A receiver for the people, by the people

[PhillyPhoto]

Given that the new Uniden scanner seems to have poor results on some simulcast systems and it doesn't look like it's going to be fixed by a software update, I floated the idea of creating a new "scanner." It also lacks next-gen digital voice such as DMR and NXDN. It would take ques from the SDR world of interchangable hardware and custom software. Although there's a lot to be said about SDR, it lacks mobility the way a traditional scanner or radio has. There are also downsides to using a radio if you are not authorized to use the system the biggest is having your radio inhibited (thereby wasting money if you don't have the means to uninhibit it).

Making a transciever would be an option down the road, but in the beginning I would imagine it just being an all-in-one receiver. The biggest obstacle would be the OS to run it. There's nothing off the shelf available for what we're trying to do. Short of creating an entire new OS, one option would be to branch Android off. That would give us a good base and allow for things like programming over bluetooth.

I'm not all that technical on the hardware or software side, so I'd like to coordinate things to get this going. I'd like the final product to be in the $1000-1500 price range. You'd be paying for better quality than a scanner, but not as much as a Motorola radio. If anyone has experience in any aspect of this kind of expirementing, let me know.