NXDN... maybe never?

Status
Not open for further replies.

wbswetnam

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,799
Location
DMR-istan
I'm starting to wonder if Uniden simply has no intention of offering an NXDN upgrade, and are happy to let us speculate about the future when in fact they have no intention of offering it.
 

kma371

QRT
Joined
Feb 20, 2001
Messages
6,204
Why is everyone so impatient? People said the same thing about trunking. People said the same thing about DMR. Things don't happen overnight.
 

princessthelus

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
Messages
62
In the electronic world, it all started off with vacuum tubes, than came the transistor, and than came solid state. The future of listening into signals now is SDR. Why pay for a $600 scanner when you can pay $40 for the same or more features than a single unit. Soon there will be a way to use the dongles with your android or iOS to do the scanning. If I get off my butt and would make some applications that would work for them. Time to make the big switch.
(P.S. I own a BB10 so i don't care about either operating system.)
 
Last edited:

captainmax1

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
676
Location
Florida Keys
The Uniden x36HP series scanners still have plenty of capability left in them and I know Uniden will offer NXDN sooner or later with probably some extra upgrades with the release. These scanners are still not Maxxed out yet. JMO
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
Some people have said the same thing about EVERYTHING related to the x36HP scanners. Uniden has proven them wrong every time.

I expect that they are working on getting it right so they don't complaints like we see over on the Whistler forum about their NXDN implementation.

Why is everyone so impatient? People said the same thing about trunking. People said the same thing about DMR. Things don't happen overnight.
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
I don't think a lot of people want to walk or drive around with wires and dongles hanging out of their pockets or dashboards. While Uniden might come up with a SDR based radio in the future, I think that scanners in a familiar form factor will be around for the foreseeable future.



In the electronic world, it all started off with vacuum tubes, than came the transistor, and than came solid state. The future of listening into signals now is SDR. Why pay for a $600 scanner when you can pay $40 for the same or more features than a single unit. Soon there will be a way to use the dongles with your android or iOS to do the scanning. If I get off my butt and would make some applications that would work for them. Time to make the big switch.
(P.S. I own a BB10 so i don't care about either operating system.)
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
Why pay for a $600 scanner when you can pay $40 for the same or more features than a single unit.

Maybe because the scanner has a much better receiver than the cheap dongles, in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and image rejection. SDR dongles have some cool features, but some significant limitations as well.
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
Airspy has a pretty good receiver, but you're looking at about $200.00 each. Two of those, a computer or tablet, cables, antennas, and software, you're getting close to the price of a x35HP. Add in that you can only scan one system, or maybe listen to only one frequency at a time, and a scanner is a much better deal.

I use my SDR set up to find new systems and determine what frequencies are in use and who the users are. If it's a DMR system that I want to listen to, once I've done that, the information gets programmed into my scanners.

I expect to do the same with NXDN at some point in the future.


Maybe because the scanner has a much better receiver than the cheap dongles, in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and image rejection. SDR dongles have some cool features, but some significant limitations as well.
 

SOFA_KING

Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2004
Messages
1,581
Location
SE Florida
Can I ask a practical question at this point?

Now that the competition has already beaten Uniden to the NXDN "punch", what harm would there be if Uniden were to announce they are working on NXDN? None, right? So why all the secrecy?

Just tell us already if you are or arn't. There is no competition left to "tip off". :confused:

Phil
 

Nasby

Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2004
Messages
2,631
Location
Ohio
In the electronic world, it all started off with vacuum tubes, than came the transistor, and than came solid state. The future of listening into signals now is SDR. Why pay for a $600 scanner when you can pay $40 for the same or more features than a single unit. Soon there will be a way to use the dongles with your android or iOS to do the scanning. If I get off my butt and would make some applications that would work for them. Time to make the big switch.
(P.S. I own a BB10 so i don't care about either operating system.)

Oh come on.
Having a dongle hooked up to an Android is nowhere near the fun of having a full featured scanner.
I feel that's what our hobby is all about. Having fun!
 

k3fs

Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
275
Location
Western PA
Can I ask a practical question at this point?

Now that the competition has already beaten Uniden to the NXDN "punch", what harm would there be if Uniden were to announce they are working on NXDN? None, right? So why all the secrecy?

Just tell us already if you are or arn't. There is no competition left to "tip off". :confused:

Phil

The competition put it out there months before they were to release it. They didn't have too much concern about tipping Uniden off about it. The total silence on this, and other issues is very bad PR. Answering your customers with honesty and trying to work with them to solve issues is a better way to operate.

When there is a problem, admit it as soon as possible.

Customers are not stupid. Ignoring or denying a legitimate problem is not the way to handle it.
 

racingfan360

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2005
Messages
1,158
Can I ask a practical question at this point?
Now that the competition has already beaten Uniden to the NXDN "punch", what harm would there be if Uniden were to announce they are working on NXDN? None, right? So why all the secrecy?
Just tell us already if you are or arn't. There is no competition left to "tip off". :confused:
Phil
I think you raise some excellent points here Phil, as does wbswetnam in his original post. I too find it hard to understand Uniden's logic.

I can think of 3 potential customer sets here:
1. Those who have already bought a BCDx36HP, and would decide on buying a NXDN upgrade or not if/when it were released.
2. Those who can't wait for a NXDN scanner, and so go off and buy a Whistler TRX.
3. Those who want NXDN, but are prepared to wait a bit or are unsure about the 'features' you do/don't get by buying a Whistler.

Uniden probably care least about those in (1) as they've already made the bulk of their money on the original sale: if NXDN ever arrives, they will make a bit more money off us if/when they release an upgrade. They have already lost sales to those in (2), and will continue to do so the longer there is no news on NXDN. If they announced NXDN was being worked on they could at least influence those in (3) from not becoming Whistler customers instead of Uniden customers.

These are not cheap scanners that everyone can afford, in a niche hobby, so there is a very limited market to capture. The only logical marketing reasons I could see for not releasing information is that they're not working on it at all but don't want to scare off the folks in the (3) camp from buying Uniden in the forlorn hope NXDN features would turn up at some point. Or maybe their software guys have no clue how long it will take to develop/test NXDN, and just don't want the hassle of customers asking 'when' instead of 'if' and 'when'?

Will this post/thread will make any difference to Uniden's strategy: based on experience, probably not.
 

SteveSimpkin

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
987
Location
Lancaster, CA
The reason is probably much simpler than everything discussed so far.

Corporate policy.

It is very common for corporations to have a blanket "rule" that none of their employees discuss products or features that have not been officially released yet. No exceptions.
 

wbswetnam

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
1,799
Location
DMR-istan
The only logical marketing reasons I could see for not releasing information is that they're not working on it at all but don't want to scare off the folks in the (3) camp from buying Uniden in the forlorn hope NXDN features would turn up at some point.

This is how I'm beginning to think. Instead of buying a Uniden BCD536HP + DMR upgrade for $550+, I could have bought a new Whistler WS 1095, done the free DMR upgrade, and saved $200.
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
UPMan has consistently stated just this several times. I work on the premise that this is a corporate wide policy, not just related to scanners.


The reason is probably much simpler than everything discussed so far.

Corporate policy.

It is very common for corporations to have a blanket "rule" that none of their employees discuss products or features that have not been officially released yet. No exceptions.
 

KA2ZEY

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
511
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Can I ask a practical question at this point?

Now that the competition has already beaten Uniden to the NXDN "punch", what harm would there be if Uniden were to announce they are working on NXDN? None, right? So why all the secrecy?

Just tell us already if you are or arn't. There is no competition left to "tip off". :confused:

Phil

And will this one go up to 11?
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
Generally, you get what you pay for.

This is how I'm beginning to think. Instead of buying a Uniden BCD536HP + DMR upgrade for $550+, I could have bought a new Whistler WS 1095, done the free DMR upgrade, and saved $200.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top