Ws1010 analog scanner

[Clats97]

So in wanted an analog scanner mainly for airband. I almost exclusively buy things thru amazon prime so I had to pick between a 120 dollar Whistler or a 200 dollar uniden. I'm a Uniden guy, with uniden radios, and 3 uniden scanners, so this is my first time with Whistler. I got the scanner, programmed in all the frequencies, nothing, won't receive. The squelch is set properly just above the noise floor and when I programmed in the weather frequency it would not receive that either. Am I missing something here?

Thanks

 

[trentbob]

A few questions here, do you listen to aviation in your area and receive traffic regularly? Do you have a NOAA weather radio frequency that works on other radios in your area?]. If so there should be no reason that your ws1010 shouldn't be receiving the same using whatever antenna you use for other radios.

Going by memory the ws1010 is a twice rebranded radio originally made by GRE and was the PSR 100, GRE made a model for Radio Shack and then when Whistler bought GRE, they made a model for Radio Shack which I think was the pro 649. They are basically all the same radio. First introduced in 2007 by GRE.

Normally a rooftop or attic antenna or even a VHF ground plane mounted on a floor lamp is going to work better than the rubber duck but again if other radios are picking up aircraft and your local NOAA weather radio frequency then perhaps your new radio is defective. Hopefully you are within the return time range.

A good Uniden radio for aircraft in the same price range is the BC 125 AT. Uniden has an analog non-trunking hobby radio portable and base mobile coming out at some point in the future but the cost factor is unknown and might be more than these units because it includes DMR and nxdn. There are other threads addressing these radios.

Can't imagine why, if other radios you have can pick up aircraft activity, and does pick up your local NOAA Weather Radio Station why the Whistler is not doing the same, can't think of any reason why it wouldn't.

That GRE PSR 100, now the ws1010 was a good radio in its day over 15 years ago.

 

[Clats97]

Yes and yes. And yes I'm using rubber duck but every other radio and scanner I have can receive the same signals. I hear the airport and the weather frequencies just fine on anything else. And yes that's the one that was 200. I elected not to buy that one even tho I usually buy unidens.

 

[trentbob]

Yes and yes. And yes I'm using rubber duck but every other radio and scanner I have can receive the same signals. I hear the airport and the weather frequencies just fine on anything else. And yes that's the one that was 200. I elected not to buy that one even tho I usually buy unidens.

If you are able to return the Whistler, I think you might be able to do a better price on the Uniden and if not it might be worth the few extra bucks.😉.

 

[trentbob]

One quick thought I just had was make sure you did not accidentally turn on attenuation or ATT.

 

[Clats97]

One quick thought I just had was make sure you did not accidentally turn on attenuation or ATT.

No its not

 

[Clats97]

If you are able to return the Whistler, I think you might be able to do a better price on the Uniden and if not it might be worth the few extra bucks.😉.

I already got my refund but if I could fic it that'd be great lol. I'm kind of annoyed. Not a very good first time experience with Whistler but whatever

 

[trentbob]

I already got my refund but if I could fic it that'd be great lol. I'm kind of annoyed. Not a very good first time experience with Whistler but whatever

The first thing I think of is to make sure the BNC connector on the radio is not shifting if you attempt to turn it a little bit you could always have a broken solder connection which is easily fixed by Whistler repair or if you want to void the warranty if you were to keep the radio you might be able to fix it yourself.

If you have any play in The BNC connector on the radio then the weather would be intermittent.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

so this is my first time with Whistler. I got the scanner, programmed in all the frequencies, nothing, won't receive.

Ha, par for the course with Whistler . Do you have another antenna on hand? If no RX on WX (weather), you could have a defective unit. Shame you limit your purchases to Amazon Prime. I hear the Uniden BC125AT can't be beat on air band

 

[pb_lonny]

It sounds faulty, I would look at a BC125AT.

 

[N8IAA]

I already got my refund but if I could fic it that'd be great lol. I'm kind of annoyed. Not a very good first time experience with Whistler but whatever

If you got a refund, didn't you have to return the scanner?? Why would you try to fix it??
That doesn't make any sense...........

 

[N8IAA]

It sounds faulty, I would look at a BC125AT.

+1 on the 125AT.

 

[Clats97]

Ha, par for the course with Whistler . Do you have another antenna on hand? If no RX on WX (weather), you could have a defective unit. Shame you limit your purchases to Amazon Prime. I hear the Uniden BC125AT can't be beat on air band

Yeah im open to other retailers but NOT ebay or marketplace etc. I have a good track record with Amazon, they have always given me a refund for defective or damaged or any other items I have a problem with. The 125 was the other option on prime but it was 200 versus 120 so that's why I went with the Whistler. Which is an obvious regret notwithstanding the refund.

 

[Clats97]

If you got a refund, didn't you have to return the scanner?? Why would you try to fix it??
That doesn't make any sense...........

They refunded me without having to return it. I don't know why, I asked them for the return label at the end of the call and they said "recycle or repourpuse it". Keep in mind, this is a company that is earning hundreds of millions of dollars per day. They absolutely do not care about a 120 dollar scanner being defective. Take the loss move on is what they do. I have received refunds for plenty of stuff they let me keep.

 

[Clats97]

It sounds faulty, I would look at a BC125AT.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Something to do with the board I think. Total shame. More reason to stick with uniden I should have gone with the 125 but oh well. I was trying to save a buck.

 

[TAbirdman]

If you still have your dated store receipt send it back to Whistler, you have nothing to lose.

 

[trentbob]

They refunded me without having to return it. I don't know why, I asked them for the return label at the end of the call and they said "recycle or repourpuse it". Keep in mind, this is a company that is earning hundreds of millions of dollars per day. They absolutely do not care about a 120 dollar scanner being defective. Take the loss move on is what they do. I have received refunds for plenty of stuff they let me keep.

Now I'm lost lol. Everyone has been coming up with the same answers that I came up with at the beginning of the thread that I thought it was defective, you should return it and I recommended the Bearcat 125 AT.

I guess nobody saw my post, as others keep repeating it.

I have never heard of even Amazon saying here's your money back and you can keep the radio. Recycle it, whatever that means or repurpose it, you mean like a doorstop?

Was this a vendor on Amazon? It's very unusual for a brand new radio that's never been unboxed to fail. So I guess you can register with Whistler and send it in for free warranty service and take the free gift. Again I've never heard of any vendor, Amazon or otherwise, refunding your money without having to return the merchandise.

This doesn't make any sense to me at all but I stand by my analysis and advice that.. others have repeated.. as the first poster to reply LOL.

 

[Clats97]

Now I'm lost lol. Everyone has been coming up with the same answers that I came up with at the beginning of the thread that I thought it was defective, you should return it and I recommended the Bearcat 125 AT.

I guess nobody saw my post, as others keep repeating it.

I have never heard of even Amazon saying here's your money back and you can keep the radio. Recycle it, whatever that means or repurpose it, you mean like a doorstop?

Was this a vendor on Amazon? It's very unusual for a brand new radio that's never been unboxed to fail. So I guess you can register with Whistler and send it in for free warranty service and take the free gift. Again I've never heard of any vendor, Amazon or otherwise, refunding your money without having to return the merchandise.

This doesn't make any sense to me at all but I stand by my analysis and advice that.. others have repeated.. as the first poster to reply LOL.

You may not have heard of it, but it happens, and this is not the first time.

This is directly from amazon's website on the "Returns" section that tells you all the return rules. If you don't believe me google it yourself.

Direct quote:

"Amazon may determine that a refund can be issued without requiring a return."

And they did just that. So, I was going to give this away to someone, but you're saying Whistler may fix it under warranty for free? And I'm not 100% sure if it was a private vendor or sold by Amazon, all I know is that it was a prime product and was marked as FULFULLED by Amazon.

The 125 was what I was originally going to buy, as I am a Uniden guy, but I foolishly made the decision to save 60 bucks by going with the Whistler.

I have just touched the hot stove. Not gonna happen again. Your advice will be heeded I can assure you of that. 125 is my next purchase.

 

[trentbob]

You may not have heard of it, but it happens, and this is not the first time.

This is directly from amazon's website on the "Returns" section that tells you all the return rules. If you don't believe me google it yourself.

Direct quote:

"Amazon may determine that a refund can be issued without requiring a return."

And they did just that. So, I was going to give this away to someone, but you're saying Whistler may fix it under warranty for free? And I'm not 100% sure if it was a private vendor or sold by Amazon, all I know is that it was a prime product and was marked as FULFULLED by Amazon.

The 125 was what I was originally going to buy, as I am a Uniden guy, but I foolishly made the decision to save 60 bucks by going with the Whistler.

I have just touched the hot stove. Not gonna happen again. Your advice will be heeded I can assure you of that. 125 is my next purchase.

Oh yeah, I wasn't doubting for a moment that this is what happened. I definitely believe you and I have to admit that my scanner purchasing days are over and don't purchase from Amazon. If I need some kind of ham equipment or an accessory I go to one of the go to ham radio suppliers.

I certainly haven't purchased a Whistler radio since the TRX one which I'm in a heavily simulcast area and it never worked for me but I hang on to it with all the other radios. I have purchased several SDS 100s and 200s and I'm down to one each. I do have a graveyard of scanners in my garage that I hang on to. I have been monitoring since the mid-60s when I was a kid.

If you have receipt and warranty registration papers for Whistler which I assume has a warranty there is no reason why you cannot send the radio in for repair which should be free.

If there was some issue where they wouldn't do a warranty repair even if you pay money to Whistler it's still going to be less than what the radio cost you, nothing.

As I say the GRE PSR 100 which is the same radio you have had a great reputation over 15 years ago. My area was all digital type ll Smart Zone so I had no use for a PSR 100. We had the GRE made pro 96 and the bearcat digital scanners introduced in 2003.

Keep us posted, this has turned out to be a very interesting topic.

 

[KevinC]

They refunded me without having to return it. I don't know why, I asked them for the return label at the end of the call and they said "recycle or repourpuse it". Keep in mind, this is a company that is earning hundreds of millions of dollars per day. They absolutely do not care about a 120 dollar scanner being defective. Take the loss move on is what they do. I have received refunds for plenty of stuff they let me keep.

If you paid $120 for it on Amazon you got ripped off, I see if for 79.00. Not that it really matters though since you got a refund.