Whistler website back online - 10th February 2025

[KevinC]

Looked back through some old Whistler posts. To put into perspective what transpired in the GRE to Whistler transition I found the below posts interesting...

WS-1080 same rebranded PSR-800
WS-1095 same rebranded PSR-900 There were PSR-900 beta units in the field Don Starr had one tersting there was one at the Las Vegas show
RS PRO-668 Rebranded PSR-800
What has Whistler designed and it took over a year to rebuild scanners already built and designed so what have they designed and built?

GRE let the product lapse and as a result, several of the key components went into EOL. Drop in replacements were not readily available causing several circuits to be re-engineered before it could be built.

Not a single tool was recoverable from the GRE purchase and as a result Whistler had to tool all the housings and brackets from the original drawings.

The PSR-900 you refer to may have looked the part but it was far from complete both in hardware and software not to mention the issues stated above.

To state that Whistler took a year to rebuild scanners that were already being built is not a fair representation of what actually occurred.

GRE: repackage a PSR-800 and call it a PSR-900
Whistler: make the thing work and call it a WS1095

More time was spent by Whistler getting the WS1095 to actually work than was spent by GRE creating the PSR-900 in the first place.

 

[trentbob]

The wait for the PSR 900 to be released by GRE, if I remember was at least a year or more after it's announcement. Maybe it's problems with China that eventually put them out of business may have had something to do with that.

Does anyone know if it's true that the PSR 900 was completed and units were given to beta testers.. I can remember posts here from people who actually had GRE PSR 900s and were asking questions about getting updates and wanting to know how to program them.

 

[KevinC]

The wait for the PSR 900 to be released by GRE, if I remember was at least a year or more after it's announcement. Maybe it's problems with China that eventually put them out of business may have had something to do with that.

Does anyone know if it's true that the PSR 900 was completed and units were given to beta testers.. I can remember posts here from people who actually had GRE PSR 900s and were asking questions about getting updates and wanting to know how to program them.

PSR-900 Specs

Does anyone have any lit on the original specs for the GRE PRS-900 beta base scanner. Yeah I know it not supported by GRE or Whistler but having one of these I wonder if it was capable of P25 Phase 2, DMR and or what if any firmware updates MAY work with it if any. ITs a VERY long shot but...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[trentbob]

Haha, I guess I do remember posts about the PSR 900 and I actually participated in the thread. The part about me calling about the driver for the 1095 and the friendly staff who very well might have been ww sent me the driver for the 1080 (PSR 800).. I vaguely remember her saying that they are not that familiar with the ws1095 unit and are learning as they go.

One thing that struck me about the unit was, I mounted the detachable head very nicely in the car with easy access and view but I could not read the display if I was wearing Polaroid sunglasses and I always wore the sunglasses so I literally couldn't see the screen when I was driving LOL.

 

[Indianabrad]

I'm not betting that this is going to happen but.. imagine if it did.

If they make any new models I'm betting they will be software based, it is much easier to do and they might just get it done this time that way. With them doing it that way and needing skill more in software coding rather electrical engineering.

 

[trentbob]

If they make any new models I'm betting they will be software based, it is much easier to do and they might just get it done this time that way. With them doing it that way and needing skill more in software coding rather electrical engineering.

Good point but it would have to work, I mean really work. I do remember being very upset when I purchased a trx1 that didn't pick up my counties simulcast Phase 2 system, not a lick, yet it had the firmware making it "P2 capable" which didn't necessarily mean that it worked on Phase 2 systems. I vaguely remember a rep or someone associated with the company saying that it was not a priority as there were so few Phase 2 systems in the country. People were having problems with the x-36 units also..

I clearly remember saying many times on RR around 2015 that somebody's going to have to make a simulcast capable scanner that's going to work, somebody did, Paul Opitz and Uniden produced the SDS series for a reason, they wouldn't have made it, if it wasn't necessary.

I made the mistake of assuming that even though the P2 capable firmware on my PSR 800 and WS 1095 didn't work that Whistler would put out such a sophisticated, good looking scanner the likes of the trx1 that didn't work on phase two anymore than my PSR 800 or my WS 1095.. it didn't work at all. I was naive to think that it wouldn't work perfectly on the new and latest scanner they put out so.. I also wasn't crazy about the fact that my City used an nxdn nx48 460 MHz trunked system with two sites that also didn't work worth a damn.

So yeah if they can make the radios work on the kind of phase two simulcast system that I have that will be quite a coup. But it's got to work.

 

[KevinC]

Good point but it would have to work, I mean really work. I do remember being very upset when I purchased a trx1 that didn't pick up my counties simulcast Phase 2 system, not a lick, yet it had the firmware making it "P2 capable" which didn't necessarily mean that it worked on Phase 2 systems. I vaguely remember a rep or someone associated with the company saying that it was not a priority as there were so few Phase 2 systems in the country. People were having problems with the x-36 units also..

The TRX1/2 most definitely work on P25 phase 2 systems. What they struggle severely on is P25 simulcast, whether FDMA or TDMA.

 

[trentbob]

The TRX1/2 most definitely work on P25 phase 2 systems. What they struggle severely on is P25 simulcast, whether FDMA or TDMA.

Good point, I was referring to p25 simulcast Phase 1 and Phase 2. Hence, "P2 capable" but doesn't work for me on the systems I listen to.

Also might be misleading to the average consumer leading them to think it will work on their system, no disclaimers in the vendor's ads or on the box😉

That never sat well with me.

 

[Indianabrad]

That never sat well with me.

That is why of course we are all wanting them to make a software defined simulcast scanner.

 

[Blackswan73]

That is why of course we are all wanting them to make a software defined simulcast scanner.

Like for instance, the Bluetail scanners, which were all software defined and work very well with simulcast systems. In fact the Micro and Nano versions were controlled by an off the shelf Teensey MCU programmed with custom code

B.S.

 

[trentbob]

That is why of course we are all wanting them to make a software defined simulcast scanner.

Of course that's the only way it's going to work, when they made the announcement that it was on the way in the spring of 2018 after a vendor invertently announced the SDS 100 before it was released, I think Whistler realized that an SDR chip wasn't going to work in the chassis they inherited from GRE, they have never made their own.

With the R&D and beta testing you are talking into 2026.

That's up to them, as encryption spreads like wildfire.. that's a business decision they're going to have to make.

If they had done it five or six years ago.. it would have been a whole new ball game in the scanning world.

 

[K9DAK]

Like for instance, the Bluetail scanners, which were all software defined and work very well with simulcast systems. In fact the Micro and Nano versions were controlled by an off the shelf Teensey MCU programmed with custom code

B.S.

Indeed... I have a P25RX-II programmed for my simulcast hell location and it works very well... 98% subscriber quality audio 24/7.

 

[chris451rr]

This seems pretty promising but we shall see. It would be nice to not have only Uniden chillin in the market with the only scanners that can properly decode simulcast P25. Thats the whole reason why I stopped using my TRX-1 my county switched to Simulcast P25 phase II and I never was ever able to receive much. I hadn't even knew that whistler went out of business until I saw this forum. Well now imma have to figure out why my PC that I program my radios with isnt working so I can check on that EZ Scan software see how this software support unfolds.

Aor has announced some multimode digital radios check it out. I dont have anything but TRX1 and BCD396xt. The big county is phase 1 simulcast and the state is phase 2 mostly single sites.
I have discovered for simulcast and the trx-1 (which use discriminator type detectors) that changing the antenna to horizontal helps alot. This isolates the closest transmitter site, as the attenuation in horizontal polarity seems to be higher than vertical, for a vertical polarized transmitter. I noticed this even with a beam antenna, it nulls or reduces the heterodyne from the other sites, which is what breaks up the signals. A nearby county has nearly 100% fades from multiple sites. But in 'horizontal' it isolates the sites considerably.

Running a portable on the dashboard laying down works better than setting it vertical. When mobile use a gain mag mount and that works very well.

I have a TRX -1 radio sitting on a shelf vertically. I put a 90' adapter and adjust the angle. Turn the squelch til it flashes closed. Adjust for P2 systems until the T appears. Works for P2 P1 mixed systems.

If it succeeds in locking a control signal the scanning will pause. I mean the actual scanning not whats on the display. According to Whistler the display doesn't show what the radio is tuning to unless it stops for a signal.

The control demo program from Whistler is very useful for setting up antennas. it shows what the radio is really doing.

 

[a727469]

Aor has announced some multimode digital radios check it out. I dont have anything but TRX1 and BCD396xt. The big county is phase 1 simulcast and the state is phase 2 mostly single sites.
I have discovered for simulcast and the trx-1 (which use discriminator type detectors) that changing the antenna to horizontal helps alot. This isolates the closest transmitter site, as the attenuation in horizontal polarity seems to be higher than vertical, for a vertical polarized transmitter. I noticed this even with a beam antenna, it nulls or reduces the heterodyne from the other sites, which is what breaks up the signals. A nearby county has nearly 100% fades from multiple sites. But in 'horizontal' it isolates the sites considerably.

Running a portable on the dashboard laying down works better than setting it vertical. When mobile use a gain mag mount and that works very well.

I have a TRX -1 radio sitting on a shelf vertically. I put a 90' adapter and adjust the angle. Turn the squelch til it flashes closed. Adjust for P2 systems until the T appears. Works for P2 P1 mixed systems.

If it succeeds in locking a control signal the scanning will pause. I mean the actual scanning not whats on the display. According to Whistler the display doesn't show what the radio is tuning to unless it stops for a signal.

The control demo program from Whistler is very useful for setting up antennas. it shows what the radio is really doing.

AR-DV10. $1600😢

AR-DV10 | RECEIVERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications

Back on Whistler topic, would anyone want to place a bet on if they will actually come up with a new, useful scanner within a reasonable timeframe?

 

[marcotor]

Back on Whistler topic, would anyone want to place a bet on if they will actually come up with a new, useful scanner within a reasonable timeframe?

Define "reasonable". 6 months? a year? 18 months? 2 years?
(this is where a so-called expert consumer will chime in saying it's "trivial" to design and build modern consumer electronics)

And again, the new proprietors purchased the Whistler IP, and that's all. They didn't get whatever staff was there, some of whom have surely gone on to other jobs since apparently Arkansas is not Ohio. It takes time, even having something to work with to design, prototype, test, etc.

 

[fourwd1]

AR-DV10. $1600😢

AR-DV10 | RECEIVERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications

Back on Whistler topic, would anyone want to place a bet on if they will actually come up with a new, useful scanner within a reasonable timeframe?

No, I already wasted too much time reading all this.
Last thing I want to do is waste more time wondering/debating/betting on what might happen in the "new Whistler's" future .

 

[CycleSycho]

One thing that struck me about the unit was, I mounted the detachable head very nicely in the car with easy access and view but I could not read the display if I was wearing Polaroid sunglasses and I always wore the sunglasses so I literally couldn't see the screen when I was driving LOL.

.


I can say that was a good idea since looking away from the priority road and IP (should be what is looked at), BUT it was pure happenstance they used a polarized display in its assembly (try looking at it 90 degrees out of horizontal (or 270 degrees)...

Digging into mind which may be bad for me lately if this is incorrect...


.

 

[trentbob]

AR-DV10. $1600😢

AR-DV10 | RECEIVERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications

Back on Whistler topic, would anyone want to place a bet on if they will actually come up with a new, useful scanner within a reasonable timeframe?

Sorry to say but no they won't, that's a sucker's bet... get it back to where it was before and hope for the best.

 

[kmartin]

I get the feeling

That is why of course we are all wanting them to make a software defined simulcast scanner.

It's just too late in the game for them to produce a whistler scanner that will be able to deal with P 25 simulcast distortion. But I hope I'm wrong

 

[buddrousa]

I wander if they got the 1 year of data from the TRX100 TRX200 failed projects.