WS1095: Mobile Whistler Scanners

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SCPD

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Well .. as some of you know I have a love hate relationship with my WS-1095 so here is my solution. It is not well suited for my very harsh RF environment at home.

But the more I think about it .. the perfect place for it is in my vehicle. I am looking for advice from those that use their Whistler scanners mobile.The detachable face plate makes it the perfect unit for this as really I do not use it now, and might as well get some use out of it.

Please let me know the tips you may have in this regard.

Thanks
edmscan
 

troymail

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What kind of tips are you looking for? I have my TRX-2 in my truck and it stays there (I have plenty of other radios in the house).

The unit itself simply sits in the pocket on the front side of the center console. The head is mounted (attached) to my dash over my old CD changer that I don't use (2 washers stuck on with double-sided tape). The head then just attaches to those washers with the magnets.

I use the TRX-2 pretty much the same way I use my TRX-1 and other radios -- I create VScanner/folders for one radio and then copy them to the other radio so I (can) have the same programming on both for the most part.

I use a BNC mag mount base on the roof of the truck with a RS800 handheld antenna attached to it. I've drilled in the past on older vehicles but just don't feel like going to that extreme anymore.
 

buddrousa

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morning edmscan I use a metal bookend bent to the angle that is comfortable to see and read in my Navigator it has dual sunvisors on each side that lets me use one to hold the bent metal that the TRX-2 faces sticks to. Kinda cheap but no holes and easy to remove.
Bud
 

SCPD

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Thanks for your comments. I am going to determine today where I am going to mount it.

I was thinking about putting my 536HP in the car, until I realized that my 1095 is a much much better fit and much easier to install and use in the car. Besides .. I love the full size SD card instead of the tiny microSD for mobile use.

The nice thing .. no need to remove my current stereo equipment to do the install which is what I was faced with using the Uniden.

I live in a bad area .. so the remote mounting and removable face plate is the added benefit here as well.

I am more interested if people find the volume adequate for mobile use ?

I am going to gather all the things I need today.

I am going to wire it directly to the battery .. and have a few extra programmed SD cards in my car just in case.

I think this will be a good thing. :D

Kevin
 

marcotor

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I love my 1095 as a mobile. If my 536's had remote heads one of those would probably be there.

Lucky for me, there are several open, easy to access power sources on the firewall of my current daily (2015 Altima), and Nissan makes easy adapters which plug right in to the switched/fused output. Scanner brick is in the huge glove box, and stays out of the way. Have an MFJ speaker in the console, provides plenty of volume.

A simple Larsen NMO-150 serves me well in Southern California, even doing surprisingly well on the CHP low band system.

I had a cell phone holder which uses the (unused by me) CD slot, and attached the mounting plate to it. It's visible, easy to access, and removable in 5 seconds for storage.

Haven't had any issues with this installation after more than a year, still using original SD card, but I do carry a spare (with current programming) in my laptop bag just in case.
 
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SCPD

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Thanks guys for the comments .. I will be doing the install tomorrow.

I just need to find a suitable speaker, the rest of the items I think I already have well in hand.

So .. finalized things more or less today. It is going to be good .. I have a Toyota Yaris and those cars have a couple of almost hidden compartments in front of the driver and passenger. The nice thing the remote heads from my dual band ham rig and my 1095 will both fit in front of the driver. I guess time will tell if I get into a car accident .. as looking at the scanner and not driving. But .. I am sure I will be fine as I do not need to play with it.

I have everything designed.

So .. it will be, industrial strength Velcro on the 2 remote heads, and the bodies of both of the units in the trunk. The antenna is a black NMO 800 MHz Maxrad low profile antenna on the very back of the roof on mag mount. The thing .. I am not about to drill a hole in my roof to do it, so the low profile mag mount works. The signals I normally listen to .. are very strong, so it will not be an issue. Oh .. Edacs system, nothing but smiles from me.

The thing .. low profile is the thing, I did not have enough room for another antenna and still making it discrete. I may be looking for a black 1/4 wave VHF antenna .. but need to find one, tough to find what I want. You can tell my car is black. Smiles.

Using an old Realistic communications speaker from way back .. as there are no Radio Shacks here for decades now, when you find these things at ham fests .. I scoop them.

I am in Canada and it is often very hard to find things locally here .. online ordering is often crazy expensive, especially shipping. Shipping my 1095 here was over $80. But .. this is a good thing, and look forward to having a scanner in my car again. I have never had a scanner mobile before .. just always commercial radios. So .. it should be fun.

Oh .. I have 3 identically programmed SD cards, and may have to tweak things a bit for a mobile environment. I think I have the interface setup as needed. One of the things, distracted driving laws, and it means a $300 ticket and demerit points for having a scanner in my car. So .. I am hoping that my discrete install will keep me from getting into trouble. The only thing .. hams are exempt, so I hope that the police do not know the difference from a ham rig and a scanner.
 
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Swipesy

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Edmscan, if you have not already take a look at the Laird Phantom 821-896 Mhz antenna. I have used one since 2006 (Antenex back then) and it works great from 147 mHz up to 900 Mhz. I mount it inside on back window shelf on a 12 inch metal plate using mag mount.
 

SCPD

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Ok .. thanks. I also have a Larsen Tri band scanner antenna as a backup for when I need to switch things up.
 

wbswetnam

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I have a WS-1095 in my 2013 Ford Fiesta, mounted on the right side of the center console. For me it works great as a mobile scanner. Here in Arkansas there is a lot of DMR used along with P25 (the statewide AWIN system) as well as good ol' narrow FM. The WS-1095 hits 'em all. My car is an inexpensive one so it is fairly noisy inside, but I can hear the radio quite comfortably with the volume set at 15. I use an external speaker that I bought at a truck stop for $15 so that the audio is coming directly toward me and not away from me, as it would be if I were to rely on its internal speaker. As far as the antenna, I use a mag mount Radio Shack mobile antenna I bought two years ago when my local RS store closed; I think I paid $20 for it.
 

Swipesy

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Ok .. thanks. I also have a Larsen Tri band scanner antenna as a backup for when I need to switch things up.

I too have a Larsen Tri-band which is a great performer but I have not noticed any loss of reception across the 147-896 bands when I switch to the Phantom "salt shaker" and is less conspicous.
 

SCPD

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Well after much messing around ... I have come to one conclusion.

Whistler needs to discontinue the 1095, probably the worst scanner ever made (RF performance wise). I know why one of my friends will not use Whistler scanners. Great scanners .. terrible RF performance. If you do not believe me .. come to my city and I will prove to you that they are just not capable of holding their own. I know why Dr Sherman .. returned all his Whistler scanners. Sadly even though Uniden sucks in the user interface department .. at least their scanners are a bit more bullet proof.

So .. in the end, a ham 2m / 70 cm antenna inside the vehicle. Yes, the tin can effect (probably at least a 20 DB hit, but enough to fix the issues).
My desired signals are mostly 800 MHz and some VHF.

That is the only way that I could use the radio mobile and have it work. But .. no going near any cell sites, still issues there.

Btw .. Whistler I live in one of the worst 3 RF cities in North America, so if you want to test scanners feel free to come here. But you really need to up your RF game before they will even come close to a Uniden. Sad but true.
 
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SCPD

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When one of my friends returns from Las Vegas in a few weeks I am going to try to test the TRX-2 to see how it performs in a mobile environment.
 

RRR

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Lack of GPS to enable and disable different areas I travel to like the Unidens do just plain kills Whistler mobiles for me.

If Whistler mobiles had GPS capability, I would buy one without delay.
 
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