Firmware update for ProVoice?

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HogDriver

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I understand Uniden is providing firmware updates for their scanners now that Harris is out of business and ProVoice is no longer proprietor owned. I've also heard someone is working on an update for RS/GRE scanners to pick up the broadcasts. Anyone know about this?
 

KevinC

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Harris is out of business?!?!?!?!?

Haven't heard about that.
 

Jay911

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Harris is most certainly not out of business, or else there's a lot of people wandering around Alberta with their letterhead and business cards... ;)

I think HogDriver might be mixing up EDACS being at end-of-life with Harris' demise.
 

Jay911

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Are there any non-EDACS-trunked transmissions utilizing Provoice 'voice'?

Amp

Not that I'm aware of. Provoice is a product designed by the same people who built EDACS (I'd say it was Harris, but that would be a small fib; it was a company that was bought/traded/renamed about 4 times before it was rolled into Harris)
 

ampulman

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Not that I'm aware of. Provoice is a product designed by the same people who built EDACS (I'd say it was Harris, but that would be a small fib; it was a company that was bought/traded/renamed about 4 times before it was rolled into Harris)

That's what I was thinking. With EDACS 'on the way out', is the Provice update that big a deal?

Amp
 

Jay911

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That's what I was thinking. With EDACS 'on the way out', is the Provice update that big a deal?

Amp

It depends on the area you're in and what you're interested in listening to. There are two EDACS systems "near me" (within a few hours' drive) which will be either shut down or greatly reduced in size/use in the next year. Other forum posters have said that they have heard of contracts extending certain EDACS systems in their areas until as late as 2027.

For me personally, the answer to your question is yes and no. It's "not a big deal" in that I don't have any ProVoice systems to listen to. It is a big deal, however, if you look at it from the perspective that this opens the door to the possibility of getting more trunking and voice protocols/codecs into these scanners.
 

HogDriver

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You can still have EDACS without ProVoice. Oklahoma City has all of its PD and FIRE on ProVoice that I can't listen to, but there are other services on the system that are not ProVoice and can be heard.

Right now OKC PD has been linked on another system that I can pick up. I just can't ever hear Fire which is more interesting to me.
 

buddrousa

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Then $50.00 should be no problem if that is what you want to hear. You pay more than that for software for your computer. Years ago people bought cars then 8 tracks then cassettes then cd's now they have dvd players and lets not forget rims and tires and CB radios ect.
 

kruser

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Not that I'm aware of. Provoice is a product designed by the same people who built EDACS (I'd say it was Harris, but that would be a small fib; it was a company that was bought/traded/renamed about 4 times before it was rolled into Harris)

Was not EDACS actually a GE and/or Ericson product when it became a reality?

I recall a GE radio shop here and that was where you went when you needed service to your EDACS radios.
 

Jay911

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I think it went GE, Ericsson, M/A-COM, Tyco, Harris. I may not have all the dance partners, nor in the right order.
 

kruser

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I think it went GE, Ericsson, M/A-COM, Tyco, Harris. I may not have all the dance partners, nor in the right order.

That sounds close from what I recall.
I know our local power company, Ameren Electric (used to be Union Electric) switched from an analog low band system to EDACS many years ago now and their radios all had the GE symbol on them back then.
I don't recall how long EDACS systems had been on the air when they switched though or if they went to EDACS when it was a brand new system.
Today, Ameren is a multi-state system that is huge. Most of it (if not all now) was converted over to P25 a few years ago. Mostly Harris systems but I'm not sure if they choose Harris for all their systems when they went P25 or not. I know all the systems within my range are Harris now.

They were an EDACS user that used the annoying scanner defeat set of tones at the end of each transmission! I'm sure you heard that before where the repeater plays a set of about 5 or more tones the fall in frequency just before the repeater dropped.
I was always told it was there only to deter the scanner listener and otherwise, offered nothing to the users of the system. The users did not hear the musical sounding tones and I think Uniden and others also had a defeat feature that would ignore the irritating musical tones but early model scanner type radios that offered EDACS support did not offer the option to mute that garbage.
They were probably still Union Electric back in those days. Union Electric was more of a local utility unlike the giant Ameren Electric that bought them out.
They do have a monstrous radio system though when you look at the database page that shows all their systems and not just Missouri or Illinois.

I know they could patch the old Edacs systems together and talk to about anyone but I don't know if they added that full capability when they switched to the Harris P25 systems they are using today.
They also never switched to any of the more advanced Edacs based systems. At least in my area. They remained on a basic Edacs system and used iCalls a Lot back in those days.
With the switch to the Harris P25 system, I don't hear them using any private call features much.
 

rax101

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Should I purchase a uniden scanner to get pro voice or what to see if a update for my pro668 will come about?
 

fredva

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Should I purchase a uniden scanner to get pro voice or what to see if a update for my pro668 will come about?

I would first rule out that Software Defined Radio using the DSD Pro-Voice decoding software was an option for me, since that would be cheaper.
 

buddrousa

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sdr is not very mobile friendly. It is not plug and play you need computer skills and several here can not even operate a modern scanner and software without help. No one knows if Whistler can pull off this type upgrade you may just like the Uniden it will also still work after provoice but you have to decide for yourself if it is worth the money.
 

jzarick

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can you use the 106 with a computer with the aforementioned software above to receive provoice if so and I believe you can do I need 2 radios or will one suffice. I believe I am within the bounds of computer intelligence to handle it even though I'm a truck driver. I've had hard drive failures and successfully recovered my data, I've reformatted my computer and I have even successfully cloned my laptop hard drive so I think I can handle SDR, DSD and virtual cables. It never occurred to me try it. I was going to get the dongles but read my 106 can do the same job. When I'm in Albuquerque in my truck for my 34 hour break I could be listening to the police and fire departments which uses provoice through my computer.
 

Voyager

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I think it went GE, Ericsson, M/A-COM, Tyco, Harris. I may not have all the dance partners, nor in the right order.

You forgot COMM-NET which was between Ericsson and M/A-COM.

GE, GE-Ericsson, Ericsson, COMM-NET Critical Communications, M/A-COM, Tyco, Harris.

And yes, EDACS started with GE.
 
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