Is Whistler teasing us?

[stingray327]

I returned my 436 and will now wait for Whistler to release their line of scanners. Always liked the size of the PSR800.

wHAT made you do this?

 

[stingray327]

Well I am definitely holding out for a while on a scanner. Lake County is going to be switching to a 700mhz P25 Phase II in a year or so. The ISP is on SAFE-T simulcast here. Since this area is going to be almost all digital soon for public safety for the most part, I want a scanner that excels at digital. I already know my PSR-500 is good at digital. I have been itchin to buy another scanner, but I have to wait and see what the new Whistler1080 is like. I am going with the one that works the best with Phase II in my area.

I will also do the same. I need something that will have the capacity to handle all of these changes these agencies are doing.

 

[sphipps]

Here's apparently what their facility looks like:

http://s.lnimg.com/attachments/0/3/A/03AFE5D5-1752-48E0-92B2-604AAEAACFF2.pdf

Google street view shows AMP Signs in that building, but I guess they moved out.

I drive by that location on US-71 about once a week. There's no Whistler signage on the office building or up by the highway... though that's pretty common in Bentonville since companies have offices there for one reason only not intended to serve the direct public. I've always thought that building housed multiple offices and tenants. It's far from "fancy" and appears a bit run down.

Next time I'm down that way I'll exit the highway and take the frontage road around it to see if they have a sign on the warehouse. If it's during the week and I'm bold enough... I may go in and see if they have a few demo scanners available for show.

 

[whsbuss]

wHAT made you do this?

I returned the 436HP because of missed transmissions, poor digital decoding. Sitting next to my GRE600 it just didn't perform.

 

[SquierStrat]

Anyone think that Whistler might release a firmware update for the Pro-18? Sure
would be nice to bring it up to PSR-800 specs.. I guess we can all be hopeful.

I highly doubt it. GRE, when they were alive and kickin, didnt even release firmware updates for Radio shack scanners. The only place to get those is from Radio Shack. (i suppose it is possible for whistler to give one to radio shack, but again, highly doubtful)

 

[BoboPinky]

I returned the 436HP because of missed transmissions, poor digital decoding. Sitting next to my GRE600 it just didn't perform.

Sitting next to my GRE800 is doesn't. It [436] has some great features, but the performance for systems I monitor is not the same as my now "old" 800. And, as I've said elsewhere, for $500 it should be better.

 

[detroit780]

GRE Radio Shack

When GRE was alive they released updates to Radio Shack. It was Radio Shacks job to post them. Many times they sat on an update for months allegedly testing the updates that Uniden already tested. It was a pain getting RS to release updates.

I highly doubt it. GRE, when they were alive and kickin, didnt even release firmware updates for Radio shack scanners. The only place to get those is from Radio Shack. (i suppose it is possible for whistler to give one to radio shack, but again, highly doubtful)

 

[tonsoffun]

Here is some info on there locations from a great source, see below.

The corporate headquarters are in Bentonville but we are located at 1716 SW Commerce Dr in Bentonville, AR and our warehouse is in Rogers, AR.

Thanks

 

[soberbyker]

Radio Shack Software downloads, far a few between but here they are:

RadioShack.com

.

 

[N8OAY]

I guess it's out of the question for Whistler to fix the front-end of these scanners ? The amount of desense and intermod on the VHF-Hi band is just plain terrible with the current GRE digital scanners.

I do not have any problems with front-end overload on my PSR-500. I live 2 miles from the Huntsville AL International Airport. A railroad intermoadal terminal is in an industrial park next to the airport, and a Norfolk Southern wayside base station is about a mile from me in the opposite direction. The US Army Redstone Arsenal's mountaintop transmitters are about 5 or so miles east of me. I have never had problems with overload, intermod or desensitization when using it mobile even when I am close to the NOAA weather transmitter which transmits a strong enough signal to cover 11 counties in northern Alabama and 3 counties in southern Tennessee. If you are having those kind of problems, you have a defective scanner.

 

[N8OAY]

I think the reason for the conflicting reports is because it depends on the system you are monitoring. Some systems are simply not set up to spec, and the more you design to that spec, the worse some out-of-spec systems will be.

GRE was/is the same way. In some areas, they work fine. In others, they are worse. In my area, it's a mix. At home they pick up more than the Uniden. When I travel near the city, it reverses and the Uniden picks up more. I don't see how Whistler can help but lean one way or the other, and will likely lean the way GRE did which is not generally the same way Uniden did. You could also have a third scanner brand that is a compromise that doesn't pick up far or overload as much, but then both camps would be complaining (both camps meaning those in dense RF areas and those not).

A have little doubt Whistler (to keep the thread on topic) will be the same way GRE is because you can't design a scanner that is both sensitive and selective without putting a lot more into the design than current retail prices allow. GRE has traditionally opted for sensitivity for use in rural areas to maximize range, but overload easily.

You also can't design a scanner that works well on in-spec systems and out of spec systems because the more you allow for tolerance of out-of-spec systems, the more you could allow the in-spec systems to be mistuned. This is the current dilemma for scanner manufacturers. If all systems were maintained within spec, all scanners would likely work well. Simulcast exacerbates this issue.

Joe M.

Well said! If Whistler (or the other guys) were to design a scanner to the same specs as a Motorola radio that would work perfectly with EVERY radio system, they would be trying to sell a scanner that would cost as much as a new out-of-the-box Motorola radio. I doubt there are a lot of scanner hobbyists that would be willing or able to pay $2000 or more for a toy.

 

[Dafe1er]

Well said! If Whistler (or the other guys) were to design a scanner to the same specs as a Motorola radio that would work perfectly with EVERY radio system, they would be trying to sell a scanner that would cost as much as a new out-of-the-box Motorola radio. I doubt there are a lot of scanner hobbyists that would be willing or able to pay $2000 or more for a toy.

I agree and disagree with you on this.

If someone NOT just Uniden or Whistler actually took the time to listen to consumers and put a radio together that was FULLY tested and found to have minimal release flaws then some would buy the $2000 radio. Some already spend more than that for a real radio as it is for "listening".

I would be one. Now, I am not rich by any means but would save my pennies to get one. I am sure a lot more people would like this more than buying things that do not work right out the box and having to wait, and wait, and wait for some sort of word on how bad they are going to get the shaft.

 

[IowaGuy1603]

I agree and disagree with you on this.

If someone NOT just Uniden or Whistler actually took the time to listen to consumers and put a radio together that was FULLY tested and found to have minimal release flaws then some would buy the $2000 radio. Some already spend more than that for a real radio as it is for "listening".
.

The problem is the word SOME.

Some is not enough to generate a profit. The means to sell mass produced & moderately priced scanners is necessary to make any new product viable.

There are not enough scanner hobbyists around that would buy a $2000 scanner to make it work.

$2000 radios are cheap when you are talking about Harris simulcast systems (try $6000 hand helds) and Phase II radios

 

[Boatanchor]

Penny Pinching..

IMHO, the main problem with GRE scanners was the penny pinching that went on when they designed the RF sections in their scanners. Uniden scanners have more (tighter) bandpass filters in the front end of their scanners. This is one reason why the Uniden scanners are much less likely to suffer from overload from 10kW FM transmitters a few miles away, despite the fact that they actually tune the FM band too..

Then there are the better quality/tighter IF filters that Uniden use.
GRE use 3 pole 455Khz filters, whereas Uniden use 6 pole 450Khz filters. The 6 pole filters are much better at reducing 'in-band' interference.
I'm not sure about the 1st IF, UHF SAW filters as I haven't compared these, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Uniden SAW filters were higher quality also.

These differences would only add a few bucks to the production costs of the Uniden scanner, but they make a world of difference in RF congested areas.

It's a shame, but I don't expect Whistler to remedy this.

Then again, with the bands becoming more congested with stronger signals and consumers becoming more aware of these issues, Whistler may have no choice but to bring their scanners up to spec to compete with their competition, if they want to keep selling product.

Bottom line - Scanner design engineers don't need to spend an extra $500 on each scanner to obtain (near) Motorola RF performance. All they have to do is design the RF sections correctly in the first place. Assume that your scanners are going to be used in the worst possible RF environments and design the RF sections accordingly. Then, and only then, should you look at designing the demodulation and audio systems.
Really, with cheap DSP's available now, there is no reason why all of the demodulation (analogue too) cant' be done by SDR.

I was very surprised to see a conventional FM demodulator chip in the new Uniden scanners actually. I was expecting the new scanners to be SDR based, which would have allowed Uniden much greater scope to 'fine tune' the radio through future firmware updates.

If Whistler can get the right people on their engineering team, there is no reason why they shouldn't be able to come up with a Uniden beating product for the same price, if not cheaper than the X36HP's.

But they've got to get over this penny pinching on the RF stages!

It will just comes back to bite them down the track..

 

[tonsoffun]

If Whistler can get the right people on their engineering team, there is no reason why they shouldn't be able to come up with a Uniden beating product for the same price, if not cheaper than the X36HP's.

I believe they do have the right R&D engineers and they are aware of what people are looking for in a scanner, they read these forums everyday:wink:.

 

[LIScanner101]

I believe they do have the right R&D engineers and they are aware of what people are looking for in a scanner, they read these forums everyday:wink:.

Let's hope so. I thought Uniden would have done that, what with even having a company rep participating on this site, yet I've never seen so many disappointed people before.

 

[N8IAA]

Remember, it was the bean counters @ Uniden that made the final decisions. And, it will be the bean counters @ Whistler who will make the final decisions.
All the hooting and hollering on these forums hasn't made even a dent in that hill of beans.
When a company does no beta testing before releasing a product, and leaves it to the early adopters to find the bugs, what does that tell you??
The new scanners in the immediate future will be Whistler branded RS GRE scanners. I will patiently wait for the NEW Whistler scanners that may come out later this year.
I, myself, would liked to have seen a HP-2 , or a x96XT that did Phase II. Not the combination of both.
What I would like to see is a SDR type radio that can be used mobile or portable with out being tied to a PC, and that can have firmware updates for what your individual area has as far as digital.
I almost got caught up in the hype on these forums. I glad I didn't. It is going to be an interesting year in the scanning world

JMTCW,
Larry

 

[Boatanchor]

When a company does no beta testing before releasing a product, and leaves it to the early adopters to find the bugs, what does that tell you??
The new scanners in the immediate future will be Whistler branded RS GRE scanners. I will patiently wait for the NEW Whistler scanners that may come out later this year.
I, myself, would liked to have seen a HP-2 , or a x96XT that did Phase II. Not the combination of both.
What I would like to see is a SDR type radio that can be used mobile or portable with out being tied to a PC, and that can have firmware updates for what your individual area has as far as digital.

JMTCW,
Larry

Re the HP-2 / x96XT comment - You and I both brother!

Regardless of it's one or two failings, everyone who owns a 396XT for example, loves the size. They love the fact that it is relatively unobtrusive and easy to carry around. For many, size is a pretty important aspect of any 'portable' scanner design. I don't want/need to be sitting for hours gazing into a 3" screen to tell me who I'm listening to or walking around with a house brick clipped to my belt, pulling my pants down.

Now, you could possibly forgive Uniden for making the 436HP so large, if the display actually looked half decent.
Instead, the monochrome LCD on the 436HP looks like a 1990's throwback and a special kind of awful.

Regardless, for heavens sake, if you want to be able to stare in wonder at a big fancy display, hook your damned handheld scanner up to a PC/Android App and run the display on that! We have been able to do a similar thing with the X96XT scanners for years.
It's not rocket science!

I just cannot believe how badly, Uniden have stuffed this up.
'Someone', would have told the R/D people that the new scanner 'had to have a big display at all cost'..
That same 'someone' obviously has done absolutely no market research and assumes that he (she?) knows exactly what is best for us end users..

That someone needs to be fired IMHO!

Rant Over

 

[Highpockets]

a x96XT that did Phase II. Not the combination of both.

Yep, that would have been a home run.

 

[Highpockets]

That someone needs to be fired IMHO!

I'm sure someone will be held accountable.

Depending on what firmware updates can actually fix, the new scanners can still come out smelling like a rose, time will tell.