Pro-668: Pro-668

[buddrousa]

Has anybody heard now that RS has a new owner if we will get RS released firmware updates.
The pro-668 is out of stock today but read the review.

 

[marksmith]

The new owner is not going to stock scanners or assume any warranty obligations on old stuff they didn't sell. Have no idea why they would undergo expense to modify firmware for an item they don't sell or support.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[marksmith]

The price difference between a ws1080 and a pro 668 should answer your question. They are the same radio. If you want firmware support get the 1080.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[Benzman66]

but read the review.

Awww, it's from our old friend Whistle-Shack. LOL!

 

[AtlasFBG2]

Awww, it's from our old friend Whistle-Shack. LOL!

LOL

I seen that yesterday. He says easy to upgrade firmware. At least he is right on the antennas.

 

[buddrousa]

Mark that is what I was thinking but they are selling the 668 new on line for $499.00 just thought it might have been a long shot.

 

[Triangulum]

Mark that is what I was thinking but they are selling the 668 new on line for $499.00 just thought it might have been a long shot.

The RadioShack website has not been consistent lately whatsoever. During the fire-sale and flood of Pro-668's on eBay a couple weeks ago, the Pro-668 was listed at $299 on the website......then it went "out of stock". Then one day it would be at $499 and then it would be back to $299.

Most recently it has been out of stock online and is so right now. For one day this past week, it came back supposedly as available, but was listed back at $499......Then it went listed as out of stock again.

Point being, the website hasn't been consistent and I highly doubt they moved a bunch of units at $499 before going out of stock again this week (considering the recent flood of units). Can't read much into the situation just yet.

 

[Whistle-Shack]

Has anybody heard now that RS has a new owner if we will get RS released firmware updates.
The pro-668 is out of stock today but read the review.

That was a great review,but i forgot to mention that DMR DeCode works very well.

 

[buddrousa]

I was just fishing. The local Radioshack here sold 4 668's for 499 while the fire sales were going on our RS is not closing it is a franchise store and all 4 buyers had never heard of radioreference but they know now our owner like to ask questions from his customers.

 

[thegriff]

People seem to miss the point that the 668 is made by Whistler and that they appear to host the firmware for the 668. I would imagine Whistler is in talks internally as to how they can support the 668 with updates.

 

[buddrousa]

That was the last e-mail I got was that They (Whistler) were in contact with Radioshack to see if a agreement could be reached. This was the e-mail I got from Whistler 02-11-2015

 

[marksmith]

Whistler has their own version of this radio (ws1080), which will continue to receive support. They were hosting for the 668 because Radio Shack was paying them to do so. Who is going to pay them now?

If you buy a radio from a bankrupt company and expect another company to pay to support it, you might need to think again. I repeat, this is the same radio as the 1080. The prices are dramatically different. One includes future support.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652

 

[AtlasFBG2]

According to the RS customer service rep i spoke to today on a order that they cancelled one of the items on.

If the item still shows up on the web site they plan to keep selling the item and have it in stock soon.They have removed items from the web site that they do not plan to keep selling.

Either this true or they just told me this so i would keep the coax adapters with no antenna to use them with.

 

[sphipps]

I was just fishing. The local Radioshack here sold 4 668's for 499 while the fire sales were going on our RS is not closing it is a franchise store and all 4 buyers had never heard of radioreference but they know now our owner like to ask questions from his customers.

The franchise stores want NOTHING to do with RS corporate. They've really gotten the short end of the stick throughout this ordeal. RS will not honor any of their restock requests. Most don't know what tomorrow will bring. None of them will honor any RS discount deals. Can't really blame them.

I know the folks at our local RS franchise stores are about at their wits end with corporate.

 

[buddrousa]

That is funny the local RS franchise store is making orders and getting them when stock arrives. If you look I did the original post on the 668's Mine was one of the first shipments out of the Texas Warehouse 01/14/2015 I paid 424.99 plus 10% Tn sales tax it was ordered the day they listed it on RS website paid for that day that was Dec 17 2014 and was very happy with it until I bought another Phase 2 hand held and got better range and better battery life. I still have a use for my PRO-668 as do I for the PRO-18

 

[NYG]

Whistler can look at this one of two ways. They can easily support the scanner if they want to or they can choose not to and take the hit from future buyers.

it can't be that difficult to turn 1080 firmware into 668 firmware.

Whistler isn't GRE, that reputation needs to be earned. They step up and keep customers happy or they don't.

 

[buddrousa]

This is the reply and e-mail I sent them maybe more of the users need to e-mail them (Whistler) I removed the name and e-mail address of the sender.

We are in discussions at this time regarding how to best assist Radio Shack customers who own Whistler manufactured units in the event that Radio Shack is unable to do so.

Thank you,


The Whistler Group, Inc.
Customer Service/Warranty Manager



From: info@whistlergroup.com [mailto:info@whistlergroup.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 7:39 PM
To: info@whistlergroup.com
Subject: support question

Would Whistler be willing to provide support and firmware updates for the PRO-668 the PRO-651 and PRO-652 that we built for Radio Shack now that Radio Shack filed? I understand that Whistler does not have to do this but I think it would help the Whistler Brand in their scanner market. I am very impressed with the quality scanners Whistler is building. I own and use a GRE built Radio Shack 2067, a Radio Shack PRO-164, a PRO-96, PRO-2096, PRO-197, PRO-106, PRO-107, PRO-18, and Now the PRO-668. My home town had a local owned RadioShack Franchise store that was our only local electronics store is the reason for all the RS scanners.

 

[marcotor]

The IP for the scanners belongs to Radio Shack, and it's successor companies. The IP could be retained, sold, abandoned, or left dormant. Whistler cannot simply "write an update to make customers happy" without breaking whatever contractual obligations they have. I doubt they would do that, regardless of "Customer Goodwill".

I am curious to know what is so wrong with these scanners (I have 668/651/652) that an immediate firmware update is so necessary? Or are you looking for a way to rescue bricked scanners? (that's a fine idea BTW)

Hopefully, the new owner will choose to support or abandon the IP in a way that is beneficial to all. Unlikely, but we can hope

 

[DJ11DLN]

The RS successors releasing the IP back to Whistler with the understanding that the scanners will be supported, since they mirror current Whistler models (so as mentioned above it can't be too difficult), would be a very smart move for everyone. Less hate towards the whatever-they're-calling-the-post-RS stores, good press for Whistler ("We stand behind our products, even ones we built under contract branded for someone else"). Whether or not it will happen is anybody's guess right now. But I agree, the scanners are pretty well de-bugged at this point...all of these designs have been around for awhile. So even getting the current base firmware for reactivating bricked units would be nice. Future updates for enhanced functionality and to fix bugs not yet discovered or just not troublesome enough to need immediate attention would be gravy indeed.

Only time will tell.

 

[marksmith]

"Good press" does not pay the bills.

Mark
536/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/
396XT/PSR800/PRO668/PRO652