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Review on Whistler WS1025 Analog Desktop Scanner by Joseph Reed

Revainrating 2 out of 5

They could do worse for document scanners

UPDATE: I was able to get the channel blocking to work after a hard reset. You can find out how to do this in the instructions on page 22. Better now. I can scan the whole area and the lock function works again. Previously, there was no confirmation "beep" and no blocking of a noisy channel in VFO seek mode (Tune). It's still terrible at 400-500 no matter what antenna you use, but after a reset it works much better with air and police/fire. I bought one of these and hooked up a great external antenna to it. One that has performed brilliantly with the JT-60R, Uniden BC125AT and Baofeng 5X3. Amazing antenna for 100-300 and 400-500. Nothing. Crush all the way down. BNC is connected. Without a plug, a human centipede is nonsense. Just a BNC connection to the scanner. Oh, it will suit a police squad. But I'll watch it pass the active 400-500 like it's not there at all. Better I just want to do a VFO scan. So on page 13 I finally figured out how to do it. So I'm happy. Finally scan. Simply use TUNE to scroll through the scanner's range to start it. Alas, it stops at the first loud noise in the trunk of the P25. Something I'm used to from the BC125AT. I just have to press the lock button. Right? NOTsorry, this lock button does not work when scanning the VFO! It only blocks channels in channel search mode! At the same time, this thing is missing everything in the 400-500 range, and the damn UV-5R with a cheap xp-669c antenna picks up all of that since it's indoors and not hooked up to an external antenna. Yes. The $32 (22+10) Baofeng tube setup outperformed this "scanner” when scanning with a cheaper antenna.

Pros
  • Slim design
Cons
  • Long delivery time