Addressing .. "The Elephant in the Room"

[fantasma25]

The concerns of the OP of this thread are valid. I agree that there was a huge hole left behind with Upman's passing and , being honest, I am surprised that Uniden has not brought anyone in ,not necessarily to take Upman's place, but to update the Uniden community. It is called business continuity...Let's be honest, every scanner that comes out is more expensive than the last. If I am spending close to a $1,000 dollars for the scanner and upgrades, I want to know that my scanner will be supported for a reasonable amount of time. Maybe the timing is not right for Uniden because of the State the World is in right now with this Virus, but personally I think that the time is now. With everyone at home or incidents developing everyone wants to know what is happening around them. But with so many unemployed people, everyone also wants to make sure that they are spending their money wisely. Just my 2 cents...

 

[belvdr]

I thought he was talking about me and my weight gain. Whew...

Now that you brought it up, we should talk.... LOL

 

[doctordialtone]

Question #1

Is there an on-line Representative for that new TV you bought?

How about that new (or old) refrigerator or that new truck?

Question #2

Where's Whistler's on line representative?

I think the fact that Paul was so involved here was a blessing. We were lucky.

It was because he was involved in the development of new products. He wanted to see them succeed.

I also doubt that Uniden will make any changes in how they do business because of these forums.

I'd place my money on that.

Just my $.02

 

[slicerwizard]

It's not the first time more than a year has passed between scanner firmware updates.

2020 is a writeoff, so you're probably looking at at least two years.

 

[radio3353]

Somebody recently mentioned that Uniden's public face was outsourced (repair ops and customer service.) If that is true (and I don't know of any way to verify it) then any participation here of "Uniden customer service/representative" will not have access to Uniden's plans. Upman is gone and we have to accept the loss of his contribution. But, I don't believe anybody is indispensable. If Uniden management feels the need they can find a replacement. Until they do just accept what we have because as the Serenity Prayer says there is nothing you can do about it (except whine if that helps you.)

 

[KK4JUG]

I thought he was talking about me and my weight gain. Whew...

Well, since you brought it up, maybe....... Never mind.

 

[fxdscon]

Somebody recently mentioned that Uniden's public face was outsourced (repair ops and customer service.) If that is true (and I don't know of any way to verify it)

As far as repairs being outsourced, we have this... from a short while back:

As to the comment that repair is outsourced, this is incorrect. Our repair techs are our employees.

 

[KevinC]

As far as repairs being outsourced, we have this... from a short while back:

If that's still true I retract my statement about them being outsourced.

 

[slicerwizard]

No check for you!

 

[KevinC]

No check for you!

I'm used to it.

 

[fxdscon]

If that's still true I retract my statement about them being outsourced.

Much could have changed since he made that post. It would be interesting to hear an official word on that.

.

 

[bearcatrp]

I just don't see anything else coming out after the SDS200. Not much more to upgrade to. Maybe a firmware update to tweak it. Not much more can be done with police/fire etc moving toward 100% encryption sometime in the near future. Be nice if that gets reversed. Would have bought a SDS200 but since the future is up in the air listening to police/ fire etc, I went receiver route. And with no response on these forums on a replacement for upman to carry forward, I don't see anything else coming out of uniden for scanners. Hope I am wrong though.

 

[slicerwizard]

In related news, with the economic downturn in full swing, more affordable receivers are being developed:

 

[BigC801]

Question #1

Is there an on-line Representative for that new TV you bought?

How about that new (or old) refrigerator or that new truck?

Most of the time when you buy a TV it doesn't come broken and take years of firmware updates to get working right, and it doesn't advertise apps and other features on the box that are not made yet.
Same for the Fridge and Cars.... Unless it's a newer ford truck they are way behind on the electronics but they still don't promise vaporware on the box like.

 

[RRR]

When the SDS series were presented to us, it was a scanner that was built on a good hardware platform, with great ability to grow and evolve.

Well, in the past year, that hasn't happened.

But, like the debacle of "siren" and so forth withe earlier Uniden scanners, I am not really shocked, but I am disappointed.

Would really be great if Uniden would comment if they have any plans to further support (as in, updates, new features, etc.) their "Flagship scanner series"

 

[buddrousa]

And when you buy a new TV the stations and formats never change either. Also it did not help the the designer was in the Hospital fighting for his life then passed away has not helped matters with the SDS line either.

 

[darkness975]

I wouldn't consider this an elephant given how often this topic has come up.
No one knows the actual direction any of this will go. Maybe they are afraid to prematurely say anything given the reactions that they've seen in the past.


Regarding the encryption question, the best setup would be to leave routine dispatch in the clear and use encrypted channels for SWAT raids, drug busts, etc. I don't need to know people's personal details, but I do want to know if someone with a machete is running around a street over from me. There needs to be a compromise on this.

 

[eorange]

It's been radio silence from Uniden for 3+ months since UPMan passed. My guess is they don't fill his role beyond the existing Uniden Support presence here.

 

[rvacs]

Silly question - is there a definitive list of bugs for the SDS100 and SDS200 (assuming the radio has the latest firmware)? For me, there are few things that come to mind.

1. Encrypted P25 Phase 2 transmissions seldom mute
2. Encrypted Conventional P25 transmissions seldom mute (same problem as #1?)
3. The hex value to the right of the P25 Phase 2 NAC seems random.

Are there bigger issues than these annoyances?

Pretty good if that all there really is right now...

I have confidence in Uniden....
Just ordered an SDS100 to go along with my SDS200.

 

[buddrousa]

The hard part we all have to think about from Unidens position who knows who UPMan's BETA testers were? We do not know if BETA testers are working on things as we speak. Uniden never tipped their hand until things were ready to be released. I may be wishing upon a star but I am looking at how things were done in the past. Not to change the stories but what has Whistler said and shown about scanners in the last year and I see no bashing there.