GRE PSR-255 Hand Held Scanner Review

GRE PSR-255 50 channel hand held scanner receiver. Not really a review, but a quick look at a few things that I want to talk about. For the price this scanner is very good. It's very basic, and there are much better ones out there that cost a lot more. But this one is still nice to use. A good size, easy to program and use, fits well in the hand, and the batteries last a long time. 

If you don't want to read and just want my verdict on this scanner, here it is. This is one of my favorite scanners. Don't listen to some of the things you hear about it being "cheap" etc, as if that makes it no good. It is excellent. Picks up everything that my other more expensive scanners pick up [in the same frequency ranges of course]. And even some stuff that they don't.

Reception / Signal

Picks up well. Like all scanners it depends on many things. Like how far away the transmission is that you're trying to listen to, and your own setup. But overall, I have been very impressed with the 255's signal quality with the stock antenna. Some of the Ham radio broadcasts have been extremely clear, and I not only praise the 255 for that but also the quality of the users Ham set ups.

The GRE PSR-255 Scanner Quick Specification

• 50 Programmable Channels
• Steps: 5Khz and 12.5Khz

Coverage:

• 26 - 54MHz
• 68 - 88MHz
• 137 - 174MHz
• 380 - 512MHz
  

But in saying that, some of the CB radio communications [citizen band] I've heard have been very good also. These tend to be the home base set ups rather than lorry drivers. The lorry drivers are moving most of the time and don't have super big towers / antennas / rods in the back of their cabins like some of the Home based CB users do in their back gardens, so the transmissions can be bad. But many are still understandable. I've picked up some really funny conversations. Recorded a few also.

Comparison Vs the Quansheng K6 [or K5 8 as some people call it]

This surprised me. I bought a Quansheng KV6 [KV5 8] with the idea of modding it with the EGZumer software. I thought great. I can get a really cheap, up to date, small, futuristic looking little walkie talkie and modify it so it can search from 18Mhz - 1.3Ghz [1300mhz]. And that's exactly what I did. I installed the egzumer software and it worked a treat. It opened the UV KV5 8 up and seemed to work really well. And by the way, the KV6 really is an excellent little radio for the price. Very well made and packed with features. I couldn't really fault it.

That was until I put it up against the GRE PSR 255 in the CB frequency range [27mhz]. I was picking up a conversation on the GRE 255 in the 27mhz range and thought it was the perfect time to turn on the KV6 and compare how well each one picked up the conversation. Well guess what happened. 

The Quansheng KV6 [KV5 8] could not even pick up the signal. Like not at all. It just would not stop on the frequency, as if nothing was there. When I knew it was because I was listening to it on my GRE PSR 255. I stopped it manually on the same frequency and all I got out of the Quansheng was noise. I couldn't believe it. I was quite disappointed. Not sure if the egzumer software is the cause of this, but experiencing this has made me lose all confidence in the Quansheng KV6 [KV5 8] at the lower frequencies.

The GRE PSR 255 easily picking up the CB bands

My outlook now is, if it can't pick that up, when I can clearly hear it on another scanner, what else is it not picking up. I did a bit of research after this comparison and found quite a few Reddit posts where people were saying the exact same thing. That the Quansheng KV6 [KV5 8] does not work on the CB frequencies. I'm not sure whether to try and install some other software to see if that sorts it out. But I might just sell it as-is to be honest. It still works really well in other areas and can pick up Air Bands etc. Update: Turns out it was the antenna on the Quansheng. The stock antenna is useless at 27MHz. I replaced the antenna with one that is specifically for CB bands and now it works just as good on CB as the GRE-255.

But yeah, at that time it got outdone by the old 255. But now it is great.

And even before it was modded I did some comparisons between the two. Truth is they were both evenly matched. I do think, though, in terms of signal strength that the Quansheng KV6 [KV5 8] was better before it was modded [I was wrong, it isn't], despite most other reviewers saying it was much better after they installed the new software / firmware. Anyway, back to the GRE PSR 255.

Last quick comparison. I recently bought a Realistic Pro 26 handheld scanner and have done a few comparisons with the GRE PSR 255. Straight to the results / conclusion: the PSR 255 picked up everything the Pro 26 did, and even though the Pro 26 has a wider range and many more features, I think the 255 is much nicer to use. And it even sounds better through the speaker and headphones.

Batteries

They do last a long time, but I would have preferred it to take 4 batteries instead of 6. Six is annoying. 2 too many. Maybe this is partly due to the fact that I only have 4 rechargeable batteries and always have to add 2 random non-rechargeable AA's. I might buy some more rechargeables. I actually ended up finding some old Energizer rechargeable batteries in an old man-drawer that are 2500mAh, and they last for ages in this scanner.

Mains Adapter

It has been surprisingly hard to find a compatible adapter for the 255. It has to be a 9V negative polarity with minimum of 200ma. I've just stuck to using batteries so far. I have heard that if it uses an adapter that isn't suitable it can damage the scanner, so I didn't want to risk it.

Conclusion

People call the GRE PSR 255 a cheap scanner. And it is, to buy. But its excellent. From all of the tests I have done it has, at the very least, held its own against all the other receivers, and even beaten some of them.

What am I up to next

Even so. You know what its like, always wanting more. I've got my eye on a "better" scanner at the moment with a larger range. I think I'm going through a bit of a scanner nostalgia phase, remembering how good they used to be back in the day when everything was analogue. But those days are long gone. 

Now, most things worth listening to are digital. But the lure is still there to get one with a wider range and no gaps. Maybe a Realistic Pro-26 [I got it] or homebase Realistic 2006. I might go back to SDR. I was using it many years ago but lost interest because the RTL dongle I was using wasn't that good. Tempted to get another one.

Update: I'm having a clear out and found the old SDR dongle. I'm gonna see if I can get it to work. It's an old one with a coax connection. Think it goes up to around 800Mhz. It's a start I suppose. Another update: it doesn't, it goes higher. I think it goes up to at least 1.3Ghz, and quite possibly up to 1.7Ghz. And, it's not as bad as I thought it was. It picks up everything and more that any of my normal scanners can pick up. It's actually really good, and I definitely don't need to buy a new one right now. Chat again soon.

SDR# Plugins Seem Outdated

Getting back into SDR after at least 10 year since I last played around with it and I've been very disappointed and surprised in how there seems to have been minimal progress with plugins and there ease of use. I thought at this point many of them would have been quick installations or copy the DLL file to a certain folder and put the keys in the .XML file etc, but no. Yes, some of them are like this, but most of the really useful / needed plugins are not.

Most of the plugins and posts I came across were very outdated. Like there hasn't been much progress at all. Some as old as 2013. Digital decoding, APCO, Tetra, Trunking, all of these plugins need other software to work. I came across a "simple APCO" P25 plugin for SDR#, but once activated, it just made SDR sharp suddenly stop working.

Airspy / SDR# Interface

For me, I'm still using Windows 7 32-bit [yep, I'm just as outdated], and many of the above mentioned plugins need other software to work, and that requires a 64-bit system. So this makes them unusable for me. I could not get any of the more needed plugins to work with my setup.

I did get a few to work / install [digital audio processor, DSD interface and TETRA demodulator], but they don't really seem to do anything. I know DSD may require the DSD+ software installed, but it did not work on my computer.

SDR works great as an analogue scanner though, so I'll keep on using it for that at least, and i'll do some more research and try to get some of the plugins to work. I'm only using a tiny little antenna that came with the dongle when I bought it over 10 years ago.

I might buy a Yagi antenna. I really wanted, at the very least, a digital decoder for SDR. So much is digital now. Does anyone know of a plugin for digital decoding that works with a 32-bit system and doesn't need additional software that's only 64-bit.

Shira FR-1106 Multi-Band Radio Receiver

The Shira FR-1106 Multi-Band Radio Receiver can pick up MW, CB1, CB2, VHF and AIR band. It's an old radio and appears to be quite rare as a Shira model. The design itself, though, is not so rare. It looks as though this design was used by many companies, who made radios that all looked rather similar. And all the companies did was differ the design slightly and slap their brand name on the front.

I've seen a few different types, but the Shira FR-1106 is one of the nicer ones. It's a "portable" handheld radio, but its a big boy, man. Certainly won't fit in a pocket. Try a carrier bag! Takes 4 AA batteries and is fairly loud when turned up. The headphone jack is a mono, so only works in one ear.

Going on the old school "Shira" font on the front of my radio, it looks like this Shira FR-1106 is from the late 1960's or early 1970's. It still works really well. I've never been able to pick up any CB radio talk on it, despite me checking that there was CB talk going on using a proper scanner, and then turning on the Shira FR-1106 and trying to find them talking on there. I could not find it. Maybe the frequencies of the channels are different now than they were in the 70's. I'm not sure.

I'm certain its not broken in anyway as it works great everywhere else. The only thing I wish it had that it doesn't have is a little light inside where the tuning window is. One of those dull orange ones from the 70's. That would have been nice. Cool radio though overall. Sometimes its nice to have some older tech like this to play with and appreciate. 

Quansheng UV K6 Review

Quansheng UV K6, or the UV K5 (8) as some refer to it. Great little receiver, with or without modification of the software. In this quick review I can only go on my own experience of receiving one Quansheng UV K6, so my outlook on this scanner / transceiver will no doubt differ from other users opinions on this radio. I say this because some people say its a great little "walkie talkie", while others claim the radio they received is terrible. Could this be a quality control issue, or some sellers reselling refurbished / used / returned UV K5's / K6's as brand new. I'm not sure. But I think its a combination of the three.

The K6 in mid-scan. I love the orange display

My experience has been a mostly positive one. I only bought this radio to receive, not transmit, so I have not tested the transmit features at all. I only wanted it to use as a cheap scanner that could cover a fairly wide range. And for that it has been pretty good.

There is now a newer model of this radio available. It's called the Quansheng UV-K5 (99). The frequency range out the box is impressive @ 20MHz - 1000MHz. Looks like a nice little radio, and I'll no doubt be buying one soon. View it here.

RX [Receiving / Scanning]

Even when it was in its original state [not modded with any firmware / software] it picked up signals really well. I put it up against my GRE PSR 255 scanner, and for the most part they were very evenly matched. Both had stock antennas and were picking up the same frequencies.

Once the Quansheng was upgraded to egzumer it opened up the bandwidth from 18Mhz - 1300Mhz. It was great scanning around seeing what I could find, although there wasn't really that much to listen to. I did have a listen to some of the AM band frequencies that so many people buy and mod the Quansheng radios for, but to be honest I haven't really got much interest in that. But here's a quick video test anyway.

Anyway, once my batteries were recharged for both the Quansheng and the GRE PSR 255, I thought I'd put them head to head on some of the lower frequencies, more specifically, the CB bands. I'd been listen to the CB bands [27Mhz] on the GRE 255 for quite some time and thought the Quansheng, being the much newer, egzumer'd device would have a better signal than the GRE scanner, and would quite possibly pick up things the GRE couldn't. But it turned out to be the total opposite. I have written about this in another post, so I don't want to talk much about it here.

 
But in a nutshell, the Quansheng was totally dead at 27Mhz. Could not pick up a thing. Even though there were people chatting away and I was listening to them on my GRE 255. This has made me lose some confidence in the Quansheng. But other than that it picks up other stuff well. 

Update: I have since discovered that it was due to the stock antenna as to why K5 couldn't pick up anything in the CB bands. The stock antenna is finely tuned to, I believe, 144 MHz and up, and 400MHz - 600MHz. I have changed the antenna on the K5 since the old tests [and writing this post] and have had no problem picking up many conversations in the CB bands. I will make a post on this soon.

 

Egzumer

The egzumer software is really good. I suspect that the lower frequency issues could be down to this software though, and would like to try and install something else in the near future.

But in terms of ease of use, it is very easy to use and has some great features / options. The amount of different Khz steps that can be chosen is crazy. From 0.01Khz all the way to 500Khz. One thing I couldn't figure out how to do, though, is make the squelch silent. The radio seems to constantly hiss.

I could not find anything in the options that could disable the squelch noise when it stops on a transmission. Not sure if this is just normal for these types of devices, or if I should set the squelch level really high [tried, didn't work]. if someone knows how to disable that sound without setting the squelch so high that I miss what I'm actually searching for let me know below in the comments. I should note that the squelch is high enough to scan perfectly fine.

The monitor option also seems a bit hit and miss. Works most of the time. But sometimes I'll hit on a channel I want to listen to, press monitor, but the radio just continues to scan once the transmission ends. This has been quite annoying.

 

Speaker

This model, K5 8, or K6 has an improved loud speaker over the earlier model. I can't compare it personally as I don't own the earlier model. But I have watched a few video comparisons, and all the people couldn't really hear much difference. If anything the K5 8 was just a little better. It is a good speaker. FM radio stations can be turned up quite loud and still remain clear.

 

Headphone jack

There are two jack ports on the side. One I believe is for the microphone, and the other is what looks like a 2.5mm headphone jack. I was a bit disappointed with this. I would have preferred a normal 3.5mm jack for convenience. But Its not much to buy a little 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter. The two jack ports are also used to update the firmware / add new software, such as egzumer.

 

Volume knob

Many think its too big and a bit of a design flaw, but I actually like it. Works really well. It also works to turn the device on and off. It has a nice smooth click for on / off.

 

Torch light

There is an LED torch light at the top. It has a solid light and flash option. Could be of some use, but I haven't really used it yet other than a quick test. Seems OK.

 

Battery

I've seen some mixed reviews on the battery for the K5 8. Some say its great, while others say it just won't charge or won't hold a charge for very long. I think this is due to what I said earlier about some sellers selling refurbished / used / returned radios as brand new. Luckily for me, my battery has fell into the "great" category. Mine has only been charged a few times so far, but I've been very impressed. It has been holding a charge extremely well.

 

Charging

The desktop charger works well. Slot the Quansheng in on an empty battery and its fully charged in 2 - 3 hours. There is also a USB-C connection on the side of the Quansheng K6 that can be used for charging the battery, but its not recommended as a regular charging option by Quansheng. They advise to use the desktop charger, and only use USB-C now and again. Please Note: the K6 does not come with the usb-c cable.

 

Hidden menu

There's also a hidden menu on the Quansheng UV K5 8 [K6] that gives access to even more features. Some of those include more transmit [TX] options, including enable / disable TX on all bands [HAM / CB etc], and also the ability to change the battery from 1600mAh to 2200mAh.

 

Activate hidden menu

Hidden menu is activated by holding PTT [talk / transmit button] along with side button 1 [the one below PTT / transmit] while at the same time turning on the radio [turn the volume button clockwise]. Once the radio comes on, release all the pressed buttons and you will be in the hidden menu.

 

My conclusion

For the price you really can't go far wrong with the Quansheng UV K5 8 [K6]. It's an excellent radio for what it costs. The built quality is really good and it feels like a more expensive device than what it really is. Once the firmware is updated its mostly great to scan / receive with. Of course, with the CB band problems I'd have to try different software to see if that fixes the issue. Hopefully it does. If it does I'll give you an update on this blog. And for people into Air Band, it's definitely a great little radio once modified. Lot's of features to play with, and great potential through all the bands really. Works well even with the stock antenna, and with the stock software.

As well as Quansheng there is BAOFENG and BTECH [BAOFENG BF-F8HP and BTECH UV-5X3 Tri-Band are very highly rated, but both cost more]. Those brands appear to be the closest competitors to the Quansheng's. But as far as I'm aware, they can't be modified like the Quansheng's can. And by most accounts I've read online, for radios in the same price bracket between the brands mentioned, the build quality and performance is better with Quansheng.

 

Where to buy

Buy from Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress [cheapest] and Moonraker (UK).

 

More information on egzumer

Menu Operation and Hidden menu

https://github.com/egzumer/uv-k5-firmware-custom/wiki/Menu

How To Operate the radio basics [very useful for newbies]

https://github.com/egzumer/uv-k5-firmware-custom/wiki/Radio-operation

Install egzumer [flash from browser]. All versions available.

https://github.com/egzumer/uv-k5-firmware-custom/releases

GRE 255 #Birmingham 459.200Mhz

Most of the time this frequency - 459.200Mhz can not be heard with a normal analogue scanner. But sometimes a non-encrypted / not covered by a white noise transmission comes through. I believe this is just a mass transmission and is meant to be heard by everyone. It never reveals much anyway, just basic information. So here is the GRE PSR 255 picking up an audible voice transmission from 459.200Mhz in Birmingham UK. Not sure what the service exactly is, but its something to do with accident emergency / hospital / ambulance service etc.