- Joined
- Jun 30, 2020
- Messages
- 1,843
Hi,
This is "Joe Bearcat" (JB for short if you like). First, I want to apologize for the absence of Uniden in the RadioReference.com forums. UPMan's passing hit us all hard and by surprise, and shortly after that hit the global pandemic threw everyone into various stages of isolation, so this delayed the replacement process. That difficulty remains through this day. But Uniden has never abandoned the valued customer base that exists and we have been working behind the scenes to come up with a solution to fill the void left by UPMan's sudden passing. A few issues have come up which need to be addressed and these will be addressed in the appropriate forums. These are largely cosmetic, and are being worked on. We will also have some firmware updates for current models in the coming months (give or take depending on QC approval). Nothing major is planned initially; just squashing some bugs.
I will be assuming some of the duties that UPMan had performed with respect to online forums. This includes acting as a liaison between forum users and Uniden for issues involving Uniden scanners. Such issues include bug reports and to some degree feature requests. While I can pass such requests along to Uniden, there is no guarantee any particular features will be included in current or future model scanners. Joe Bearcat is an online persona and not my real name just as UPMan was not Paul Opitz's real name. I like to keep my personal and professional lives separate. I've heard enough stories from UPMan to believe this is in my best interests.
While I have not officially worked under UPMan except under one recent project as a consultant, I did provide input to him on scanner matters/ideas, and had the pleasure to meet him in person a few times. His shoes are so big I do not believe any one person can fill them adequately, and his passing still saddens me to this say. I'm sure I'm not alone. All I can do is strive to perform the duties I will be taking on as well as he did. That said, I am human and will surely make mistakes, but I promise to try my best to fill my part of those shoes with honor.
Just to give a little bit of my background and experience, I have primarily worked in two-way radio nearly all of my professional life, and have owned and used scanners since the 70's. I have also designed a replacement control system for a Motorola radio as a hobby. That never developed into a commercial product, but it was all but ready. Maybe some day I will explain what happened. So I am familiar with radio/scanner design and control. I own several scanner brands and models, as I'm a big fan of ALL scanners. In fact, there are few brands I do not own. My focus will be on Uniden models. That does not mean I only like Uniden scanners, but I have to stay focused on the reason I'm on the forums.
I am not entirely certain at this point what forums I will be active on, but it is a foregone conclusion RadioReference.com will be a primary forum. Some of the Uniden scanner email lists (especially current models), regional scanner club email lists, and other forums are also entirely likely. This will be a work in progress.
Like UPMan, I cannot guarantee a reply to every email or message received, but I can try to read as many as I can. I will try to adhere to the excellent code of conduct established by UPMan. My email might be announced when it is finalized (addendum: It is now set up), but I may decide to leave it largely unpublished, as online forum contact benefits many who may have the same questions. There may be times when email contact is required, and that will be available.
Please bear with me as I get up to speed - to the level of service UPMan provided, as I try to review the forums for pending issues, and as I get more familiar with the duties I have assumed (including updating the TWIKI which was just a duty added tonight). Again, there are really big shoes to fill. Initially, I would like to focus on specific support issues (bugs and suspected bugs). But please let me review things before hitting me with new ones or with feature requests, or asking when the next model will be released (at this point. I do not know). There has been one model released this past year - the Uniden SR30C. We are fortunate that UPMan was able to release the SDS series before his passing, and we are aware he had a roadmap for many additional features of that series. We are still researching to see what was documented. Still, development of new models continues.
An obvious question might be if I am related to Betty Bearcat who promoted Bearcat products in the 70's. Well, we have to leave some mystery, right? (I miss her too, but not as much as Paul)
Joe Bearcat
Official Uniden Representative
Uniden Scanner Product Manager
P.S. If a forum moderator could move/pin this to the main Uniden Forum page, that would be greatly appreciated.
This is "Joe Bearcat" (JB for short if you like). First, I want to apologize for the absence of Uniden in the RadioReference.com forums. UPMan's passing hit us all hard and by surprise, and shortly after that hit the global pandemic threw everyone into various stages of isolation, so this delayed the replacement process. That difficulty remains through this day. But Uniden has never abandoned the valued customer base that exists and we have been working behind the scenes to come up with a solution to fill the void left by UPMan's sudden passing. A few issues have come up which need to be addressed and these will be addressed in the appropriate forums. These are largely cosmetic, and are being worked on. We will also have some firmware updates for current models in the coming months (give or take depending on QC approval). Nothing major is planned initially; just squashing some bugs.
I will be assuming some of the duties that UPMan had performed with respect to online forums. This includes acting as a liaison between forum users and Uniden for issues involving Uniden scanners. Such issues include bug reports and to some degree feature requests. While I can pass such requests along to Uniden, there is no guarantee any particular features will be included in current or future model scanners. Joe Bearcat is an online persona and not my real name just as UPMan was not Paul Opitz's real name. I like to keep my personal and professional lives separate. I've heard enough stories from UPMan to believe this is in my best interests.
While I have not officially worked under UPMan except under one recent project as a consultant, I did provide input to him on scanner matters/ideas, and had the pleasure to meet him in person a few times. His shoes are so big I do not believe any one person can fill them adequately, and his passing still saddens me to this say. I'm sure I'm not alone. All I can do is strive to perform the duties I will be taking on as well as he did. That said, I am human and will surely make mistakes, but I promise to try my best to fill my part of those shoes with honor.
Just to give a little bit of my background and experience, I have primarily worked in two-way radio nearly all of my professional life, and have owned and used scanners since the 70's. I have also designed a replacement control system for a Motorola radio as a hobby. That never developed into a commercial product, but it was all but ready. Maybe some day I will explain what happened. So I am familiar with radio/scanner design and control. I own several scanner brands and models, as I'm a big fan of ALL scanners. In fact, there are few brands I do not own. My focus will be on Uniden models. That does not mean I only like Uniden scanners, but I have to stay focused on the reason I'm on the forums.
I am not entirely certain at this point what forums I will be active on, but it is a foregone conclusion RadioReference.com will be a primary forum. Some of the Uniden scanner email lists (especially current models), regional scanner club email lists, and other forums are also entirely likely. This will be a work in progress.
Like UPMan, I cannot guarantee a reply to every email or message received, but I can try to read as many as I can. I will try to adhere to the excellent code of conduct established by UPMan. My email might be announced when it is finalized (addendum: It is now set up), but I may decide to leave it largely unpublished, as online forum contact benefits many who may have the same questions. There may be times when email contact is required, and that will be available.
Please bear with me as I get up to speed - to the level of service UPMan provided, as I try to review the forums for pending issues, and as I get more familiar with the duties I have assumed (including updating the TWIKI which was just a duty added tonight). Again, there are really big shoes to fill. Initially, I would like to focus on specific support issues (bugs and suspected bugs). But please let me review things before hitting me with new ones or with feature requests, or asking when the next model will be released (at this point. I do not know). There has been one model released this past year - the Uniden SR30C. We are fortunate that UPMan was able to release the SDS series before his passing, and we are aware he had a roadmap for many additional features of that series. We are still researching to see what was documented. Still, development of new models continues.
An obvious question might be if I am related to Betty Bearcat who promoted Bearcat products in the 70's. Well, we have to leave some mystery, right? (I miss her too, but not as much as Paul)
Joe Bearcat
Official Uniden Representative
Uniden Scanner Product Manager
P.S. If a forum moderator could move/pin this to the main Uniden Forum page, that would be greatly appreciated.
