idea for next firmware

[jgilbs]

this message is mainly for UPMan, but if anyone else has features they want to see in the next firmware, maybe this can be away of creating a central place to voice them.

My main issue centers around the way fire tones are decoded. In addition to the issues with CTCSS and such, I think the tone function should be modified. Maybe make the timing for the first tone a very low priority. In other words, if the scanner detects 'tone 1' for as little as something like .05 seconds, but then immediatley then sees 'tone 2' at +/- 20% of the required duration, it should alert. This would allow the scanner to scan 2 or more channels (depending on the time the hardware takes to decode tones), a feature which seems to be in great demand to people besides myself (if you could do that, you could even market these as replacement pagers for emergency personnel).

Maybe in future models it might be advantageous to include a vibrating motor for alerts, as well as a very small amount of memory to allow for stored voice. If you include stored voice, then as soon as the tone is detected and after the tone is finished, the SV unit could start recording audio to the end of the transmission. This would allow the unit to alert for 2-3 seconds like a Minitor as the scanner is recording the audio, then replay the dispatch, kinda like how Tivo "pauses" live TV.

 

[Voyager]

My main issue centers around the way fire tones are decoded. In addition to the issues with CTCSS and such, I think the tone function should be modified. Maybe make the timing for the first tone a very low priority. In other words, if the scanner detects 'tone 1' for as little as something like .05 seconds,

At 50 mS, a voice could false it. 250 mS is pretty flase-proof, and is about the setting Motorola pagers use.

but then immediatley then sees 'tone 2' at +/- 20% of the required duration, it should alert.

Required duration? What version firmware are you using? Duration requirements are history. They are all automatic now.

This would allow the scanner to scan 2 or more channels (depending on the time the hardware takes to decode tones), a feature which seems to be in great demand to people besides myself (if you could do that, you could even market these as replacement pagers for emergency personnel).

And what does it do if it sees activity, or worse yet if it sees a valid first tone on the second channel, but a wrong second tone, while at the same time a page you want to hear is going out over the first channel?

Even Motorola warns about scanning on a pager. They state that some pages MAY be missed. As I've said before, Motorola has been in the pager biz a lot longer than Uniden, and they haven't figured out a reliable way to do it yet.

Maybe in future models it might be advantageous to include a vibrating motor for alerts,

There is literally no place to put it in the case size of the 396. However, I agree that would be a nice option - not only for FTO, but for CC hits, too.

as well as a very small amount of memory to allow for stored voice. If you include stored voice, then as soon as the tone is detected and after the tone is finished, the SV unit could start recording audio to the end of the transmission. This would allow the unit to alert for 2-3 seconds like a Minitor as the scanner is recording the audio, then replay the dispatch, kinda like how Tivo "pauses" live TV.

Not just to end of transmission. All you would likely get is more paging tones. I've also heard many times where a dispatch is interrupted. Let it record the same a Motorola pagers - for a selectable 15, 30, or 60 seconds.

Joe M.

 

[jgilbs]

In "Tone Detect" mode, it wouldn't matter if there was traffic on both channels at the same time. As long as only one has a valid tone. The possibility of both being toned-out at the same time is possible, but rare. That is why you would want a priority select like Minitors have.

Maybe it could switch between the 2 channels, staying on each only as long as is required for the software to run its tone detection alogarithm. After the routine runs, it would just have an output of "true" or "false" that would indicate if there was a tone present. even if there is tone present, as you said it could be voice, so it would switch to the other channel and check for the first tone, with a binary output. It could keep switching between the 2 channels building a record of the tone detect function over time. Once either channel has recorded a certain number of consecutive "true" statements and then it encounters a "false" statement, it would then continue the routine using the 2nd tone as its check condition until the 2nd tone has accumulated a certain number of consecutive "true" statements. The pager would then alert and open on whatever channel is active, or if they are both active, the primary channel would open.


all of this requires obviously a great deal of processing power, and it depends on how long it takes the microprocessor to "decode" the tones. this may not be practical on this processor. maybe in the future, uniden will dedicate hardware to this task or use a more powerful processor.[/quote]

 

[Voyager]

In "Tone Detect" mode, it wouldn't matter if there was traffic on both channels at the same time. As long as only one has a valid tone. The possibility of both being toned-out at the same time is possible, but rare. That is why you would want a priority select like Minitors have.

Maybe it could switch between the 2 channels, staying on each only as long as is required for the software to run its tone detection alogarithm. After the routine runs, it would just have an output of "true" or "false" that would indicate if there was a tone present. even if there is tone present, as you said it could be voice, so it would switch to the other channel and check for the first tone, with a binary output. It could keep switching between the 2 channels building a record of the tone detect function over time. Once either channel has recorded a certain number of consecutive "true" statements and then it encounters a "false" statement, it would then continue the routine using the 2nd tone as its check condition until the 2nd tone has accumulated a certain number of consecutive "true" statements. The pager would then alert and open on whatever channel is active, or if they are both active, the primary channel would open.


all of this requires obviously a great deal of processing power, and it depends on how long it takes the microprocessor to "decode" the tones. this may not be practical on this processor. maybe in the future, uniden will dedicate hardware to this task or use a more powerful processor.

[/quote]

Well, the original version of FTO was one tone set only, so it's improved greatly over the original. Maybe scanning a limited number of channels will be added. Maybe not in this model, but who knows? I think the current FTO is pretty good for a 'first shot' - especially with the upgrades that were done (as Paul put it) "late in the beta testing period".

Joe M.

 

[johnvassel]

At the cost/size and delicacy of this unit, dont expect it to replace pagers/tonable radios.
Most of my guys start losing concentration at anything over 8 channels...
And they're not idiots, just not radio geeks :lol:

 

[jgilbs]

who said anything about 8 channels? you're right - that might be a little excessive. but even you must admit, being able to recieve tones on 2 frequencies would be a great feature, since i'm sure there are many folks who might be on a fire dept/ambulance or fire/hazmat(Such as myself) and there are many people i know that are on a paid dept and also volunteer in the town in which they live (and they might need to get paged from their paid dept to come help with a large structure fire or the like and still want to be available for their volunteer dept's calls)