Introduction
The Whistler TRX-1 Digital Scanner Radio Handheld is one of the latest on the
market and one of the few if not only scanners available that does DMR (Digital
Mobile Radio) and NXDN (Next Generation Digital Narrowband) modes, as well as
Project 25 Phase 1 & 2. Overall, I
am pleased with this scanner and would buy it again knowing everything that I
have learned so far after using it for a couple of weeks. It has been a long time since I have owned a
scanner, the last one being bought before digital transmissions were common, so
I don’t' really have much to compare it to.
I would have to give at an 8.5 out of 10.
While the
Capitol Police are encrypted, I had no problem listening to the Metro Transit
Police and DC Fire Department as I walked around the core of Washington
DC. By the way, encrypted transmissions
give you a telephone like busy signal and a highlighted E on the display.
Frequency
Coverage
Covering
almost all frequencies from 25 to 1300 megahertz picks up everything from the
Citizens Band top of the 23 cm Amateur Radio band. It skips cellular and broadcast radio and
television, which is pretty standard for scanners. In all, it is pretty standard for scanners in
its price range. I've yet to try it down
in the HF band, or beyond the 800 MHz
public safety bands, but from about 46 to 870 MHz it has exceeded my expectations
both with receiving neighboring county systems, and its performance in the dense
RF environment of downtown DC. Coverage
more common today than when I last purchased a scanner is military bands in the
300 MHz range. Both aircraft and base
trunked systems can be found there in the 216-420 MHz range that I had never
scanned before.
Analog and
Digital Modes
This radio
receives almost every mode you'll find in use in government and business, as
well as many hams. AM, FM, NFM, FM-MOT
(Motorola), LTR (EF Johnson), CTCSS, DCS, NAC on P25, EDACS wide/narrow
(GE/Ericsson/HARRIS), P25-Phase I, X2-TDMA, P25-Phase II, DMR, MotoTRBO Tier
II, & NXDN. DMR is a must have these
days as many businesses have been moving to this technology. NXDN still seems a little rare but it is out
there, and growing. If you are
interested in railroad communications, NXDN is a must have for you. While the rollout is slow, NXDN is the future
standard on the railroad.
Other
Features
I really
like that, although it is a Mini-B connection, it can be powered and charged
through USB. The NiMh batteries to take
a while (overnight) to fully charge through the radio. It can also be powered by alkaline batteries,
but swapping out batteries is a bit of an ordeal as you have to remove the belt
clip, antenna, and the rubberized case and it can drain them rather quickly. It has a 3.5 mm jack for audio out which I
have used to connect to the AUX port in my car.
This 3.5mm jack can be converted to a discriminator tap for use with
software decoders.
Programming
- Basic
The TRX-1
comes loaded with a fairly up to date database from radioreference.com which
allows basic programming to be done with just a few button presses to select
your location by county or zip code.
This easy programming has its advantages, quick, easy, requiring little
knowledge of the frequencies and digital systems in the area. Disadvantages are that when you use this
method of programming, you are kind of stuck with what they give you. It works, but in large suburban counties or
cities, the scan list gets pretty long and it can take while to scan all the
way through back to the beginning.
Programming
– Intermediate
Using the
software, it is easier to customize the scan lists with conventional
frequencies and trunked system talk groups.
This is where you can set up the scanner for the way you want to use
it. I didn't find it completely
intuitive, but it wasn't too hard to figure out, so, as software goes, it is
about average. I was able to set up my
scan lists by county which suits my long commutes and frequent trips from
Western Maryland to the Baltimore Area.
This is a screen grab of one of my scan
lists that includes three trunked systems and a conventional frequency for Anne
Arundel County Maryland. It may be hard
to see but I omitted the AAPD 11D Southern district police talk group as I don't
really go to the south of the county, the same reason for eliminating AAFD 1C
talk group.
I'm sure that there will be endless tweaking of my scan
lists to try and find that sweet spot where I get to listen to what I find interesting without wasting time scanning or
listening to the more routine stuff. I think my next project will be to
create two scan lists for my home county, one for dispatch and major incidents,
and the other for a lot of other types of traffic like, routine responses
channels, highways, mall security, etc.
Programming
– Advanced
I haven't
ventured into this very much, but this
scanner has the capability to program multiple virtual scanners that can be
loaded from the supplied SD card. When
you load a different virtual scanner, it essentially wipes everything the
memory and replaces it with something totally different, everything from
settings, to conventional frequencies, to trunked systems. I think this will be useful for experimenting
with different settings and systems and for folks who travel. I don't think it is for everyone, but it
seems like a nice feature to have.
The Manual
The
supplied manual was helpful, but it just didn't seem to be that great. My understanding of the radio really improved
when I found a manual online: http://new.marksscanners.com/1080_1095/1080_1088.shtml the Easier to Read Whistler WS1080/1088
Handheld Digital Scanner and Programming Software Manual. It was written for an older model, but it
really helped me figure this thing out.
More
Resources
There is
really only one place where I've found a large enough community to ask
questions where people will know the
answer. The Radio Reference forum on
Whistler scanners.
A more
comprehensive write up about the TRX-1 can be found here:
