{"id":14973,"date":"2015-10-02T13:20:21","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T17:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=14973"},"modified":"2015-10-02T13:20:21","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T17:20:21","slug":"universal-radio-new-whistler-scanners-and-a-qrp-corner-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/universal-radio-new-whistler-scanners-and-a-qrp-corner-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal Radio: new Whistler scanners and a &#8220;QRP corner&#8221; page"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_14994\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/WhistlerScanner.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14994\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14994\" src=\"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/WhistlerScanner.jpg\" alt=\"The Whistler WS1098 Scanner\" width=\"650\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/WhistlerScanner.jpg 650w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/WhistlerScanner-300x164.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-14994\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Whistler WS1098 Tabletop Scanner<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I recently had a conversation with my good friend Fred Osterman, president of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Universal Radio<\/a>. Fred told me about a couple of items on their website I thought might interest <em>Post<\/em> readers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/catalog\/qrp\/qrp.html\" target=\"_blank\">QRP Corner page<\/a><\/strong> with quick links to products and categories that are relevant to QRPers, portable operators and those interested in communications preparedness. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/catalog\/qrp\/qrp.html\" target=\"_blank\">The new QRP corner page can be found by clicking here<\/a>.\u00a0Fred notes that he page is a work in progress with regular additions.<\/li>\n<li>Fred has also posted preliminary information about new <b>Whistler\u00a0Scanners: the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/catalog\/scanners\/6088.html\" target=\"_blank\">Whistler WS1088<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/catalog\/scanners\/1098.html\" target=\"_blank\">WS1098<\/a><\/b>. Fred is impressed with the preliminary product information and should have pricing and availability soon (both units are still pending FCC approval).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I&#8217;ve read through the specifications of the new Whistler scanners: I <em>love<\/em> the fact that they come with frequencies banks that can be loaded by simply entering your zip code (in the US). I find that programming scanners&#8211;as well as modern VHF\/UHF handhelds&#8211;can lead to a serious headache. I&#8217;m happy to see that manufacturers like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/catalog\/scanners\/6088.html\" target=\"_blank\">Whistler<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.universal-radio.com\/catalog\/scanners\/0738.html\" target=\"_blank\">Uniden<\/a> are <em>finally<\/em> making the process much easier.<\/p>\n<p>Many thanks for the update, Fred!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently had a conversation with my good friend Fred Osterman, president of Universal Radio. Fred told me about a couple of items on their website I thought might interest Post readers: A QRP Corner page with quick links to products and categories that are relevant to QRPers, portable operators and those interested in communications [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,714],"tags":[3264,4271,58,4268,4269,4270],"class_list":["post-14973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-retailers","tag-fred-osterman","tag-qrp-corner","tag-universal-radio","tag-whistler","tag-whistler-ws1088","tag-whistler-ws1098"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-3Tv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21790,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/the-new-commradio-ctx-10-qrp-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":14973,"position":0},"title":"The new CommRadio CTX-10 QRP general coverage transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"October 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Fred Osterman and Dave Zantow for sharing information about the new CommRadio CTX-10 transciever. \u00a0Here is the description from Universal Radio's catalog: AeroStream Communications near Golden, Colorado entered the hobby radio market in 2013 with their revolutionary CommRadio CR-1 and follow up CR-1a SDR receivers. The success\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"commradioctx-10","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CommRadioCTX-10-1024x515.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CommRadioCTX-10-1024x515.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CommRadioCTX-10-1024x515.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32770,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/radio-deal-refurbished-whistler-scanners-on-sale\/","url_meta":{"origin":14973,"position":1},"title":"Radio deal: Refurbished Whistler scanners on sale","author":"Thomas","date":"June 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Srebnick (K2DLS), who notes that Whistler currently has a selection of refurbished scanners on sale with a manufacturer's warranty including the new TRX-1 handheld: Click here to view the sale at Whistler. These are great prices! Thank for the tip, Dan!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Deals&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Deals","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/deals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Whistler-Scanners.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Whistler-Scanners.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Whistler-Scanners.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Whistler-Scanners.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64484,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/11\/video-the-origins-of-the-sos-distress-signal\/","url_meta":{"origin":14973,"position":2},"title":"Video: The Origins of the SOS Distress Signal","author":"Thomas","date":"November 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Fred Waterer for sharing this video from the YouTube channel \"Today I Found Out\" about the origins of the SOS distress signal: https:\/\/youtu.be\/RU8JhW0PzyY?si=a1-nfOkDWW-EHMY5 How Did \u2018SOS\u2019 Become The Universal Distress Signal? Three dots. Three dashes. Three dots. Even if you don\u2019t know a single\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/RU8JhW0PzyY\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46586,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/end-of-an-era-universal-radio-is-closing-shop\/","url_meta":{"origin":14973,"position":3},"title":"End of an Era: Universal Radio is closing shop","author":"Thomas","date":"November 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"While I'm very happy for my friends Fred and Barbara Osterman as they head into a well-deserved retirement, I'm very sad that Universal Radio will be closing. I've been a Universal Radio customer since before I was a licensed ham radio operator. They have been--and are to this day--the one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Universal-Radio-Showroom-e1503534854861.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Universal-Radio-Showroom-e1503534854861.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Universal-Radio-Showroom-e1503534854861.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Universal-Radio-Showroom-e1503534854861.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15109,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/the-aor-ar-mini-b-is-back-and-on-sale-at-universal-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":14973,"position":4},"title":"The AOR AR-Mini B is back (and on sale at Universal Radio)","author":"Thomas","date":"October 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"While browsing the front page of Universal Radio recently, I noted that the\u00a0AOR AR-Mini B handheld communications receiver is currently on sale. This surprised for two reasons: I thought the AR-Mini B was discontinued. This receiver used to sell for about $259 US. I contacted Fred Osterman (President of Universal)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;AM&quot;","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AOR-AR-Mini-B","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AOR-AR-Mini-B1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21447,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/swling-post-reader-contest-remembering-your-dream-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":14973,"position":5},"title":"SWLing Post Reader Contest: remembering your &#8220;dream radio&#8221;","author":"Thomas","date":"October 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fred Osterman, President of Universal Radio, recently\u00a0expressed his interest in supporting another SWLing\u00a0Post Reader Contest. Of course, I eagerly agreed, and we quickly came up with a theme: Think back to your first days in radio...What was\u00a0your\u00a0\"dream\" receiver? \u00a0And why? Or--if you're new to shortwave radio--what is your \"dream\" receiver\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Contests&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Contests","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/contests\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Sony ICF-2010 was my dream portable in the 1980s.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Sony2010.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Sony2010.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Sony2010.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Sony2010.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14973\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}