First I’ve heard of that.They are a yard / garden supply company in Cincinnati, who bought Whistler.
BestNest.com All Departments
www.bestnest.com
Whistler website back online - 10th February 2025
- Thread starter Brunlea
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I found this out in post #55 in this thread by @kc2tek.
Ok, so the same person may own both companies, BestNest didn’t buy Whistler.
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How do I get in touch with whistler
Ya got me.
I hope their ownership is not a short clown car trip by a birdhouse builder / seller.
Perhaps this is all just some "bait" to determine interest in these radios. Find out if there's interest before actually providing products for sale.
I was glad to hear that Whistler was back in business under new ownership. I hope they can start to manufacture their TRX line and then possibly get a new scanner on the market soon. Supposedly the old Whistler company was working on a new scanner that would be like the Uniden SDS scanner but for some reason it never made it into the scanner market. Maybe that project can be revived by the new owners.
The other thing I would like to see is they allow other software companies like Butel to provide another programing software then the current one. I have the Whistler WS-1080 and the TRX-1. I like their scanning speed and audio quality that to me seems to be a bit better then Unidens, but I really don't like the Whistler programing software. Time will tell. We will just have to wait and see how the new Whistler owners will do with their new acquisition.
The other thing I would like to see is they allow other software companies like Butel to provide another programing software then the current one. I have the Whistler WS-1080 and the TRX-1. I like their scanning speed and audio quality that to me seems to be a bit better then Unidens, but I really don't like the Whistler programing software. Time will tell. We will just have to wait and see how the new Whistler owners will do with their new acquisition.
As posted by Whistler
They were working on a scanner to compete with the SDS Scanners after 1 year they announced that they where canceling the project and gave no other answer.
So you can read into that what you want.
After several years of Milking GRE Scanner Designs they up and leave users high and dry for months and we hear from a new owner they bought Whistler.
Fact 2 Whistler never had a Design Team they bought GRE Designs and paid China or some other Company to build GRE Designed Scanners.
They were working on a scanner to compete with the SDS Scanners after 1 year they announced that they where canceling the project and gave no other answer.
So you can read into that what you want.
After several years of Milking GRE Scanner Designs they up and leave users high and dry for months and we hear from a new owner they bought Whistler.
Fact 2 Whistler never had a Design Team they bought GRE Designs and paid China or some other Company to build GRE Designed Scanners.
This is the thread where Whistler "announced" they were working on new models to deal with LSM (simulcast systems, in May of 2018. Supposedly, the new models (TRX-100 & TRX-200) would have a number of "advanced" features, including a 'full alphanumeric backlit keyboard', and built-in Blue Tooth. It was supposed to be available and shipping by the fourth quarter of 2018.
In this thread, posted in May of 2019, Whist;er Wendy. the 'then' spokesperson for Whistler, announced that the new models were not meeting expectations, and the project was dropped.
She also promised that Whistler was 'dedicated to the scanner industry', and that they already had several new projects on tap for the future. There were no "new" items ever released before the recent shutdown of the 'old' Whistler by the end of 2024.
As Bud, and others have noted, it was apparent that Whistler never really had the technical know-how & capability for creating new models, or adding improvements for their existing, inherited from GRE designs, products. They simply rode the models developed by GRE, that were inherited the IP from GRE, purchased when they shut down. Once the 'GRE horse' that they were riding ran out of technical savvy, it was all over.
I would not place any bets on that.
For some time, before Whistler folded their tent & exited the market, availability of their then existing models was hit and miss. Dealers were showing as 'out of stock' without a promise date for when stock would be back. Availability of their radar detector lineup also dried up. Whether the new owners of the product lines can get production jump started from whichever supplier was their source is debatable. Their organization was basically sales & marketing. Products more than likely came from contract factories in China or elsewhere in Asia, not from a facility that they owned & operated.
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Man you are right on the money, I remember this so clearly, without getting into details and naming names she came out with the announcement after an unfortunate slip by a trusted vendor that the SDS 100 existed.. many felt that Paul introduced the sds-100 right after that, some saying too early, I'm guessing late May early June of 2018, I got my first one in the first week of June, serial number shows low 400's off the line. No solder joint issue but I did develop the rotary knob encoder problem rather quickly which I permanently repaired myself .. the battery cover clip promptly disintegrated in my hands just picking up the radio shortly after the big butt battery replacement campaign.
Before the announcement that they weren't capable of making the scanner, ww asked for a wish list for the new radio and this was almost a year after the announcement it was in development, that's when I knew it was vaporware and I stopped sitting on the edge of my chair with a fist full of cash in my hand.
Although Paul had lost his voice secondary to his neck tumor, we had firmware Fridays for quite a long time and the radio came a long long way until he really ran into trouble around May of 2019 and eventually passed in late December of 2019 of his advanced ca.
I guess Wendy was doing her job or what she was told to do but it certainly didn't sit well with me. I think they knew they couldn't make an SDR scanner in the carcass of a psr800 within the first 10 minutes of thinking about it LOL.
I looked out in my yard today here in Bucks County PA and saw this, I went to the store and stocked up on popcorn for myself, this all should be interesting, I have no dog in the hunt LOL
Guess you missed the response to your same question here...
Looking at the LinkeIn profile for the signatory I find it very interesting but not hopeful. You can make you own expectations.
He needs to offer Don Starr a large pile of MONEY.
Everybody is guessing, but we went right to the source today and got all the answers about the new reincarnated Whistler.
natcommag.substack.com
SCANNING: There's a NEW Whistler selling scanners
NatCom talked with Whistler about their plans to grow the new business and its product line
natcommag.substack.com
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First he has to find Don Starr.
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Mmmm..Everybody is guessing, but we went right to the source today and got all the answers about the new reincarnated Whistler.
SCANNING: There's a NEW Whistler selling scanners
NatCom talked with Whistler about their plans to grow the new business and its product line
Don still lives in the same house as he did when he was here per Colorado Tax Records.
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Very cool, I know nobody has been able to contact him, at least that's what I've heard on RR. I wonder how old he is now? He would be able to assemble a team to do the job.
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