Scanner Design

[Unlimited]

Hello, I was wondering if there is any type of law or rule saying you cannot spray paint your scanner?

The reason I am asking is because my Radio Shack Pro-106 is getting kinda faded and I want to make it look better. And I have placed it a few times that I couldn't find it because it belended in with the surroundings. I want to paint it like a yellow color but is that legal? Kinda sounds werid but I would rather ask first. It's not modifying what it picks up. Just the apperance and things. Of course I wouldn't paint over the buttons and things, I would mask it up like you would to a car.

(PS: Not sure where I could of posted this type of question. So sorry if in wrong location.)

 

[mancow]

It's yours. Do with it what you will.

 

[gewecke]

I think flames would sort of cool! :wink:

73,
n9zas

 

[Michael-SATX]

Mr Unlimited, I have a GREat idea for your faded out scanner that will make it lQQk & feel brand new !
You can have your local Radio Shack store print you out a list of RSU parts for your Pro-106.
You can order 3 RSU parts and have them shipped either to your store or better right to your house.
I would get a new keytop (clear keypad) for $13 and a front case half and a back case half and presto.
You could always get a carry case and paint it up yellow to help you find it when you need it to stand out

 

[Unlimited]

Mr Unlimited, I have a GREat idea for your faded out scanner that will make it lQQk & feel brand new !
You can have your local Radio Shack store print you out a list of RSU parts for your Pro-106.
You can order 3 RSU parts and have them shipped either to your store or better right to your house.
I would get a new keytop (clear keypad) for $13 and a front case half and a back case half and presto.
You could always get a carry case and paint it up yellow to help you find it when you need it to stand out

Thanks. I have the scanner apart with wires attached still. I going to try to just paint my current ones but how can I move the speaker from the front case and how can I remove a wire so I can move the back of the scanner to the painting area to prevent overspray onto the front.

 

[W8RMH]

Just remember that the paint might prevent the scanner from cooling itself especially during battery charging.

Also some paints may damage or even melt the plastic case.

 

[krokus]

As long as you use "common sense" when choosing a paint scheme, you should be fine. Making your scanner look like a weapon, bomb, or some other undue attention getter, could end badly.

Someone mentioned possible case damage from the paint, which should not be a problem if you model paint.

 

[Unlimited]

Well I masked it up last night and gave it a coat of primer. The primer went on fine then I starting applying the color I was going to use about three hours later. And the can had some crap inside of it; even after shaking it up, it spit out some stuff onto the scanner that I had to quickly get off. I wasn't able to get alot off but most of it. Today I will have to be careful and try to chip some of the paint off. My mistake on it, I should of actually waited 24 hours to let the primer dry even though I thought it was dry. Wasn't that much on it though, but I guess you learn from your mistakes and move on. I will have to try again to cover that up and to make it look better.

 

[Unlimited]

Well thanks for all your help and suggestions.

You could always get a carry case and paint it up yellow to help you find it when you need it to stand out

Thank you. Yes I have painted it yellow as you will be able to see in the images I posted with this post. In fact, I already have a scanner carrying case; however for the next week or two I will leave it out and try not to use it for that time and juse use the online feed while I'm sure the paint will dry up so it doesn't chip off.

Also, I had to redo it because the spray paint at first wasn't dry fully before someone accidently touched it. So I had to use lots of elbow grease and get the old paint off and redo it. Glad that is over.

 

[Rt169Radio]

That looks interesting.

 

[KC4RAF]

It'll be hard to loose that one!

Have tried to paint some things that were plastic and I found that for best results, use a paint that's speciflly designed for plastics. It adheres better than regular paints. The job you did looks sufficent though.

 

[pjtnascar]

To make a more durable finish, put a couple coats of clearcoat over the paint. It works great on Power Wheels.

 

[gewecke]

Sorry, but you should have left it alone!

73,
n9zas

 

[n1das]

If the scanner manufacturer were to implement this type of change, under Part 15 of FCC rules it would qualify as a Class 1 Permissive Change and no re-certification under Part 15 would be required.

 

[Unlimited]

I think flames would sort of cool! :wink:

73,
n9zas

Yes that would of been cool, however I'm not that big of an artist.

Sorry, but you should have left it alone!

73,
n9zas

You also said that flames would of looked cool.

If the scanner manufacturer were to implement this type of change, under Part 15 of FCC rules it would qualify as a Class 1 Permissive Change and no re-certification under Part 15 would be required.

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Are you trying to say I should of left it alone as well with the case looking faded and worn. Or are you just informing as what the Part 15 states?

-----

I will be using some touch up white paint and using my uncles laser cutter to make the Radio Shack part of the front and other markings on the scanner it self.

 

[gewecke]

I should have been more obvious when i mentioned flames, I was just being sarcastic jokingly. A few scratches or nicks just give it some character and don't really hurt anything.
But ...Yellow?

I've seen some of the motorola XTS's that are PS yellow. Those mostly sit in the chargers, because the full timers try to leave them for the rookies to carry.

73,
n9zas

 

[n1das]

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Are you trying to say I should of left it alone as well with the case looking faded and worn. Or are you just informing as what the Part 15 states?

Just informing of the legal status strictly from an FCC viewpoint. IOW, perfectly legal. Go ahead and do what you want.

I like the high-vis yellow look.

 

[Unlimited]

Ah. Well I like the high-vis yellow look as well.

Anyway, thanks for your help and ideas.

 

[scannersnstuff]

real scanners are black. don't even like silver.

 

[KE5TLF]

Apparently if you paint Uniden scanners olive drab (or maybe it was camo?) it becomes a super scanner capable of receiving everything known to man. At least it worked that way on NCIS.

Not sure if the same applies to GRE products though.