This decision was made VERY recently and it seems that it was due to a delay in finding available freight space on a boat to bring the shipment to the US. Once the shipment does arrive in Fort Worth, all units will undergo the typical "100% quality check" then be boxed up to ship to distributors and then to radio dealers

If all goes well, and hopefully it should, then the first units will be leaving Fort Worth around the middle of the month. For those of us at the top of the waiting list and willing to pay extra for rush delivery, we should have our units just before Christmas!

UPDATE: Well, it appears that someone may not be able to do math that well. I was specifically told by two Uniden reps that they would start shipping to distributors early in the third week (see quote above). To me, the third week is Dec 15 - 22 which means "early" is around th 15 - 17, right? Apparently not.

After talking to Glenn Cohen of Scanners Unlimited who has heard from several of his distributors, it seems apparent that Uniden will not start shipping to distributors until Dec 20 or 21. That's what I would call late in the third week but who's splitting hairs?

DJ-X20 Features:

Frequency Range 0.1000 MHz - 2149.99995 MHz

Receive Mode CW/LSB/USB/AM/FM/WFM

2000 channels (40 banks of 50 channels each)

20 programmable search bands

Voice inversion descrambler?

Bug sweeper?

Dual attenuator (10/20dB)

CTCSS (decode & search?)

Sensitivity:

      0.1 - 5MHz
         AM     1.5µV
         SSB/CW 0.6µV
      5 - 900 MHz
         AM     1.0µV
         SSB/CW 0.5µV
         FM     0.5µV
         WFM    2.0µV
      900 - 2150 MHz
         SSB/CW 1µV
         FM     2µV
         WFM    4µV

      AM/CW/SSB = 10dB S/N
      FM/WFM    = 12dB SINAD

Power 4.8/7.2 volts

Current 100 mA (standby), 50 mA (battery save)

Audio 100 mW

Dimensions 2.2x5.9x1.1in (57x150x27.5mm) (W x H x D)

Weight 11.3oz (320g)

DJ-X20 image

Alinco Japan DJ-X20 web page

VR-5000 Features:

Frequency Range 0.1000 MHz - 2599.99998 MHz

Receive Mode CW/LSB/USB/AM/AM-N/WAM/FM-N/WFM

Dual Receive

Band Scope Operation

Smart Search Operation

Priority Operation

Radio Control (R/C) Channel Monitoring

2000 main memory channels, which may be separated into as many as 100 memory groups

50 sets of band-edge memories (also know as "Programmable Memory Scan" channels)

Five PS (preset) memory channels, providing one-touch storage and recall of prime receiving frequencies

Short-wave Broadcast Station has been installed into memories

Naming Memories and Memory Groups with Alpha-numeric "Tag" (label)

Programmable Memory Recall (set up to monitor the activity on as many as 50 memory channels simultaneously)

Memory Channel Sort (3 types)

Versatile Scanning Modes (VFO Scan, Memory Scan, S-meter Scan, Voice Scan, M-S Scan)

DSP Operation Bandpass Filter/NOTCH Filter/CW Peaking Filter/CW PITCH Filter/Noise Reducer (Requires DSP-1)

ATT (RF Attenuator)

NB (Noise Blanker)

RF TUNE

Local Frequency Shift

Voice Synthesizer (Requires FVS-1)

Digital Voice Recording (DVS-4)

Field Strength Meter

Audio Wave Meter

Radio to Radio Cloning

CAT Operation

World Clock

Timer Operation

Adjustable LCD Illumination Level

   Frequency Range           0.10000 -   29.99998 MHz
                            50.00000 -   53.99998 MHz
                            88.00000 -  135.99998 MHz
                           144.00000 -  147.99998 MHz
                           430.00000 -  449.99998 MHz
                           850.00000 -  867.99998 MHz
                          1240.00000 - 1299.99998 MHz
                          2400.00000 - 2449.99998 MHz
   Receiving Mode         CW/LSB/USB/AM/AM-N/WAM/FM-N/WFM
   Antenna Impedance      50  unbalanced, 450  unbalanced
   Channel Step           Main Band
                          LSB/USB/CW: 20 Hz/100 Hz/500 Hz/1 kHz/5 kHz
                          AM-N/AM/WAM: 1/5/9/10/20/25/50/100/500 kHz
                          FM-N: 5/6.25/10/12.5/20/25/50/100/500 kHz
                          WFM: 10/50/100/500 kHz
                          Sub Band
                          AM: 1/5/9/10/20/25/50/100/500 kHz
                          FM-N: 5/6.25/10/12.5/20/25/50/100/500 kHz
   Memory Channel         Regular Memories: 2000 Channels
                          PS "Preset" Memories: 5 Channel
   Operating Temp         -10° C - +50° C
   Sensitivity               0.2 -    0.49998 MHz
                                SSB/CW   4.8µV  (10 dB S/N)
                                AM      10.8µV  (10 dB S/N)
                             0.5 -    1.79998 MHz
                                SSB/CW   1.0µV  (10 dB S/N)
                                AM       4.0µV  (10 dB S/N)
                             1.8 -    3.99998 MHz
                                SSB/CW   0.6µV  (10 dB S/N)
                                AM       2.5µV  (10 dB S/N)
                             4.0 -   29.99998 MHz
                                SSB/CW   0.3µV  (10 dB S/N)
                                AM       1.1µV  (10 dB S/N)
                            28.0 -   29.99998 MHz
                               FM-N     0.35µV (12 dB SINAD)
                            30.0 - 1999.99998 MHz
                               SSB/CW   0.3µV  (10 dB S/N)
                               AM       1.2µV  (10 dB S/N)
                               FM-N     0.45µV (12 dB SINAD)
                               WFM      1.5µV  (12 dB SINAD)
                          2000.0 - 2599.99998 MHz
                             SSB/CW   0.5µV  (10 dB S/N)
                             AM       1.8µV  (10 dB S/N)
                             FM-N     0.8µV  (12 dB SINAD)
   Spurious Emission      Less than -54 dBm
   Supply Voltage         DC 13.5V ± 15%
   Current Consumption    0.7 A (at audio output 1W)
   Audio Output           At least 1 W at 8 ohm
   Audio Output Imedance  8 ohm
   Case Size              180 x 70 x 203 mm (W x H x D) w/o knob
   Weight                 Approx 1.9 kg

SmartLink

For the BC245, Reaction Tune with the OptoScout -- and more!

This unique new product is microprocessor controlled yet contains no batteries! Drawing its power from the BC245XLT interface cable, SmartLink is the "brains" between the Optoelectronics Scout and Uniden BC245XLT. Once plugged into the Scout and connected to the BC245XLT via the BC245XLT interface cable, this amazingly small device takes the Reaction Tune data supplied by the Scout (in either AOR or Icom format) and uses it to tune the BC245XLT accordingly.

SmartLink also supplies numerous control features which bely its diminutive stature!

STORAGE - Provides 3 different ways to store discovered frequencies automatically ih Bank 0 (Channels 271-300). Will not disturb any other banks. Storage is optional.

Fill Mode - Stores only in blank channels of Bank 0

Overwrite Mode - Starts at channel 271 and overwrites as it stores

Clear Mode - All Bank 0 channels are erase and storage starts at channel 271

SCANNING - Allows the BC245 to SCAN while Reaction Tuning or storing. Storing can be 'in the background,' silently.

PAGER LOCKOUT - Blocks storage of pager frequencies found with either the Opto or the BC245 Search mode, although in that case the pagers will be heard.

REPEATER FIND - When a mobile (repeater input) frequency is received, SmartLink checks the repeater output frequency for activity. If there is a signal present, it Reaction Tunes there, and optionally stores it; if not, it uses the mobile frequency.

SEARCH - BC245 Search can be used with scanning, pager lockout, repeater find and other features.

SEARCH+STORE - Frequencies discovered during scanner SEARCH can be stored just like frequencies discovered by the Opto. This feature works with or without the Opto.

LAMP CONTROL - SmartLink can activate the BC245 light and restore keyboard control. The light stays on until the next squelch opening.

STATUS DISPLAY - SmartLink has an LED that flashes to indicate it is working

OFF - SmartLink is OFF

FLASH - SmartLink is WORKING

ON - Warning that Opto is OFF

QUICK ESCAPE KEY - SmartLink has a button that immediately takes the BC245 out of remote mode. This is faster than using a long keypress of the scanner E key.

DELAYED REACTION TUNING - SmartLink does not have to be used with the OPTO in 'real-time.' After the OPTO captures frequencies, SmartLink can transfer them to the BC245 without manual entry. SmartLink can also eliminate pager frequencies that may have been captured.

QUICK-STORE FREQUENCIES - SmartLink can instantly transfer lists of commonly used Medical, FRS/GMRS, and Itenerant frequencies into the BC245, saving hundreds of keystrokes.

SPECIAL NOTE: SmartLink does not work with the BC245XLT trunked modes.

SmartLink was developed by Terry Brennan with testing and feedback provided by Scanner Master. Rich Barnett, and hopefully Greg Knox, will be at Dayton to demonstrate SmartLink and sell some of the first units available!

For those interested in SmartLink now, Scanner Master will start taking orders on May 11 with product deliveries to follow soon after. The cost will be $69.95.

Rich has promised to send a SmartLink to Strong Signals for review so stay tuned for more details soon!

Uniden BC780XLT
Here are some of the latest, tentative findings on Uniden's upcoming BC780XLT, thanks to a tip passed along by Todd Bulger:

7.5 kHz step size - useful for FCC refarming of 15 kHz bands

Direct frequency input for pseudo-VFO (like the SC200)

Volume mute function

Lockout review function

Weather Alert with S.A.M.E and storage of up to 15 FIPS codes

Delay function will have a HOLD feature (don't resume scan/search until instructed) and PAUSE feature (resume scan/search after N seconds even if signal still active)

CTCSS - supports "standard" 38 tones

DCS - select from 100 tones

Emergency Alert function which notifies you when a user on a trunked system issues an emergency signal

I-Call function for Motorola 800/900 systems to automatically track by only progamming the control channel frequency

10 search ranges which will allow the last 5 to be chained or linked together

Like memory banks, memory channels and trunking IDs, search ranges can also be alpha-tagged

While searching, tone functions allow for any tone, just one tone, or any but one tone to be searched for on active signals

10 Service Search banks: Public Safety, Marine, Air, Rail, News, TV Audio, Family Radio, CB, Ham and Special

Repeater offsets for the REVERSE function will be programmed for the 420-512 and 806-940 MHz ranges

Includes AC adapter, telescoping antenna, mobile wire antenna, direct wire power cord, cigarette DC adapter, mobile mounting bracket, PC interface cable

Is it August 1 yet?

RadioShack PRO-2067
Back on March 28, I posted a surprised finding about the upcoming GRE-made RadioShack PRO-2067 (Model 20-196). A quick peek at an early draft of the Owner's Manual confirms it will be a mobile version of the PRO-92 complete with four line LCD, frequency range and trunk-tracking capabilities (which run a good chance of being new and improved). It will also be DIN-E sized for standard dashboard mounting. Having been FCC accepted back in January, I would hope to see this new model soon!

RadioShack PRO-89
Another upcoming GRE-made RadioShack model is the PRO-89 Racing Scanner! Model #20-514, it will have the usual 200 channels and typical GRE handheld coverage (29-54, 108-174, 380-512 & 806-960).

Also included are a 5 bank Service Scan including fire/police, air, ham radio, race car, and marine. 7 pre-programmed NOAA weather frequencies are standard as is weather alert (non-S.A.M.E I believe). The 89 will also have duplicate frequency check, direct search, 50 search freqeuncy lockouts with review, power saving circuit and come with two antennas (like its predecessor, the PRO-74)

Audio output is rated at 190mW on batteries and 240mW using external power while current drain (squelched) is 75 mA. Dimensions are 5.7" high, 2.5" wide and 1.4" deep. Like the most recent RadioShack models, it will come with both regular and rechargeable battery holders for the needed 4 AAs

There are 4 menu categories and the radio is menu driven. Many of the keys take on different functions depending upon what menu you are in (similar to many cell phones) and the display will clue you as to what functions the buttons take on.

The four categories and their sub-functions are as follows:

1. SYSTEM

   Dimmer LCD

   Screen Mask (takes out data)

   Key Beep

   Enter Lock

   PC Control (2400 4800 9600 19200 baud rates)

   Cloning

   Smart Scanner

   Flow Control (for a scanner aficianado)

   Dial Tone/Pulse

   Data Skip

   Bank Tag

2. CHANNEL

   Alpha Tag

   Delay (0,1,2, 4 seconds or HOLD)

   Lockout

   CTCSS/DCS

   Beep Alert

   Steps

   Mode (AM/FM/WFM)

   AUX recording

   Attenuate (individual channel)

   Select Key (VFO knob)

3. TRUNKING

   Trunk Type Mot: Type II 800,900,VHF,UHF; Type I 800; EDACS: 800,900; LTR; ICALL

   Emergency Alert

   Status Bit

   Squelch Detect (Motorola)

   Control Channel only mode

   Delay

   Beep Alert

4. SEARCH EVENT

   Hold

   10 search ranges

   Edit search

   Alpha Tag for Search

   Delay

   Attenuate

   Step

   Mode

   Tone Search

   Record On

   Auto Store

   Chain Link

Here is a sketch of the BC780XLT front panel:

(Click on image for full size)
Thanks to Ed Brown for cleaning up the image!

Notice the following details:

Rotary control in the upper left corner

MENU button

TrunkTracker III label

10 bank indicators

Attenuator indicator

LTR/Motorola/Ericsson indicators

AM/WFM indicators

Separate CTCSS/DCS display digits?

S-meter

2 line alpha-tags with 16 characters each

SELECT button

THE UNIDEN BEARCAT 780XLT

"THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED MOBILE SCANNER"

500 channels (10 banks of 50 channels)

7" Wide 2" High

Frequency coverage: 25-512, 806-1300 (excludes cellular)

Trunktracker III:
     Motorola (Type II: 800, 900, UHF, VHF)
     Motorola (Type I: 800)
     EDACS (Ericsson) (800, 900)
     LTR (Johnson)
     I Call (Emergency Alert)

Alpha-numerics: 2 lines of text for channel and bank names

CTCSS and DCS: tone decoding and tone search/find

VFO Knob

10 Search ranges (can be searched contiguously) with alpha tag names

Computer control, cloning, and Smart Scanner (R)

Menu driven keyboard (backlit)

Service Search (includes CB with CB channel #'s)

Weather Alert: SAME decoding with FIPS codes

Attenuate: individual channel

Control channel only mode for trunktracking (enter only the Control channel and it figures out the rest)

Auxiliary mode for individual channel recording

Status Bit and Squelch Detect for Motorola trunking

Delay: 0, 1, 2, or 4 seconds (individual channel)

AM/FM/WFM modes selectable per channel

Beep alert (any channel)

"GRE Data Manager" program provides data management only; no scanner control.

The program installed very easily and without problems.

Upload and download to/from the radio performed flawlessly with no buttons to push on the radio to initiate transfers.

Please note that our supplied copy was a demo version which blocks the use of some features.

The user interface has six tabs located along the bottom of the screen:

CHANNELS

SCAN BANKS

ID LISTS

SEARCH BANKS (disabled in demo mode)

SEARCH LOCKOUTS (disabled in demo mode)

BANDS (disabled in demo mode)

Selecting these tabs brings up the appropriate screen for data manipulation. Each screen contains columns for data input with the following screens containing the indicated data:

CHANNELS - Freq, Name, ID, Mode, Delay (on/off), Atten (on/off, Scan/Skip

SCAN BANKS - Name, Scan/Skip, Status (open/closed), Type (Conv, Mot, EDACS, LTR), Fleet map

ID LISTS - ID, Name, Scan/Skip

The Radio pulldown in the menubar at the top of the screen allows for selections:

Upload Radio to PC

Download PC to Radio

Settings

The Settings selection opens a window allowing the following settings to be changed or adjusted:

Power on Message

Trunk and Non-Trunk delay times from 400 - 5000 milliseconds

Key tone pitch from 300 - 3000 Hz, or Off

Backlighting time from 1 - 15 seconds

Priority channel number and on/off

The PRO-92 has just been released today and is shipping from LA and North Charleston, SC warehouses to stores in their respective regions! The other five warehouses holding the PRO-92 should start shipping tomorrow.

Since Radio Shack's 1-800 number and their Gift Express program allocate units from their Fort Worth area holdings, don't expect any 92s to be available for another few days.

As you may have already heard, these 92s were being held up in Quality Control. This was NOT due to any defect with the radios but simply because there were not enough manuals available to stuff in the boxes (what is it with the manuals always holding up the works?)

Don't be surprised if the upcoming PRO-2052 is a few weeks late for delivery for this very same reason!

It has been learned that Glenn Cohen's supply of PRO-92s for his Scanner Unlimited store came from an authorized retailer of Radio Shack products who were lucky enough to get an early shipment after having passed the usual quality controls. Per George at Scanners Unlimited, ALL of their PRO-92s passed quality control inspections.

While memory is composed of 1000 channels, it is logically divided into two sections label 'A' and 'B'

For the purposes of scanning, you can link any of the 10 banks within A or within B, but you can't link across A and B (in other words, all linked scan banks have to come from A OR from B; no mixing and matching). This restriction will supposedly NOT be found on the upcoming PRO-2052

Each bank is configured to be a conventional or a trunked bank (a la BC235XLT)

All 10 banks within a section can be linked to be scanned simultaneously BUT they must all be trunked or they must all be conventional - YOU CAN NOT SCAN CONVENTIONAL AND TRUNKED AT THE SAME TIME!

Each trunked bank has 5 "scan lists" with each list capable of holding 10 IDs each (a la BC235XLT). So that's 500 IDs for A and 500 IDs for B if all 20 banks are used for trunked scanning

Like the BC245XLT, the PRO-94 DOES HAVE the 5 second Multi-Track delay!

There is no Autolight feature (like the BC245XLT)

There is no attenuator

The key beep volume is fixed but can be turned off

There is Data Skip which can be used during scan and search provided no AM signals are tuned and priority is off

The battery compartment takes 4 AAs and there is a switch inside that enables or disables charging of the cells via the DC power jack

There is a battery saver when sitting on a channel which kicks in after 5 seconds of inactivity. Once engaged, an indicator appears on the LCD (a la PRO-67) Jeff says the radio emits an annoying double-click as the battery saver cycles on and off

When programming, there is no duplicate frequency check for conventional freqs but there is for trunked freqs

There is direct search and limit search which share a common 20 frequency search lockout bank. There are also 10 monitor memories for storing search discovered freqs

There is also Service Search for police, fire, weather, aircraft, marine and ham radio. Jeff says the POL setting contains almost no police frequencies but it composed of almost all fire and EMS freqs

The weather service search only contains the 7 NOAA freqs used in the US

Each conventional bank can have 1 priority channel

Like the BC245XLT, each trunked "scan list" can have 1 priority trunk ID

There are the 100 trunk ID lockouts per "scan list"

The status bit and tone disconnect functions are available for scanning Motorola trunked systems

The radio can decode and display basic SAME weather info. When put into SAME alert mode, the radio goes into "sleep mode" and can do nothing else until the SAME alert signal is broadcast

Jeff describes the audio as a bit more muffled than the BC245XLT, and that it distorts at a lower volume setting as well

Jeff describes the keys as being small which can create some

Jeff says he digits on the LCD are a bit smaller than those on the 245

Jeff says the earphone jack does not appear to be current limited and that it provides the usual monaural signal

Jeff says the stock ducky appears poor in 400 MHz range

Jeff says the manual lists 20 birdies

This morning I was surprised to find two documents e-mailed to me from an "anonymous" source within the upper echelons at Radio Shack. One of these was a pre-production copy of the User's Manual for the upcoming PRO-92!

I gave it a quick look and then jotted down all the "good stuff" on my PRO-92 Radio Reference page.

The other document is titled "RadioShack Scanner Control Protocol" and is explained by my "anonymous" source as follows:

[W]e are developing a RadioShack Scanner Control Protocol to be used in future RS scanners. It will be a common format between both GRE and Uniden manufactured units. The first units supporting a small part of the protocol will be coming out early 2000 (and will, unfortunately, not include the PRO-92). The protocol as in this document is not going to change, however we will be adding support for additional capabilities to the protocol (not necessarily into actual products for quite some time, though). The first products will be 1-way only with no handshaking and only supporting single channel or multichannel programming.

If you are interested in obtaining this document, please e-mail with a request titled "RS Scanner Control Protocol" or similar and I will bulk e-mail them out in bunches at a time.

PRO-92: Pre-production units are already in the US and have been put to use by at least one high level exec at Tandy. This radio is made in Japan and Tandy says that production will NEVER be shifted over to China to save a few bucks. The 92 will ship with a cloning cable. In an effort to sell more radios and help their customers get up to speed, Tandy would like to eventually send a CD to each store with the data for the local trunked radio systems. Keep in mind this is being considered but no definite plans exist at this time. In the meantime, it is hoped that the stores will have a master unit programmed with local system data for customers to easily clone their PRO-92s from. The software protocol has been released to third party software developers in the hopes that software will be available as soon as possible. No word on if or when the protocol will be released publicly. Word is that the 92 may be here a bit early - possibly by the first week of November. And this radio is not expected to be sale-priced until sometime next year.

PRO-94: This radio has seen a delay in its release due to a nearly useless antenna supplied by Uniden. Therefor new antennas are being supplied and the radios will be shipped to stores very soon. Word is that there will be NO PC interface for the 94. Tandy wants to make this their "blockbuster" seller by putting it on sale between Oct 28 and Dec 24. How does $100 off sound? That will make the 94 $200!

PRO-2052: No real news except to say its release date is still planned for Nov 15