SDS100/SDS200: Audio goes away SDS200

[n1chu]

I have two SDS200’s, mobile and base. The loss of audio first happened with my mobile. Occasionally it would stop giving me audio. I would be sitting in my truck, looking at what seemed to be a perfectly operating radio, scanning thru my FL’s, stopping occasionally, but with no audio. So I checked the weather frequencies. Was I getting audio on a known good weather frequency? No. I would turn the knob to allow it to scan all of the weather frequencies and it would again stop on the busy channel, still with no audio. But a reboot of the scanner would return the radio to normal, where I could again get audio. It seemed to happen in cold weather more than not. So, I swapped out both radios and tried the base SDS200 in the truck. The problematic SDS200 was now acting as my base radio inside my home without any issues… at least not happening as often. And the SDS200, formally acting as my base, now functioned well in my truck. Both were from the original manufacturing run, I had reserved both scanners before they were released, and were still under warrenty when the issues began. But my swapping the two seemed to do the trick and I never bothered to send the first scanner in for repairs… or I did and it came back with no problems found, I can’t remember. (I mention this as merely a way of determining the problem started within a year after I purchased them.)

Presently, I am experiencing the same problem with the scanner in my truck… just like the first. It seems to be a cold weather issue but it has happened occasionally with the one that now resides in the house too!

I think I had posted this once before but haven’t checked the archives here, for some reason I believe the issue either had no response or it was something Uniden called unsubstantiated. Again, memory fails.

So, I am re-visiting the issue, wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same, or hopefully, if Uniden has re-examined the problem and found a fix?

 

[vagrant]

SDS200 cold temp NO JOY!

The SDS200 would not imediately boot up at 7degrees F in my vehicle. I left it on and after a minute it came to life. I thought it was the ambient temp of the vehicle causing a delay but the radio just needed to be left on while Power was supplied, as the vehicle certainly didn’t get any warmer...

forums.radioreference.com

Loss of audio SDS200

My SDS200 (I will designate it as radio 1) will loose all audio after it’s been on for a bit. A quick troubleshooting process was to check for a corrupted SD card first. I’ve replaced the card with a known good card from my other SDS200 (radio 2) and SDS100. The card I pulled from Radio 1 also...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[JoeBearcat]

Does it come back once the truck warms up?

 

[nessnet]

You know, I have always wondered about this....

I swear that my 200 has gone 'deaf' in the past.
Not temp related, just gone deaf on the desk.

A power cycle has always been the solution.
Then again, I'm still not 100% sure it wasn't just a slow day....

 

[crippledchicken]

I've always got my Whistler going at the same time my sds200 is running so if one stops I check the other one.

 

[R0am3r]

@n1chu - Some random questions for you. These questions may be pointless, but it might help you narrow down the problem.

- Are you powering the scanner directly from the truck battery?
- Do you turn on the scanner after the truck is started?
- Do you turn off the scanner before you turn off the truck?
- Are you using an external speaker in the truck?
- Has the latest firmware release helped with the audio issues?
- Are you recording when the audio stops working?
- Are you using the original memory card(s) in both of these scanners?

 

[n1chu]

Power is supplied via cigarette lighter socket. The power gets divorced 15 min after the truck is turned off. Scanner powers up when I start the truck. A Uniden amplified external speaker is used. No software/firmware updates have had any effect. I never use the record function. I don’t recall swapping out the SD Cards with each other or new.

I’ve never had a problem with a corrupted SD Card caused by the way I power the scanner. (According to previous posts, corruption was happening when the scanner was using the record function. The scanner may be shut down in the middle of the “write” feature for record, causing a corruption. If I changed anything in the programming I would first turn the scanner off using the on/off/volume knob and let it write my changes to the card, then turn the scanner back on… and leave it on, letting the truck divorce power after 15 min.)

 

[mirrorboy]

I have two SDS200’s, mobile and base. The loss of audio first happened with my mobile. Occasionally it would stop giving me audio. I would be sitting in my truck, looking at what seemed to be a perfectly operating radio, scanning thru my FL’s, stopping occasionally, but with no audio. So I checked the weather frequencies. Was I getting audio on a known good weather frequency? No. I would turn the knob to allow it to scan all of the weather frequencies and it would again stop on the busy channel, still with no audio. But a reboot of the scanner would return the radio to normal, where I could again get audio. It seemed to happen in cold weather more than not. So, I swapped out both radios and tried the base SDS200 in the truck. The problematic SDS200 was now acting as my base radio inside my home without any issues… at least not happening as often. And the SDS200, formally acting as my base, now functioned well in my truck. Both were from the original manufacturing run, I had reserved both scanners before they were released, and were still under warrenty when the issues began. But my swapping the two seemed to do the trick and I never bothered to send the first scanner in for repairs… or I did and it came back with no problems found, I can’t remember. (I mention this as merely a way of determining the problem started within a year after I purchased them.)

Presently, I am experiencing the same problem with the scanner in my truck… just like the first. It seems to be a cold weather issue but it has happened occasionally with the one that now resides in the house too!

I think I had posted this once before but haven’t checked the archives here, for some reason I believe the issue either had no response or it was something Uniden called unsubstantiated. Again, memory fails.

So, I am re-visiting the issue, wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same, or hopefully, if Uniden has re-examined the problem and found a fix?

Yes I have the same issue. When it works it’s flawless then it just stops and cycling power doesn’t immediately fix it. WX stations just click and after about 20 power cycles it usually fixes it but not this time. Now it’s just dead. Wiped. Reprogrammed and same issue. Not really wanting to send in for repair but might not have a choice.

 

[wtp]

plug in a headphone/computer speakers to check the 3.5mm jack ..?
if the audio dos not go through it to the speaker then you hear nothing.
it has happened to my 396T and the 396XT a number of times, but not lately.

 

[mirrorboy]

mine is an issue with the circuit board, either main or RF .... WX gives a weird sound where digital gives zero sound, after 20 restarts it started working again for now... until whenever it wants to quit again.

 

[n1chu]

Yes I have the same issue. When it works it’s flawless then it just stops and cycling power doesn’t immediately fix it. WX stations just click and after about 20 power cycles it usually fixes it but not this time. Now it’s just dead. Wiped. Reprogrammed and same issue. Not really wanting to send in for repair but might not have a choice.

No, it’s not quite the same… my SDS200 will have restored audio after I reboot it… immediately and every time. You state cycling power doesn’t immediately fix it.

 

[n1chu]

You know, I have always wondered about this....

I swear that my 200 has gone 'deaf' in the past.
Not temp related, just gone deaf on the desk.

A power cycle has always been the solution.
Then again, I'm still not 100% sure it wasn't just a slow day....

When I suspect I’ve lost audio I go into the menu and select WX Operation>Weather Scan and see if I can hear the continuous weather forecast. If I can, I back out of the menu and chalk it up to it just being a quiet period. If I do not hear the continuous weather forecast I reboot the scanner and that corrects it. So I can determine if it’s a “slow day” or a bad radio. Maybe not with a 100% assuredness because there have been times the weather service continuous reports were not there due to the transmitter being serviced for whatever reason. But it’s more convenient to check using the weather service continuous transmission than to drag out my ham handi-talkie to use as test signal.