Scanners getting too complex

[SCPD]

I was reading an article the other day in a scanner magazine (by somebody who I think sells scanners) which was talking about how scanners have gotten very complex and how people are buying a 396T or 996T type of scanner and then returning it as it is too hard for them to use, this has got me thinking a bit about how the scanning hobby has been changing and what the future holds.

Personally I think we have two different issues here, the radios and radios systems we want to listen to have gotten more complex and the second is that people are getting lazy and expecting things to just work.

The first issue is beyond our control; over the years radio systems (especially for the 000 services) have gotten more and more complex.
From the early days of simplex communications where you knew the ambulances were on 76.1MHz to repeaters and trunking like we have with the TASGRN and now APCO25 digital which is being used more and more across Australia and the world. This is not something that Uniden and other companies can do anything about as all they are doing is producing scanners that will fill a market need which is to listen to what radios systems are being used at the moment, if APCO25 and trunking were not in wide spread use do you think companies would be spending money designing and making a scanner to listen to them.

The second issue which I get quite annoyed with is that I feel some people are so used to computers doing wonderful things and equipment in general just working they don’t want to put the time or effort in to learning about how these new scanners works and programming them up.
I can remember when I purchased my first 245 to listen to the TASGRN (before I knew anybody else who was in to scanning) it took me weeks to get it to work as it was all trial and error to get the settings right but once I did I got a feeling of achievement that I would never have got if somebody had of just done it for me.
You can’t buy a top of the range digital trunking scanner and expect it to be as easy to program as the 10 channel one you have 15 years ago was.

The other day I got an email from somebody who had just purchased a 996T and was having some issues getting to work
In the end they ONLY wanted to listen to the police and when I told them they could not where they lived they took it back for a refund.

My advice to people wanting to buy a scanner is this:
1) Research what you want to listen to and the sort of equipment that you can buy.
2) Ask people who are close to you what they use and if possible try and have a play with some of there gear to see what you think of it.
3) When you do buy a scanner don’t expect it to just work out of the box, you need to put time and effort in to setting it up to suit what you want to listen to.

Do you agree / disagree, have comments???
Paul

www.scanningtasmania.org
www.geocities.com/paulgblundell

 

[dgarton]

I agree..

I know that you have to put time and effort into making it work..that is a big part of the fun and enjoyment.
Doug.. N7JGN

 

[SCPD]

I know that you have to put time and effort into making it work..that is a big part of the fun and enjoyment.
Doug.. N7JGN

Thats the point that I think a lot of people miss, it s not like a TV where once you program in the channels it works in 1 hour of getting it home.

 

[thadood]

Agree'd. its no wonder so many things in today's world are so exploitable, people have become acustomed to convenience and ease of everything tech. Convenience = Exploitation. Your overall post though makes me think of the movie Idiocracy, because thats where the world is heading !

 

[SCPD]

I agree 1000000 per cent, people just getting too lazy

 

[hoser147]

For the money you put out for a new top of the line scanner the seller should program it the way you want it when you place the order. Then you have the option of changing things down the line. Maybe if they done that they wouldnt have to count on everybody here to find and work the BUGS OUT. After all what would it take a few seconds. Just my 2 cents worth..................Hoser

 

[RolnCode3]

I agree 1000000 per cent, people just getting too lazy

That's like saying if you don't understand Linux that you're lazy.

Are they difficult to use? Sure. How many of us program them by hand? Not me...

It requires perseverance, patience, and knowing where to find the answers.

A lot of us are probably slightly more geeky that most people (nerd is the derogatory term, geek isn't), and like tech gadgets. That makes a huge difference.

 

[Viper43]

This is the couch patatoe generation as far as I am concerned. They are the laziest people I have ever seen. My retired 85 year old father who suffered a stroke in 95 does more labor than these people do, hell he still gets up on the roof of his house and fixes it. Me, I like lazy people because I make money off them. A guy with a $3K camera hires me three or four times a year to take photos of his kids and one of the family for their Christmas letter, stuff he could easily do on his own, but he admits he's too lazy to figure out the camera! OK, and each time I give him the bill he smiles as he forks over the cash. So as long as there are lazy people I'll have work

V

 

[SCPD]

That's like saying if you don't understand Linux that you're lazy.

correct, but if you WANT to be able to do something (scan the police as an example) you should be making the effort to learn.

 

[57Bill]

As I grew older I grew less inquisitive, and went from a kit builder to one who just wants the fully assembled product to work with minimal set-up. I suspect that those who still find it fun to put time and effort into setting something up are under the age of 30 (with exception, of course).

 

[DPD1]

I'm sure every older generation has said this about every younger generation behind them, but it does seem like people in general are a lot more helpless these days. They also seem to have a lot less patience. I routinely have people contact me asking questions about how to set up even the simplest things. Virtually everything is covered in the instructions, but I will often hear: "The instructions are really long". I'm happy to help, but it gets a little frustrating to have to take 20 minutes out of a busy day to type out a personalized set of instructions for someone, because they don't feel like reading the ones that came with it. Then after that they oftentimes still don't get it, and it starts to become clear that what they really want, is the thing to just magically assemble itself. Which I can't do. That usually turns into multiple communications that go nowhere except in circles. The funny thing is, the people who actually ask intelligent questions always seem to refer to it as a "stupid question".

I was experimenting with CB and building electronics when I was 10. As mentioned, that was half the fun. But if the choice is between complex and nothing at all, I'd go with complex.

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist

 

[mlconnell]

I would agree that most people don't want to put in the work and brain power to learn to program it. I have a buddy that's in his late 60's retired from the Fire Dept however he can't program a simple trunking scanner. I always help him and end up doing it for him but he never remembers what I tell him as he calls me and asks me again. Anyway I to was CB Operator, and building the scanners from kits from Radio Shack in 1974, I was 9.
21 years later I got my HAM license. I love to figure things out however I will admit when I bought my 996T I came here distraught but you guys taught me to take a deep breath and settle down. I now have only had the scanner a week and I feel very comfortable with it's operation. The ARC996 makes things a breeze but I could program it by hand if I had too. Infact I can't stand having something work and having no idea how it's working. I'm a Computer Network Engineer by trade and 99% of my customers have no idea how any ot their equipment works. I could'nt agree with VIPER43 more, Stupid people are GOLD MINES. One good thing is they are sprouting up more every day. Just my 2 cents. I love logic.

 

[lowboy654]

I myself have been buying Scanners and radio stuff for over 30 years and I believe half the fun is programing what I own myself and as far as the people that want it and want it to work the way they want it right out of the box they are the kids that some of us have raised, we have taught them team sports and that you need to be a part of a team.... to get anything done, now I am only 45, not old... not to young, but I would think when everyone now days is brought up believing that they need to be part of some kind of team to get things done, then there new team is the rest of the world, they just learn on how to depend on someone else making things happen for them with them and they just cant learn how to do things for them selves, so I would have to say apply your self, learn about your self and the things that you own, the things that exist in you world and how they work, or just learn how to live in the small world that you have set up for your life...... Program that Radio

I am a single parent with a 9 year old Son who can think outside the box

 

[57Bill]

It's more a case of being impatient, and being disinterested in whats preliminary to to the desired end product, than it is being "stupid" or "lazy". A guy who is capable of filling out his tax return pays someone else to do it because he hates filling it out but wants it filled out correctly. Or, a guy is capable of painting his kitchen, but doesn't like painting, so he hires someone else, but he very much wants the finished product. You get the drift. Once my hobby included building the receiver, installing the antenna, and - the end product - monitoring the radio. Now, I just want to monitor, because I'm disinterested in what's preliminary to the end desire, and lack the patience to learn something I'm disinterested in doing.

 

[nyquiljunkie]

anything your not familiar with is "hard".
for a while.

if your interested in it and making it work, you learn to do it.

if all you wanted was instantaneous gratification, you take it back.

I'm having a hella time figuring out my new scanner.

But if it just "worked on its own" it wouldnt be any fun.

and if you not having fun then its a job, not a hobby.

if its a job, you better be getting paid to do it then.

yeah, this complex little box of circuits is giving me a headache but its FUN.

If it wasnt fun, I would have found something easy to do like.....
crossword puzzles.

Just like computers, they get more complicated al the time.
wait one year, and then look back it will look like a toy compared to what you will have then.

 

[sjcscanner]

I know that you have to put time and effort into making it work..that is a big part of the fun and enjoyment.
Doug.. N7JGN

i agree, i love to program my scanner lol.

 

[tomdog2561]

I 100% agree. The radios we buy these days are complicated. Thats the thrill of learning new things. I have programmed by hand my bct15, Yaesu FT-60, 7800 and the 1802,took about 2 weeks. But I thought is was the coolest thing after programming the 30+ systems into the bct15, Yes I listen to just about everything not just police and fire!!

I live in Kansas City and lucky eough to live on top of a good hill in my neighborhood. So I have good wide area reception in all directions. If we love scanning we must learn the ins and outs of it's operation and abilities.

___________________________________
My toys
BCT15
FT-60
7800
1802
Gundig/Eaton 499 SW Radion

 

[dangitdoug]

You guys should know better than to bring this subject up with me. I fully expect to have a local PD unit parked in my driveway 7/24 so I can listen to whatever I want without programming anything. All I will have to buy is donuts for the cop in the car.

Seriously, my ex-wife knew that anytime I bought something new, I was pretty much useless for the next few days as I played with my new toy, whether it be a scanner, camera, computer or whatever. If you don't want to learn, this is not the hobby for you.

Stick to learning how to operate important tools in your life. You know, like the multi-function remote controls that will operate your TV, DVD player, TiVo, Toaster, start your car in the morning, bring you a beer, and open the bathroom door for you, all without ever leaving the couch.

 

[w0fg]

Scanners are very different from most consumer devices. They are among the very few things I can think of that have become much more dificult to use instead of simpler. Imagine, if you will, that your refrigerator or your lawnmower had increased in complexity in the way scanners have in the past 30 years. This is a community of hobbyists and electronic geeks who take pleasure in mastering a new skill and/or technology, but scanners initially became popular because they didn't require any additional skills and were useable by mom and dad, grandpa and grandma. As I have said in the past, the complexity of new communications systems and the inability of the scanner manufacturers to produce a product that is consumer friendly means that scanners will continue to recede from public acceptance and will become more and more a niche product on the order of amateur radio equipment. The complaints you refer to are coming from the those who have no realization of how public safety communications have evolved in their lifetimes.

 

[hoser147]

I didn't add that I Agree 100% in my above post. I still have quite a few people that have older programmable scanners that call and drop them by to be programed. I try to keep a list for them of their model number and serial number for them and provide them with a list of the freqs that they have. The reason I do the serial number is one of them had theirs stolen and they didnt even have the serial # wrote down anywhere and they got hold of me and I had it. People just want plug and play on things, all they want is to turn it on and it works. I used to do this for nothing just to play and learn the different radio's, now with the software and cable and the time I charge them, unless its something simple and I can help them over the phone. It just amazes me that they go buy something or get it for a gift and throw the box and instructions out in the trash:roll: . At least by doing so it makes the hobby a little more affordable for me as well as the enjoyment it brings...............Hoser