Install

Install

Scanner Manager runs on all three major desktop OSes. The core — HPD editing, RadioReference import, ZIP/GPS simulation, workspaces, MetaStore — works identically everywhere. The Uniden vendor tools (Sentinel and BT885 Update Manager) are Windows-only binaries, so on macOS and Linux the Uniden Tools panel shows a "Windows only" notice. Everything else is unaffected.

Prebuilt downloads (easiest)

Every tagged release ships binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Go to the Releases page and grab the one for your OS.

Windows

1. Download ScannerManager-windows-x64.zip.
2. Unzip anywhere. Double-click ScannerManager.exe.
3. Windows SmartScreen may warn because the EXE isn't code-signed; click More info → Run anyway.

macOS

1. Download ScannerManager-macos.tar.gz.
2. Double-click to extract, move ScannerManager.app to /Applications.
3. First launch: right-click the app → Open. Gatekeeper will warn once because the app isn't notarized; after you approve it, it launches normally from then on.

Linux

1. Download ScannerManager-linux-x64.tar.gz.

2. Extract:

   tar -xzf ScannerManager-linux-x64.tar.gz
   chmod +x ScannerManager
   ./ScannerManager

3. The binary was built on Ubuntu 22.04, so it needs glibc 2.31+ and Tk. On Debian/Ubuntu:

   sudo apt install python3-tk

Verifying the download

Each asset ships with a matching .sha256 file.

# Windows
(Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 .\ScannerManager-windows-x64.zip).Hash

# macOS / Linux
shasum -a 256 ScannerManager-macos.tar.gz
sha256sum   ScannerManager-linux-x64.tar.gz

Compare against the value inside the .sha256 file next to the download. If they don't match, do not run the binary.

Staying current

After the first install you don't need to re-download manually. Help → Check for Updates... from inside the app will pull the next release directly from GitHub, verify its SHA-256, and swap the EXE for you on Windows. See Updating for the full flow.

First-run

The first launch shows an alpha notice modal. Dismiss it once; it won't appear again. The app will land on an empty tree view with the status bar reading "Ready. Browse to your SD card's BCDx36HP folder to begin."

From source (any OS)

Requires Python 3.9+ with Tkinter support.

git clone https://github.com/disturbedkh/scanner-manager.git
cd scanner-manager
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
python -m pip install -e .
scanner-manager

Per-OS notes

• Windows: the standard python.org installer ships Tk. Nothing else needed.

• macOS: prefer the python.org build — the Apple-supplied system Python has a stripped Tk that breaks some dialogs. Alternatively brew install python-tk@3.12 (matching your Python minor version).

• Linux: install your distro's Tk package:

  sudo apt install python3-tk           # Debian / Ubuntu
  sudo dnf install python3-tkinter      # Fedora / RHEL
  sudo pacman -S tk                     # Arch

Optional extras

Scanner Manager runs with a minimal core and enables extra features as dependencies become available:

Install	Adds
pip install zeep keyring	RadioReference SOAP API access + credential storage.
pip install tkintermapview	Real tile-server map in the Coverage Map dialog.
pip install qrcode	QR codes in the Donate dialog.
pip install beartracker-885-scanner-manager[full]	All of the above.

Uninstall / reset

Prebuilt binaries are self-contained — just delete the EXE / .app / binary and the data it wrote next to itself (app_settings.json, scanner_manager.meta.json, *.session.bak, zip_county_map.json). Source installs: pip uninstall beartracker-885-scanner-manager.

Troubleshooting

• ImportError: No module named _tkinter — install your distro's Tk package (Linux) or reinstall Python with Tk support.
• macOS dialogs look cut off or fonts render oddly — almost always the system Python's Tk build. Switch to python.org Python.
• Blank window on Linux/X11 over SSH — Scanner Manager needs a real display or xvfb-run.
• EXE / .app doesn't start at all — delete the companion files it wrote next to itself and try again; a corrupt app_settings.json can block startup.
• Uniden Tools panel says "Windows only" — expected on macOS / Linux. Uniden doesn't publish Mac or Linux builds of Sentinel or the BT885 Update Manager. Use a Windows host (or Wine / Crossover at your own risk) to run those specific vendor tools.