Any New Whistler Scanners ?
- Thread starter pratzert
- Start date
doctordialtone
Member
Since Whistler Wendy left the company and they abandoned development of a new scanner line, I think all you can expect is Radar Detectors from Whistler.
Just my opinion, but the announcement was just to take a few sales away from Uniden while people waited on the new product. Pretty sure Paul even commented on that possibility as an industry tactic….announce a product before you even have a design, just to keep people interested in you and not the competition.
With the changes in public service radio, the economy, and the cost of development, the risk is too big. The SDS100 price for a 7 year old design is a big bite with our current economic situation, and a new design is very unlikely to cost less.
It's an extremely niche market to begin with. Add to that the ongoing chip shortages and other supply chain issues which have plagued us since COVID, the increased costs of development and production would only skyrocket the prices of new products for the consumer. For now let's be happy with the current offerings, no one knows what the future holds for any scanner manufacturer, especially with full encryption becoming more and more of a factor
I don't think he was the only one suspicious about Whistler's announcement. Just consider the timing: Uniden announces a simulcast-compatible scanner. Then in between that announcement and the date they become available for purchase, Whistler announces that they too are developing a simulcast-compatible line of scanners. So people like me think 'Ok, I'll just wait until both of them are on the market, and maybe the Whistler models will be a little less expensive and still do the job.' So I don't jump and buy an SDS when it first comes out. Then Whistler's new scanners get delayed. Ok, I'll wait some more. Then we find out a few months later that Whistler isn't going to build a simulcast-compatible scanner after all. Whether Whister was actually developing a new scanner or not would be hard to prove. But by making the announcement when they didn't have a mature product ready or nearly ready to sell, they hurt sales of the SDS line early on.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
I agree with the others. Difficult time to be rolling out a new product. Supply chain issues make getting products to the buyers difficult.
Other than the simulcast stuff, there's not really much that has changed that would make releasing a new scanner profitable.
Other than adding something like TETRA, or maybe some of the obscure ham radio digital modes, there's not much else to do.
Encryption is going to continue to limit what can be listened to, and there's no way around that.
A new product probably wouldn't have much difference than the current models to draw enough buyers.
Maybe internal GPS
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Yeah, bluetooth programming, etc. Not much they can do that hasn't already been accomplished. It would take some pretty serious updates to get a product "new" enough to get existing owners to give up their current radios and buy new. I just don't think there is that much that can change. I bet Whistler knows this.
WoodenEarth
Member
I've seen supply restrictions easing, at least in one RF component I'm interested in. Back in October, delivery was quoted at one year. Today, it's in stock.
Yeah, I never buy an expensive new model scanner as soon as it comes out. Same with cars. Let manufacturers work out bugs and defects (like cold solder joints) before buying.
Bob1955
Member
pratzert- Uniden America Corporation is STILL the #1 GLOBAL leader in the scanner industry and NOBODY can compete with them, so I have to agree with Doctordialtone on this one.
n0esc
Feed Provider
I also have my suspicion that Whistler may have married themselves a little too tightly to Walmart to take a risk on the rapidly changing digital modes. Highly unlikely anyone in most WMs is able to explain scanners to anyone so people buy the cheapest WS1010 sitting on the shelf for $80 and then have no clue why they can't get it to work, toss it all back in the box and take it back to the store, who throw it in a claims bin, and ship them all back to Whistler, whose headquarters are conveniently right down the street from Walmarts.
MN has been on a statewide P25 system for over a decade. There is little to nothing left on conventional in most counties, and yet our local store still stocks and sells just the WS1010. I've never seen them carry anything else in store.
Radar detectors on the other hand sell themselves to the people interested in them.
MN has been on a statewide P25 system for over a decade. There is little to nothing left on conventional in most counties, and yet our local store still stocks and sells just the WS1010. I've never seen them carry anything else in store.
Radar detectors on the other hand sell themselves to the people interested in them.
k1jbp
ARS
I will not buy another whistler scanner again. I have two of them. One is the 1065 which was copied from Radio Shack / GRE. The second cost alot of money and within a few months developed a big problem. It is the only scanner I own that I have to have 5 volts going to the USB port to be able to turn it on and use it. Never again
Is it under a year old? Send it to Whistler and have it fixed.
Uniden released the SDS100 in mid-2018. Paul Opitz passed away 3.5 years ago in Dec 2019. Uniden has been stagnant ever since, giving Whistler plenty of time to take full advantage of the market by releasing something fresh. They threw in the towel years ago and are content to keep selling the old and slightly modified GRE designs. It seems that Uniden is content to do the same as far as releasing existing designs with no sign of innovation, but at least the SDS series handles LSM fairly well out of the box.
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