Any idea if Uniden if coming out with an upgraded portable to replace the SDS100?

[RaleighGuy]

Same thing was said years ago and new models have been released.

Oh you mean before GRE, Radio Shack, Whistler and several other scanner manufacturers went belly up and all engineers from those companies went MIA, before UNIDEN had no incentive since they now have no competition, before SDR dongles were $35 and had more capabilities than most scanners that are $600+ now, yeah I remember those days.

 

[dmfalk]

SDR dongles don't trunktrack.

😁

 

[RaleighGuy]

SDR dongles don't trunktrack.

😁

But the software they use seems to do a good enough job.

 

[buddrousa]

But I was paying almost $500 for scanners 45 years ago which in turn is a lot more than the $650 range now.
I had over $500 in my 785D with P25 Card.

 

[n3617400]

Uniden's DMA models (SDS, x36HP sets) do have the code embedded in firmware for dPMR, but not the licensing for use in North America. A shame too, as there has been a number of European/Asian radios imported (ie: cheaply dumped) over here that use dPMR, often illegally.

Only the SDS series contains the code to receive dPMR. And one more important fact: the codec used in the scanner does not allow to decrypt cheap Chinese dPMR stations because these radios use AMBE+2C.

 

[dmfalk]

But I was paying almost $500 for scanners 45 years ago which in turn is a lot more than the $650 range now.
I had over $500 in my 785D with P25 Card.

Today: "$700?!? For a scanner that can do almost anything?!? Too expensive!"

20 years ago: "$1300 for a scanner that can only do P25 with an optional card, and analogue, very basic trunking only? Here's my money! $$$"

Uh-huh.............

 

[bearcatrp]

With the big E spreading across the USA, doubt there will be any new P25 radios coming out. The 160 and 260DN and other newer receivers that have come out have no P25 either. If anything, would like to see Uniden come out with a HF scanner, if it can be done.

 

[rjdj2000]

I would rather Uniden man up and give us 536HP users what was advertised on the box. Not by using work-arounds to stream, and program. This was supposed to be able to do over whe WiFi and yet the ony thing that ever materialized on it was that they were able to finally get the WiFi to work. If it wasn't for that, programs like proscan would of had to have been hooked up with an audio cable and the usb cable for meta data. Yes I use Proscan to be able to listen to the scanner when I want to but everything I do that is online now uses a dongle and free software to listen to more than what I would hear via a scanner.

 

[buddrousa]

By your thinking GM should replace every car AM Radio from 1970 to now with new XM Radio units for free.
I got what I paid for out of my x36's. Next I am meeting a seller and picking up my 2nd SDS200 to go along with my 2 SDS100's

 

[rjdj2000]

By your thinking GM should replace every car AM Radio from 1970 to now with new XM Radio units for free.
I got what I paid for out of my x36's. Next I am meeting a seller and picking up my 2nd SDS200 to go along with my 2 SDS100's

No, I just want what was printed on the box. Years later, we still don't have the capability that was on the box. Can the SDS series do more? Probably, but they came with everything that was on the box, firmware updates allowed more. Other scanners have been released after the 536 and I really feel that the $ I spent on it, around $600, is not all that I bought. So I got into SDR stuff and it opened up a whole new world of listening on the system around me. Even a SDS series can't play, on a online stream, what I can listen to, no scanner can't. I can hear 99.99% of the transmissions that come over the system I listen to that I stream on line. No physical scanner can do that that I am aware of. But with a dongle and free software I can. I just feel left behind with the 536 from Uniden as they have yet to finish what was promised/advertised on a quite decent scanner.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Uniden scanner sales are shrinking, for obvious r"E"asons.... why would they bring a new model into a shrinking mark"E"t???

Folks need to learn how to broaden their horizons regarding what thEy listEn to. My county's LEO switched on the big "E" almost a decade ago. Didn't lessen my enjoyment of the hobby the slightest bit. Emergency services account for a small portion of everything I listen to. Yes I realize everyone's mileage varies and not everyone lives in a large metro area like I do but in many cases if you spin the dial you'll find something in the clear to listen to (ham radio, aircraft, rail, others)

 

[buddrousa]

Even if it is. Scanner Prices have stayed the same for 40 plus years Brand new 1988 Mustang GT $12,500 2025 $50,000 for the same options.
Scanner $600 Tarraf 25% $150 New Scanner Price $750
Scanner $700 Tarraf 25% $175 New Scanner Price $775

 

[dmfalk]

You just scored points with me lol. It's all relative, I agree with the monetary conversion. The Electra Bearcat 101 would have been far more money in today's money.

I probably would have coughed the money up anyway.

And that was exactly my point, in an earlier post...... For all the complaints about the cost of an SDS unit, "back in the day", they'd cough up 3, 4, 5x the cost in value, for something that had much less, and it was "state of the art" back then....... Even the $399 radios today give you more bang for the buck, compared to a $1300 radio just 20 years ago.... I repeat, the SDS scanners are really a bargain for what they can do, today!

 

[KevinC]

I wasn’t supposed to share this information, but I’m going to anyway. Hopefully Uniden doesn’t get upset. The answer to the question is absolutely, positively they may or may not have any new models.

Waiting on Kip to send me a PM complaining about me letting the cat out of the bag.

 

[Omega-TI]

Sure, there are many contributors to the reduction in scanner sales...

1) Online streaming (I have no clue by how much)
2) Encryption (this can be a big one since newbies generally wanna hear the cops).
3) Radios that intimidate newbies once they read about them.
4) Radios that look like they'll take a month of Sunday's to understand how to use. (No great if you don't have a lot of time).
5) The hobby not coming to the attention of others, like back in the day when radio magazines were at the grocery store.

There is one thing that we do have some control over though, and that is making newbies feel welcome. If they are going to go through the effort of signing up and posting a question, it's probably fair to assume they are interested to some degree. However is some self-appointed expert or ego maniac blows them off or belittles them, many will lose interest on the spot and never buy a radio, let alone call back and become a productive contributing member. I've even seen a place where a moderator drives people off. Talk about cutting off one's own nose to spite their face.

I and others were lucky here, we had great people to answer our questions. I would have never spent what I did on my SDS100 without other people's opinions, advice and insight. I'm willing to bet this site is responsible for a lot of sales, all the way from lowly CCR's to high end SDS's.

 

[buddrousa]

Its a good thing that I may or may not have a little extra money saved up.