Uniden -PSR 800-or better

[bee]

Do you think Uniden will come out with a "new scanner", that will be as good, or better, than the PSR 800?

[jackj]

My thoughts are "If they were gonna, they'd already have done it". I hope I'm wrong but I think they have seen the hand write on the wall and now, like the hand, they are moving on. Like GRE, they think that the future market for scanners will be VERY limited and not worth the R&D money needed to develop better scanners.

[SquierStrat]

Originally Posted by bee

Do you think Uniden will come out with a "new scanner", that will be as good, or better, than the PSR 800?

Depends on which aspect of "better" youre looking for. If you asking if uniden will come out with a scanner that can decode p25 simulcast better then the 800, (or any other digital GRE) then my answer would be no, never.

If you're asking if they will ever come out with a new scanner that will compete with the psr 800, (besides the hp-1) then of course. I would hate to think uniden has just given up on developing scanners..

[MK]

The HP-1 is already much easier to program and use than the PSR-800. GRE has many problems facing them. They are basically out of business. If Uniden continues their trend of releasing scanners with color displays, GRE has no future with products like the PSR-800. The future scanner market does indeed seem limited as agencies migrate towards encrypted radio systems.

[JASII]

Originally Posted by MK

.....The future scanner market does indeed seem limited as agencies migrate towards encrypted radio systems.

While you may very well be right, I would also remind people here that we have been hearing that for years because of other changes, too. I got my first Bearcat III 8 channel crystal scanner roughly 38 years ago. I have had many different scanners since that time. I recall hearing predictions of the demise of hobby listening as a result of the following from time to time:

-800 mHz. When band was first available, scanners could not tune it in until the scanner industry caught up.

-Analog trunking. Same deal, until an analog trunk tracker was available, we heard lots of predictions of the end of scanner listening.

-MDT/MCTs. When computers showed up in squad cars many said that we would soon hear NO voice traffic.

-Cell phones/Nextel: Again, people said scanning was done because ALL calls would go over cell phone or Nextel.

-APCO P25. Again, people said that when radios went to digital modulation the scanners would be obsolete.

-DES/DVP On Analog Systems. Here, again, many speculated that soon NO more radio traffic would be in the clear and that ALL signals would be encrypted. Sure, many did use DES/DVP in the analog days and many use encryption on newer systems, but there is still LOTS of traffic in the clear in my area.

Things do change, but just enjoy what we have for now. Heck, I can remember when VCRs came out, some people predicted the end of movie theaters. In my area, movie theaters seem as popular as ever.

There were even some predictions years ago, when so called TV dinners were released, that restaurants would close and people would no longer cook. Guess what guys, we still cook for ourselves and the restaurant industry seems to be doing okay.

[LZ56]

I'm not saying this is likely to happen, but WHAT IF consumer scanner manufacturers like Uniden just gave up and stopped making scanners? Can hobbyists purchase professional-grade scanning receivers from manufacturers such as Motorola who supply radios to public safety and government agencies? Yes, they are expensive and yes, they must be receive-only (no transmit), but is it possible?

[JASII]

Many of us already are using amateur radios and commercial land mobile radios for scanning. Don't forget that Radio Shack/GRE and Uniden aren't the only game in town right now. There are lesser common brands like WinRadio, AOR, and even Icom that make equipment for hobby monitoring. WinRadio has a means to follow trunked radio, AOR and Icom can decode P25. In fact, I seem to recall that the Icom receiver will also decode D-Star, since some of their amateur radios do, too. Even Yaesu makes a receiver.

As far as portables go, check Ebay for XTS5000 portables. A nice VHF, a UHF, and an 800 mhz XTS5000 would not be cheap, but they perform very well. Now when it comes to trunking on a Motorola that you are not authorized for, well that is another ball game altogether.

WiNRADiO Communications - The future of radio.

AOR U.S.A., INC. Torrance, CA U.S.A. Home Page

IC-R6 Communications Receiver - Features - Icom America

Welcome to Yaesu.com

[MK]

Originally Posted by JASII

While you may very well be right, I would also remind people here that we have been hearing that for years because of other changes, too. I got my first Bearcat III 8 channel crystal scanner roughly 38 years ago. I have had many different scanners since that time. I recall hearing predictions of the demise of hobby listening as a result of the following from time to time:

I heard the encryption argument many years ago too. It first caught my attention 10 years ago. Back then I felt that forecasting a major change 10 years away was not really possible. Radio systems first had to migrate to digital technology, which is now more common.

The most popular sector within scanning is police dispatches. If most departments encrypt their communications, the scanner market will fall away just as the shortwave market has done. Sure there still may be many interesting things to hear, but will scanner manufacturers have enough customers to justify production? Or maybe I should say, "Will Uniden continue production?" GRE/RS is out of the market. The company has had a year to open a new factory and still has not done it. There is nothing to suggest they are coming back -- other than the blind faith of their former customers.