GRE CES New Product Announcements

[DonS]

On radioshack's site RIGHT NOW you can order the PRO-197 for $499 which comes with a mounting bracket, antenna, DIN sleeve and a wall wart (or you can walk into a store and pay $499 plus sales tax for the same thing). Take that same $499 over to ScannerMaster on the other hand, and Rich will send you a PSR-600 with all of the above plus a USB cable

A better example is the PRO-106 vs. PSR-500. With the PSR-500, you get the USB cable and a power supply. Last time I checked (granted, it's been a while), the retail price was the same.

PLUS you'll have $50 change left over to help pay for shipping

Presuming you're referring to sales tax... not here in California. We still owe the "use tax" on purchases made out-of-state. $500 + shipping + tax is more than $500 + tax (if shipping is non-zero).

 

[k9xyz]

JUST because they charge someone more for the USB cable.......that makes the overall value more....I DON'T think so......gezzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[DonS]

They say they are more expensive to make and everyone believes that. In FACT THEY ARE NOT..The components are all the same as any other scanner

Rubbish.

A "digital scanner" (the GRE-made products, at least) has, in addition to the components in an analog scanner:
* A DSP (digital signal processor)
* Flash memory for the DSP
* Additional clock, CODEC, and other circuitry for the DSP
* Additional firmware (DSP's own firmware, plus additional CPU firmware to handle the DSP)
* vocoder licensed from DVSI to handle IMBE voice

For example, a PRO-96 is, essentially, a PRO-95 with the above components added. The PRO-96 cost the manufacturer more to develop/build than the PRO-95 did. Hence, the PRO-96 had a retail price higher than the PRO-95.

 

[AZScanner]

.....and digital scanners don't need to be more expensive....only because the makers choose to make them be more expensive....they are NO more expensive to make....so why would they be more expensive to buy?????

What Don said, plus you're not taking into consideration all the R&D costs that were associated with digital scanners that have to be recouped somehow. There's also market considerations to think of. The market has proven (despite all of our grumbling) that it will support $500 digital scanners just fine - many of us have more than one of them (I personally have 3 early model digital scanners myself).

I personally know for a fact that getting a scanner to decode a digital signal is no trivial matter. I know because before there was such a thing as a BC250D, myself and an electronics engineer friend of mine tried to make heads or tails out of a mythical little eval board we social-engineered DVSI out of under the guise of needing it for evaluation purposes not at all related to scanners. We found out later that if we had gone with my 780 instead of his BC895 as the donor scanner, we might have even made it (sort of) work. We got close - we got one little garbly digital "10-4" to come out of the thing but not another peep after that. We ran out of time before DVSI wanted either a large check or their little eval board back. Shortly after that, Uniden came out with the 250D.

So there you have it, a little piece of unknown scanner history, or at least, that's the version I'll regale the grandkids with someday. Anyway, it cost some serious cashola to write all that magic firmware that makes digital decoding possible, and part of that $500 price tag pays for all that magic that an analog scanner doesn't need.

-AZ

 

[k9xyz]

NO WAY........the components charged for a "digital" scanner are the same as any other scanner.....just need to be the same MAN and say so.........I did not think so....and there ya go!!!!

 

[k9xyz]

.....and who's right?????

 

[k9xyz]

.......and there you go............................

 

[Citywide173]

The fact is, this is the email GRE sent out:

GRE will be unveiling .......! see you at CES!

We hope you were able to take advantage of the FREE PASS for 2010 CES. We encourage you to stop by GRE booth # 37008 in the South Hall 4. We will unveil a revolutionary technology that will change the Scanner Hobby for years to come.

About GRE!. GRE has always been on the cutting edge of RF Technology and the Scanning industry for many year and we will continue in 2010. Manually programming a Scanner will be a thing of the past.
Racing fans should also stop by to see the unveiling of ...............!

Las Vegas Convention Center

CES Schedule:

Thursday, January 7: 10 am - 6 pm.
Friday, January 8: 9 am - 6 p.m.
Saturday, January 9: 9 am - 6 pm.
Sunday, January 10: 9 am - 4 pm.

Dictionary.com provides the following definition of the word revolutionary: 2. radically new or innovative; outside or beyond established procedure, principles, etc.: a revolutionary discovery. (I only opted for the applicable definition)

So, given the fact that race scanners have been out for years, albeit ones that can also scan other bands, and the iscan was released for Christmas sales at Radio Shack, what is "radically new or innovative" here?

GRE is attempting to grab a larger customer base by tapping into the racing market, and, quite honestly, since NASCAR (Non Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks ) is the country's largest spectator sport, it makes sense for them to target the fans. The iscan is designed to appeal to those who want a casual scanning experience, not the hard core fanatics that we are here.

The releases were expected, and predicted by many, so it's really no surprise. What gets me, is that they would send out an email to their established customers who have bought radios from them already, making the claim that the upcoming products to be unveiled at CES were "Revolutionary". If I've bought a radio from them, I probably have an idea of what it does and how to use it. The marketing department, in my opinion, has just stuck their middle finger up at me with the email and subsequent product unveiling. What the two say to me is that GRE thinks I'm too stupid to know how to use their scanners.

 

[AZScanner]

.....and who's right?????

Don is. Again, I can vouch for his expertise on the subject as well as my own after having been involved in scanning for the last 20 years and "on the inside & in the know" for 6 of those 20 years. Don's about as "inside and in the know" with GRE as one can get without officially being on the payroll. You might want to listen to what he has to say.

-AZ

Edited to add - I've got a buddy over in Vegas right now who says he's gonna stop by and say hi to the GRE guys and ask them point blank about a digital version of the iScan. If he gets over there before happy hour and doesn't forget to ask I'll update the group.

 

[k9xyz]

Wat a Joke!!!!

Yea they "unveiled" what everyone already knew.....LOL don't buy anything they have for sale.......... it sucks.........and were not buyin.............

 

[DonS]

NO WAY........the components charged for a "digital" scanner are the same as any other scanner.....just need to be the same MAN and say so.........I did not think so....and there ya go!!!!

Go to a RadioShack armed with a screwdriver and a soldering iron (or heat gun). Ask to see a PRO-164 and a PRO-106 (these are GRE's latest analog-only and digital scanners of comparable form factor). Open both units. Remove the RF shielding from the PCBs. Compare what you find (paying special attention to the TI DSP, CODEC, and memory that you find in the PRO-106 but which is oddly absent from the PRO-164). Then come back and tell us how the "components are the same".

Personally, I'll just look at the schematics, alpha unit (EDIT: singular because I only have a PSR-500 alpha), and source code for the two devices. That tells me how different they are.

 

[k9xyz]

OH and because you're gonna stop buy and say Hello..........that somehow makes you an expert on what GRE is gonna release..tell me how that is okay............

 

[k9xyz]

..and if we don't buy ....they MUST go on to the next step.......perhaps provide what the people with the money want.....ya think????

 

[scannerfreak]

OH and because you're gonna stop buy and say Hello..........that somehow makes you an expert on what GRE is gonna release..tell me how that is okay............

You are about 30 seconds away from taking a posting vacation. Calm down..I'm not going to ask you again.

 

[AZScanner]

Personally, I'll just look at the schematics, alpha unit, and source code for the two devices. That tells me how different they are.

I don't think he gets it, Don. You might need to post a picture of one of your royalty checks from GRE.

Man...what I wouldn't give to take a visit to Santa Clara sometime and have a look at those alpha units just for the pure geek factor of it all. I miss seeing those early prototypes. Did you know that the first ever BC780XLT had a GREEN SCREEN? That thing looked so cool I almost modified my own to match when I finally got the one I was allowed to keep.

Ah... those were the days.

-AZ

 

[DonS]

I don't think he gets it, Don. You might need to post a picture of one of your royalty checks from GRE.

Not so much a "royalty check" as a "semi-monthly check in consideration for services rendered".

 

[AZScanner]

OH and because you're gonna stop buy and say Hello..........that somehow makes you an expert on what GRE is gonna release..tell me how that is okay............

This thread has certainly become entertaining.

Let's just say I've worked with some of the folks who now work there, a few years ago when they used to work somewhere else. And we still talk from time to time. So when I (or my buddy, who also knows these key people on a somewhat personal/professional level) says hi and asks "how's business" we hear things not everyone else does.

Any more than that, and I'll need to see some ID and have you sign a few forms....

-AZ

 

[DonS]

This thread has certainly become entertaining.

Let's just say I've worked with some of the folks who now work there, a few years ago when they used to work somewhere else. And we still talk from time to time. So when I (or my buddy, who also knows these key people on a somewhat personal/professional level) says hi and asks "how's business" we hear things not everyone else does.

Any more than that, and I'll need to see some ID and have you sign a few forms....

I'll hazard that I know a teeny bit more about what may or may not be coming than the two people I recognized in the booth photo (Wayne and Nori-san). I certainly can't disclose what I may or may not know without "some forms" (not that I'd accept any from Fishers, IN).

 

[AZScanner]

I'll hazard that I know a teeny bit more about what may or may not be coming than the two people I recognized in the booth photo (Wayne and Nori-san). I certainly can't disclose what I may or may not know without "some forms" (not that I'd accept any from Fishers, IN).

Naturally, and that's certainly understandable. Wayne's the guy who I was hoping my buddy would bump into and chat with for a bit.

Note for the rest of the group: He MAY strike up a conversation with Wayne and he MAY remember to ask what I wanted to know, and if he gets any answers, I MAY be able to share them with the group. So it's a long shot, but I'll certainly see what I can get in the way of some answers for us.

-AZ

 

[jpryor]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; Windows Phone 6.5) UP.Link/6.3.1.20.06.3.1.20.0)

well there are so many posts, hard to see what all else folks have been talking about on my phone, if you all did not see, i posted more pictures via twitter. availability of these models will likely be in june, ez scan 700 with similiar price point as radio shack, digital version would be more like "a year away", focus is on analog as larger market first, perfect form factor there first, ez scan also offers v scanners for up to 200 different scan list configurations for the workseasy recall, will be able to post more when i get to a real computer, gre also has press release i