Specifications

willing to take the time. There is a learning curve with these radios. If you’re not up for spending some quality time with the
manual or if you’re not an experienced radio hobbyist or professional, also prepare yourself for some quality time with web
sites and forums which explain and provide information on trunking and other types of radio systems. If you’d rather not go
through this process, which will help you understand and make better use of your scanner in the long run, then you can have
Scanner Master program the radio for you for a fee. A good percentage of Scanner Master’s customers do this very thing.
If you have dealt with programming scanners before, you will still need to know that the PSR310 works markedly different
than older scanners. While a lot of the familiar GRE and Radio Shack scanner protocols remain, there is enough left over that
will make your head spin if you try to dig into it without reading up on it. The “Easier to Read Manual” for the PSR-310 and
other similar models, available from Scanner Master, makes programming much easier to follow.
The basics are that you create “Objects”, and then tell the scanner what Objects you want to scan by creating Scan Lists.
Objects can be conventional scanner frequencies, trunked system talkgroups, Limit Searches, Spectrum Sweeps or Service
Searches. While conventional channels and the various searches can pretty much be entered directly, trunked Talkgroups
have to be identified with a Trunked System (“TSYS”).
The GRE manual advises to start off slow and work towards more complicated items later. This is good advice, since it takes
a while to learn the various nuances of this radio. For example, start off with conventional radio channels first. The learn how
to add names (called Tags) to these channels. Then learn how to create Scan Lists. Finally learn how to program Trunked
Systems and talkgroups into Scan Lists. Along the way you can take side trips and learn how to program limit searches and
Spectrum Sweeper events as well as adding these and Service Searches to Scan Lists.
RTFM (Read The Flippin’ Manual) or Not
The GRE scanners come with a very inclusive Owners Manual. While it is good it isn’t perfect. There are some typos and
formatting errors.
If you don’t understand or like the GRE manual you may want to try other sources to help learn the radio. One of the best
sources for scanner techniques and tips is the aforementioned Easier to Read Manual written by Marksscanners.
You can also draw a lot of information from the relevant RadioReference.com and YahooGroups forums. RadioReference
also has an inclusive Wiki system that covers these scanners.
Since the Firmware updates that GRE produces as needed may change how some of the features work it is a good idea to
check for more current editions of the Manual on GRE’s website. Updated manuals are a free download. They come in a PDF
format so you can read or print them with free software. You can also keep it on your iPhone, iPad Nook or other device.
If you have used a PSR500 or 600 or one of the similar RadioShack OOUI scanners in the past you will be able to jump right
in with the PSR310. The programming is almost identical and you will likely notice no differences.
Basic Programming techniques
To program Conventional (non-trunked) channels, talkgroups or searches you go into the Program mode by pressing the
PGM button then select the proper soft key. For conventional channels you enter in the frequency and then if you then press
the soft key (F1) labeled Save the channel will be stored into a memory slot. If instead you press the down button on the 5-
way pad you can then edit more parameters such as the text tag, Squelch type (CTCSS, DCS or Search), Priority, how the
LED and display backlight reacts with the channel and more. Keep on going you can go into the “Expert” menu items where
you can change the modulation from the default to another mode, set the attenuator, the delay settings and a couple others.
In this Expert Menu are a couple unusual items. Another Expert Menu item is AudioBoost. This pumps up the audio on a
selected channel by 6dB. Since some systems or channels use lower modulation levels than others, this will allow you to
adjust weaker audio to match the rest of the channels. This will help when you have a mixture of narrow and wide band FM
signals. This is also useful when you want to be sure to notice and hear any channels you deem particularly important.
Lastly there is a Hit Count item in the Expert Menu. This allows you to keep track of how many times that particular channel
received traffic. This is an old feature that was popular back in the 1980s and 1990s that GRE has wisely revived.