Introducing AlphaScan - Use Your Uniden SDS150 in a Web Browser

[kylehouk]

Hey RadioReference community,

We have been working on AlphaScan, a browser-based companion for the Uniden SDS150. It connects to the scanner and gives you a larger display and controls from your computer.

Our goal is for the digital display and controls to behave exactly like the physical unit, not just look like it. AlphaScan is in beta, so there are still bugs and rough edges. We would appreciate feedback from anyone who tries it.

What is AlphaScan?

AlphaScan connects to your scanner and mirrors its display and controls in your browser. There is no desktop software to install; open the site and connect your scanner.

A few things you can try:

• Focus View: A full-screen scanner view with the display, controls, keypad, and rotary knob. Turn the knob to scroll, click to select, or use FUNC to adjust squelch.
• Display updates: System, Department, and Channel names use larger fonts. Values such as Unit ID clear when the scanner clears them, and the display supports simple, search, and weather-style rows.
• Display customizer: Import or export a profile, choose a layout, and set colors for individual text rows. The default theme is based on the factory Detailed Trunk profile, including its colored soft keys.
• Scanner telemetry: View data from the radio, including TGID, RFSS ID, WACN, NAC, battery level, and internal temperature.

There are a couple of other things we are experimenting with around sharing a live scanner session and capturing sessions to revisit later. We will have more to say about those as we roll them out.

You can signup and use the software here

What’s new in v1.1.1 (September 29, 2026)

This release includes several display and connection fixes:

• Waterfall: Improved the spectrum display, frequency labels, tuning marker, and history scrolling.
• Bluetooth data handling: Fixed display flicker, corrupted frames, and waterfall interruptions caused by fragmented Bluetooth packets.
• Signal indicators: Fixed the Close Call level bars, satellite signal bars, and RSSI graph line.
• UI fixes: VOL and SQL bars now fill correctly. Close Call soft keys and icons appear as soon as the feature is active.

A note about beta:

If you have any issues, please use our bug report page here. Reporting directly helps us identify your issue and work on a fix in a timely fashion.

Thanks to everyone who has already tried it and sent feedback.

If you try the beta, let us know what desktop computer and browser you are using, and share any bugs or feature requests. Phone and tablet support is not available yet. We have something exciting in the works related to other devices coming soon!

 

[jasonhouk]

Initial testing on iPad Pro in portrait mode work’s well! Using the live stream feature.

 

[belvdr]

Signup and online? Thanks but no thanks. I'm tired of everything needing an account and requiring Internet access. I'd rather have a local tool.

My rant aside, this looks like good stuff!

 

[jasonhouk]

Appreciate the honesty, and thanks for the shoutout at the end!

Account fatigue and "always-online" requirements are super real, and wanting a simple, local tool that just works without any strings attached is totally valid.

Right now, AlphaScan relies on the cloud to do some of the heavy lifting, but feedback like yours is exactly what we need to hear as we figure out where to take the tool next.

Glad you think the core stuff looks good despite the signup! If you ever do end up giving it a spin, we'd love to know what you think.

 

[belvdr]

Appreciate the honesty, and thanks for the shoutout at the end!

Account fatigue and "always-online" requirements are super real, and wanting a simple, local tool that just works without any strings attached is totally valid.

Right now, AlphaScan relies on the cloud to do some of the heavy lifting, but feedback like yours is exactly what we need to hear as we figure out where to take the tool next.

Glad you think the core stuff looks good despite the signup! If you ever do end up giving it a spin, we'd love to know what you think.

Thank you for taking my response in a professional manner. With any product, I find it's helpful to hear both good and not-so-good points, as that's the only way to know how (potential) customers feel.

 

[jasonhouk]

Thank you for taking my response in a professional manner. With any product, I find it's helpful to hear both good and not-so-good points, as that's the only way to know how (potential) customers feel.

Totally agree, and thanks for hitting us back! You're 100% right, hearing the "not-so-good" points is honestly the most useful feedback we can get. It stops us from building in a bubble and keeps us focused on what actually matters to people using the tool.

To give you a quick example of why we went the cloud route for now: it powers features like our built-in Live Stream / Host live functionality. Because it's 100% hosted on our secure cloud servers, you can leave an SDS150 docked and connected to your PC or Mac via Bluetooth at your home shack, and then completely monitor and control your scanner from your phone over cell service while you're out and about.

Really appreciate you taking the time to share your perspective, though. It definitely gives us something to chew on as we keep working on AlphaScan!

 

[hexagon_keyhole]

This is a pretty cool development! I’m hoping there’s a way to use Chrome/Edge’s Web Serial API for offline operation.

I don’t necessarily need to livestream or provide an online feed of my scanner, but I’d love to have some basic local control through a web browser. That way, I could manage it without having to be directly in front of the scanner while it’s squawking away under my desk.

 

[RDCat]

I am thankful for this software Job well done

 

[hexagon_keyhole]

OK, was able to get home and play around with this for a few hours now, and AlphaScan is COOL! I got it running on my Mac, too! Had to use Microsoft Edge. Happy to seeing this development being done, and looking forward to future features. Thanks for the opportunity to test.

 

[wa8pyr]

No joy on my 2019 MacBook Pro with Safari or Firefox, both of which say Bluetooth is unavailable.

I won't put Chrome on any of my devices ever again (it's a resource hog of the nth degree, and I really don't want Google snooping on my computer any more than they already do). I reluctantly (Micro$oft is the Anti-Christ) installed Edge, which works fine. It's working as I type this, in fact.

Anxiously awaiting Safari support....

 

[hexagon_keyhole]

No joy on my 2019 MacBook Pro with Safari or Firefox, both of which say Bluetooth is unavailable.

I won't put Chrome on any of my devices, but I reluctantly (Micro$oft is the Anti-Christ) installed Edge, which works fine. It's working as I type this, in fact.

Anxiously awaiting Safari support....

Since AlphaScan is relying on Web Serial API, it should have worked on Firefox starting on version 151 (Released May 19, 2026).

Apple opposed Web Serial API in regards to security concerns, so Safari won't see support anytime soon.

 

[wa8pyr]

Since AlphaScan is relying on Web Serial API, it should have worked on Firefox starting on version 151 (Released May 19, 2026).

Apple opposed Web Serial API in regards to security concerns, so Safari won't see support anytime soon.

I've got Firefox 157. No joy, still says bluetooth not available.

 

[jasonhouk]

Since AlphaScan is relying on Web Serial API, it should have worked on Firefox starting on version 151 (Released May 19, 2026).

Apple opposed Web Serial API in regards to security concerns, so Safari won't see support anytime soon.

Spot on! Here is the breakdown:

Web Serial vs. Web Bluetooth: While Firefox added Web Serial support in v151 for wired USB connections, it does not support Web Bluetooth due to Mozilla's security stance.

Wired vs. Wireless: Serial over a USB connection works fine in Firefox, but wireless Bluetooth connections require Chrome or Edge.

Platform Support: Native macOS and iOS apps are in the works for future releases.

 

[kylehouk]

This is a pretty cool development! I’m hoping there’s a way to use Chrome/Edge’s Web Serial API for offline operation.

I don’t necessarily need to livestream or provide an online feed of my scanner, but I’d love to have some basic local control through a web browser. That way, I could manage it without having to be directly in front of the scanner while it’s squawking away under my desk.

I have taken note of this. I will see what the possible pathways are to make this happen.
Thanks for the reply!

 

[kylehouk]

OK, was able to get home and play around with this for a few hours now, and AlphaScan is COOL! I got it running on my Mac, too! Had to use Microsoft Edge. Happy to seeing this development being done, and looking forward to future features. Thanks for the opportunity to test.

Very happy to hear you were able ton get it all setup and working! Don't hesitate to submit a feature request if you have any ideas.

 

[kylehouk]

Initial testing on iPad Pro in portrait mode work’s well! Using the live stream feature.

View attachment 207533

Very happy with this one along with handoff

 

[kylehouk]

No joy on my 2019 MacBook Pro with Safari or Firefox, both of which say Bluetooth is unavailable.

I won't put Chrome on any of my devices ever again (it's a resource hog of the nth degree, and I really don't want Google snooping on my computer any more than they already do). I reluctantly (Micro$oft is the Anti-Christ) installed Edge, which works fine. It's working as I type this, in fact.

Anxiously awaiting Safari support....

Until Apple ships Web Bluetooth in Safari, my hands are tied. A wrapper or local bridge could work, but they'd require installing another program, and AlphaScan was built to be zero-friction: open it and go.
However, I think you will be pleased with the native macOS app that is under development

 

[wa8pyr]

Until Apple ships Web Bluetooth in Safari, my hands are tied. A wrapper or local bridge could work, but they'd require installing another program, and AlphaScan was built to be zero-friction: open it and go.
However, I think you will be pleased with the native macOS app that is under development

MacOS! MacOS!

(PS - I'm not really an Apple fanboi.... I just appreciate things that work, and work well.)

 

[jasonhouk]

A little testing this evening to support more models and working on the MacOS native version!

 

[randybcd396t]

Is this a Uniden product or in collaboration with Uniden?