Interconversion of a DFR7 US model to a DFR7 NZ

[Mithheru]

I was notified on the other thread that there was a new Uniden USA and Canada gps database.

Here is the same file I posted on that thread. The file includes both the updated US and NZA format databases. It also includes a README.TXT File!

 

[KABAND]

I was notified on the other thread that there was a new Uniden USA and Canada gps database.

Here is the same file I posted on that thread. The file includes both the updated US and NZA format databases. It also includes a README.TXT File!

Thank you!

 

[LinuxD]

I just did the conversion on my trusty DFR7, now to see how well it works with segging. I did it in the name of geekery and experimentation, thanks for all the hard work!

Post automatically merged: Nov 19, 2019

Yeas, the NZ manual just appears to be the US manual.

I'm assuming it may be the same as the R3 ?

Ka 1 : 33.399 – 33.705
On/Off
Ka 2 : 33.705 – 33.903
On/Off
Ka 3 : 33.903 – 34.191
On/Off
Ka 4 : 34.191 – 34.587
On/Off
Ka 5 : 34.587 – 34.803
On/Off
Ka 6 : 34.803 – 35.163
On/Off
Ka 7 : 35.163 – 35.379
On/Off
Ka 8 : 35.379 – 35.613
On/Off
Ka 9 : 35.613 – 35.829
On/Off
Ka 10 : 35.829 – 36.001
On/Off

It's close. I gathered this from https://www.radardirect.co.nz/product/uniden-950nz/#1440090448516-6fd42854-6adc

 

[UncleArthur]

I just did the conversion on my trusty DFR7, now to see how well it works with segging. I did it in the name of geekery and experimentation, thanks for all the hard work!

Post automatically merged: Nov 19, 2019

It's close. I gathered this from https://www.radardirect.co.nz/product/uniden-950nz/#1440090448516-6fd42854-6adc

View attachment 134508

Thank you for that

 

[LinuxD]

Thank you for that

You are welcome. Segmenting is one thing i always wished the DFR7 had. I couldn't care less about arrows, but if it speeds up and helps detection then i am all for segging. For a bit i am going to run both K1 and 2 enabled and seg Ka to 2/4/5/6/8 til i know exactly what is in my area. cutting out 50% of the freq's scanned should help. Also want to make sure the display reads out correctly. I know a few falses that are steady in their frequencies so i will double check the readout against them, not the most accurate way, I know but it should give me an idea. When i travel out of my area i usually enabled K and Ka wide on the US firmware. Of course i will run \/\/aze and/or Highway Radar as added coverage

 

[UncleArthur]

You are welcome. Segmenting is one thing i always wished the DFR7 had. I couldn't care less about arrows, but if it speeds up and helps detection then i am all for segging. For a bit i am going to run both K1 and 2 enabled and seg Ka to 2/4/5/6/8 til i know exactly what is in my area. cutting out 50% of the freq's scanned should help. Also want to make sure the display reads out correctly. I know a few falses that are steady in their frequencies so i will double check the readout against them, not the most accurate way, I know but it should give me an idea. When i travel out of my area i usually enabled K and Ka wide on the US firmware. Of course i will run \/\/aze and/or Highway Radar as added coverage

Life is a bit simpler here in NZ, the frequencies our LEO's use is well known and consistent across the country.
I run K1 on K2 off
KA 4,5,6 on, the rest off. (I might be able to get away with just KA 5 to be honest)

That has made my detector a lot quieter than it used to be which is nice.

 

[zuul]

successfully converted my USA DFR7 to NZ spec today. thanks $1,000,000.00 to @Mithheru for all his hard work on this project and the excellent step by step instructions!

 

[KABAND]

successfully converted my USA DFR7 to NZ spec today. thanks $1,000,000.00 to @Mithheru for all his hard work on this project and the excellent step by step instructions!

Welcome to the club!

Have you also installed the US Maps?

 

[zuul]

Welcome to the club!

Have you also installed the US Maps?

yes! i used the nza files V1.11 released on 11/14/19.

 

[KABAND]

yes! i used the nza files V1.11 released on 11/14/19.

Cool .. do they work?

I'm still in Europe, hence can not test the US maps.
I'm exited to also test if segmentation has brought improvements

 

[Up All Night]

Was the question answered about scan times? Does the DFR still scan the entire band and just not alert or does it actually skip the off sections and therefore scan faster?
Posted from my iPhone using the RDF Mobile App!

 

[KABAND]

Was the question answered about scan times? Does the DFR still scan the entire band and just not alert or does it actually skip the off sections and therefore scan faster?
Posted from my iPhone using the RDF Mobile App!

I can't answer that question yet. But hopefully the detector will skip sweeping that part or at least not further analyzing that part of the band. I'll do a couple of tests once I'm back to the states ....

One day I'm going to be arrested for repeatedly passing an off-street parked LEO

 

[LinuxD]

Was the question answered about scan times? Does the DFR still scan the entire band and just not alert or does it actually skip the off sections and therefore scan faster?
Posted from my iPhone using the RDF Mobile App!

I did some quick testing with my RD and a K band gun.I tuned one of my K band guns down to 24.030 K1 on, no filter, no problems detecting. K1 off, K2 on, no detection, no lights, triggered another of my K band guns at 24.170 picked it up, let off trigger with other K band going still, no detection.

K2 off,K1 on no filter K band gun at 24.170, no detection, no problem detecting 2nd gun at 24.030.

Tuned gun from 24.030 to 24.100 Turned k1 off, no detection,tweaked tuning and went to 24.120,detected on K2 portion.

Am confident, it doesn't scan the freq's that are turned off as in my testing it showed no indication at all of picking up a signal. Meaning it doesn't act like a lock out and still show signal strength with no audio

 

[Up All Night]

Found it:

Segmenting a uniden doesn't actually increase performance. It just decreases false alerts from ka segments you don't see in your area. (Usually leaky cobras on 33.8 I believe?)

Can you please explain the advantages of Ka segmentation

I have been using the R7 for 1 week. Total beast. Coming from a Beltronics RX65. I'm in Plano TX and it's all Ka here. I've been getting at least 1/2 mile warnings, and the arrows work perfectly. I feel very protected. I'm wondering if I would be even more secure by segmenting Ka? How does...

www.rdforum.org

Posted from my iPhone using the RDF Mobile App!

 

[LinuxD]

That is for an R7, a digital platform, the DFR series is analog, don't really know if it will speed it up. I read that thread yesterday.

 

[Mithheru]

Hey guys. For those of you with some reservations about the conversion. I have now completed the reverse conversion. So now you can always convert back to your original US DFR7 firmware if you decide the NZ firmware is not for you.

It also means if Uniden America made a better DFR7 firmware in the future, I'd be able to also build files for the Official NZ DFR7s to convert over (e.g. if auto gps lockouts became available or something).

 

[KABAND]

Hey guys. For those of you with some reservations about the conversion. I have now completed the reverse conversion. So now you can always convert back to your original US DFR7 firmware if you decide the NZ firmware is not for you.

It also means if Uniden America made a better DFR7 firmware in the future, I'd be able to also build files for the Official NZ DFR7s to convert over (e.g. if auto gps lockouts became available or something).

WOW!

Good work .... that must have been exciting!
What was the secret that initially bricked the detector?

 

[Up All Night]

It also means if Uniden America made a better DFR7 firmware in the future, I'd be able to also build files for the Official NZ DFR7s to convert over (e.g. if auto gps lockouts became available or something).

First, You’re a Genius! Thanks Again for your time and dedication. Then a little negativity, Uniden has abandoned the 950 / 7’s.
If you hadn’t done this there wouldn’t be any updates. They’ve ignored requests for years.
Posted from my iPhone using the RDF Mobile App!

 

[Mithheru]

Good work .... that must have been exciting!
What was the secret that initially bricked the detector?

It's all about encryption and decryption and where that takes place.

Unlike the database upload tools, the DFR7 US and NZ firmware tools are merely conduits for transferring the encrypted data. I had previously assumed that converting the detector to NZ spec also changed its ability to read the NZ format firmware (i.e. just in the same way the database version / date is transferred over). However, that does not happen. Therefore, to go back to US original version, I previously built the US firmware in the NZ format. Although the file build was correct, and this would have worked on an original DFR7 NZ, this killed the US origin detector. I now understand the US origin detector still expected to decrypt the firmware in the US format even though it had been converted over to NZ spec.

Therefore after running more tests on both a converted DFR7 NZ and comparing to a genuine original DFR7 NZ ( thanks @Zakk ), I can see the difference. Therefore I have to use the DFR7 NZ firmware upload tool to instead transfer the US format firmware, and then it's all okay. Note therefore to convert a DFR7, you MUST know what it originally started off as (I suspect Uniden New Zealand is part of the problem as they must also apply a separate file to change the firmware decryption mode over). However, if they forgot to apply this last step, they'd never know until it was too late even for applying a genuine NZ firmware file with the genuine NZ update tool.

Therefore on the newer detectors Uniden NZ / US have abolished the NZ decryption on the detector to prevent this situation ever happening again. I guess it caused them quite a headache with warranties / updates etc.

 

[Up All Night]

That is for an R7, a digital platform, the DFR series is analog, don't really know if it will speed it up. I read that thread yesterday.

That would be an interesting test turn off all the segments except for the one gun you’re testing with and see if detector acts differently.
Posted from my iPhone using the RDF Mobile App!