PSREdit Frequently Asked Questions

Over time, there have been a few questions that have been asked on a regular basis. The following list of frequently asked questions is an attempt to answer these questions.

If you don't find your question here, please feel free to email your question to support@psredit.com. I will do my best to answer your question as quickly as possible.


Communications Issues:

Help File:

Licensing Issues:

Programming:

Radio Reference Web Service Support:

Communications Issues:

Q) What PC to Radio cables will work with these radios?

A) These radios require one of the following cables to be programmed from the computer:
  • Radio Shack 20-047 USB Scanner/PC Interface cable (Without the short adapter cable!) - Discontinued
  • Radio Shack 20-546 USB Scanner/PC Interface Cable (Without the short adapter)
  • GRE 30-3290 USB PC/IF Data Cable available from www.greamerica.com


Q) When I start the program, I get an error message that says the FTDI drivers could not be loaded. What can I do about this error?

A) In order to use the direct cable access mode, which is the default mode, you must have the cable drivers version 2.04.16 or later installed on your machine.

These drivers are available from the FTDI web site at http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm.

As of this writing, the latest version available on the FTDI Web site was version 2.12. The installer for this version may be downloaded from here.

Alternatively, you can navigate to the Serial port settings screen from the Configuration menu, and select the COM Port option.


Q) When attempting an Upload to the scanner, or a download from the scanner, I get an error message that says the serial port does not exist. How do I correct this?

A) The software requires that the correct serial port be set to communicate with the scanner.

To find the correct port, use the find port button on the serial port configuration screen. This button will bring up a screen that will allow the program to scan through all possible serial ports looking for the scanner.

Note: The correct cable and drivers must be used to find the scanner.


Q) I have the Radio Shack USB cable and have connected it to the scanner and the computer. I'm getting a time out error when attempting to talk to the scanner.

A) The Radio Shack USB cable will work fine with the scanner. However, this cable comes with a short adapter cable that converts the default connector from a stereo 1/8" to a Mono 1/8". Do not use the short adapter cable with these scanners, the cable will not work with the adapter in place.


Q) When I start PSRCtrl310, I get an error message stating the COM1 is not available! My cable isn't on COM1 so how do I fix this?

A) PSRCtrl310 gets the serial port information from the PSREdit310.ini file. This file must exist in the same folder that PSRCtrl310 is run from. To set the port, run PSREdit310, select the Configuration menu, and then the Serial Port Settings option. This will bring up the Serial Port Configuration screen. You may then either select the serial port manually, or use the find port option to locate the correct port.


Help File:

Q) When I attempt to view the help file, I get a blank list on the left and an error message on the main panel. What can I do to correct this?

A) Based on the research I've been able to do, Microsoft added some security to the Windows operating system to close a vulnerability with compiled HTML help files.

To allow the help file to be viewed, follow this process:
  1. Navigate to the folder where PSREdit310 was installed and locate the PSREdit310.chm file.
  2. Right click on the PSREdit310.chm file.
  3. Select the Properties option from the menu.
  4. Near the bottom of the window, there should be an Unblock button. Click this option to unblock the contents of the file.


Q) I can't get the help file to open when clicking on a help link.

A) If the above does not work, ensure that you are not running PSREdit310 from within the ZIP file used to distribute the program. Versions of Windows starting with Windows XP are able to open and display ZIP file contents as if they were a folder on the computer. PSREdit310 will not operate properly when running from the zip file. Typical symptoms of this would include the inability to open the help file and the inability to store your custom settings to the PSREdit310.ini file.


Licensing Issues:

Q) How long is the free trial period?

A) All PSREdit software programs have a 30 day free trial period. This should be more than enough time to ensure that the software will do what you want it to do.

Please note that your trial period starts with the first time you run the application on your computer.

If you are having issues with these applications and their trial periods, please contact me at sales@psredit.com with a description of the issue you are having. In most cases I will issue you a time limited license key to help you complete your evaluation.


Q) What email address will my license key come from?

A) License key emails will always come from keys@psredit.com with a subject line of "Thank you for registering PSREdit###" where the ### characters are replaced with the actual software title.


Q) How are license keys issued?

A) When you purchase a license key for one of the PSREdit programs, a notification is sent from PayPal. As of February 13, 2015 the process of generating the license key has been automated. The notification from PayPal will be verified, after which a license key will be automatically generated and sent via email.


Q) I have not recieved my license code. What do I need to do now?

A) As of February 13, 2015, your license key should be sent via email immediately after your purchase has been verified through PayPal. If you have not received your license key within 1 hour, please check your SPAM filters and SPAM folders to ensure that the message was not filtered on your email software or server.

If you do not locate the license key email, please try the lost key process, which is available here.

If you still have not received your license key, please contact me via email at sales@psredit.com and I will resolve the issue as quickly as possible.


Q) When I enter my license key in the software, the program tells me that the key was valid and stored, but when I restart the program asks me again for my key... What's wrong?

A) This issue is typically caused by a lack of access to the Windows Registry to store the key information. To resolve this issue, start the program in Administrator mode as follows and enter the key information. You should only have to do this once.

Start in Administrator Mode

  1. Right click on the icon or menu item used to start the program.
  2. Select the "Run as Administrator" option in the menu that appears.
  3. If prompted, allow the program to run as Administrator and enter the administrator password if required.
  4. At this point the program should start, enter the license key information

To verify the license information has been properly stored, exit the program and restart. If the key was stored correctly, the prompt to enter the key should no longer be presented.


Q) I've lost my license code, how can I recover it?

A) To retrieve your license code(s) for your PSREdit software, visit http://www.psredit.com/lostkey.php and enter your email address in the field. This email address must be the email address used when you registered your license key.

The system will search the database for any licenses that have been registered to the email address provided. If any are found, an email will be sent to that address with the license key information. If no matches are found, a one time error notification will be sent to that address. Further requests for that email address will not receive any notice.

Please note that the system will only allow you to request your license information five times, after which you will need to contact support@psredit.com to have the count reset.

If you no longer have access to the email address you used when registering your software, please contact support@psredit.com with as much information as possible about your registration for assistance.


Programming:

Q) Is there a way to change the alert settings or scan list settings of multiple objects at once?

A) Yes!

Changing the scan list settings may be done on any of the object type screens, or on the scan list listing screen. The Alert settings may be changed only on the individual object type screens.

To change multiple objects, you can use any of the standard Windows list selection methods to select an object. To select a group of objects, you can use one of the following methods to select a group of objects:

  • To select a group of objects that are sequencial in the list, click on the first object you want to select, then press and hold the Shift key, and click on the last object you want to select. The two objects you clicked on, and all objects in between should now be highlighted.

  • To select individual objects, click on the first object you want to select, then press and hold the Ctrl key and click on each object you want to select. Be sure to keep the Ctrl key pressed when you click on a new object or you may need to start over.

    Note: Using the Ctrl-Click on a selected object will de-select that object.

  • To select all objects, click on any object in the list, and then press and hold the Ctrl key, and press the letter A.

Once you have your objects selected, right click (or alt click) on one of the objects that are highlighted, and then choose the edit object option. Change the areas you want to be changed on all of the selected objects, and then click on the Apply button.


Radio Reference Web Service Support:

Q) What is the RadioReference.com Web Service?

A) The new RadioReference.com web service uses the .NET SOAP service to allow applications to request the information from the RadioReference.com Database. The software applications then take that data and format it to be compatible with the data needed.


Q) Is the RadioReference.com web service protocol supported?

A) YES!

The RadioReference.com web service is fully supported in all of my software titles. Please note however that a premium subscription to the RadioReference.com web site (separate from your registration for the software) is required before importing of any data is possible.


Q) Is the (now discontinued) RadioReference.com CD-ROM Supported?

A) Sorry, No.

Support for the RadioReference.com CD-ROM was removed from the software. The CD-ROM was discontinued and keeping support for this prevented updating the web service interface to support recent features.


Q) How long has the PSREdit310 supported the RadioReference web service?

A) Support for the RadioReference.com web service was added to PSREdit310 from the very beginning.