Uniden and GRE, pay attention to this--

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Curfew

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For years we have been wanting one scanner that will do everything. Now lets take a simple look.

We have the newest generation of receivers that will do most of everything but there seems to be a problem/s in some areas with new models and the bells and whistles. One unit has something another is without.

Whenever a model is released, either some feature is included, or omitted by you.

Take the features of the GRE and the Uniden and put it all in one place, work out the system quirks also. Listen to the user reports in how effective a unit is. As Engineers, you may know or think there is a better way without listening to anyone else as you are designing, what im getting at is really read what the end results are and make them more effective. We know because we are using the units in variable enviroments for various systems and monitoring. We know what they do and how they are performing. Ensure the unit can and will be reflashed with banding or system following capability, and fully supported.

How about a unit which has the PR0 96 backlighting. How about a unit that transitions in Multi system-scans at the speed of Turboscan search without missing a beat. How about a hits function that was on the old BC-250 where you can leave the unit unattended and come back and see how many times a frequency was used while you were away?

How about a CTCSS decode as fast as the PRO models?

Get rid of the proprietary battery packs and transition everything to AA use period. Use one type of antenna connector for all of them. I know this is just the tip of the iceberg of the gripes after giving good money for a unit.

The hum dinger will be when Uniden and GRE join forces to develop the ultimate all under one roof. How about including a spectrum view as the AOR or Alinco??

Maybe everyone should get together and develop this, a joint effort. A representatuive from every company. I can say whoever puts all the most capable features in one unit shall be the winner and im beginning to think that it will only happen with a joint effort. I realize different companies, different perspectives, different ways at doing things, but how about the very best of all of it with all the brains working it??

I can write forever on details and system following capabilities, it's all been written here at this website with the results of all the models in use. Time to mould the most used and effective features in one place. Read the results of what the units are actually doing, the good and bad, get rid of the bad.

Can it be done for a $400-$500 unit price, yes it can especially with all that is already programmed in them.

Every possible system in use today, every possible system tool/feature, all of it.

My intuition is telling me that you are already listening to us and are in the process of doing something with this. If not, here is the cue. May be the hottest seller ever supported by the public users with a shared and equal profit distibution for all involved in development.

Just a idea before you embark on the next generation of receivers.

C.
 
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mike_s104

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I sense that you're frustrated because you cannot get everything your want in one unit. why not get one Uniden and one GRE unit? the different features in each one is what makes them different. it's all in what you want/need. why not have Icom, Kenwood, AOR, and Alinco "pay attention"? I want an Icom unit with P25, but why can't they throw in Trunking? Same with AOR. I'd also like dual receive for two trunked systems on the same unit. I would also like a priority in a specific TG on a specific system.

what about all the manufactures agree on a standard connector/interface for add-ons? it would be like how PCI, PCI-E, memory, USB, ect is on PCs. I know Icom and AOR have similar add-ons for some of their radios but I don't think they are the same. this way, a 3rd party could make add-ons to make up what the radio is lacking. let's say in a few years someone could make an add-on for ProVoice. you'd get the add-on, open the cover and install it like you would a mini-PCI card on a laptop, of course it would need to be SMALL for hand-helds. go to the menu on the radio install/configure it. maybe have 2 or more of these interfaces per radio.

what about a radio that would connect to a PDA (PPC or Palm) via bluetooth or the MMC or SD slot? use the CPU of the PDA to do all the processing for scanning, trunking, searching or whatever. use a DB file as the memory? be able to record audio or log to the memory on the PDA?

what about a scanner that you can remove the "core" unit like XM radios. this way you be able to have it in the unit in the car then remove it and pop it in the one in the office. it would be main part of the radio and the others would be like a docking station for a laptop with all the external connections for the PC, antenna, ect.

just as everything in life...you can't have it all. I guess this is why people get so frustrated and end up making something on their own or modifying what's out there to meet their specific needs/wants.
 
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N4DXX

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Thats what makes scanning fun i think different models competing to have the best scanner,If one company came out with a scanner and i would never have to buy another i probably wouldn't buy it just for the simple fact of losing intrest in to (whats new) and if everyone had the same ultimate scanner we wouldn't have anything to disagree on and the radio ref..website might just go belly up...
 

b52hbuff

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timjude said:
if everyone had the same ultimate scanner we wouldn't have anything to disagree on and the radio ref..website might just go belly up...

There never will be the 'ultimate' scanner, because at the end of the day everything has to cost money. Different interests mean different 'values' on features. Not everyone wants Mil-Air, not everyone needs P25 and not everyone can use 6k channels. All of these cost and folks w/o need/desire aren't going to pay.
 

N4DXX

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b52hbuff said:
There never will be the 'ultimate' scanner, because at the end of the day everything has to cost money. Different interests mean different 'values' on features. Not everyone wants Mil-Air, not everyone needs P25 and not everyone can use 6k channels. All of these cost and folks w/o need/desire aren't going to pay.
This is true i totally agree
 

Curfew

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I have several handhelds. Hundreds of dollars worth, i was looking at them wondering why all couldn't be under one roof!

The newest ones are good, makes one wonder again what the next is going to be from Uniden and GRE, or any of the others for that matter. Curfew
 

N9JIG

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I have occasionally dreamed of the ultimate scanner myself, the biggest problem is that any scanner with all the bells and whistles will be very complicated to operate. Who uses ALL of the features of the newest scanners like the BC396 or BC996? The term used is called "Feature Bloat"

Even if someone designed and built the Ultimate Scanner, remember that they can still only listen to a single conversation at a time. Sure, you might be able to build one that CAN hear anything, CAN find anything, but you are still only going to listen to a single conversation at a time.

This leads one into having multiple radios going at the same time. In this case maybe it is easier to have lesser radios with different feature sets.

At my place for instance I have a BC996 used to decode APCO 25 stuff around here, along with a 2096/BC796 teamed up with Pro96Comm on the same areawide system. I use a couple BC15's and a couple Plectrons for local FD's and 3 BC780's (One for Fireground channels, one for aircraft and another for railroads)
 
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Rayjk110

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One thing I'd like to see is a scanner with tighter knobs, and a more 'rugged' feel on the case; a scanner that if accidentaly dropped, would stay together and not crack like a pro96.

That would be 'nice'.
 

Stick0413

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would be nice but isnt going to happen. Its like taking the best from a chevy and a ford and building a car. Just not going to happen. A few fetures might migrate from one to another over time but overall each is going to have their own fetures
 

bagmouse7

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Isn't this the same as asking for a car that does everything?
One other issue is that most of the manufactures have pattents on many things which prevent one guy from stealing the other guys good ideas...
 

K4NRG

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How about a Software Defined Scanner? SDR is already a reality.
Just something to think about while we're all expressing our thoughts
 

Dorpmuller

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Rayjk110 said:
One thing I'd like to see is a scanner with tighter knobs, and a more 'rugged' feel on the case; a scanner that if accidentaly dropped, would stay together and not crack like a pro96.

That would be 'nice'.

I second that! One with Motorola-quality build and audio.

Rich
 

Jay911

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All right, if I may, here are my thoughts on the subject, or at least, what I would like to see in "the ultimate scanner", that's not already available in a model I currently own or would buy.

- number one on the list is expandable, replaceable memory. Get with the 90's and allow us memory cards. I'm admittedly more of a fan for the Memory Stick than anything else, simply because my camera uses it, my PSP uses it, and my laptop has a built-in port for it. But any kind - SD, CompactFlash, whatever - would be a boon. Frankly, I don't know how much actual RAM, in numbers, the ~6000 "channels" in a 396/996 takes up. But if you threw a 2gb card in there, you could go nuts with channels, and/or you could go with my number two item:

- On-board audio recording. Going hand-in-hand with the above, especially if frequency/data allocations take up much less than I think they do. Allow us to slot in a memory card, as above, and have the scanner write mp3 or other compressed-audio format sound to the card, so we can go back and identify new frequencies later. Imagine letting your radio sit to gather frequencies and then running an mp3 that has IDv3 tags of "New Frequency 866.5375 - CTCSS 203.5 Hz - 13:54:12 MDT 09/22/07" - so you know exactly who and what to label this as when you get the agency figured out.

- On screen options like a clock, etc. In fact, screens similar to the current crop of mobile phones. I'm not implying we need low-res cameras and all that crap in a scanner, but a display the size of the 396 should at least be as functional and colorful as, say, my Motorola Razr. (And, if you want to go overboard on this element, allow different bitmapped backgrounds depending on the talkgroup/frequency that's active!)

- Radio IDs showing up during talkgroup transmissions. The information is already there in the trunked data stream, use it.

- No less than three 'soft keys' on the keypad of the radio that can be used to perform 'macros'. The user should be able to do things with these such as: Making a 'home' key so that pressing it puts them in HOLD mode on a channel of their choice; quick-saving a pre-existing frequency with a newly-found PL/DPL code into a separate memory location; turning off system quick keys 1, 3, 7, 9, 14, and 28 while turning on 2, 4, 5, 8, and 31; and so on - any set of keystrokes/combinations the user wishes.

There's a number of other things I'm sure I've forgotten, but these are on my 'hot list' :)
 
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Rayjk110

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The main necessities of decoding should be:

Apco25
PL/DPL Tones
DTMF Tones
QC Formats

And, mebey this is a bit 'far fetched', but how about motorola MDC1200 decoding/aliasing?

THAT would be cool!
 

hotdjdave

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I want the same thing in a cell phone (all the features in one model). But I am not that naive to think it will actually happen.
 
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One step further - include a 2-meter/440 preprogrammed transciever

For the amatuer radio community: Have something like the 396T with all its features PLUS an incorporated 2-meter/440 transciever (5-watt sufficient). Of course, the transciever would be also preprogrammed with all repeater and megalinks (lilke the NM Megalink covering all New Mexico and fringe edges of NM), in the US, with the abliity to remove what is not needed (and replaceable when needed via computer transciever reset default). Many ham transcievers now can also scan the air/public service banks, but without trunking. Perhaps the scanner/transciever would have a memory card that you can do your programming on your computer. The only technological challanges I foresee would be optimizing the transmit bands and the antenna to favor the 2m/440. Of course, you have to have a ham license to transmit. Good idea or not ?... come to think of it, I am talking myself out of it.

Peter
KE5YE
 
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gcgrotz

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Many Ham rigs have wide RX coverage. I take my Alinco on cruise ships and monitor marine freqs and FRS with a bonus of making a few ham contacts while in port. The key is showing the makers that there is a demand. Trunking would be nice in a ham rig, and maybe even P25 as some repeaters are in operation around the country.

I could write a BUNCH about what features I'd like to see, mostly combining some of the best of GRE/Uniden/AOR, and it shouldn't add much to the cost since it is mostly software.
 

unitcharlie

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Personally, I think less is more... I routinely monitor three scanners minimum and would love to tailor each radio to what I would like to monitor.... there are only three agencies still using VHF-Low in my area of interest... would be nice to custom design a radio within a set of parameters to not be "stuck" with bands I don't need/want/monitor... have a set list of non-negotiable features but then have a bunch of options that can be included if desired, such as:
* the ability to set P-25 as a specific mode would be wonderful (there are a number of non- P-25 freqs that will "skip" into a non-trunked set of P-25 freqs I monitor... a real pain! * a radio that decodes tones as well as the PRO 92 but will receive 21st Century freqs (frequently I search with one of the scanners in my livery and having a quick decode is primo)
* a keyborad a la the PRO 96 would be cool--I do a lot of monitoring with one hand and that is the best one-handed keyboard I have ever used
* a strong, metal reinforced chassis would be excellent as well.... not quite as heavy as the Bearcat 100 but something that would stand-up to falls and nasty weather and routine use-abuse
* some way of reloading the whole scanner program if the chip crashes would be nice; perhaps a USB port that would allow me to refill the radio should something happen (like has happened twice with my PRO 96) in the field and I am miles/hours away from a computer
* one requiring an even number of standard rechargeable batteries--no propietary battery packs or three-cell scanners
 
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