Bottlecapr
Newbie
Every time I hit my dept soft key. My sds locks on the very same department and a capital T appears briefly on top left of screen. What’s going on?
Sds100 display
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MStep
Member
On my SDS200, the "T" indicates the you can use the scrolling (or Tuning) knob to scroll through your departments, which you should see hightlighted. Ditto for Systems. I imagine its the same function as the SDS100. You may also see an "F" occasionally in that same spot, which means your radio is in "Function" mode.
It takes a little practice, and it you can't seem to get it to "stick" in "T" mode for as long as you need it, try pressing the Dept key once, let the T appear and disappear, and then immediately the press the Dept softkey again. It should say lit and in "T" mode as long as you keep scrolling. Once you stop scrolling, the "T" will disappear within about 3 or 4 seconds.
When not in "T" mode, at least on the 200, the scroll knob changes the direction of scan, as indicated by the small arrow--- on the 200 that is in the upper right hand corner.
I know someone with a 100 will come in with perhaps more pertinent and exacting details.
It takes a little practice, and it you can't seem to get it to "stick" in "T" mode for as long as you need it, try pressing the Dept key once, let the T appear and disappear, and then immediately the press the Dept softkey again. It should say lit and in "T" mode as long as you keep scrolling. Once you stop scrolling, the "T" will disappear within about 3 or 4 seconds.
When not in "T" mode, at least on the 200, the scroll knob changes the direction of scan, as indicated by the small arrow--- on the 200 that is in the upper right hand corner.
I know someone with a 100 will come in with perhaps more pertinent and exacting details.
Ubbe
Member
It should lock on to the dept that are currently monitored during scan. Do you only have one system and department programmed? It might indicate some problem with the scanning function. Are the scanner actually scanning different systems?
/Ubbe
There is no "department being monitored during scan" because talkgroups and departments are never scanned in trunked systems.
The behavior is normal, the "default" department is simply the first one programmed for the system. When you place a department hold during scanning, there is no current department, but the scanner has to pick something to activate the hold. So it holds on the first programmed department, and it's your job to tell the scanner where you actually want the hold placed. That's what the scroll knob is for.
If you place a department hold during an active call, then the scanner holds on the active department, because in that situation it has a good idea which department you want held.
The behavior is normal, the "default" department is simply the first one programmed for the system. When you place a department hold during scanning, there is no current department, but the scanner has to pick something to activate the hold. So it holds on the first programmed department, and it's your job to tell the scanner where you actually want the hold placed. That's what the scroll knob is for.
If you place a department hold during an active call, then the scanner holds on the active department, because in that situation it has a good idea which department you want held.
Ubbe
Member
It wasn't mentioned if it was a trunked dept with talk groups or a conventional department with conventional frequencies that indeed are scanned in quick key order or in the order they where programmed. And I wouldn't expect that only one system are programmed to scan.
/Ubbe
/Ubbe
This is the problem. Once we lock it into the department, it stays for a few seconds then speeds off to scanning again. I've pressed the button twice but it sometimes scans anyway. Mstep has the idea. You have to scroll and lock again but by that time its off scanning again. It always reverts back to the first department no matter what you do. Not a huge deal but annoying if your trying to stay on a hot call
Tap the department button once while the call is active. Works every time for me.
Trunked departments are the only ones that behave as the OP describes, so that narrows it down a bit.
MStep
Member
Maybe there is some confusion in this thread. That last comment, about "staying on a hot call" should not invoke use of the Dept soft key, but the "Channel" soft key. If you hit the Dept soft key, the scanner will lock onto the the Department, but will continue scanning all the channels in that department.
If you are on a "hot call", don't stop the scanner with the Dept soft key, use the Channel softkey.
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MStep
Member
Regardless of the OP's intentions with his/her question, which I interpreted about the question of the "T", this just demonstrates how fascinatingly complex the SDS series has evolved into. For folks who did not "come up the ranks" through the 436/536 iterations, the SDS appears to be one wild beast to really get a handle on.
Certainly not a "fault" in any sense on the word, but more of a hats-off the Uniden and the team that has managed to more or less keep up with the complexity of communications systems that currently exist. It's hard for us old-timers to sometimes imagine what newbies to this hobby have to deal with.
I often kid my friends that a "new" technology coming out that will require no programming at all to receive a channel. You simply plug a module into a slot in your scanner and your channel is "programmed" for you. Of course, the newbies don't get it, but most of the older folks here know what I'm talking about. (Think "crystal"). And I see Bomar is still around, incidentally.
Certainly not a "fault" in any sense on the word, but more of a hats-off the Uniden and the team that has managed to more or less keep up with the complexity of communications systems that currently exist. It's hard for us old-timers to sometimes imagine what newbies to this hobby have to deal with.
I often kid my friends that a "new" technology coming out that will require no programming at all to receive a channel. You simply plug a module into a slot in your scanner and your channel is "programmed" for you. Of course, the newbies don't get it, but most of the older folks here know what I'm talking about. (Think "crystal"). And I see Bomar is still around, incidentally.
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Ubbe
Member
I agree, but only if the OP are scanning just one single trunked system. I don't know if the OP are confused about the T on the display, but that's probably explained in detail in the manuals, or that he always holds on to the same department when he has several programmed in that single trunked system?
It's probably the same dept that get stuck every time that confuses but then MStep had the answer that it is a two step process to scroll to other departments.
/Ubbe
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