Pro-668: Radio Shack PRO-668 loaded with Whistler DMR firmware

[mikewazowski]

Off-topic posts deleted.

Sorry guys, but enough people complained about having to wade through the armchair lawyer and back and forth bickering to find the technical posts that I *cleansed* the thread.

I'm sure there was some collateral damage but hopefully we can keep the discussion focused on the technical aspects of this project.

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I am in the final 20% of development that takes the other 80% of the time. Unfortunately, I am very busy at work, and when I found the time, I have experimented to get familiar with more Qt classes. Qt has a nice in-progress dialog that is useful during firmware programming.

Qt also has a text edit control that can display text and html. The program now downloads the firmware binary and the release notes. The release notes (html format) are displayed nicely formatted. There are a couple of quirks in the versions.php file that I needed to account for.

Fortunately the same website is used for firmware updates of the supported scanners.

73 Eric

 

[Joseph11]

Awesome! Thank you for your hard work on this!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[InlandAZ]

Hello,

I am in the final 20% of development that takes the other 80% of the time. Unfortunately, I am very busy at work, and when I found the time, I have experimented to get familiar with more Qt classes. Qt has a nice in-progress dialog that is useful during firmware programming.

Qt also has a text edit control that can display text and html. The program now downloads the firmware binary and the release notes. The release notes (html format) are displayed nicely formatted. There are a couple of quirks in the versions.php file that I needed to account for.

Fortunately the same website is used for firmware updates of the supported scanners.

73 Eric

So Eric, what are your plans for this once you're done?

 

[tumegpc]

Thanks for the update !

 

[dkf435]

So Eric, what are your plans for this once you're done?

Once the jail has a hole in it you open the door and let everything escape.

David

 

[InlandAZ]

Once the jail has a hole in it you open the door and let everything escape.

David

I doubt that's Eric's answer - but thanks anyway.

 

[br0adband]

Just found a Pro-668 in a local pawn shop for a decent price and decided "Eh, what the hell, it's about time I had another physical scanner..." so I put it on layaway but I only made the decision to do so because a) I could use a proper physical scanner again, especially one that's P25 Phase II ready, and b) because of Eric's work so far with the possibility of being able to add DMR functionality to the Pro-668 hopefully if all the Gods conspire and grant a miracle I suppose.

I can live with P25 Phase I and II but DMR usage is growing here in the Las Vegas area with considerable haste so having a true physical scanner once again that can do those would be awesome. Yes there are a few users of NXDN here in town but I can fall back on DSD+ for those if necessary. DMR is a want in the Pro-668 for me, not an absolute must but it sure would be awesome to be able to get that capability working with it once I do take possession of it here in the next few weeks.

Now I have a metric ton or two of research and catching up to do with the Pro-668 top to bottom since it's been so long since I owned a real scanner (like 12 years roughly, ugh).

My best hopes and wishes are headed Eric's way that his project of creating an on-the-fly transcoder of sorts to get this done whenever he's got the time so thank you in advance for your efforts.

Happy holidays, people...

 

[Circa]

I know you're worried about the legal side of this modified firmware, but why don't you open a blog or free forum and make it private so that we can actively help you?
I really want to monitor DMR without needing my tablet and sdr stick.
Share when you've done so far on that private site and I'm sure some of us will be able to help.

I feel useless just waiting for you to do all the work.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[skinnyb82]

I've collaborated with others in re coding projects (back like 20 years ago when I used to go on IRC and ANSI C was all of the rage). It's a nightmare. Everyone has their own "style" of coding, some know certain APIs, others don't. Kinda like putting a group project together in school where everyone has their own writing styles, it never looks right. It's truly more efficient to have one person working on this project than multiple people. Sucks we have to sit here twiddling our thumbs but oh well.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I am finally through the final 20% that takes the second 80% of the time. I had to make a couple of icons, do some research on the installer framework, and setup the project repository.

I got a good deal on a TRX-2, so I bought one for possible use in the car. I also have some ideas for a audio playback utility that would support both Uniden and GRE/Whistler. Also for a Pro96COM like program that would decode the CCDump information for DMR and NXDN. The GRE Parser class I created for the current tool can also parse command responses and extract CCDump information. The current tool can set the time in the scanner from the computer.

You can try out the tool and see if it works. You can use the tool or the PC App to restore the original firmware if it does not work. The installer link is at the bottom of this wiki page.
https://github.com/LinuxSheeple-E/GREFwTool/wiki

73 Eric

 

[Blackswan73]

Thank you for all your hard work. And thank you for making you work available for without regard for personal gain. You are a credit to the hobby.

 

[JSTARS03]

Thank you very much for all your hard work.
I now have WS1080 Firmware on my RS PRO-668
Time to go give it a spin.

Thank you
JSTARS

 

[pro106import]

I was able to update the firmware OK to 4.4 on the Pro-668 but get no audio on any DG transmissions. Although it does say the DSP version is 3.0 when check for any updates using EZScan.
Ideas?

 

[dlkesler76]

so can i take my sdcard out of my 668 use the Whistler ezsczn software and load the dmr data to it.

 

[pro106import]

So after doing the firmware install, the utility reads this from my Pro-668 as seen in screenshot below. But any P25 or DMR transmission is not decoded. The radio stops on it and the VC and CC show like it is receiving, but no audio is heard. Any analog transmissions are heard fine. It does show the DSP is 3.0 but it is acting as though there is no DSP.

 

[Blackswan73]

Per the readme. You will need to download and use the latest EZ Scan app to program the 668 and update the DSP

 

[pro106import]

You will need to download and use the latest EZ Scan app to program the 668 and update the DSP

It now sees the radio as a 1080 so the pro668 ezscan will no longer work with it

 

[Blackswan73]

Iscan will not work since the radio thinks it is a 1080.

 

[pro106import]

I was able to supposedly reload the 3.0 DSP using the 1080 EZScan utility. It said you already have 3.0 would you like to load anyway. So I clicked yes and it actually looked like it loaded the DSP. Said DSP installed successfully. But still no audio.
We'll figure it out I'm sure. The good thing is you cannot brick this radio. The old firmware goes right back in and the radio works like the old Pro-668 again if you want.