sds200 - hypersensitivity or issue?

[citiot]

Symptom: slight pop in speaker beginning and end of most transmissions. Manifests itself as more if a 'tick' than a pop on a small hi-fi speaker. SN in the 500 range

Troubleshooting steps taken:

• Looked over other threads in RR. Seemed to mostly be related to headphones or feeding a computer.
• Audio amp off being either infinite or 100 ms - no change
• Listened to audio over IP feed. - NO pop or tick
• Volume level or squelch make no difference. Pop is evident with volume all the way down
• Looked at youtube videos of sds200 listening to audio. Seems some have the pop, but others don't.
• Reformatted SD Card put files back on card and tried older firmware version - no change
• Updated firmware to latest - no change
• Tried different power supplies - no change
• Tried whip antenna vs feed from multicoupler - no change
• Re-seated existing grounding wedge with DeOxit clean of metal-metal contacts . Whine/Hum there, but just slightly. - no change
• Tried various filter settings, attenuation, etc - no change
• *might* do the enhanced grounding fix, but would rather not for now. Not afraid of a soldering iron, I'm of the "ain't broke, don't fix" crowd due to some spectacular fails during my lifetime.
• *might* try a capacitor in the speaker line with the theory there is a DC spike in the audio.

Question: Do other owners observe the same 'pop/tick" or am I being hypersensitive with the 'Humgate' topic? I do humbly ask that I would prefer to hear from sds200 owners and not other models/brands.

 

[StaticDischarge]

In my humble opinion I believe it is the firmware that "allowed" us to change the time the amp was on that is "conveniently" ignored therefore no matter what time setting you use, you hear no difference in the "pop/tick" timing...

Now if someone would chime in and let us know if there is/isn't a difference with other firmware versions???

Well there is another 2 cents for ya!! Now it is time for me to get a job... My stash of cents is dwindling fast... And I am noticing the fact I am so broke, I can't even pay attention!!

 

[citiot]

In my humble opinion I believe it is the firmware that "allowed" us to change the time the amp was on that is "conveniently" ignored therefore no matter what time setting you use, you hear no difference in the "pop/tick" timing...

Hmmm, perhaps. But I did run an experiment to run the oldest firmware do see if that is the culprit. Maybe there are vestiges of the new firmware affecting pop/tick timing?

Oh, I hope you find work soon. Been there. It sucks.

Edit: I take it that you've noticed the pop/tick also?

 

[StaticDischarge]

Edit: I take it that you've noticed the pop/tick also?

No I haven't.. Just read about it here...

 

[jonwienke]

Is the speaker grounded? That can cause audio problems separate from the CPU RFI bleedover hum.

 

[MisterLongwire]

If its new, return it. Try another one to see if it "pops"

 

[citiot]

oops. see next post

 

[citiot]

Is the speaker grounded? That can cause audio problems separate from the CPU RFI bleedover hum.

No - speakers not powered, no other gnd connection....floating Also ticks on internal speaker.

If its new, return it. Try another one to see if it "pops"

I did that with another sds200 due to display shimmer (undeniably defective... then bought new one from another vendor). I don't remember if previous one had pop or not. Decided to see if others have seen it before I do that in order to have really good evidence that it is defective (or not). (avoid restocking fee)

 

[jonwienke]

No - speakers not powered, no other gnd connection....floating Also ticks on internal speaker.

If it happens on every system, then the scanner has an issue. But some analog systems have noises at the end of transmissions, and it's the repeater, not the receiver. Can you post recordings? Hard to tell without hearing the exact noise.

 

[citiot]

If it happens on every system, then the scanner has an issue. But some analog systems have noises at the end of transmissions, and it's the repeater, not the receiver. Can you post recordings? Hard to tell without hearing the exact noise.

Recording the click to how I perceive it is not working out. If I put my iphone too close to the radio, the click is exaggerated. If I move it farther away, iphone does not pick up the click. I do see some youtube videos that have the pop while others do not.

Seems that the pop is less on conventional. MN ARMER P25 pop is always there. Some conventional don't have the pop. Your question asking about what types of systems was helpful.

I started this thread in order to determine if I could either use the return window for "defective" items for full refund by gathering some data about other user's experience. If I could show the retailer with some good evidence that it is defective, it would be really easy to prove my case (as with the flickering/shimmering display).

Conclusion: Since there was no decisive reports either way, and that it seems to be system type dependent, the risk is too high to avoid restocking fee. Additionally my recent experience with Uniden factory repair taking a long time (still at repair 9 calendar days over estimated return date***) indicates that going that route would be simply be a waste of $90 just get get the radio back with a note 'could not reproduce' and be out a scanner for many weeks.

Remediation: What I did was to put a headphone in-line volume control to the BC20. I turned the unit volume up to just before clipping and reduced the headphone volume control a little bit thus reducing the pop (since the pop is volume independent). Another thing I will do is fine tune the system V +/- settings.

I may run an o-scope on the output to see if I capture a DC spike, but for now, I'm good.

--Citiot

***OT:returned sds100 for broken USB port rcvd 9/6. Totally my fault. Uniden has charged card (even though I provided CC number on repair form and had to provide again via phone call to rep), but status has been "Pending Estimate Approval " since 10/1. Maybe I will get the "radio will be destroyed if payment is not received snail mail )

 

[jonwienke]

There's no need to record anything with iPhone. The scanner will make its own digital audio recordings on the sd card.

 

[citiot]

There's no need to record anything with iPhone. The scanner will make its own digital audio recordings on the sd card.

Pop is not heard in recordings (on card or Proscan). It's all good now. Keeping scanner. Moving on.

This tells me that the recording audio (and IP audio stream) is taken from a circuit stage before the audio amp stage.

Ext speaker with slight attenuation (lowering S/N where N=pop and increase in S done via increasing unit volume up a bit) reduces pop to inaudible (unless I put my ear on the speaker). I see others have done a similar thing with amplified speaker with built in volume knob (reducing whine).

Thanks for your help.