[TrunkCom] digital decoder plug-in

[Dave Emery]

On Fri, Jan 11, 2002 at 09:51:12AM -0500, Brian J Cathcart wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Jan 2002 03:30:47 -0500 iDEN-Test Port-Marcelrf
> <Marcelrf@Bellsouth.net> writes:
> > > 2.  Hours to program
> > 
> > Sorry wrong again- Hours??? who have you been watching? 3 Mins.
> 
> Only 3 minutes to dump the codeplug into the radio, but only after you
> have entered all of the systems, talkgroups, Zones, etc. which can take
> MUCH longer.
> 


	My my, such angry talking at cross purposes.

	Seems obvious to me:

	1.  Moto radios have much better rf performance, louder
audio, more precisely follow the system specs, are much ruggeder
than any scanner.  No question at all they beat any scanner hands
down at receiving specific talkgroups on a system under difficult
conditions.

	2.  Scanners such as the 785D cover many more modes, bands,
signals, trunking types than any single commercial radio, Moto or
otherwise.

	3.  Scanners have much more scanner user friendly software than
any Motorola radio setup and configuration product - either intended for
service use or internal Motorola depot use.   They can be programmed
from the keypad by novices in the field - unmodified Motorola radios
are not keypad programmable and the programming process is not
bulletproof, or simple.

	4.  Scanners are marketed to the general public.   Motorola
radios and especially programming and service software, cables, RIBs and
the system keys required to use them while sometimes available to the
general public are not marketed to them.   And most of the more powerful
and flexible Motorola programming software is deliberately  controlled
and restricted in distribution and in many if not most cases would not
be made available to the general public for programming Motorola radios
to listen to public safety systems if such a market developed - at the
very least the problem of ensuring that some yahoo didn't start
programming radios to transmit without authorization on some system
using the software would stop this.

	5.  Motorola digital radios are sold at $2500-3500 a pop new.
The full retail price of a next generation Uniden digital scanner new is
$680 (but certain to be discounted).   Comparing used prices for
Motorola digital trunking radios to the full retail price of a new
scanner is a bit of a stretch.   And more of a stretch when those
Motorola prices are based on limited sales in cash at a few hamfests -
compared to mail order over the web from many dealers delivered via UPS
to the door.   If large numbers of members of the public started to seek
out Moto digital Astro radios at hamfests the prices would no doubt go
way up and availability become non-existant.



	What does this all mean ...

	For someone who wants the best possible radio performance
listening to a specific Moto digital (or for that matter analog) trunked
system and is willing to pay the price for legal software, cables, RIBs,
and so forth from Motorola (or elsewhere), and for someone who also can
pass whatever screening and other qualification Motorola currently or in
the future may apply to those they are willing to license radio
programming software to, there is little doubt that using real Motorola
radios will get the best possible results as respects quality reception.
And these results are likely to be considerably better than any scanner
yeilds. And many very serious listeners (especially those whose business
depends on it, such as press photographers, and off duty and volunteer
public safety personnel) have already found that using real Moto radios
produces better and more reliable results and use them where they can
afford to.

	There is little surprise to this - scanners are a cheap
compromise aimed at a very price sensitive market and designed to
fulfill the greatest possible number of reception interests - the
average scanner user is far more interested in the breadth of things he
can casually listen to than being able to listen to any one thing as
well as the state of the art allows. And this is in direct
contradistinction to Motorola radios which are designed to provide state
of the art reception (in the size, weight, power consumption that is
needed by the market they serve) for one or a few systems and signals.
where such performance really counts.

	The equivalent of Motorola radios in scanners are those Watkins
Johnson and other military/spook receivers that have specs as good 
or better than Motorola transceivers and cost the government upwards
of $10K to $25K.
	

	But for a hobbiest who wants to pay little money but be able to
copy at least some traffic on a wide variety of radio systems  under
favorable reception conditions buying a scanner makes much more sense. 
It is cheaper, and covers much more territory and is easier to use and
setup.

	And most important, scanners are marketed and freely sold to the
hobbiest, while commercial radios are not and for most hobbiests without
a connection with the industry and/or lots of technical training and
experiance access to the required tools and software to use Motorola
radios as scanners is distinctly limited, and not something that just
anyone can expect to be able to have.

	Unfortunately certain participants in this discussion seem to
exhibit a bit of the I'm-better-than-you-are-because-I'm-an-insider
and-have-access-to-all-the-best-insider-tools attitude problem.   No
doubt at all that insiders in any industry with access to professional
grade tools and inside information look down on the "ignorant" general
public that doesn't have the things their job provides them, but even
they should remember that unless they are truly unusual people (and few
indeed of those have time for scanner lists) they didn't invent,
implement or design the fancy tools they use, or the underlying
technology of the systems they work on either but are just as much
"users" of those things as the general public is of its scanners.

-- 
	Dave Emery N1PRE,  die@die.com  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass. 
PGP fingerprint = 2047/4D7B08D1 DE 6E E1 CC 1F 1D 96 E2  5D 27 BD B0 24 88 C3 18