troymail
Silent Key
Geez. I hope not -- but I wouldn't be surprised.
Looking forward to the "early adopt" reports in a few weeks.
Whistler @ the CES 2014
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Geez. I hope not -- but I wouldn't be surprised.
Looking forward to the "early adopt" reports in a few weeks.
stingray327
Member
I have more time than $$$.
The videos in the BCD536HP Wiki sound pretty good.
Do those vids show it in multiple locations of Houston? No. Have we seen it on say Indianapolis IDPSC? Or Atlanta's P25? Nashville, TN's? Palmetto P25 in Charleston? How about the new one up in Rochester, NY? No, no, no, and nope... Until Uniden's new toys have been out for at least 6 months in multiple locations on multiple P25 Simulcast systems, in multiple areas on those systems (AKA Mobile usage), there is no true base for judgement yet. Lets talk about the P25 Simulcast and the new Uniden's again in 6 months when it has been really real world tested to death by consumers. Beta Testing is cool and all, and God knows I would love to be a Beta Tester for Whistler, or Uniden, or both.... But nothing beats long term real world usage by the masses. Now back to the new Whistler Rebrands....
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KC0CSE
Member
Do those vids show it in multiple locations of Houston? No. Have we seen it on say Indianapolis IDPSC? Or Atlanta's P25? Nashville, TN's? Palmetto P25 in Charleston? How about the new one up in Rochester, NY? No, no, no, and nope... Until Uniden's new toys have been out for at least 6 months in multiple locations on multiple P25 Simulcast systems, in multiple areas on those systems (AKA Mobile usage), there is no true base for judgement yet. Lets talk about the P25 Simulcast and the new Uniden's again in 6 months when it has been really real world tested to death by consumers. Beta Testing is cool and all, and God knows I would love to be a Beta Tester for Whistler, or Uniden, or both.... But nothing beats long term real world usage by the masses. Now back to the new Whistler Rebrands....
so true!!...Uniden is dodging the simulcast issue to me...in my opinion what I have seen the money for there units don't justify buying them unless they have totally fixed the simulcast problem...just saying...come to Kansas City Mo and do some testing with our simulcast system and tell me you have the problem licked..
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The RWC simulcast system here in the Phoenix metro area is also a digital multi-path nightmare for everyone who isn't lucky enough to live super close to one of the sites (so that the other sites can't cause enough packet collision to mess everything up).
I would be shocked if the simulcast issue is totally fixed in the new Uniden scanners to be honest. I realize that it's going to be a challenge for any manufacturer to produce a $500 multi-band scanner that can equal a $3000 Moto mono-band radio, I get that. But GRE proved that it can be done better than what the BCD scanners do it.
If the new Uniden scanners can at least equal my PSR scanners, and don't have a "robotic" sound on all P25 systems of all types as they currently do, I would be happy enough, along with the other features, to buy one. But if I hear that they have similar issues to the BCD scanners on simulcast, forget about it. I'll wait until they start appearing on CL or Feebay and just sit tight until a really good bargain comes along, and that might be a while.
KC0CSE
Member
I would like to see them build a "trunking" P25 scanner only myself...nothing more nothing less. Then you could keep some of the cost down. And work on the simulcast issue for the money...
DonS
Member
Not really. Once you've built a scanner that handles P25 trunking 400-900MHz, you've already accounted for all of the per-unit cost (well, you might save a filter or two for VHF). Everything else is NRE (e.g. software) that is already paid for, if you can just port code over from other scanners.
That is, once you've created a PSR-500, the difference in manufacturing cost between a "P25 trunking-only" scanner and a PSR-500 is negligible.
stingray327
Member
What is a simulcast problem? Is it a common problem or limited to location only?
There is an explanation in the wiki. But some P25 systems are simulcast, meaning that they broadcast the same radio transmissions on the same frequencies from different radio towers. This can present problems for scanners when they get signals on the same frequency from more than one tower, because the signals interfere with each other. The two-way radios that cost about $3000 or more can usually handle the situation fine.
stingray327
Member
Thanks for that info.
stingray327
Member
iT'S probably best to wait one year after all of these new scanners finally come out.
With these Whistlers, we KNOW how they will perform. They already are proven under the GRE Flag, sold as PSR's and PRO's by Radio Shack. Its the next generation that we have no solid data on, just hints, rumor, and slightly educated guessing.
dgmaley
Member
What is a simulcast problem?
What is a simulcast problem? Is it a common problem or limited to location only
Consider yourself lucky if you don't know what it is.
This issue starts by having some P25 trunking systems send exactly the same data to many towers. Like what I have here with the new Linn County communication system. They have several towers all over the county. I only need to pull a signal from one tower to hear everything. Every tower uses the same group of frequencies. I happen to live halfway between two towers so I get the same signal level from both towers on a whip antenna. They interfere with each other big time and the data gets turned into garbage. The only answer is to use a directional antenna and notch out one tower.
The best description is having a P25 channel that sounds encrypted, but isn't, and the signal strength meter is full scale, and moving the scanner antenna by just a small amount will make it crystal clear, but not for long.
Dave....
What is a simulcast problem? Is it a common problem or limited to location only
Consider yourself lucky if you don't know what it is.
This issue starts by having some P25 trunking systems send exactly the same data to many towers. Like what I have here with the new Linn County communication system. They have several towers all over the county. I only need to pull a signal from one tower to hear everything. Every tower uses the same group of frequencies. I happen to live halfway between two towers so I get the same signal level from both towers on a whip antenna. They interfere with each other big time and the data gets turned into garbage. The only answer is to use a directional antenna and notch out one tower.
The best description is having a P25 channel that sounds encrypted, but isn't, and the signal strength meter is full scale, and moving the scanner antenna by just a small amount will make it crystal clear, but not for long.
Dave....
stingray327
Member
Thank you for that info. It is much more assuring whenever I buy one of these new scanners.
Realistic is coming out with scanners again????
stingray327
Member
Whistler makes terrible low end laser/radar detectors with too many false alarms.
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