The Scanner Gazette - Linn County, IA Going to Digital

By Jonathan Higgins

New $18 Million Dollar system for Linn County, Iowa

Linn County is looking to upgrade to a digital (Project25) system. The county hopes the new system will improve the reception throughout it's' 724 square miles. - Read more

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Moore County, NC Moving to VIPER

The county board is not settle on the game plan for this $5 million move. Currently the county is operating on UHF 450 and 460Mhz. - Read more

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New Firmware for the Uniden HomePatrol

New firmware update is now available for the Uniden HomePatrol - Read more
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Road Trip back from Dayton Hamvention

By Richard Barnett

Destination: Dayton, OH
Event: Dayton Hamvention
When: Friday, May 20 - Sunday, May 22, 2011

Dayton Hamvention Report

Gommert Buysen of Butel Software and I just returned from the Dayton Hamvention in Dayton, OH. The Hamvention is the world's largest Ham radio show and has been held every year in late May since the early 1950s. For the past dozen or so years Scanner Master has had a booth at the show where we meet scanner hobbyists and amateur radio operators, talk scanners and show and sell scanners and accessories.

We drive out to the show each year from our Massachusetts offices and this year we brought with us the Uniden HomePatrol HP-1 for the ride and mounted it on Uniden's new windshield suction-cup mount along with our Garmin GPS receiver kit to provide the HomePatrol with constant automatic position data. This set-up was simply amazing. We did not have to touch the HP-1 more than a couple of times on the entire route from near Boston to the far side of Ohio. The radio constantly updated the active channels based on our location. As we drove the State Police/Highway Patrol was always active and the county sheriffs and local police channels enabled and disabled automatically as needed. If we wanted to listen to fire services as well we just pressed the menu key, pressed the select service types key, and the fire key. That's it.

At the show the HomePatrol received universal praise from other very serious hobbyists as well as Ham radio operators for its ease-of-use and, like us, everyone who drove to the show with the GPS functionality on were simply wowed at how well it worked. As the RadioReference database which fuels the HomePatrol gets better and better every day the radio becomes more of an incredible tool. Yes we're gushing, but this scanner deserves every accolade it gets.

We'll have more on the show and other radios that people loved in an upcoming posting.

Rich Barnett

New Product - Tenergy 4 In 1 Battery Charger

By Jonathan Higgins

The Product: 4 in 1 Battery Charger
Price: $29.95

Tenergy Ultra Fast 4 in 1 Battery Charger will get your batteries charged up within two hours.

• Ultra Fast Charger, charges 2 or 4 AA or AAA batteries in 2 hours
• Includes "intelligent" microprocessor controlled charging, identifies defective cells and a safety timer for complete overcharge protection.
• Powered by an external AC adaptor for both indoor use or for in car usage by a cigarette lighter plug to your car.
• With mechanical design against wrong polarity and short circuit protection.
• Especially designed for rechargeable batteries used in scanners and other high drain rate electronic devices.

In the Package:

• Fast Charger for AA/AAA Batteries
• 4 AA 2500mAh NI-MH Rechargeable Batteries
• AC Adapter
• DC Adapter Cigarette Lighter Plug

Firmware Alert - Uniden HomePatrol-1

By Jonathan Higgins

Product: Uniden HomePatrol-1 (HP-1)
Firmware Update: 1.03.01

What included in the update?

• Shorter POWER up time
• Hold functionally
  
• Setting default power down option
  - read more about this firmware update

This update should fix a couple of the little bugs that were reported to Uniden. Nothing major in this update.

How to update your HomePatrol?

1. Plug your HP-1 into AC Power to prevent power lost during update.
2. Connect your HP-1 to your PC via the Programming cable.
3. Open the Sentinel Software
   (If you don't have the software download it here)
4. Click "Update" tab
5. Select "Update Firmware"
   
6. Your HomePatrol should be selected, click "OK"
7. The software will prompt you once the download is done.
8. Disconnect the programming cable from your HP-1
9. Please allow a few minutes for the update process to run.
10. Your HP-1 will restart and the firmware update is complete.

Road Trip to Dayton Hamvention

Destination: Dayton, OH
Event: Dayton Hamvention
When: Friday, May 20 - Sunday, May 22, 2011

Scanner Master will be back at its usual inside booth #402 at the Dayton Hamvention in Ohio from May 20th-22nd. Rich Barnett will be there along with Gommert Buysen of Butel ARC Software. If you've never been to the Dayton Hamvention it's the world's largest gathering of Ham radio operators including a great many scanner enthusiasts. GRE, Icom and others will have booths and Rich and Gommert will be in the Scanner Master booth to answer any questions and of course sell scanners and accessories.

Please stop by and say hello and and take a look at some of our new products and accessories.

Hara Arena - Map
1001 Shiloh Springs Rd.
Dayton, Ohio 45415

The Scanner Gazette - Scanner Master @ Hamvention 2011

By Jonathan Higgins

Rebanding in Montgomery County PA
The county is looking at this options for rebanding, and it may cost more then the $3 to $5 million dollars offered by Sprint/Nextel – Read more
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New Radio System Jamming Garage Door Openners
Navy in Newport, RI has a new radio system, the system is meant to open communications but it causing problems with area wide garage doors. - Read more
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Scanner Master @ Hamvention 2011

Booth: 402 (Inside)
Dates: Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22, 2011

This week Rich Barnett of Scanner Master along with Gommert Buysen of Butel Software will be at booth #402 inside the Hara Arena Complex at the Dayton Hamvention in Dayton, OH. The Hamvention is the world's largest Amateur Radio convention and Scanner Master will be there demonstrating and selling scanners and accessories for the scanner community that attends each year. If you're a fan of scanners please stop by and say hello.
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The Scanner Gazette - Rebanding in the Nutmeg State

By Jonathan Higgins

Rebanding in the Nutmeg State
Connecticut State Police are making head way with their Rebanding project. Most sites on the Motorola digital trunk system are now using the new rebanded frequencies. – Read more
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Florence, MS Police Going Digital Soon
Florence Police will be joining the Statewide Mississippi Wireless Integrated Network (MSWIN). MSWIN is a statewide digital Project 25 Phase 1 trunk system. - Read more
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Price Reduction on Two Popular GRE Scanners
On Wednesday, Scanner Master drops the price on GRE Analog Trunking PSR310 and PSR-410 Scanners from $199.95 to $174.95.
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New Product - Windshield Mounting Kit for HomePatrol

By Jonathan Higgins

New Product:
Windshield Mounting Kit for HomePatrol
Cost:
$39.95

What’s included with the Windshield Mounting Kit?

• Heavy duty 3 ½ inches suction mount
  
• Adjustable 7 inches arm
  
• HomePatrol Mobile Mounting Bracket
• Bracket mounting screws and nuts
  

Road Test

Over the past weekend, I was able to Road Test the new Uniden HomePatrol Windshield Mounting Kit.

During the road test I was very impressed with this product. It has heavy duty suction mount along with its 7 inch arm. The windshield mount holds the one pound HomePatrol without a problem. Well built, and suitable for most windshield mounting situations.

This product is made by Ram Mounts for the Uniden HomePatrol.