Official PRO-2096 Discussion Thread

[INDY72]

Umm simple: The Uniden made one was ready,.. so you push ahead with its being put on the shelf, and you don't hype the GRE one as its not ready yet,..

For a while the hype was pumped about the 2096,.. then suddenly you heard nada,.. and the hype was pumped about the 99.... still nada about the 2096,... then wham the 83,... now the 2096 is nearing reality and the hype is being pumped again. NOTICE: This is not about production, sorry if I made it seem that way,.. this is about the marketing,... etc.

 

[Voyager]

Umm simple: The Uniden made one was ready,.. so you push ahead with its being put on the shelf, and you don't hype the GRE one as its not ready yet,..

For a while the hype was pumped about the 2096,.. then suddenly you heard nada,.. and the hype was pumped about the 99.... still nada about the 2096,... then wham the 83,... now the 2096 is nearing reality and the hype is being pumped again. NOTICE: This is not about production, sorry if I made it seem that way,.. this is about the marketing,... etc.

Well, the people waiting for the 2096 are hyping it up - not RS. After reading some of the 'features' of the 83 and 99, there isn't much to hype up there or look forward to with the single exception of the signal stalker. The rest is all more of the same old technology in a new case.

But, the original post implied that the 2096 was being intentionally delayed due to the desire to get the 83 out to market. That simply cannot be the case since they are being made by different companies. RS isn't going to tell one company to slow down development because they want their competitors (non-competitive) unit out first.

I will buy the fact that the 83 was ready first is the reason it was made available first (same with the 99), but that has nothing to do with the 2096 timetable whatsoever.

Joe M.

 

[Colin9690]

Anyone know when it will hit the shelves at Radioshack? Also, how much will it cost? And it better do LTR.....

 

[kikito]

Anyone know when it will hit the shelves at Radioshack? Also, how much will it cost? And it better do LTR.....

No, it won't do LTR (just in case you weren't joking).

 

[INDY72]

Expected Shelf Date is Christmas 2004,.. three months after the original aimed for date.

 

[baybum]

"Expected Shelf Date is Christmas 2004,.. three months after the original aimed for date."


According to what official source?

 

[INDY72]

Radio Shack's Brookhaven, MS Store.

But we all know that when it comes to Radio Shack, you could get a quote from the CEO, and they can and do change it within a week, depending on thier needs. The "official" line at first was August, then September, then they didn't even get TA'ed till October, now they say December.

 

[qoatzecotl]

Radio Shack's Brookhaven, MS Store.

But we all know that when it comes to Radio Shack, you could get a quote from the CEO, and they can and do change it within a week, depending on thier needs. The "official" line at first was August, then September, then they didn't even get TA'ed till October, now they say December.

I heard January from ANOTHER inside source...

Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

 

[BoxAlarm187]

I might have missed this, but does anyone know if the display is green or amber?

 

[kikito]

I might have missed this, but does anyone know if the display is green or amber?

I'm 99% sure is going to be amber BUT I would welcome green very much since it'll match better with my truck's panel lighting.

 

[INDY72]

Well standard is amber... but as with most scanners,... you can switch out LED's anytime. I do remember at least on Uniden that had dual color LED's... and one RS/GRE that had like a blueish LED.

 

[Voyager]

Well standard is amber... but as with most scanners,... you can switch out LED's anytime. I do remember at least on Uniden that had dual color LED's... and one RS/GRE that had like a blueish LED.

The trouble with blue is that it is poor for readability and night time use. I know someone who changed out his TR-7950 (stock green) with blue LEDs, and he hated it. It looked cool, but functionality was very bad. Red is the best for night time use since it affects your vision the least.

I wish someone would make a reverse LED (everything is black EXCEPT the numbers, letters, and icons). That would look great, I think. You could have red letters, or blue letters, or green, or whatever. And the blue would not affect your night vision as much as the mostly blue display.

Joe M.

 

[INDY72]

Very true, my favorite is a green, but most scanners for GRE/Uniden made for Radio Shack, all have ambers.

 

[BoxAlarm187]

I assumed it would be amber too, I just wanted to check!

I really like the idea of the reverse lighting, how neat would that be? Or, at the least, a green/amber selectable like many of the amatuer rigs have?

Green would also match the gauges in my truck, but the amber in the 2096 will match the 796D and Kenwood TK-780 better. 8)

 

[Halfpint]

I wish someone would make a reverse LED (everything is black EXCEPT the numbers, letters, and icons). That would look great, I think. You could have red letters, or blue letters, or green, or whatever. And the blue would not affect your night vision as much as the mostly blue display.

Well... {WAN GRIN!} A while back I had a chance to have some experience with one of those `reverse' displays with a whole range of different colors. (It was with a "DigitalDoc" temp display and fan controller. Which, BTW, is a pretty good gadget if you are running a *big* computer that is used for either gaming or as a server and want to monitor case temps and control and monitor fans.) The main `problems' with the `reverse' display were movement and angle of readability. Any part of the readout that changed fairly rapidly tended to `blur out' and become just a glowing `patch' in the display. The angle of visibility problem was that it cut cut the horizontal and vertical angles about in half causing the letters and numerals to become quite blurred. They did still remain somewhat readable except that they got fuzzier and fuzzier the further off center one got. After much discussion the group finally came up with a couple explanations with the one concerning `edge diffraction' seemingly being the most reasonable. (IE: The `sharp' edges of the segments were acting sort of like either a diffraction grating or prism. It's a lot easier to explain if you've actually got a display right in front of you that you can `play' with. {FROWN!} [I've got a RS alarm clock with a `reverse' display that *really shows* the effect and RS discontinued that particular one fairly quickly and replaced it with a much better designed one almost immediately. Having the two side by side makes the `effect' quite visible. Until the DigitalDoc I never really actually thought about what was causing the problem but afterwards it `fits' the description quite well.]) *Personally* I'd like to see the 2096 have a green back/side light like my 2067 has since I've kinda gotten used to GRE made base units, 200x, 2067, ETC., having green and also would kinda like to keep *my* `stack' looking `uniform'. {WAN GRIN!} I *can* see that some people would probably prefer a different color. (A thought... *If* it is possible to replace whatever lights the display *after* it's out of warranty why not install bi-color LEDs? Since there appears to be lots of `real estate' in the unit some of those, a simple 555 oscillator circuit, a switch, and a Pot on the back and one could have several different colors to choose from. {VB GRIN!} (You could have everything between red and green just by varying the duty cycle of the pluses out of the oscillator circuit with the positive side being one color and the negative the other.) That seems to be a more likely `hack' than trying to `reverse' the display. {GRIN!} However... I doubt that any maker would consider either one as a `feature' unfortunately even as `nice' as the color one would be. {FROWN!} (Even though one can now buy some stereos that seem to have almost every color imaginable available for their displays!)

 

[hook851]

any worry??

Is anyone out there hesitant to buy the 2096 when it first comes out? I know i have been waiting a while for it- but was thinking today about possible bugs that may be present in the first models. Or, do you think that having the same features (and guts for that matter) of the pro-96 will make the 2096 less prone to error from the start? Any opinions??

 

[INDY72]

Considering all the delays both before TA'ing, and now at least another month (January) before it hits shelves,.. I would think that most of the bugs that the 96 may have had, are probably fixed. Considering that this will be designed for mobile use, itll make it a lot easier to deal with when driving than a HH..... Though right now I am more looking to the newly TA'ed 2051.... I can concieve of the not too distant future when I can mount a 2051, and a 2096 on a rack together. Rolling right now with a 28, and a 92 B side by side on the overhead storage.

 

[Voyager]

Re: any worry??

Is anyone out there hesitant to buy the 2096 when it first comes out? I know i have been waiting a while for it- but was thinking today about possible bugs that may be present in the first models. Or, do you think that having the same features (and guts for that matter) of the pro-96 will make the 2096 less prone to error from the start? Any opinions??

Similar guts, most likely nearly identical firmware with a few notable exceptions such as the backlight controls. It would be nice if it had LTR, but GRE has said, I believe, that it will be fully compatible (clonable) with the 96, so that leaves out LTR.

I was really thinking about buying a 2096, but now with the P25 Trunker program on the horizon, I am seriously considering a Uniden for the PC control features.

Joe M.

 

[1Yankee]

I'm sure that any bugs the 2096 has (if any) could be fixed by a little firmware upgrade or two. I'll probably go with the BC796D what do you guys think? Also, you mean to tell me that the 2096 won't be PC controllable?

 

[Voyager]

I'm sure that any bugs the 2096 has (if any) could be fixed by a little firmware upgrade or two. I'll probably go with the BC796D what do you guys think? Also, you mean to tell me that the 2096 won't be PC controllable?

The PRO-96 isn't, and the 2096 is a mobile version on the 96 that is supposed to be completely compatible. If it DOES add PC control, that would be great, but I don't think it will.

I don't see why there would be any bugs. The firmware was heavily testing in the PRO-96.

Joe M.