SDS100/SDS200: SDS200E dpmr kicking in when there is no digital signal

[Graham666]

I updated my SDS200E and purchased the waterfall upgrade. Since then when goto an FM frequency the Dpmr kicks in and the radio goes silent until I switch frequencies then it will do the same thing. It’s a if it finds a digital signal and the radio is waiting for a signal. it kicks in on all FM frequencies, I have tried it in dedicated NFM and Auto, I’ve timed it and it kicks in at different intervals, sometime straight away. It’s made the radio unusable And I’m not sure what to do next. I’m not sure it’s allowed here but I did a YouTube short to show the problem

 

[Ubbe]

I updated my SDS200E and purchased the waterfall upgrade. Since then when goto an FM frequency the Dpmr kicks in

Seems to be too sensitive in its dPMR decode. The US model doesn't have dPMR so only the ones with the E model notice this so has to be reported to Avera to get it fixed.

But if the squelch are set normally it doesn't switch to dPMR just from voice modulation or other digital modes?

/Ubbe

 

[Graham666]

Yes it switches to Dpmr even when the squelch is closed, its Even more frustrating when the squelch is up as the radio falls silent, as if it’s waiting for the digital signal, I also tried away from home in the car to see if it was local interference. I’ve taken it up with radio world here in the Uk

here is another example

 

[gary123]

I agree with Ubbe. The dPMR decode trigger seems to be set so it triggers on any noise that looks like a digital signal. Does the unit properly trigger on DMR/NXDN or P25 signals or is it stuck always looking for dPMR?

I have noticed that neither Seninel or ARC offer a dPMR dedicated mode in the dropdowns. This leads me to think the scanner is defaulting to dPMR decode mode rather than only looking when you tell it that a dPMR signal is present. If that is the case then it appears that the dPMR detect code in the FW is in need of editing.

 

[Ubbe]

Tune to a empty space with no signal and set squelch to 0. Then do Function+0 and then turn the selector knob to reduce the gain. Check if squelch works normal at lowest gain setting where the noise level will probably be lower.

/Ubbe

 

[Graham666]

Thanks Ubb,
function +0 doesn’t do anything while function +4 turns tha attenuator on/off. I tried both these positions and still the same. I was up early this morning with Little activity, I noticed while the radio received no signals it the dmPR never kicked in. As soon as it received a signal, it constantly kicked in even on empty channels. It only started doing this after the last firmware upgrade. any ideas on me going back to factory settings and how would this effect my purchased keys?

 

[Ubbe]

Thanks Ubb,
function +0 doesn’t do anything while function +4 turns tha attenuator on/off. I tried both these positions and still the same. I was up early this morning with Little activity, I noticed while the radio received no signals it the dmPR never kicked in. As soon as it received a signal, it constantly kicked in even on empty channels. It only started doing this after the last firmware upgrade. any ideas on me going back to factory settings and how would this effect my purchased keys?

Your keys will always stay in the radio in protected memory so you will never lose them.
I see the same issue with my SDS100E. It briefly kicked in dPMR just when I tuned into an analog channel and after that it never unmutes again and doesn't open to noise when squelch set to 0 and have to restart waterfall again.

I can also see that it sometimes blinks ENC in the waterfall display that makes it jump out of DMR systems and goes to the next one or skip past conventional DMR channels. We have to wait for Uniden to come out with that improved digital decode firmware that was announced by JoeBearcat to be released for all scanner models.

/Ubbe

 

[Graham666]

Thank you Ubbe

I am so glad that I’m not going mad, it’s an expensive radio and less than 12 months old, I didn’t want it to end up at the back of the shack, I’ve shared your information with my supplier and hopefully they can pass on the issues to the manufacturer. Fingers crossed a fix soon as once my Dpmr kicks in i need to attend the radio to shift frequency back and forth to get the modulation back to NFM

 

[Ubbe]

This leads me to think the scanner is defaulting to dPMR decode mode rather than only looking when you tell it that a dPMR signal is present. If that is the case then it appears that the dPMR detect code in the FW is in need of editing.

It's as if they have written code to try and detect the digital mode as: If data errors are too many then it's RAS and then disable error correction and if not DMR or not NXDN or not P25 then it's dPMR .

I believe they need to double check using several frames of data before definitely deciding for what they are decoding. And that also goes for the false detect of the ENC flag in the data packets.

/Ubbe

 

[gary123]

Again I agree with your analysis on the probable issue.

My testing of the scanners does show that if you manually select the mode type then the scanner will ignore any other data type on that freq. IE set for P25 and receive a DMR signal. The scanner will not decode the DMR. I cannot test if dPMR is active in the decode at all times as NA (SDS200) does not support dPMR. I do have dPMR equipment.

The issue at hand seems to only be occurring when the unit is in 'search' and the 'autodecode' option is operating.

 

[Iete]

I updated my SDS200E and purchased the waterfall upgrade. Since then when goto an FM frequency the Dpmr kicks in and the radio goes silent until I switch frequencies then it will do the same thing. It’s a if it finds a digital signal and the radio is waiting for a signal. it kicks in on all FM frequencies, I have tried it in dedicated NFM and Auto, I’ve timed it and it kicks in at different intervals, sometime straight away. It’s made the radio unusable And I’m not sure what to do next. I’m not sure it’s allowed here but I did a YouTube short to show the problem

Hi, same problem on my E version after i got the update warning. Still can't find the solution.

 

[Butelsoftware]

It's a known issue and new 'E' firmware is being tested, see Avera Distributing facebook message (the importer of Uniden in Europe) : Avera-Distributing | Breda
As a work around you can try to use audio type per channel and set to analog or digital instead of Auto.

Gommert
www.butelsoftware.com

 

[Graham666]

Just to say, this is fixed now for me, see if there are any updates via the software is my recommendation

 

[Graham666]

Hi, same problem on my E version after i got the update warning. Still can't find the solution.

There is a fix on its way, try and update the radio and see if something is a available

 

[Ubbe]

The Avery Facebook post doesn't mention the dPMR issue. They write about the low AM audio that it is what it is as the scanner needs to hold the RF gain at a certain level during waterfall, that are unsuitable for AM demodulation. But Uniden could easily make a fix that increase the audio level from the DSP while receiving AM in waterfall mode.

They also mention the issue that always has been there with Unidens SDS scanners, that the RF detector senses the internal interferencies in its SDR reseiver as a signal but the signal/noise squelch doesn't see a clean carrier and never unmutes when the scan has stopped. This is the same as are happening to most cheap SDR dongles and doesn't have a fix other than using IFX and filter settings.

/Ubbe

 

[Butelsoftware]

There is a fix on its way, try and update the radio and see if something is a availableThanks Graham. The official update is not released yet.

Thanks Graham . Official update is not released yet.

Gommert

 

[Iete]

Thanks Graham . Official update is not released yet.

Gommert

Thanks all, for the reply. I will wait and will check the updates.

 

[Butelsoftware]

@Iete The new firmware 1.23.09 for SDS100E and SDS200E is now available. Use sentinel to update.

 

[Ubbe]

Now it's almost zero audio volume from AM mode and sometimes also sounds distorted. At full volume on SDS100E it's barely heard.
dPMR doesn't seem to false trigger anymore and other DMR protocols seems to work as usual without any degradation.

/Ubbe

 

[Iete]

Thanks for the update, installed the firmware. Will try to listen later on. Good job!