New Legacy Scanner Upgrade Program

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garys

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And all but 5 of them disagree with you. What Whistler did for the people who hacked their computers is fair. They're passing along the actual cost of the hardware needed in addition to the cost of the firmware update.

Pay it, don't pay it. No one cares, but it would be nice if you stopped your whining.

Interesting to see how this Whistler/Radio Shack Scandal has almost 27k views so far on this website alone. This thread and another 668 tool are probably the most viewed. That's not counting the remaining social media sites.
 
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And all but 5 of them disagree with you. What Whistler did for the people who hacked their computers is fair. They're passing along the actual cost of the hardware needed in addition to the cost of the firmware update.

Pay it, don't pay it. No one cares, but it would be nice if you stopped your whining.
Who's whinning? Not me... My DMR works perfectly fine and very happy with the tools created. I'm smart enough to not update things every time an update appears. I wait for suckers that ALWAYS believe in what companies say is gospel. So I'm good.

I'm speaking for those individuals that didn't know any better, those that press the update button every time without knowing the repercussions of it..

Big difference between whinning and advocating for those that are not technically inclined!

Either way, I don't have to spend another penny with Whistler...
 
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Wackyracer

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Even though this doesn't effect me, I'm satisfied that Whistler is offering a fix and a upgrade channel for those whose scanners are locked. Hopefully ALL sides have learned from this and can move on.
 

kibler

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Max.....I agree with you 100%! But give it up! Whistler made offer and its over?
 
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I've avoided chipping in on this debate, but I've heard enough so the time has come.

The fact that seems to be escaping a lot of people is that the "time bomb" which kicked in on July 1 apparently wasn't applied to the firmware until late in May, after Whistler announced their very generous program to update Pro-668, PSR800 and Pro-18 radios to new firmware, with continued support. After that announcement, anyone who downloaded v4.6 and applied it to a different radio was really skating on thin ice; with a legitimate avenue of upgrade in place (for radios which they were under absolutely no obligation to support), it's perfectly understandable that Whistler would take more drastic steps to prevent this kind of behavior.

The fact that the unofficial project was ended after Whistler announced the official upgrade program speaks volumes.

As noted in an earlier post(s), Whistler's disclaimers (wherever found) are pretty clear that applying the firmware to a radio for which it wasn't intended could cause the radio to stop functioning; their continued attempts to deter this kind of behavior through changes to the firmware also make it pretty clear that they did not approve of what was going on.

Had the hacked firmware updates been applied with nothing more in mind than improved P25 performance for these poorly performing, orphaned and unsupported radios (P25 being a feature these radios already had), I suspect Whistler may have looked the other way; however, when the updates added reception of a mode these radios never offered (especially after an offical upgrade path was announced), a line was crossed.

Would it have been nice of Whistler to make an explicit warning that scanners loaded with hacked firmware after a certain date would be locked to that version? Certainly. Were they obligated to do so? Not in the slightest, especially since their other disclaimers already warn that radios could stop functioning.

The simple fact remains that those who upgraded their radios with hacked firmware assumed all risks of damage or loss of function. Whistler could even argue that those who continued to apply the hacked update after the official upgrade program was announced were now knowingly trying to avoid paying for the upgrade, essentially committing theft.

Is the fact that the affected radios can no longer be upgraded or downgraded incredibly annoying to those who are affected? Absolutely. But those folks still have a scanner that's functioning better than it was in it's original state, and by applying a hacked version of the firmware, they accepted the risk that the radio could stop functioning in some way or another.

No amount of debate is going to change what's happened. If someone chooses to no longer patronize Whistler as a result of what's happened to their scanner, that's their decision, but to blame Whistler when the responsibility lies with the user is really stretching things a bit too far.


Whistler in my opinion was under handed by locking of scanners for those who used the hack was not much better. The only reason the hack was used in the first place was because no one was getting anywhere Radio Shack and Whistler on an upgrade. I think it was done out of frustration. Locking a scanner is not making it better. Blaming Whistler is not out of line since they wrote the time bomb and applied it without warning anyone. This was a deliberate act on their part.

I did send my hacked unit in and found out that it was not locked. I was running version 4.5 of the firmware when I sent it in. The upgrade did not really improve with the change from 4.5 to 4.8 for the sixty dollars I paid, but that was not the point of sending it to them. I understand how much work it takes to develop firmware driven products because of my electronics back ground and wanted to be square with Whistler. I wanted to compensate them for their time and effort. I agree with WACKEYRACER that hopefully something can be learned about what not to do next time.

In the same breath I think it was generous of Whistler to offer an upgrade for the GRE and Radio Shack version of their scanners. I sent I note to Whistler thanking them for their upgrade offer. My present and future position will be to encourage folks pay the Sixty dollars to get the approved offer rather than use the hack. I also think Whistler boxed themselves into when the time bomb locked the hacked scanners from any future upgrades. I think if they had not made an offer for the board replacement to safe and future sales would have been a big mistake.


I am glad this is over and wish everyone happy scanning.
 

dorslv

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upgrade ws-1080

Wendy, what if any options for upgrading my ws-1080 to a ws-1088 type numerical keypad? thx, Dorian.
 

WhistlerWendy

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Hi Guys -
Sorry I have been traveling and I didn't realize you had posted this. Please give our customer service a call and they can discuss a trade in with you! 1-800-531-0004
 

nyscan

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Hi Guys -
Sorry I have been traveling and I didn't realize you had posted this. Please give our customer service a call and they can discuss a trade in with you! 1-800-531-0004

Would this be for a new unit (not refurb)?
 

K9DAK

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Dunno about that... earlier this year I asked Wendy about trading in my 1088 for a TRX-1. Here is her response from 19 June 17:

"If you would like to trade in your WS10xx for a TRX-1 or TRX-2 you can call our customer support number and request a trade in. The your cost will be $410 for the TRX-1 and $445 for the TRX-2."

I could buy a brand new TRX-1 for just a few bux more than that and keep my 1088!


:) WOW, this could be a great way to upgrade, if I am reading this correctly. Trade-ups? You go Whistler! :)
 

sambu

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If you hack something, then own up to the implications...

According to the Release from Whistler Wendy done a few minutes ago. I quote the following in part....

"Because we value our customers and would like to offer them the top level of service possible, we are offering those that may have used the unauthorized upgrade code the ability to still upgrade their scanners for a fee of $89.99. This higher fee is simply due to the fact that we must replace the logic board in the scanner versus those who did not update with the unauthorized upgrade. This is a pass through cost only. Customers who have not participated in the unauthorized upgrade may still upgrade their unit at the fee of $59.99."

The part that is very interesting and very consistent to corporate greed is the following...

"have used the unauthorized upgrade code the ability to still upgrade their scanners for a fee of $89.99. This higher fee is simply due to the fact that we must replace the logic board in the scanner versus those who did not update with the unauthorized upgrade."

So this is going to cost me now $30 MORE then the original $60 for regular upgrades. This will now cost us more money because Whistler decided to cripple the scanners. All because they got upset that someone created, keyword CREATED a way to make better use of their own scanners.

They/WE didn't STEAL your Files, Technology, your code. But instead you (Whistler) graciously offer to fix a damage caused explicitly by YOU for an additional $30. YOU damaged the Logic Board. NOT I, ME or US. Definitely NOT the creator of the tool.. That is a BIG SLAP IN THE FACE! For that I will continue to post in every social media that I use my DISDAIN for your lack of respect to your own customers. EVENTUALLY you WILL understand that without US, this forum, its MEMBERS, Whistler is NOTHING!

To sum it up....Good Job on Fixing this mess you (Whistler) have caused. The way you RETALIATE is now made very public. Keep up the good! lmao

I realize I'm a bit late to the game here - I was really busy with work during this time (which, interestingly enough involved programming firmware for microcontrollers (CPU's), DSP's and FPGA's).

That said, all the Whistler detractors are missing a fundamental point here. A big portion of the cost of the firmware is licensing for the decoding algorithm - WHICH IS PAYED ON A PER UNIT BASIS.

So basically, those who "hacked" their devices feel it is fine to steal from Whistler (use unlicensed firmware with unlicensed decoding algorithms), but then get pissed off when Whistler shuts them down? And further, get upset when Whistler offers them a (rather inexpensive) out/upgrade to repair said hacked radios? Seriously? It seems pretty generous from my point of view.

I have no problem with hacking hardware, software and firmware - in the appropriate setting. But if you do so, expect to own up to the consequences if things go sideways.
 

BrianG61UK

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I realize I'm a bit late to the game here - I was really busy with work during this time (which, interestingly enough involved programming firmware for microcontrollers (CPU's), DSP's and FPGA's).

That said, all the Whistler detractors are missing a fundamental point here. A big portion of the cost of the firmware is licensing for the decoding algorithm - WHICH IS PAYED ON A PER UNIT BASIS.

So basically, those who "hacked" their devices feel it is fine to steal from Whistler (use unlicensed firmware with unlicensed decoding algorithms), but then get pissed off when Whistler shuts them down? And further, get upset when Whistler offers them a (rather inexpensive) out/upgrade to repair said hacked radios? Seriously? It seems pretty generous from my point of view.

I have no problem with hacking hardware, software and firmware - in the appropriate setting. But if you do so, expect to own up to the consequences if things go sideways.
I agree.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
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