Our beginning
It started on the workbench. A Uniden SDS scanner, a Raspberry Pi, a small touchscreen, and the conviction that the radio in front of us could do far more than the factory tooling allowed. Uniden's own companion software hadn't kept up with what the hardware was capable of. So we built our own.
The first version was a Pi running a touchscreen interface against the scanner's USB serial. It was cable-tethered, modest, and entirely ours. It worked.
Community interest and feedback
As development continued, the project began to attract attention from other scanner enthusiasts who were looking for a more modern way to interact with their radios. Fire buffs, public-safety monitors, ham operators, ProScan users, the RadioReference crowd. Their feedback became the development backlog.
What started as a small experimental project on a single workbench gradually grew into a tool that people in the scanning community could see real potential in. Their input shaped how TouchScanner evolved — what worked, what didn't, what the next feature ought to be.
Expanding the platform
Building on the original Raspberry Pi foundation, the next step was to expand how TouchScanner could reach the scanner. Wireless connectivity opened the door to more flexible monitoring: the scanner could stay where its reception was best, while the operator controlled it from wherever they happened to be sitting.
That single architectural shift — separating the radio from the operator — turned out to be the real unlock. Once we'd proven the wireless backbone, mobile was the natural next step.
The next step — Android
TouchScanner now ships as a native Android application with full wireless control and live audio for the Uniden SDS and BCD scanner families. Five connection modes (USB, WiFi, scanner-hosted AP, Relay, Bluetooth LE) cover every reasonable scenario; the same protocol we spoke from the Pi a decade ago is still in there underneath, now wrapped in a modern UI with three audio decoder paths, a state-machine watchdog, P25 trunking, pager detection, GPS injection, and the kind of polish the SDS line has deserved since release.
The Uniden SDS150 over Bluetooth LE is the most concrete proof of the journey: no other Android application talks GATT directly to that scanner. It's the kind of thing only a team that's been working in this protocol space for years could ship.
Continuing development
The goal remains the same as when the project started: to enhance the Uniden SDS scanning experience while preserving the power and reliability of the radios themselves. Future work focuses on usability, expanded connectivity, and continuing to incorporate the feedback we get from the scanning community.
The community made this. The protocol work, the cable hours, the field-test PDFs — that's our job. The instinct for what's actually needed comes from the people who use these radios every day.