WS1065 or WS1098?

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csgaraglino

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Whats the difference between these two radios and it is worth the $150 price difference?

I live in Colorado a DTRS system on P25 Phase I - and even though Denver "can" support Phase II - down here in Colorado Springs they just switched to Phase I and should be on it for a great many years.

I ran into some hardware issues with a RS PRO-652 (that's what I get for buying used an don't knowing what to look for). I do have ACR500 and even though it has it's issued found programing no problem. I have a HH PRO-651 that I enjoy and will still use that for it.

The Whistler will sit on my desk 24/7 and (hopefully) be able to record transmission to my computer while working at my desk during the day.

I mostly use scanners to find work - I'm a photojournalist - and for the past year have been using steans form this site, but recently felt the need to "get real".

Being limited in hardware knowledge - I am not sure what the differences are and if I should just pony-up and get the 1098?

I did look at the 1095 - but the missing number keys might be an issue - I have each city/town in it's on scanlist so I can quickly turn of surrounding chatter and just listen to a local incident to make a decision of I need to load the truck and go.

Recording the audio has proven very valuable when trying to locate their location - it's kid of a must!

I know that I can use ARC500 with the 1065 - but I an not familiar with EZSan?

Thoughts?
 

allend

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Long Beach, CA
Whats the difference between these two radios and it is worth the $150 price difference?

I live in Colorado a DTRS system on P25 Phase I - and even though Denver "can" support Phase II - down here in Colorado Springs they just switched to Phase I and should be on it for a great many years.

I ran into some hardware issues with a RS PRO-652 (that's what I get for buying used an don't knowing what to look for). I do have ACR500 and even though it has it's issued found programing no problem. I have a HH PRO-651 that I enjoy and will still use that for it.

The Whistler will sit on my desk 24/7 and (hopefully) be able to record transmission to my computer while working at my desk during the day.

I mostly use scanners to find work - I'm a photojournalist - and for the past year have been using steans form this site, but recently felt the need to "get real".

Being limited in hardware knowledge - I am not sure what the differences are and if I should just pony-up and get the 1098?

I did look at the 1095 - but the missing number keys might be an issue - I have each city/town in it's on scanlist so I can quickly turn of surrounding chatter and just listen to a local incident to make a decision of I need to load the truck and go.

Recording the audio has proven very valuable when trying to locate their location - it's kid of a must!

I know that I can use ARC500 with the 1065 - but I an not familiar with EZSan?

Thoughts?

The WS-1065 will only decode Phase I FDMA and the WS-1098 will Decode Phase I FDMA and Phase II TDMA.

I also believe that the WS-1098 will also decode DMR and MotoTrbo too.

If you were only in the market for Phase I FDMA then the WS-1065 is a great radio for the price. It's a fantastic radio to decode P25 on the market.

If you wanted both Phase I and Phase II then I would go with the Uniden BCD536HP or the Whistler TRX-2.

Probably would stay away from the WS-1098 radio since its a little bit older radio and does not have a full keypad. This is just my 2 cents
 

Spitfire8520

I might be completely clueless! =)
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Jun 29, 2009
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1,969
Location
Colorado
Whats the difference between these two radios and it is worth the $150 price difference?

...

Recording the audio has proven very valuable when trying to locate their location - it's kid of a must!

I know that I can use ARC500 with the 1065 - but I an not familiar with EZSan?

Thoughts?

As previously mentioned, it supports Phase 2 stuff which allows for future proofing should the current system be upgraded. I do not think that Colorado DTRS will be upgrading their system anytime soon as it sounds like the money isn't there, although I could be wrong. It would let you hear Aurora Fire and Arvada Fire if you ever plan on heading north, but unfortunately the current trend is that Phase 2 usually brings law enforcement encryption.

Also mentioned, it handles DMR/MOTOTRBO that many businesses use. Not sure if this would be a feature you would use often as it doesn't really have much to do with public safety in Colorado.

The WS1098 has an on board recording feature that records audio to an SD card inside the scanner. EZ-Scan should let download the audio that it has recorded, and both the scanner and EZ-Scan should let you playback the audio.

There's also a lot of little things that the WS1098 has including more memory and scan list organization options. I believe it also tracks Radio IDs more reliably than the Pro-651/652. EZ-Scan comes with the scanner and a copy of the database, so you shouldn't find the extra charges that have seen with your Pro-651.

Unfortunately it lacks a stationary multi-site functionality. If you do not know what this means, it basically makes the scanner check all the different sites that it can see for the talkgroups it has programmed since not all sites carry the same radio traffic. It can be worked around by duplicating your programming with different sites.

Reading the Easier to Read Whistler WS1095/1098 Base/Mobile Scanner and Software Manual might give you an idea of what the WS1098 has to offer over the Pro-651/652.

The biggest concerns that I have with all scanners on the market these days is lack of simulcast site performance. It has really devolved into a matter of luck with location and conditions on whether or not a scanner will properly decode such sites. This includes all of the latest and greatest scanners. Colorado Springs will be bringing online a 6 site simulcast within the next year that will replace Stanley Canyon (4-012), Ski Summit (4-013), Austin Bluffs (4-016), Airport (4-017), Templeton Gap (4-022), and Cedar Heights (4-024). This could possibly mean that you will no longer be able to reliably decode those sites in the future.

Probably would stay away from the WS-1098 radio since its a little bit older radio and does not have a full keypad. This is just my 2 cents

The WS1098 is the full keypad version of the WS1095. I think the Whistler has phased out production of the WS1095.
 
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