a conventional P25 system.
  • 16-character alpha-tagging with text entry can show ID code or service name set per the users preference
  • L/O talkgroup ID or frequency
  • 2 second ID delay
  • UNSQUELCH Delay; Delay settings before the radio unmutes audio to speaker
  • Motorola Control Channel Only trunking
  • Private Calls and RadioID alpha display
    • Note: If RadioID is greater than 9,999,999 (decimal), then HEX is displayed to fit in the 16 character display.
  • 700MHz and 380MHz Trunk Scanning
  • Easy-to-read back lit control and display with back lit keypad with user selectable settings
  • 7 service search ranges/ 1 user definable search range
  • Search "seek" feature
  • Tunes virtually all important bands—local marine, fire/police, Ham, CB, VHF-air, UHF-Air, racing, weather and more
  • Weather band with enhanced SAME Weather Alert functions and weather priority—access weather channels and alerts with the push of a button
  • Skywarn can be programmed with any number of "objects"
  • Zeromatic search tuning
  • 20 dB attenuator global and per object settings
  • True USB interface with logical device with Programming and recording features
  • 4 way navigation keys to access special modes and programming options emulating today's standard media player operation
  • 6 line x 16 character display with relative signal strength meter
  • Display of the Radio ID of the transmitting user in decimal or hex
  • BNC connector
  • Please see the Connecting scanners via USB article for USB cables to connect your PC to the scanner
  • Any microSD Card up to 32GB is supported, as long as it uses 512-byte blocks and is formatted correctly:
    • 2GB or smaller: FAT16, 32kB clusters
    • larger than 2GB: FAT32, 32kB clusters
  • Advanced encryption handling
    • EncMode selects how the radio treats encrypted voice calls. Simple Display must be unchecked.
    • “Noise” setting plays the random undecoded encryption noise. Simple Display must be unchecked.
    • “Silent” setting plays no audio during the call. Simple Display must be unchecked.
    • “Tone” setting plays a soft tone for the duration of the call. Simple Display must be unchecked.
    • EncLevel selects the tone level for tones played during encrypted calls
  • Advanced conventional P25 systems
    • CONV TGID When enabled, shows the Talkgroup ID for P25 Conventional Talkgroup calls. Simple Display must be unchecked.
    • CONV Radio ID when enabled, shows the Radio ID for P25 conventional calls. Simple Display must be unchecked.
  • CTCSS/DCS/NAC Search with store via Menu key press during comm and the "S" search icon display when the object is programmed for search.

Features found on the PSR-800 Not included on the RadioShack Pro-18

These are the features that the PSR-800 has above the PRO-18:

  • Recording / playback
  • 200 scan lists (PRO-18 has 100 play lists)
  • Tri-color alert LED
  • Discriminator output
  • V-Scanner II
  • Scan Sets
  • Clock display while "off" (and connected to external power)
  • Auto power-on ("alarm clock")
  • "Extra" audio alert tones (PRO-18 has the 7 from PSR-500; PSR-800 has 8 more)
  • Power-on password

Database Hierarchy

  • 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

Operating Tips

See the Object Oriented Scanning tips article for more information

Scan Sets Feature

  • 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:
    • a) be a member of at least one enabled Scan List, where that Scan List
    • b) 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

Import System

  • 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.
  • If you wish to import a trunked system that has multiple sites into more than one scanlist, you have to do it manually using the included EZ Scan Digital software and creating a new trunked system, input your control channel and trunked attributes. There is no other method to do this.

Delete Scanlist/Object

  • In order to delete more than one object at a time, you must use the included PC software. With the radio attached to the PC via the supplied USB cable, run the PC software, and select the "Copy Configuration from microSD Card" item on the "microSD Card" menu. (You'll be prompted to select the "removable disk" that corresponds to the microSD Card). You should now see the data programmed on the microSD Card.
  • At this point, the data on the microSD Card has not been changed; it has been copied to the PC. After performing any edits described below, you'll need to copy the data back to the microSD Card via the "microSD Card" menu. The PC software only manipulates its local copy of the data, which should be in \My Documents\iScan.
  • Deleting all objects in a Scanlist is done on the "Scanlists" tab at the bottom of the window. You first select the target Scanlist via the drop-down at the top, then select some/all of the objects by clicking on the row headers (the 4-digit numbers under "POS"). Normal Windows "multi-select" options work: CTRL+leftClick, SHIFT+leftClick, CTRL-A.
  • Do you want to actually delete the objects, or do you want to merely remove them from a playlist (in case they're in more than one)? If the former, click the Delete Channel button. If the latter, click the Remove Channel button.
  • Note that if you use the "remove" option and the objects are only in one Scanlist, the objects will still exist - you just won't ever be able to see them on the scanner; you'll have to return to the PC software to put them in at least one Scanlist.
  • If the objects you want to delete are talkgroups, and you want to delete the entire trunked system, you can (and probably should) do that via the "Trunked Radio Systems" tab, which will be available if you set the "Simple Display" item on the "General Settings" tab to OFF.

Moving Scanlists

  • If you want to move contents of Scanlists around (e.g. everything in Scanlist X to Scanlist Y, everything in Scanlist Y to list Z, etc.)...
  • The only easy way is within the included PC software, and it's only easy if you have a playlist that is currently empty. You'd use the "Scanlists" tab, selecting everything in one Scanlist and moving it to another, repeating as necessary.
  • For example, if you had objects in Scanlists 1, 2, and 3, Scanlist 10 was empty, and you wanted to move:
  • current Scanlist 3 --> Scanlist 2
  • current Scanlist 2 --> Scanlist 1
  • current Scanlist 1 --> Scanlist 3
  • you could do this within the Scanlists tab:
    • 1. select everything in Scanlist 1 and move it to Scanlist 10
    • 2. select everything in Scanlist 2 and move it to Scanlist 1
    • 3. select everything in Scanlist 3 and move it to Scanlist 2
    • 4. select everything in Scanlist 10 and move it to Scanlist 3

("move it to Scanlist X" means "while those items are selected, click on one of the items' "Scanlists" cells, un-check the box for the current Scanlist, and check the box for Scanlist X")

  • On the Scanlists tab:
    • 1. select the "from" Scanlist from the drop-down box at the top-left of the display
    • 2. click on one of the "POS" cells in the displayed objects list
    • 3. press CTRL-A (select all)
    • 4. click on one of the "Scanlist" cells in the displayed objects list
    • 5. in the "Select Scanlists" window that pops up, un-check the current Scanlist (the one you selected in #1 above), and check the target Scanlist (the one you want to "move to")
    • 6. repeat steps 1-5 for every Scanlist whose contents you want to "move"
  • Note: Clicking on the "header" cell for the Scanlists column will jumble your information, just left-clicking on the Scanlist column works fine.

Skywarn Frequencies

  • Can freq, be added to Skywarn without software?

If you're referring to directly entering a specific frequency, no.

However, there are other ways:

  • If the frequency is in the RR DB, you can import it and assign it to the Skywarn playlist
  • You could set up a limit search where the "Lo" and/or "Hi" frequencies are the one you want to enter, turn the Sq knob fully counterclockwise, then, when the scanner "stops on" the target frequency, press MENU and select "Store Channel".

RR System Compatibility

This scanner is compatible with the following Trunking System Types and System Voices used in the RadioReference Database, of course you must verify that the scanner will cover the appropriate frequency range:

  • System Types:
    • Motorola Type I
    • Motorola Type II
    • Motorola Type IIi Hybrid
    • Motorola Type II Smartnet
    • Motorola Type II Smartzone
    • Motorola Type II Smartzone Omnilink
    • EDACS Standard (Wide)
    • EDACS Standard Networked
    • EDACS Narrowband (Narrow)
    • EDACS Narrowband Networked
    • EDACS SCAT
    • LTR Standard
    • Project 25 Standard
    • Project 25 Phase 2 TDMA
  • System Voices:
    • Analog
    • Analog and APCO-25 Common Air Interface
    • APCO-25 Common Air Interface Exclusive

Included Accessories

  • 5" 09080 Rubber Antenna
  • A standard USB A to USB Mini-B cable (No PC/IF converter cable needed)
  • 2GB MicroSD Card (Inside The Scanner)
  • Rotatable Belt Clip
  • CD-Rom (EZ Scan Digital Software Utility Program)

Recommended accessories (Not included with the radio)

Misc

  • USB 2.0 Compliant Interface Built In
  • 200 Scan Lists
  • 200 V-Folders

FCC Type Acceptance

GRE America Support

Owners Manual

Programming, Control, and Monitoring Software

Related Pages

Polls related to the PSR-800

PSR-800 Multi-Site Trunked System Poll

Yahoo Groups and Mailing Lists (receiver support)

eBay Listings

Return to the GRE Radios page