Whistler WS1040 Digital Handheld Police Scanner

The Whistler WS1040 is a handheld digital police scanner designed for monitoring P25 Phase I and analog trunked radio systems used by many public safety agencies.

Ideal for hobbyists and users in areas with digital communications, it provides clear, reliable audio for real-time monitoring of police, fire, and EMS.

With features like object-oriented programming and trunking support, it helps you stay organized and quickly access the communications you want to hear.

Always be in the know with this digital handheld scanner. The WS1040 stores up to 1,800 frequencies and lets you search for nearby frequency transmissions and automatically jump to a found transmission. Plus, it lets you hear storm reports and more before they are broadcast on TV or radio.

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In the box

• Digital Hand-held Scanner
• PC/IF Cable, AC Adapter
• Flex Antenna
• Black Battery Shell
• Yellow Rechargeable Battery Shell
• User Guide
• Quick Start Guide

Recommended Accessories

• Nylon Case/Fixed Belt Clip
• Easier to Read Scanner Manual
• Soft Leather Case/Swivel Belt Clip
• Hard Leather Case/Swivel Belt Loop
• ARC500 Basic Software Download
• ARC500 Basic Software USB Flash Drive
• ARC500 Pro Software Download
• ARC500 Pro Software USB Flash Drive

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the WS1040 receive digital police and fire communications?

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Setup & Optimize Programming Service

The WS1040 is a powerful scanner, but it requires proper programming to work correctly. Without setup, it won’t automatically know what systems or channels to scan in your area.

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Product Description

Specs

• Unit Dimensions 5.71 in. H x 2.56 in. W x 1.65 in. L
• Unit Weight .53 lbs.

Features

• Alert LED
  Programmable multi-color LED can be configured to illuminate or flash when certain objects are active. Eight user-defined colors can be specified from thousands of possible combinations.
• Audible Alarms
  Programmable audible alarms can be configured to sound when certain Scannable Objects are active. Can be used in conjunction with, or separately from, the Alert LED described above.
• Automatic Adaptive Digital Tracking
  When monitoring P25 digital systems, instantly adapts the digital decoder to the digital modulation format of the transmitted signal, then analyzes the signal over 50 times each second and adapts to any subtle changes caused by multipath or fading. No cumbersome manual adjustments are required.
• Backlit Liquid Crystal Display
  easy to read and program data even in low light situations.
• Data Cloning
  allows transfer of the programmed data to another WS1010 scanner.
• Digital AGC
  Instantly compensates for low user audio levels that are common on digital systems.
• Flexible Antenna with BNC Connector
  provides reception of strong local signals. Also connect an external antenna for improved reception of distant or weak signals.
• Free-Form Memory Organization
  Allocation of memory dynamically and efficiently as it is needed. This differs from low cost and older scanners that had memory organized in rigid and wasteful memory banks.
• High Speed PC Interface
  Use a USB Scanner programming cable for full duplex mode at 6 times the speed of previous scanner models for PC transfer and 8 times the speed of previous models for radio to radio cloning. High speed special USB to scanner programming cable included. Clones with another WS1040 handheld or with another WS1065 desktop/mobile scanner.
• Key Lock
  lock the scanner’s keys to help prevent accidentally changing the scanner’s programming.
• Lock-out Function
  skip over specified channels or frequencies when scanning or searching.
• LTR Home Repeater AutoMove
  Takes the guesswork out of programming LTR trunking systems when the home repeater order is not known. Enter the LTR system frequencies in any order, and the WS-1040 will automatically move the frequencies to the proper home repeater slots as transmissions are received on the system.
• Memory Backup
  frequencies remain stored in memory for an extended time even without batteries.
• Menu Driven Programming with Context Sensitive Help
  Each menu item provides a few lines of help text that provide assistance with programming and using the scanner.
• Multi-System Trunking
  Scans most common trunked radio system signaling formats, including Motorola, EDACS, LTR and P25 trunked radio networks. Both talkgroup and individual call monitoring are supported.
• Object Oriented User Interface
  Exclusive to Whistler designs, features common data entry, browsing and control methods are used for every scannable object. All are programmed and stored in the same way.
• P25 NAC Functionality
  P25 Network Access Code (NAC) is used to provide selective squelch operation on conventional digital channels. Your WS1040 will detect the NAC that is being used on a P25 conventional digital channel, and allow you to program NAC codes to block transmissions that do not have a matching NAC, including analog traffic on the same frequency.
• PC programmable
  allows users to backup data, update database and program scanner directly from a PC. (BuTel ARC500 software required)
• Priority Channel
  set the scanner to check one channel every two seconds while scanning.
• Real-time Signal Strength Indicator
  Shows relative strength of received signals.
• SAME and All Hazards Weather Alerting
  displays the weather event and sounds an alert for a specific county or counties of your choice.
• Scan Delay
  delays scanning for two seconds before moving to another channel in order to hear replies.
• Scan List
  functionality allows you to arrange, group and scan objects according to your preference.
• Skywarn Storm Spotter Functionality
  provides instant access to frequencies used by storm spotter networks. Monitor storm conditions as they occur, and become aware of dangerous conditions before the media or emergency management officials are able to announce them to the general public.
• Spectrum Sweeper
  Quickly sweeps the scanner’s frequency ranges for transmissions from nearby sources. Lock out found frequencies and continue searching in the same band.
• Subaudible Squelch Decoder
  CTCSS and DCS subaudible squelch coding is processed by the same powerful DSP chip that is used for P25 digital decoding. Provides fast and reliable decoding of subaudible squelch signaling with squelch tail elimination.
• Three Power Options
  power the scanner using batteries (rechargeable or non-rechargeable), external AC power (using supplied AC adapter), or DC power (using a DC adapter, not supplied).
• Tune
  find new and unlisted frequencies starting from a specified frequency.
• V-Scanner Technology
  Allows you to save complete radio configurations within the radio, for recall into main memory as needed in the field. Twenty one V-Scanner Folders are provided, each capable of storing over 1,800 objects. Total memory capacity of main memory combined with V-Scanners is over 37,800 objects.

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Technical Specifications

Miscellaneous Features
Min Operating Temperature: 14 Fahrenheit
Max Operating Temperature: 140 Fahrenheit
Supported Languages: English
Connections:
1/8" PC interface (1)
1/8" headphone (1)
Power (1)
Antenna (1)

Power Features
Power Device: "AA" batteries

Battery Features
Battery Type: Product
Chemistry: Alkaline
Rechargeable: Yes

Radio System Features
Channel Scan: Yes
Includes SAME Alerts: Yes
Weather Alert: Yes

Display Features
Type: Backlit
Display Illumination Color: Orange

Antenna Features
Antenna Type: Rubber