Whistler pretty much junk with service!!!...until they aren't.

[I_Am_Infinite]

I mean I was gonna have it changed to "Issues with Whistler service" but whatever you want to put mods. But imo fingerprints, smudges, a square mark under the display and not putting the SD Card into the scanner is bad service.....

I'm glad there making it right but could have definitely done better with there servicing of my scanner. I wish I would of labeled it different Instead of in anger but it is what it is.

You can close this thread if you like.

 

[I_Am_Infinite]

Has Whistler reached out to you, I_Am_Infinite?

Ya they are making it right, which I am happy with. But I shouldn't have to deal with what I have and that part of it was and is bad service.. There turnaround time was great. Me saying there great was quite overstated.

 

[GlobalNorth]

Every company screws up from time to time. It is how they deal with it that makes them a worthwhile company or someone to run from.

 

[I_Am_Infinite]

Every company screws up from time to time. It is how they deal with it that makes them a worthwhile company or someone to run from.

I agree and even we as individuals do also, like me, I could of been a little more understanding and compassionate about it, instead just saying and labeling the thread as I did.. It one my downfalls my anger and how I react.

If had had to give them Stars for a rating if give them a 4 or 3.5 of 5 Stars and that's only because of the SD Card and the screen issues, other than that there really good and if those didn't happen they would got 5 Stars an A+.

 

[Chronic]

Having a extra , extra sd card is not a bad thing $10 is good insurance should the one in use stop working . I try to keep several on hand at all times .

 

[Wackyracer]

Never send the scanner in with a SD card.

It is useless to the whistler techs. Even the legacy upgrade instructions say to not send in the card.

 

[I_Am_Infinite]

Never send the scanner in with a SD card.

It is useless to the whistler techs. Even the legacy upgrade instructions say to not send in the card.

I didn't actually send in an SD Card with the scanner, I didn't actually have one for it since the scanner got partially fried by lightning several years ago. They were to give me one because I paid them for it when I paid for the repair but they forgot or something... But all is good I got the SD Card in the mail, so now I just got a backup. Takecare

 

[spacellamaman]

Having a extra , extra sd card is not a bad thing $10 is good insurance should the one in use stop working . I try to keep several on hand at all times .

yeah cause when one fails, you best hope nothing interesting is happening at the time. I had that happen years ago with my PRO668, my first SD scanner, luckily i had DL'ed the data on the card to my computer, tho much had changed since then, but that gave me something to work with.

back when SD cards cost more than $1.25 i would have the one i was running in the scanner, and a cheap 2/4/8gb SD with everything but the recordings (i record most everything i listen to, exclusively milcom) in the pocket of the custom designed carry case i drag it around in. then when some BS happens and it all crashes i can do a quick swap and hope that fixes it. otherwise we are talking days to get things back up.

 

[Wackyracer]

yeah cause when one fails, you best hope nothing interesting is happening at the time. I had that happen years ago with my PRO668, my first SD scanner, luckily i had DL'ed the data on the card to my computer, tho much had changed since then, but that gave me something to work with.

back when SD cards cost more than $1.25 i would have the one i was running in the scanner, and a cheap 2/4/8gb SD with everything but the recordings (i record most everything i listen to, exclusively milcom) in the pocket of the custom designed carry case i drag it around in. then when some BS happens and it all crashes i can do a quick swap and hope that fixes it. otherwise we are talking days to get things back up.

Use the archive function in ezscan...get in the habit of archiving every time you put the card in a pc. Then when it crashes, you can use restore from archive in ezscan.

 

[CycleSycho]

.


I can remember when a 2GB SD card was CHEAP. Now, it is hard to find any that are suggested without parting with a whole lot more than a 16 or 32GB card. What gives besides capitalism??


.

 

[Ubbe]

And remember that if you get a 32GB card, that seems to be the standard these days, that you can partition it with any of the free programs, or use Windows command window, to a smaller size just enough to handle your recording files. If you use the full 32GB you will end up with a ridiculously slow start up time of the scanner.

/Ubbe

 

[spacellamaman]

If you use the full 32GB you will end up with a ridiculously slow start up time of the scanner.

/Ubbe

yeah like i turned my Pro668 on now in anticipation of using it sometime after lunch.

.


I can remember when a 2GB SD card was CHEAP. Now, it is hard to find any that are suggested without parting with a whole lot more than a 16 or 32GB card. What gives besides capitalism??


.

i snagged everyone i could find in recent years, not many, harder still for me to find is 8gb cards. one of my fave cameras maxes out at that, and they were clearly a flash in the memory pan

 

[Wackyracer]

yeah like i turned my Pro668 on now in anticipation of using it sometime after lunch.



i snagged everyone i could find in recent years, not many, harder still for me to find is 8gb cards. one of my fave cameras maxes out at that, and they were clearly a flash in the memory pan

Amazon has SANDISK 8gb class 4 card for under $7 shipped with prime.

 

[KI5EDJ]

I had issues with their repair department on a radar detector/dashcam combo called an MFU-440. I sent it back twice for replacement, both of the replacement units had the same issue. One of their techs denied it until the unit in their lab started doing the same thing.
At first I was offered their top of the line unit for an additional $75 instead of the $200 more I would have paid had I bought that instead. A few days later I was offered that top of the line unit free in exchange for the MFU-440. I had found a mid range unit that does everything I need, the Z-31R+ and requested that. It retails for a bit less than the MFU-440. I've been running the Z-31R+ ever since with few problems. The GPS signal is spotty and I think this was what was going wrong with the 440. Every time the GPS would hiccup, it locked out the dash cam. Both units rely on GPS to determine vehicle speed, which the 440 displays on the dash cam recording at all times. The Z-31R+ lacks a dash cam, but I have owned and ran a Pyle dash cam since before I tried the 440.
Whistler's customer service can be hit and miss but they are always courteous. I think it was Trey who usually answered my calls and he was the one who offered me a $400 radar detector at no charge in exchange for the one I sent in.
Give them a chance, they 'll make it right.

 

[kb6lpm]

Don't know if I am too late to this party to participate?
But I am amazed by the fact that nobody commented about the fact that regardless of some fairly large oversights of the Whistler service dept. (What bozo tech leaves his paw marks inside the display???) The missing Card probably was not good interdepartmental communication within Whistler, between their sales and marketing and technical services and maybe shipping dept too.
However, I am very amazed that someone could suffer a lightning strike and that a radio manufacturer would be able to or even accept to repair a said unit!!! I wouldn't want to have to warrant my repairs to such gear that had been subject to that type of catastrophic exposure to lightning!!! Too many things that could mysteriously be damaged and be unknown.
That seems to be a testament to several things with this radio and those involved.
First you gotta hand it to the Original Grecom radio design for building such a robust radio that it can be restored after such a destructive event.
Second, you gotta hand it to Whistler to even accept such a challenging repair....
Third, which brings me to ponder??? Do you suppose they actually repaired the same scanner or perhaps they just initiated a full on swap with another refurbished unit? Hence the speedy return and perhaps the reason for a less than pristine crystal clear display with the funky fingerprint on the inside?
Suppose that it does appear to be the same radio with same serial number and such,,,, I would than speculate that perhaps they simply exchanged the interior chassis with a refurb unit. Either way the fingerprint thing seems less than professional.
Yet gotta be a very thorough tech to inspect and test every inch of the radio and a it's semiconductor parts for static damage due to lightning.
It may appear all good , up until a memory device or some microprocessor needs to access certain junctions within the zillions of pathways burned onto that silicon chip's die and the unit goes wonky!
Hmm? That's amazing service that doesn't completely write off a lightning damaged unit!
I would imagine it being like accidentally dropping a radio off the Empire State building or a radio falling off of a boat and being retrieved out of the ocean a month later. Some things just can't be fixed, only replaced....
This I am assuming was paid for repair service and not any type of warranty repair? I won't even go there...
But I do believe (iircc) Whistler does in fact have a flat rate repair service charge.
I wonder if I sent them the broken pieces of that radio dropped off the Empire State bldg or the crusty corroded remains of the radio fished out of bay alongside the dock, if they honor that flat rate policy?
Basically if ya have a dead radio carcass they will exchange for flat rate?
Well, that is fairly awesome service in and of itself, despite their handling kinda sucks!
I returned my GRE into Whistler for factory firmware upgrade. It took just a tad longer than website reported but no weird or strange things to report, other than it doesn't seem to make much difference.
The whole GRE EZ Scan system has always been completely non intuitive to me. I intially had some error come up before I could update my library and I am still inept on actually using the radio. Seems like changing from one scan set to another is always cumbersome. If I load all my scan sets the radio is extremely slow to load. It is super easy to dumb thumb and end up reloading and again the waiting is stupid slow. I of course live in Southern California, where everything has been encrypted and it seems that the Radio Reference Library does not load deprecated systems... I however was able to load a bunch of DMR Bandmiester ham radio stuff. Now I have the option of listening to the same digital stuff that I already don't use on my TyT handheld.
Yeah my GRE800/WS1080 is more of a paperweight than anything else. I just have accepted that scanning and monitoring in this age of digital encryption just plain sucks. I used to listen alot of great intercepts on all my ham gear when analog. Somewhere and at some point technology passed me by.... Glad that I had to sell off my pride n joy Icom R7000 when I needed the money! Because it still was worth something back then.... Maybe if someone has some decent solution with SDR, I might try giving that a hack!
Late to this thread and now off topic
I am so bad! Better sign off and get to work !

 

[K9ZV]

Don't know if I am too late to this party to participate?
But I am amazed by the fact that nobody commented about the fact that regardless of some fairly large oversights of the Whistler service dept. (What bozo tech leaves his paw marks inside the display???) The missing Card probably was not good interdepartmental communication within Whistler, between their sales and marketing and technical services and maybe shipping dept too.
However, I am very amazed that someone could suffer a lightning strike and that a radio manufacturer would be able to or even accept to repair a said unit!!! I wouldn't want to have to warrant my repairs to such gear that had been subject to that type of catastrophic exposure to lightning!!! Too many things that could mysteriously be damaged and be unknown.
That seems to be a testament to several things with this radio and those involved.
First you gotta hand it to the Original Grecom radio design for building such a robust radio that it can be restored after such a destructive event.
Second, you gotta hand it to Whistler to even accept such a challenging repair....
Third, which brings me to ponder??? Do you suppose they actually repaired the same scanner or perhaps they just initiated a full on swap with another refurbished unit? Hence the speedy return and perhaps the reason for a less than pristine crystal clear display with the funky fingerprint on the inside?
Suppose that it does appear to be the same radio with same serial number and such,,,, I would than speculate that perhaps they simply exchanged the interior chassis with a refurb unit. Either way the fingerprint thing seems less than professional.
Yet gotta be a very thorough tech to inspect and test every inch of the radio and a it's semiconductor parts for static damage due to lightning.
It may appear all good , up until a memory device or some microprocessor needs to access certain junctions within the zillions of pathways burned onto that silicon chip's die and the unit goes wonky!
Hmm? That's amazing service that doesn't completely write off a lightning damaged unit!
I would imagine it being like accidentally dropping a radio off the Empire State building or a radio falling off of a boat and being retrieved out of the ocean a month later. Some things just can't be fixed, only replaced....
This I am assuming was paid for repair service and not any type of warranty repair? I won't even go there...
But I do believe (iircc) Whistler does in fact have a flat rate repair service charge.
I wonder if I sent them the broken pieces of that radio dropped off the Empire State bldg or the crusty corroded remains of the radio fished out of bay alongside the dock, if they honor that flat rate policy?
Basically if ya have a dead radio carcass they will exchange for flat rate?
Well, that is fairly awesome service in and of itself, despite their handling kinda sucks!
I returned my GRE into Whistler for factory firmware upgrade. It took just a tad longer than website reported but no weird or strange things to report, other than it doesn't seem to make much difference.
The whole GRE EZ Scan system has always been completely non intuitive to me. I intially had some error come up before I could update my library and I am still inept on actually using the radio. Seems like changing from one scan set to another is always cumbersome. If I load all my scan sets the radio is extremely slow to load. It is super easy to dumb thumb and end up reloading and again the waiting is stupid slow. I of course live in Southern California, where everything has been encrypted and it seems that the Radio Reference Library does not load deprecated systems... I however was able to load a bunch of DMR Bandmiester ham radio stuff. Now I have the option of listening to the same digital stuff that I already don't use on my TyT handheld.
Yeah my GRE800/WS1080 is more of a paperweight than anything else. I just have accepted that scanning and monitoring in this age of digital encryption just plain sucks. I used to listen alot of great intercepts on all my ham gear when analog. Somewhere and at some point technology passed me by.... Glad that I had to sell off my pride n joy Icom R7000 when I needed the money! Because it still was worth something back then.... Maybe if someone has some decent solution with SDR, I might try giving that a hack!
Late to this thread and now off topic
I am so bad! Better sign off and get to work !

Jeeze, A resident California, that explains it all.

 

[CycleSycho]

Don't know if I am too late........to work!

Is there ANYTHING you LIKE/LIKED about the scanner?? Am curious...


.

 

[kb6lpm]

I liked hearing that it does indeed survive a lightning strike, so there is that,,,
I like that it does have a tappable IF out.
I like the record capability.
I like that it has digital capabilities and that it is supposed to do trunked.
But for someone who comes from communication receivers and conventional radios and traditional scanning receivers, the whole system with the PRS 800 radio is not very intuitive and it seems to be quite clumsy trying to navigate and function thru the operating system using the buttons on the front.
Now come on,,, you can't admit how stupid a thing is that they put a top mounted potentiometer for squelch only and the volume uses up and down keys. How many times do you want to turn the knob for volume... If you are going to make push buttons for anything, they shoulda made it the other way around. Adjust the squelch (which is a whacky kinda thing already as the way it interacts or doesn't act like you expect with the various attenuation modes) anyways, yeah the squelch should be pushbutton and the top knob shoulda been for volume. The lack of keypad is annoying too.
I dunno? It's probably just me and being kinda set in my ways....
I had a good lil system that did everything pretty good with the optiscan interface and the pro 2006 along with the Icom R-7000 slaved to the custom software a programmer from my work had kludged together on a windows machine that let the two radios work together in a multitude of different ways. The 2006 could scan for control channel and the computer would dial the 7000 right along,,,, or I could run IF of the 2006 and into the computer or inject it into the front end of the r7000.
plus all my mobile rigs or handhelds we're extended band. Those radios had dials and buttons with a VFO ...
something that many of these budget radios from China don't support. Direct data entry is a feature that should not be a feature but a regular way of doing things. Computer programming and upload should be the feature!
I dunno, I suppose I am just an aging old boomer now that has let technology pass him by and the glory days are over just like Bundy and his QB days.... Oh hell even the reference is to an old TV show nobody remembers! Hah!
Seriously, for as long as I have owned this PRS 800, I only drag it out and dust off only one or two times a year and for only a day or two before I lose my interest. I am not sure if it is just my own operator error and not understanding it, or if my radio just has a glitch or two like some of the hiccups I have read from others. The scanlist #1 default thing used to drive me crazy.
I dunno? Got it factory upgraded last year to WS1040 but still seems as if the library isn't quite right when trying to update when it first was returned by whistler.... I am thinking that it has a corruption. Today I noticed some error code that advised to see the manual , while I was doing a service scan. Thinking maybe it has always been corrupted and likely should start with a clean slate.
But yeah it never seems to hold my attention more than a couple of days and it gets shelved.
There is indeed much I have to learn of it.
SO IS THERE ANYTHING YOU. DONT LIKE ABOUT THE RADIO AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU LIKE AND THAT MAKE IT THE CATS MEOW IN TODAYS MODERN MONITORING TIMES?
Also note that the battery life is terrible and it eats storage batteries up for breakfast before snacking again on a new set of alkalines soon after lunch!

 

[CycleSycho]

I liked hearing that it does indeed survive a lightning strike, so there is that,,,
I like that it does have a tappable IF out.
I like the record capability.
I like that it has digital capabilities and that it is supposed to do trunked.
But for someone who comes from communication receivers and conventional radios and traditional scanning receivers, the whole system with the PRS 800 radio is not very intuitive and it seems to be quite clumsy trying to navigate and function thru the operating system using the buttons on the front.
Now come on,,, you can't admit how stupid a thing is that they put a top mounted potentiometer for squelch only and the volume uses up and down keys. How many times do you want to turn the knob for volume... If you are going to make push buttons for anything, they shoulda made it the other way around. Adjust the squelch (which is a whacky kinda thing already as the way it interacts or doesn't act like you expect with the various attenuation modes) anyways, yeah the squelch should be pushbutton and the top knob shoulda been for volume. The lack of keypad is annoying too.
I dunno? It's probably just me and being kinda set in my ways....
I had a good lil system that did everything pretty good with the optiscan interface and the pro 2006 along with the Icom R-7000 slaved to the custom software a programmer from my work had kludged together on a windows machine that let the two radios work together in a multitude of different ways. The 2006 could scan for control channel and the computer would dial the 7000 right along,,,, or I could run IF of the 2006 and into the computer or inject it into the front end of the r7000.
plus all my mobile rigs or handhelds we're extended band. Those radios had dials and buttons with a VFO ...
something that many of these budget radios from China don't support. Direct data entry is a feature that should not be a feature but a regular way of doing things. Computer programming and upload should be the feature!
I dunno, I suppose I am just an aging old boomer now that has let technology pass him by and the glory days are over just like Bundy and his QB days.... Oh hell even the reference is to an old TV show nobody remembers! Hah!
Seriously, for as long as I have owned this PRS 800, I only drag it out and dust off only one or two times a year and for only a day or two before I lose my interest. I am not sure if it is just my own operator error and not understanding it, or if my radio just has a glitch or two like some of the hiccups I have read from others. The scanlist #1 default thing used to drive me crazy.
I dunno? Got it factory upgraded last year to WS1040 but still seems as if the library isn't quite right when trying to update when it first was returned by whistler.... I am thinking that it has a corruption. Today I noticed some error code that advised to see the manual , while I was doing a service scan. Thinking maybe it has always been corrupted and likely should start with a clean slate.
But yeah it never seems to hold my attention more than a couple of days and it gets shelved.
There is indeed much I have to learn of it.
SO IS THERE ANYTHING YOU. DONT LIKE ABOUT THE RADIO AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU LIKE AND THAT MAKE IT THE CATS MEOW IN TODAYS MODERN MONITORING TIMES?
Also note that the battery life is terrible and it eats storage batteries up for breakfast before snacking again on a new set of alkalines soon after lunch!

Married with children... Sorry, I can't help you with your scanner, I needed a little help myself. Once I got used to it running, I do like it. I'll give you one or more good instance(s), OK? I like the 'no frills' old fashioned cars that you actually DRIVE. You know, FEELING the road through the suspension, hand cranking down a window, manually setting the fan/A?C & heat controls, checking the tire pressures when I 'feel' the car sway abnormally, etc etc..... I absolutely believe people have become lazy and uncaring on how things work. Electronics in EVERYTHING, I mean WHO watches TV on their refrigerator? I just (in a commercial) saw what LOOKED like a menu/TV type interface on the glass portion of the microwave oven above the flat-topped smooth stove. Come on, ONE surge/spike on the A/C and your insurance will 'surge/spike'. Automatic brakes, lane centering computers, electric steering, anti-nod beams leveled at your head/eyes... STOP THE MADNESS! You cannot stop the Darwin Awards, no matter what you ask engineers to put into everything (lately). So, focus, read that easier to read manual available here in the forum, practice (you cannot really break it, I think), and ask a few questions if you get stuck. My problem is a few baby strokes that now interferes with some simple tasks like reading/understanding some manuals. If it wasn't for a fantastic member here, I would still be looking at my Pro-668 (converted to a cloned WS-1080) and using the zip-code programming option (do you know how long it gets back to the channel I was hopefully trying to listen to, yeah I couldn't). Anyway, I hope you challenge yourself and get it working. IF NOT, maybe you could sell it or donate it to someone who would use it. OR maybe keep it for a few decades and/or will it to a descendant or donate it to a museum because it is already vastly outdated in its technology already. Good Luck!



.