Will the next generation police scanner be open sourced?

While we play cat and mouse with the Phantom Pro668 firmware update, could an open source scanner be the next big thing?

First of all, I am not a hardware guy (although I am not afraid of a soldering iron), and I am not certainly a programmer. I do however have a pretty good understanding on how things work.

While putting together a BCD396 size scanner is probably out of the question, a home patrol size scanner may just be feasible.  Now that 3d printers are accessible to just about anyone, we  have the ability to create some awesome things.

Now for the parts.  Starting out with processing, the Raspberry Pi (2nd gen) seems like a good choice.  Small and powerful.  Drop a 128 gig SD card in there and you have plenty of space for recording.  There are already small touch screens made for the pi.  One of those with a nice 3d printed case could make a nice size radio.  Unlike the home patrol, it could be made to to sit horizontal or vertical.  The only thing I am not sure about is the battery.   I don't know how long 4 AA batteries would power this.  Another option would be a smartphone lithium battery or even an option to run either one.

The existing sdr dongles could be used, however ideally, one could be manufactured with a smaller footprint, with the antenna easily wired to an external bnc connector.   I would engineer it with 2 dongles for optimal trunk tracking or dual receive.  Taking the dongles one step farther, I would like to see some optimized for say VHF to 900mhz, and maybe one optimized for short wave.  We could actually create a wide coverage receiver with very good sensitivity.

Finally the software and operating system.  Sdr sharp although works, is not the easiest thing to use.  A user friendly version of that with loadable modules is what I envision.   Load up only the modules you need (dmr, provoice etc).  Some sort of slimmed down Linux would be the OS of choice.

Finally, with the built in ethernet adapter,  you have a scanner ready to stream, or run twotonedetect.  In reality,  if you need a streaming scanner only, build it without a screen and manage it remotely.

These are just some basic ideas off the top of my head.  The possibilities are endless for a project like this.  Something like this may someday be a real home brew or kickstarter project.

PRO668 DMR....really?

So our new Pro668 hacker is now claiming to incorporate DMR decoding in his pending custom firmware.   I shouldn't even be wasting time following this train wreck, but I just can't help myself.

If this guy actually pulls this off, you are going to see Pro668 and whistler 1080 prices skyrocket.

Right now I am still calling this bullsh*t until he offers proof. 

Firmware updates

So Uniden  released a firmware update to the 536 scanner.  Fixes included bypassing the clock reset,  faster scanning and improved P25 decoding.   I tested it briefly and yes it does appear to be an improvement.  The 436 version will probably be out in the next week or two.

They also included the first analyze features.  They work but really don't do a whole lot.  The trunk system logging is what I have been waiting for and hopefully that will be next.  Despite the updates, I am still angry at Uniden for the way they have handled things.

On the Pro668 front, there is a guy who first caused a whole forum uproar stating he was able to flash the 1080 firmware into the Pro668.  After 2 days and messing around, we could not reproduce his success and the consensus was that he was full of shit. 

Now he claims to be rewriting the firmware and it going to release it and make the 1080 & 668 a "super scanner".  This is going to go either very bad, or we are moving into uncharted waters, since no one has ever done anything like this before.  The last time was back when Bill Cheek released his books, if any of you remember those days.  No matter which way it goes,  it is going to be an interesting couple weeks ahead.

What scanner to buy?

I get this question all the time, Which scanner do you recommend?  I used to say Uniden because they have always worked the best for me.    Then the BCDx36 line came out.

Everything was great the first few months.  Yes the 536 had the headphone issue, requiring me to send the unit back, however they extended the warranty from 1 year to 3, so they made up for it.

After that, weeks turned into months, which now had turned into over a year. the story has changed.

1) None of the extended features have been delivered
2) The WiFi works up to a point and only an incomplete IOS version of the software is out.
3) Both scanners have the clock issue, requiring you to reset the clock every time you power it on.
(as of 4/6 still no firmware patch to bypass the clock reset, and it has been over a month now)
4) No other bugs have been fixed.

At this point I feel I own $1200 worth of crap.  Since there appears to be serious quality control issues now, i would not buy any BCDx36 scanner until they address any of these issues.  I "think" you would be ok with the Home Patrol 2, since that is 90% based on an existing unit and 6 months later nothing serious has shown up.  I am a bit skeptical about the new "P" series like (Based on the XT scanners).   They may be fine, however I would suggest waiting a while to see.

If you need at TDMA capable scanner right now.  I would suggest a Pro-668.  You can still get they pretty cheap if you look around.  Anything under $250 is still a great deal for a TDMA capable scanner.    You can always sell it later on for most of what you paid, and then get a Uniden later on, assuming they work out the issues.

For mobile, it becomes less clear.  The HP-2 may be the way to go (especially if you need GPS).  The Whistler mobile should be out soon, however that will go for top dollar at first and I would not go that route until I see some reviews on it.

Finally, I think this clock issue is worse than we all think.  When the headphone issue turned up last year, within weeks they had a plan to fix it.  nearly 2 months later, not a word from Uniden which leads be to believe that this is going to be a giant recall of every x36 radio out there.  It took just over a year for this issue to surface on both my radio's, so those saying they bought a later radio means nothing.  See what happens when you hit 14 months.  

Pro-668 Update and Uniden needs to get a clue

So now I am 2 plus weeks with the Pro-668.  Now that the honeymoon period and ended and reality has set in, I can say that my opinion has not changed much.   There is some tweaking that you can do, and there are some really good posts on radio reference (in the GRE and RS forums) on what to adjust.

The TDMA issue I posted about, turns out the be a specific channel on the NJICS system coming off Montana Mountain.  After some testing, I determined that any TDMA traffic coming over on 773.03125, will not decode on either the Pro-668, or the Uniden BCDx36 radio's.  Normal P25 traffic will however decode.  Since I don't have a real TMDA radio, I can't tell if this is something with the scanner's themselves, or if that tower is having an issue.    We don't have a whole lot of TDMA radio's in this area, so this may very well be an issue and is just going un-noticed for a while.  I am also interested to see if this is isolated to my tower, or if this is a wide spread issue.

After getting a break with the iPhone Siren App release, The BCDx36 owners are once again screaming.  This time the internal clock batteries appear to be failing.  I never had a problem until I plugged that damn WiFi dongle in mine.  I made it through 2 months of minus temperatures, and I put the dongle in 1 time and the clock is all screwed up.   I have a feeling you may be seeing another recall.  Nice Going!

Optimize your scan list

First an update to my Pro-668 post yesterday.  My adapt level change isn't working out as well as I had hoped.  I am going to swing it the other direction today and see if that makes a difference (I  went from 64 to 16, now I moved it to 90).

I also forgot to mention that they Pro-668 battery life is much better than the 436, however it does have 4 batteries vs the 436's 3.

Optimizing your scanner
The nice thing about these new scanners is you can put in your zip code, everything in your area downloads and off you go.  The problem with that is the way it downloads is probably not the most efficient way to scan.

The radio scans in sequential order, and you hear the first active frequency or talkgroup it comes across.  By moving things you want to hear to the front of the list, you will improve your chances of hearing the things that are most important.  Things that are less important, or tend to hog air time, put them at the back of the list.  This applies to the system level as well.  Put your most important trunk or conventional system first.

This is particularly useful if your county or state is migrating to a new digital system from an old one.  Many times the old analog systems are simulcasted, either part time or full time.  This is the case for example with Somerset County, and often NJSP talkgroups show up in the NJICS 700 System.  By putting the newer system first, you increases the odds of listening to that particular talkgroup on the digital side, vs the analog side.  If you want to increase your chances even more, add a hold time (if you have a Uniden) of 3-4 seconds to the digital group.

You can also use this method to your advantage while mobile (especially if you use GPS scanning).  Many trunk systems have fill in sites, which are fill in sites for area's with poor coverage (usually referred to as IR Sites).  NJSP has them all over the place for the 800 system, and Bucks county has a couple as well.  Since they are only active when a nearby radio affiliates to it, they are normally not worth monitoring, since you only hear maybe 1 or 2 talkgroups and even that may be inconsistent.  However while you are mobile, by putting these sites first in the site list, you will be more likely to lock on to those when you are in an area where the main site has poor reception and hear the local traffic more clearly.    Your mileage may vary with this particular technique.   A good example of where this works well is the NJSP on route 78.  The Bedminster IR site was setup to improve coverage on Route 78 between Clinton and Route 287.  By scanning the IR site first, the 5 Comm traffic comes in much better, than when I was only relying on the main simulcast site.

Uniden BCD436HP Vs PSR-800/WS-1080/Pro-668 Revisited

When I got rid of my PSR-800 last year, I never thought in a million years I would discuss it ever again.  In the end it turned into quite a hate/hate relationship.  Thanks to Radio Shack blowing out the Pro-668 for $150, it was an offer I couldn't refuse.  The timing is actually perfect, considering Uniden's popularity right now is neck and neck with Congress.

I had a lot of issues with my PSR-800, and some of that has not changed.  One thing I have noticed with the new 668 is I don't have as much front end overload.  My 800 was an early model (with the faceplate issue),  and they have seemed to have made some minor improvements under the hood over the last couple years.

Since I deleted all my EZScan files, I had to start from scratch with the radio.  It took me a few days to get everything in order and to re-familiarize myself with the radio.

First thing I missed was the LED light.  Uniden gives you 2 options, 1 color and either flash or solid for 5 seconds, then it shuts off.  The 668 (going forward includes the PSR-800 & Whistler 1080), gives you the option of a solid light or flashing.  You can change how many colors to flash, and how fast.  You can even change the pattern.  It also stays on as long as the squelch is broken.  

Another thing is the Scan Lists (now called Play Lists for some awful reason).    You can setup a lists for specific purposes.  For example I have a slim list consisting of a few NJSP Talkgroups, and my local Fire/EMS/OEM frequencies, for when I don't want to listen to a whole lot and just what is happening locally.

There are also the V Folders, which lets you setup an entirely different configuration.  I always found this useful for when I am going away and want to setup the scanner in advance.

When I first got my 436, I thought the display was much better, a year later I am not so sure:
They both show pretty much the same information.
The 436 can show 23 characters vs 16 on the 668.
The 436 text is smaller and the fonts are thinner, the 668 has nice bold fonts which are easier to read.  The 436 does have text in 2 different sizes to differentiate things, where the 668 kind of runs together.
The 436 is not that bright, in fact the brightest level is the 668's lowest level.
The 436 light can come on with the squelch, but it is time limited, where you can set the light on the 668 to come on (per channel), and will stay on until the squelch closes.
I have to say I have changed my mind and I like the 668 display better now. 

Another pet peeve I had was the front end overload, and with that being toned down (It is still present, but nothing like before), the 2 scanners seem to perform very similar, with the 668 pulling in signals a bit better than the 436.  I did have some difficulty pulling in some TMDA traffic, but changing the DSP Level Adapt to 16 seems to have helped the situation.

There are still plenty of things I think the 436 does better, and I also prefer the HP Sentinel software, and I like the one touch recording, and being able to actually make changes without a computer.  That is the one reason why I would probably take the 436 with me on vacation vs the 668.  I was burned too many times when my programming wasn't correct on my PSR-800 and I had no way to correct it.

In conclusion, for $150, this is the scanner deal of the year and you can't go wrong.  You will not find a deal like this again anytime soon.  After a year with the 436 and Uniden's drama over the last 6 months, the 668 (and it's clones) have redeemed itself.