Recommend a scanner?

[hagensieker]

I'm a RTL-SDR guy and have used Unitrunker, SDRTrunk and now OP25 for some time now. Also I just bought a Uniden SDS100 Scanner which I love and am just getting familiar with.

The SDS100 does all I want and more and seems a bit future proof. I'm curious though if there was some scanner out there that is amazing that gets overshadowed by the newest Uniden or Whistler offerings?

Every hobby has one or two of those items that was a massive cult hit with the power users.

Just making sure I'm not missing anything 😀

 

[bob550]

If you are missing something else, so is everyone else on this forum. The SDS100 is the state-of-the-art right now.

 

[W8RMH]

Generally new scanners supersede previous models in regards to features and abilities. The Uniden SDS 100 is state-of-the-art at the moment.

I love my Uniden Home Patrol 2. It has a full color touch screen, however it doesn't handle simulcast systems as well as the SDS 100, does not have close call, and can not be upgraded to DMR, ProVoice, and NXDN like some newer models, otherwise it's a great scanner.

 

[hiegtx]

I'm a RTL-SDR guy and have used Unitrunker, SDRTrunk and now OP25 for some time now. Also I just bought a Uniden SDS100 Scanner which I love and am just getting familiar with.

The SDS100 does all I want and more and seems a bit future proof. I'm curious though if there was some scanner out there that is amazing that gets overshadowed by the newest Uniden or Whistler offerings?

Every hobby has one or two of those items that was a massive cult hit with the power users.

Just making sure I'm not missing anything 😀

As already mentioned above, the SDS100 is the current top 'state of the art' model available, and also handles simulcast distortion better than previous scanner models. The Unication devices, which are not true scanners, also handle simulcast well, but are limited to scanning one specific system at a time.

Whistler has announced two new scanners, due out the end of this year, that they indicate will be designed to improve simulcast reception. However, so far, there is no additional information as to the specifics of the forthcoming new units.

 

[comjomer]

What they said.

Have a BCD325P2 and I'm very pleased with it. It is computer programmable.

 

[jonwienke]

Whistler has announced two new scanners, due out the end of this year, that they indicate will be designed to improve simulcast reception. However, so far, there is no additional information as to the specifics of the forthcoming new units.

Whistler has't even released any photos or CAD renderings of their new models, which is a pretty good indication that the design is still in the very early stage, and that release on schedule is pretty unlikely. If I was a cynic, I would say that the design process on the TRX-100 and -200 started about 24 hours after Uniden announced the SDS100, and Whistler realized that if they didn't come up with a design that could receive simulcast properly, that they were going to forfeit the scanner market to Uniden. I know that claims have been made that design started a year earlier, but if that was the case, then Whistler could have at least released some CAD renders with the product announcement.

 

[radio3353]

bash, bash, bash.

Sound familiar, Jon?

 

[Blunt630]

bash, bash, bash.

Sound familiar, Jon?

It more truth then bashing.

Didn't Whistler Wendy just post something recently and in the thread itself whistler owners basing how slow updates are rolling out and when is the supposed new scanners coming out.

Uniden has been pushing updates to SDS100 since it was released to market, while whistler users have been waiting... years? for an update.

Fact is Whistler is losing its fan base rather quickly.

 

[jonwienke]

bash, bash, bash.

Sound familiar, Jon?

Give an example of any other product's official announcement that was not accompanied by at least one photo, CAD rendering, or some other visual depiction of the product. Or better yet, any product's official announcement that still didn't include any product images months later. It's not bashing to point out that the TRX-100/200 announcement is unusual in that regard.

If I was going to bash, I would state as a fact that the reason no images of the TRX-100 or -200 have been released yet is because the TRX-100 and -200 are still basically vaporware, and that there's zero chance they will be ready for sale by the end of 2018, or possibly ever.

Do I suspect that the development of the TRX-100 and -200 may not be as far along as Whistler would like? Yes. Do I suspect that has something to do with the total lack of product images so far? Yes. Do I suspect that Whistler is going to miss its announced deadline of having those models ready for sale by the end of the year? Yes. But since I'm not privy to what's going on at Whistler, I'm not going to pretend those suspicions are facts, or that they have any foundation other than my own personal cynicism and past observations of a variety of product launches, both successful and unsuccessful.

I wish Whistler the best, and hope they introduce an excellent scanner on time, if for no other reason than to keep pressure on Uniden with regard to features and price. We'll see what happens.

 

[LEH]

While not a true scanner, Unication has their G4 single band 700-800 or G5 (dual band VHF or UHF and the 700-800) voice pagers.

They support conventional and P25 systems (with a new upgrade to add DMR tier 1 and 2). Simulcast reception is far better than other scanners out (including comments with those who have the SDS 100).

Check out comments in the Unication page under commercial radios.

 

[radio3353]

Give an example of any other product's official announcement that was not accompanied by at least one photo, CAD rendering, or some other visual depiction of the product. Or better yet, any product's official announcement that still didn't include any product images months later. It's not bashing to point out that the TRX-100/200 announcement is unusual in that regard.

If I was going to bash, I would state as a fact that the reason no images of the TRX-100 or -200 have been released yet is because the TRX-100 and -200 are still basically vaporware, and that there's zero chance they will be ready for sale by the end of 2018, or possibly ever.

Do I suspect that the development of the TRX-100 and -200 may not be as far along as Whistler would like? Yes. Do I suspect that has something to do with the total lack of product images so far? Yes. Do I suspect that Whistler is going to miss its announced deadline of having those models ready for sale by the end of the year? Yes. But since I'm not privy to what's going on at Whistler, I'm not going to pretend those suspicions are facts, or that they have any foundation other than my own personal cynicism and past observations of a variety of product launches, both successful and unsuccessful.

I wish Whistler the best, and hope they introduce an excellent scanner on time, if for no other reason than to keep pressure on Uniden with regard to features and price. We'll see what happens.

Honestly Jonny, You crack me up. It's OK for you to be negative on Whistler, but if I say something negative about Uniden's SDS100, you write, and I quote, "bash, bash, bash." What goes around comes around.

 

[jonwienke]

At least I characterized what I said as unproven suspicions, rather than presenting baseless assertions as facts.

 

[hagensieker]

Hope to bring this back around to my original question. And I'll add an analogy. I'm a bit of a network / router geek and many moons ago (2005) Linksys came out with the WRT54GL which was an instant cult classic. Open Source Firmware for routers was basically born with that router. To this day people are still doing amazing things with the router.

That's kind of along the lines of what I was looking for. Yeah SDS100 is state of the art.........but you could hack the firmware of Scanner XXXXXXX and do this or that with it.

Every tech corner of the world has a darling or two that was a giant hit for some reason or another.

 

[jonwienke]

I don't know of any scanner that has open source firmware. God forbid, you might tune to frequencies that aren't used by analog cellular phones any more.

 

[bob550]

God forbid, you might tune to frequencies that aren't used by analog cellular phones any more.

Eeeeeeek! Monitoring an unused analog cellular channel? I couldn't live with myself!