Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

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matthewn1983
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Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by matthewn1983 » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:50 pm

Date: 20 September 2013 from examiner.com
This has been on RR for past few days, was waiting for something concrete before posting.

http://www.examiner.com/article/whistle ... anner-line

:mrgreen:

It's official. It's not a rumor. Whistler Group Vice President Leslie Folsom today, September 20 2013 confirmed to Examiner.com that their company purchased from GRE Electronics the patents and all interests in manufacturing and selling their complete line of scanners, yesterday, Sept 19 2013..

That is big news, as GRE has gone out of the scanner business last year. The hottest product on the market was the PSR 800 which was the only scanner capable of decoding TDMA type 2 transmissions. If that is greek, to you, it means it is the voice and trunking protocol that most major cities like Philadelphia will soon be using.

"Whistler does not intend to be a bystander in this market, we are jumping in with both feet", Folsom said. While she would not confirm or deny if Whistler Electronics. planning on making something like that. "All I can tell you is that me have hired a scanner expert who used to work for GRE to help us", Folsom said.

From that kind of language, electronic enthusiasts have hope that this product will be made. The fact that they have entered the scanner market is not really exciting . There are tons of analog scanners and digital scanners that are available. What will set Whistler ahead of the pack is to manufacture something comparable to the PSR 800 and sell it at a reasonable price.

Electronic stores bought pallets of PSR 800's and jacked the price up and took advantage of scared scanner listeners who feared getting left behind by this technology. Every scanner has been sold at a greatly inflated price.

"We intend to have a radio for just about every market, we are well aware of the new technology out there, Folsom said. Any scanner Whistler sells will have to be re type accepted by the FCC. Whistler may also be making scanners to be sold as Radio Shack scanners. Whistler will start selling theirs within the first quarter of 2014.

"There are new scanners being made , so if the first that we make do not have what you want,there will be more coming", Folsom said.

Scotty
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Re: Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by Scotty » Tue Sep 24, 2013 12:11 am

I'm thinking Whistler are blowing their trumpet a bit too loud, so to speak.

I enjoy scanning as a past-time, but with so many different proprietary standards being used, and so many users now opting for encryption, the hobby is slowly dying. There is nothing Whistler can do to combat either of these issues.

matthewn1983
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Re: Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by matthewn1983 » Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:49 pm

Watch this space, Uniden are about to release detail on a new model, in the not too distant future. some data/specs was listed on FCC website (US) and was removed on request by Uniden within hours.

At least there is a small light at the end of the tunnel.

Scotty
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Re: Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by Scotty » Tue Sep 24, 2013 5:49 pm

matthewn1983 wrote:Watch this space, Uniden are about to release detail on a new model, in the not too distant future. some data/specs was listed on FCC website (US) and was removed on request by Uniden within hours.

At least there is a small light at the end of the tunnel.
One would think that at best the new model (rumoured the BCD536HP) will be P25 Phase 2 compatible.

The proprietary radio systems that the majority of radio users are switching to will still remain un-scannable (and obviously as will encrypted users).

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Bigfella237
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Re: Whistler Group acquires GRE scanner line

Post by Bigfella237 » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:41 pm

From what I've read, the problem has always been that the licence fees DVSI want for the AMBE+2 vocoder are redonkulous, so much so that it would make scanners cost about the same as an equivalent two way radio?

Andrew

Longreach
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Re: Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by Longreach » Tue Sep 24, 2013 10:17 pm

Hi all, Its good news that someone has picked up GRE. Im pleased to see it will live on. Now we might see the PSR900
Cheers'
Matt
VK2MRC

matthewn1983
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Re: Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by matthewn1983 » Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:33 pm

Whistler Enters Radio Scanners
By Lisa Johnston On Sep 27 2013 - 11:43am
Bentonville, Ark. — Radar-detector maker Whistler Group announced it is entering the radio scanner market.

The company has purchased the intellectual property of GRE America, and said it plans to launch a line of scanners under the Whistler brand in the first quarter.
The Whistler line will include handheld and desktop/mobile digital scanners with a full keyboard, a handheld scanner with a built-in U.S. and Canada database, and two VHF/UHF non-trunking scanners.
Whistler also said it will launch the industry’s first scanner that works on newer modulation protocols including P25-Phase II.

Jesse Hopkins, Whistler president/CEO, said: “This is a exciting opportunity to produce quality product that keeps up with changing industry technology. We look forward to making positive contributions to this industry.”

Longreach
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Re: Whistler Group aquires GRE scanner line

Post by Longreach » Mon Oct 14, 2013 5:42 pm

Sounds like they grabbed the 800 in the process.
cheers
Matt
VK2MRC

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