hobby. We have studied the scanning hobby itself, which has
changed dramatically over the years as radio systems, scanning
receivers and scanner hobbyists have all become more
sophisticated. Sophistication is a generally good thing, but in this
case it can have the effect of locking out newcomers to the
hobby.
Our engineers decided that an entirely new method of
programming and controlling scanning receivers was needed –
essentially, a new user interface. Several design objectives were
defined. These included the following:
•
There should be a strong focus on ease-of-use. The radio
should do as much work as possible for the user. A brand
new hobbyist should be able to begin using the radio quickly
with minimal frustration. There should also be enough
advanced features and functionalities to satisfy the most
sophisticated expert users.
•
The user interface should be intuitive. Interactions with the
radio should be standardized to the extent possible. For
example, the same basic methods should be used whether
adding a new conventional channel or adding a trunked
talkgroup.
•
The scanner should include efficient memory usage. Bank/
channel designs result in much wasted memory. Memory
should be allocated as it is needed for new objects.
Our engineers realize that our scanners are used by a wide
variety of users with varying levels of experience and expertise.
These include amateur radio operators, scanner hobbyists, fire
buffs, railfans, public safety professionals, volunteer firefighters,
news and media organizations, and most importantly, everyday
people who just want to know what is going on around them.
All of these users have a few things in common about the way
they use scanning receivers. First, they all follow the same basic
process when configuring and programming the radio for use.
Second, all have one or more collections of frequencies,
talkgroups, or other things they listen to.
As our engineers studied the scanning hobby and those who use
scanners, they began to realize that the scanning hobby had
much in common with hobbies that involve collections, like stamp
collecting, coin collecting, and so on.
0715 User Manual
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