New SDS200 arrived!

[iMONITOR]

I ordered a new SDS200 from SCANNER MASTER and it arrived in two days (FREE shipping!). I'm happy to say it's working perfectly and there is no background hum/noise of any kind. Ordering from Scanner Master is risk free and service is excellent!

Thanks,
Bill

 

[doctordialtone]

Ordering from Scanner Master is risk free and service is excellent!

Congratulations! Enjoy your new toy!

+1 on ScannerMaster!

 

[MisterLongwire]

Enjoy this work of electronic art. So many things to play with on this scanner. Congrats!

 

[iMONITOR]

I had a SDS200 a little over a year ago. It had a few problems right out of the box. The keypad was lit unevenly. It also had the infamous "hum" as some people called it. The mitigation wedge didn't appear to help. Sensitivity appeared to be seriously lacking in some bands/frequencies. It may have had something to do with filter settings as I wasn't even aware of them at the time. I had the option of returning it for a full refund under Scanner Master's return policy so I did. The return process was smooth and a full refund was issued promptly.

With all the idle time at home these days I was missing my scanner radios. So I decided maybe enough time had passed maybe the problems were resolved by now so I decided to give the SDS200 another look. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly my scanner arrived from Scanner Master (2-days)! I'm 100% satisfied with this scanner. The backlit on the keypad if much more evenly spread out. The audio is absolutely perfect! I don't think Uniden changed anything in it's design of the SDS200 and I didn't even open it up to see if it has the mitigation part installed. If it works, don't fix it is my approach. With my confidence restored I am really enjoying this new scanner. I have to learn more about how to create Favorites to take full advantage of it. For now I'm content with using the Zip Code/Range/Service Types method of programming. Results are impressive!

Firmware Version
Main:Version 1.10.07
Sub :Version 1.02.01
Serial number indicates it was manufactured in 2019

For an antenna I'm using a PCTEL Bluewave Marathon BMYD806D Yagi

It's mounted on a 9ft light stand in my office for now. As soon as it gets a little warmer I'm going to talk to my roofing contractor about mounting it on the roof.

 

[N4DJC]

Dig into the filter settings, use the analyze feature.

 

[darkness975]

I ordered a new SDS200 from SCANNER MASTER and it arrived in two days (FREE shipping!). I'm happy to say it's working perfectly and there is no background hum/noise of any kind. Ordering from Scanner Master is risk free and service is excellent!

Thanks,
Bill

Lucky. Mine has a faint and constant sound that emanates from it. I am still not 100% sure if it is what people call the "hum" or not. I can only hear it late at night when the room is dead quiet. It's like a higher pitched whining type sound I guess.

I'm with you on the "if it is not broken do not attempt to "fix" it" mentality. If nothing goes wrong I won't do anything to the unit. Even with that weird sound, if it does not get worse / louder then I will leave it alone. I would have to send it somewhere anyway since I do not have the skill to open it up without breaking anything.

 

[tumegpc]

The audio is absolutely perfect! I don't think Uniden changed anything in it's design of the SDS200 and I didn't even open it up to see if it has the mitigation part installed. If it works, don't fix it is my approach.

Firmware Version
Main:Version 1.10.07
Sub :Version 1.02.01
Serial number indicates it was manufactured in 2019

I'm with you on this one. I recently bought a new one and like yours, I have the same firmware and zero hum. I found no reason to open it up to see if the mitigation part is there.

 

[trentbob]

Definitely make favorites list so you can take advantage of features like the filters, system hold times and other features.

Love to hear when someone gets a good roll of the dice, congratulations!

 

[N4DJC]

Lucky. Mine has a faint and constant sound that emanates from it. I am still not 100% sure if it is what people call the "hum" or not. I can only hear it late at night when the room is dead quiet. It's like a higher pitched whining type sound I guess.

I'm with you on the "if it is not broken do not attempt to "fix" it" mentality. If nothing goes wrong I won't do anything to the unit. Even with that weird sound, if it does not get worse / louder then I will leave it alone. I would have to send it somewhere anyway since I do not have the skill to open it up without breaking anything.

This is a only a bandaid fix: set “Audio Off Time“ to 100 milliseconds. It will mute the scanner audio until it receives a transmission. The delay might miss the beginning of a transmission, but danged if I’ve noticed.

 

[darkness975]

This is a only a bandaid fix: set “Audio Off Time“ to 100 milliseconds. It will mute the scanner audio until it receives a transmission. The delay might miss the beginning of a transmission, but danged if I’ve noticed.

Yes I have read that before. At this point I'll just leave it alone. If it gets worse/louder, well, then I will have to make a decision.

 

[maus92]

Lucky. Mine has a faint and constant sound that emanates from it. I am still not 100% sure if it is what people call the "hum" or not. I can only hear it late at night when the room is dead quiet. It's like a higher pitched whining type sound I guess.

I'm with you on the "if it is not broken do not attempt to "fix" it" mentality. If nothing goes wrong I won't do anything to the unit. Even with that weird sound, if it does not get worse / louder then I will leave it alone. I would have to send it somewhere anyway since I do not have the skill to open it up without breaking anything.

That is the "hum" that most people complain about, and it does vary with what is being written to the display. If you don't want to go tearing into your radio and doing additional grounding, just use the audio off time feature. Set it for 100ms or 500ms (mine is set for 500ms.). That cuts off the audio amp from the speaker, and the radio will be quiet until the next transmission is received.

 

[darkness975]

That is the "hum" that most people complain about, and it does vary with what is being written to the display. If you don't want to go tearing into your radio and doing additional grounding, just use the audio off time feature. Set it for 100ms or 500ms (mine is set for 500ms.). That cuts off the audio amp from the speaker, and the radio will be quiet until the next transmission is received.

It wouldn't be off very long since it monitors fairly active systems. But glad to know that feature exists.

 

[greggk]

I had a SDS200 a little over a year ago. It had a few problems right out of the box. The keypad was lit unevenly. It also had the infamous "hum" as some people called it. The mitigation wedge didn't appear to help. Sensitivity appeared to be seriously lacking in some bands/frequencies. It may have had something to do with filter settings as I wasn't even aware of them at the time. I had the option of returning it for a full refund under Scanner Master's return policy so I did. The return process was smooth and a full refund was issued promptly.

With all the idle time at home these days I was missing my scanner radios. So I decided maybe enough time had passed maybe the problems were resolved by now so I decided to give the SDS200 another look. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly my scanner arrived from Scanner Master (2-days)! I'm 100% satisfied with this scanner. The backlit on the keypad if much more evenly spread out. The audio is absolutely perfect! I don't think Uniden changed anything in it's design of the SDS200 and I didn't even open it up to see if it has the mitigation part installed. If it works, don't fix it is my approach. With my confidence restored I am really enjoying this new scanner. I have to learn more about how to create Favorites to take full advantage of it. For now I'm content with using the Zip Code/Range/Service Types method of programming. Results are impressive!

Firmware Version
Main:Version 1.10.07
Sub :Version 1.02.01
Serial number indicates it was manufactured in 2019

For an antenna I'm using a PCTEL Bluewave Marathon BMYD806D Yagi

It's mounted on a 9ft light stand in my office for now. As soon as it gets a little warmer I'm going to talk to my roofing contractor about mounting it on the roof.
View attachment 83556

How do you like your antenna? I'm considering buying one for my 200 as well. Thanks.

 

[iMONITOR]

Set it for 100ms or 500ms (mine is set for 500ms.). That cuts off the audio amp from the speaker, and the radio will be quiet until the next transmission is received.

Way back when I bought my first one that had the problem, I found the audio time out setting to be more irratiting than than it being constant. I'm so glad I just returned it for a refund instead of having to put up with it. If the one I just bought ever were to develop the problem I'd either attempt the grounding repair myself or I'd take it to a good electronic shop to do the work. That type of repair is not difficult for people with the right tools and experience. That's what those guys do everyday. There's nothing that unique about the SDS200 that they wouldn't be able to do it.

 

[maus92]

Way back when I bought my first one that had the problem, I found the audio time out setting to be more irratiting than than it being constant. I'm so glad I just returned it for a refund instead of having to put up with it. If the one I just bought ever were to develop the problem I'd either attempt the grounding repair myself or I'd take it to a good electronic shop to do the work. That type of repair is not difficult for people with the right tools and experience. That's what those guys do everyday. There's nothing that unique about the SDS200 that they wouldn't be able to do it.

I suppose everyone has their own level of tolerance - the only way to find out is to try it for oneself.

 

[darkness975]

Way back when I bought my first one that had the problem, I found the audio time out setting to be more irratiting than than it being constant. I'm so glad I just returned it for a refund instead of having to put up with it. If the one I just bought ever were to develop the problem I'd either attempt the grounding repair myself or I'd take it to a good electronic shop to do the work. That type of repair is not difficult for people with the right tools and experience. That's what those guys do everyday. There's nothing that unique about the SDS200 that they wouldn't be able to do it.

Agreed. I don't really have the dexterity though.

 

[Kaleier1]

This is a only a bandaid fix: set “Audio Off Time“ to 100 milliseconds. It will mute the scanner audio until it receives a transmission. The delay might miss the beginning of a transmission, but danged if I’ve noticed.

I noticed the missing beginning or transmissions. The longer the time set the more I missed. Did the permanent hum fix so was able to set it to infinite and it is fine now.

 

[iMONITOR]

I suppose everyone has their own level of tolerance - the only way to find out is to try it for oneself.

This is true! My home office is as quiet as a funeral home other than my scanner. I used to be able to hear CFL light bulbs. I change out the video card that had a fan in my computer and replaced it with on that had a passive heat sink because that used to drive me nuts. I have a DELL workstation that allows me to throttle down the internal cooling fans through the BIOS. Even at 70 I still have super sensitive hearing.

 

[maus92]

You won't like my office!

 

[iMONITOR]

You won't like my office!