The Good Old Days

[KK4JUG]

Just added to my Christmas list for next year - a gas powered Uniden!

Don't bother. The carbon monoxide is a problem indoors. I'm going to try to invent a battery powered scann....... Wait! Never mind.

 

[K5MPH]

i went to a local radio shack and was there to buy some crystals for my pro7a.
i happen to take a moment to look at the crystals they had and noticed a bunch of 155.55's
so i bought one.
for weeks i got to listen to westchester county in new york. nothing good really.
and i thought , why would they have this in paramus new jersey.
then one night i heard some local non-repeater talk, sounded car to car...it was.
it was bergen county's narc frequency. non-published for years and i got to listen to them.
you can 't do that with any programmable radio unless a narc gives it to you., not likely.
even in the radio shack's little printout of freqs it was not listed.
yep, good times

I remember those days just go to radio shack and buy your crystals....

 

[eorange]

I remember those days just go to radio shack...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using Tapatalk

 

[SDRPlayer]

as a kid, i remember getting a free battery every month from the radio shack battery club. membership had its privileges back then.

 

[hill]

If DMR ham radio really sucks like some of you has said the hams in the Baltimore Washington DC area must not no it. We have new DMR repeaters coming on the air monthly both in UHF and VHF. While UHF has many more DMR repeaters in this area, but still some new VHF ones with some analog repeaters be converted. The repeater owners are always on it, plus lots of use by other ham radio operators. Not dying out by any means.

I kind like the audio of the digital, since don't have frying egg sound with people having weak signals on the analog repeaters. All the local public safety trunked radio systems in this area at least have P25 audio, but one. I can't wait for the last one to transition to P25, since I tire quickly of the crackle on the signal. It going to be a few years before this last Fire Department is digital and I can't wait.

 

[rcool101]

Thanks. Yes, exactly. It is just hit 1 and enter to toggle it on and off.

I wanted to keep it very simple and not have to do deal with 1.1.1 or such nonsense. The only downside as you see, is that I am using almost every quick key. But, I have a list on my cell phone that groups them and I know which number goes to what. The other purpose of labeling my systems (1), (2), (3)...etc is that it allows me to turn a system off instantly by just seeing the number on the screen! No need to look at my cell phone list to find out which number belongs to which system.

I program mine the same....One site on a FL...One number...enter...nothing else...Don't use the labeling system though I'm going to start...I only use 10 QKs and only 4 most of the time...Can't remember the rest......

 

[FhvnEd]

I completely understand how you feel. I, too, come from an earlier time when my scanner had nothing but a row of 8 red lights and I bought the frequency crystals at Radio Shack and plugged them into the slots. I was a news photographer back then and we listened to the local police and fire departments in our area. Thing is, they worked very well. Granted I had a giant whip antenna held on to the trunk by a magnet as big as a car battery, but the system worked. I slowly graduated to bigger and better, but the learning curve got steeper with each new model, until I finally paid the scanner company to program all the county agencies into it. I never could (and still can't) program trunked systems into the unit, and now there are too many agencies I need to listen to who are using encrypted radios that, even the most expensive scanners can't read. Even my local, relatively small police department dispatches thru a direct computer link to the cars. They can dispatch one car or group send to everybody. I rarely hear them over the air anymore, and when I do, they never say anything the news media can grab onto. I feel your pain.

 

[TailGator911]

Well, the pain has turned to joy in my case. I now have the TRX-1 fully programmed and functioning better than I ever thought it would, and I have a BCD536HP fully programmed and functioning just as well. I went the keep it simple route as suggested by pinballwiz86 (thanks) and numbered all FLs and ScanLists consecutively with corresponding QKs. It works and it works very well for what I wanted to achieve,

A very helpful guy here named Troymail was very kind and patient in mentoring me with both scanners, and after a few emails and file exchanges I persevered and got both radios fully programmed and performing in just a few days. Next on my radar is the ws1065, but I have much more confidence after having Troy take the time to walk me thru things - thanks so much, Troymail! you are the best man!

Old dog learning new tricks, it can happen.

JD
kf4anc

 

[Astrogoth13]

A new technology is always overly complex. A few generations later and it's a lean machine. Our digital scanners are at the point of being useless due to complexity. In a few years they will do most of the tough stuff themselves and we will not even think of the dozens of choices necessary.

Example: The first automotive transmissions were called "crash boxes" for a darn good reason. Make a bad shift and BOOM! Nowadays nobody but rich car nuts even know how to drive a manual transmission. Be patient and things will get better. They always do.

 

[KK4JUG]

A new technology is always overly complex. A few generations later and it's a lean machine. Our digital scanners are at the point of being useless due to complexity. In a few years they will do most of the tough stuff themselves and we will not even think of the dozens of choices necessary.

Example: The first automotive transmissions were called "crash boxes" for a darn good reason. Make a bad shift and BOOM! Nowadays nobody but rich car nuts even know how to drive a manual transmission. Be patient and things will get better. They always do.

Whoa! Most of my cars have been manual transmissions (and I'm well past 70).. My daughter drives a Jeep Wrangler with a stick. Neither of us is a "rich car nut."

Having said that, I think that automatic transmissions have improved to the point that it's a completely acceptable way to move through the gears now.

 

[bob550]

A new technology is always overly complex. A few generations later and it's a lean machine. Our digital scanners are at the point of being useless due to complexity. In a few years they will do most of the tough stuff themselves and we will not even think of the dozens of choices necessary.

Considering today's scanners, I'd have to wonder who among us uses every available feature at their disposal. I sure don't. I think with the level of technical sophistication, manufacturers have crammed in any and every possible feature they think may be of use. For a new user, I think what's important is to only focus on and learn those features of immediate importance. Any other features you may eventually become interested in can be learned in time.

 

[KK4JUG]

Considering today's scanners, I'd have to wonder who among us uses every available feature at their disposal. I sure don't. I think with the level of technical sophistication, manufacturers have crammed in any and every possible feature they think may be of use. For a new user, I think what's important is to only focus on and learn those features of immediate importance. Any other features you may eventually become interested in can be learned in time.

I certainly don't use all the features. (I think) I know how to use the Close Call feature but I don't recall ever having a use for it. Also, I don't record although I do know how to use the feature. There are other features that I don't use.

I have to admit I'm not as fanatical as many others when it comes to scanners. I don't drive around trying to find people's baby monitors; I don't care to listen to the drive-thru at my local McDonalds; I wouldn't try to sneak one on a cruise ship.

I own three scanners: one is kept in the house, one is kept in the car and my daughter has the third one. She is a pilot and she monitors the aircraft frequencies at home. Fortunately, she's less than a mile from the airport.

That said, I guess I have to agree with you.

 

[wa4dou]

I don't have a Uniden, but anyway the programming issue still applies. Plus you said they "pretty much" work as advertised, which to me means it does not reach the full extent of the claims. If a statement is made that something goes from 0 to 100, but stops at 89, then the statement is false.

As far as being willing to invest the time and effort learning, I don't have a problem with that. I think the problem is with the manual. There is no where near enough detail to get you where you can assemble the pertinent information. I glanced through the "easier to understand" manual for the pro-668 and while I found it helpful for some issues I was having, it still did not address others. So, when I have time I will post those questions on the appropriate forum. I think there are still some gaps in the manuals that were inadvertently overlooked that could be closed up.

I only had one crystal controlled scanner, but the programmable units were a great advancement. I agree some changes are good, and others not so much. Take for instance the Corvair and Pinto, they were changes and supposed advancements, but those cars blew up when hit from behind. Only time and real world implementation revealed the problems. Not every car was burnt to cinders with the occupant inside, but enough of them were to expose the inherent design flaws.

The problem with the Pinto was the same for some other models from Ford and other manufacturers, that placed the gas tank aft of the rear axle!

 

[KR7CQ]

I have no issues with the technology. If only encryption didn't exist, today's monitoring would be better in every possible way, and the flexibility of the scanners and the ability to program from a computer are amazing gifts. In Phoenix back in the day, mobile transmissions weren't repeated. If you wanted to hear the cars or worse yet portables, you needed a TALL antenna tower, and a a top-end scanner....to hear half of what was being said. Now everything can be heard as long as it isn't encrypted. I would even be happy to take a modern scanner back to 1992 just for the flexibility allowed by the modern formats, and the easy programming.

Who thinks that hand-programming a 400, 500, or 1,000 channel scanner by hand is fun? I've done it, many times, but fun? No.

 

[NowhereMan66]

I mainly lurk but have to comment a little here. I was going to earlier but I had been buy fighting the flu that turned into walking pneumonia and later on a sinus infection lasting weeks.

My take, well, if I was king, I make all VHF/UHF radio comms analogue at the stroke of a pen. I come from the Bert Lantz school (FYI, he was Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter) where "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I'll be 52 in July and my first scanning experience was my grandmother's Bearcat IV with the 8 LED blinky lights. I miss the old days of buying Gene Hughes Police Call and updating my scanner.

However........... I am not king so we have to face reality.

Not all analogue radio will go away. Pittsburgh police is still using their UHF system that was designed in the late 1960's. Most of Pittsburgh comms are in analogue a well as many here in the Ohio Valley. Even so, getting back to reality, we just have to learn to adapt That means we all may have to shell out a few extra bucks and/or more sweat equity (as trying to get DSD+ to work with our SDR dongles) to enjoy the hobby. Myself, I don't have the bucks for TRX-1 or Bearcat 436 (or 325) so I'll have t wait on that one and go the SDR route. I'm not sure which one of the three are the best, I like the Whistler because you can monitor P25 I and II, NXDN and DMR in one unit, but the Bearcat has more frequency coverage such as going from 54 to 108 Mc. Even so, we just have to adapt and learn.

The thing I wish I could do and the biggest reason I miss Radio Shack is I like to handle the equipment or at least see it "in person" before I buy. I guess I will have to travel down I-70 or US 40 to Universal Radio to do that if and when I'm ready to take the plunge. One good thing, I look forward to learning new things although I do miss the old days like some here.

As I type this, I'm watching the Olympics on my 1982 Zenith (been in use since it was bought new) with a ATSC converter box using a set of rabbit ears from 1959. B-)

DE KA3WRW/8.

 

[NowhereMan66]

as a kid, i remember getting a free battery every month from the radio shack battery club. membership had its privileges back then.

Ah, the Battery of the Month Club, remember it well. I also miss the Science Fair kits.