Uniden sds 100 disappointing

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ma8007

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I’m really disappointed in the sds 100. Seriously considering Selling on EBay..I live in Baltimore and have always had tough time with the p25 digital trunking simulcast distortion..My Unication G5 Is much better at decoding the p25.I purchased this uniden because of the limitations of the G5..The sds 100 works a little better on p25 then previous scanners(TRX-1,436HP)but not much.
I purchased the Remtronix 800 mhz antenna hoping it would be better,but it’s not..Anyone out there in a p25 Challenged area having better success with this radio?I would love to hear your opinion..And maybe any tips on what setting I can tweak to improve my audio.BTW I have full signal bars but garbled voice frequently..Thanks
 

mancow

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That's unfortunate. I'm in an area where a troublesome simulcast site's outer edge covers me and it drops out a lot (signal drops out). I find that if I turn the squelch to 1 and hold on the site it is a drastic improvement.
 

SCPD

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I’m Not happy even with the latest firmware.
What I’m seeing monitoring just one P25 Harris site holding on one TG when the RSSI goes above - 90 dB
The radio will drop the CC and appears searching for another
The sys ID, RFSS and Site ID blank out, eventually it does reconnect to the CC
When the RSSI is below - 90 dB its fine

I have a 436 right next to the SDS and it’s fine

Both radios were programmed manually



I’m really disappointed in the sds 100. Seriously considering Selling on EBay..I live in Baltimore and have always had tough time with the p25 digital trunking simulcast distortion..My Unication G5 Is much better at decoding the p25.I purchased this uniden because of the limitations of the G5..The sds 100 works a little better on p25 then previous scanners(TRX-1,436HP)but not much.
I purchased the Remtronix 800 mhz antenna hoping it would be better,but it’s not..Anyone out there in a p25 Challenged area having better success with this radio?I would love to hear your opinion..And maybe any tips on what setting I can tweak to improve my audio.BTW I have full signal bars but garbled voice frequently..Thanks
 

ma8007

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Update!! I was unaware there was a new update as of yesterday..Iwill try that and hope it helps..It really want to like this radio..Thanks
 

vpasq

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Chesapeake, VA
Sorry for your experience with the SDS100, but mine has been quite the opposite. I was having a very difficult time with P25 simulcast in my area until I got the SDS100. Now everything is coming in clear and not missing anything anymore. I am also amazed how fast it scans, compared to my last scanners, including the BCD436hp! I will admit the 436 had a bolder sound, but all the customization on the SDS100, in itself is worth the price difference IMHO. My only complaint is I would like to have an extra battery and external charger, but I would hope Uniden will be at some point making those available, as I don’t enjoy tethering and turning the unit off to charge. That’s my two cents.
 

SteveSimpkin

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Sorry for your experience with the SDS100, but mine has been quite the opposite. I was having a very difficult time with P25 simulcast in my area until I got the SDS100. Now everything is coming in clear and not missing anything anymore. I am also amazed how fast it scans, compared to my last scanners, including the BCD436hp! I will admit the 436 had a bolder sound, but all the customization on the SDS100, in itself is worth the price difference IMHO. My only complaint is I would like to have an extra battery and external charger, but I would hope Uniden will be at some point making those available, as I don’t enjoy tethering and turning the unit off to charge. That’s my two cents.
If you register your SDS100 at my.uniden.com you will receive a second larger battery for free. An external charger is expected to be released around August.
https://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-tech-support/370751-nip-bud.html
 

mule1075

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and turning the unit off to charge

You can charge the unit while it is on.
728ef29f19a3f1384807aac1094cf284.jpg
 

Larry51

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SDS100 in Chesapeake

Sorry for your experience with the SDS100, but mine has been quite the opposite. I was having a very difficult time with P25 simulcast in my area until I got the SDS100. Now everything is coming in clear and not missing anything anymore. I am also amazed how fast it scans, compared to my last scanners, including the BCD436hp! I will admit the 436 had a bolder sound, but all the customization on the SDS100, in itself is worth the price difference IMHO. My only complaint is I would like to have an extra battery and external charger, but I would hope Uniden will be at some point making those available, as I don’t enjoy tethering and turning the unit off to charge. That’s my two cents.

Appreciate your message. I've been waiting to read an SDS100 review by someone in Chesapeake. I live in the Great Bridge area and I've all but given up on receiving police and fire dispatch traffic from the City of Chesapeake because of the P-25 simulcast issue. In reading your message, it sounds like the SDS100 is the answer we've been waiting for. How does it do on other digital systems and on analog?
 

jonwienke

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It keeps up with the 436 and 536 on airband, and performs similar on DMR and NXDN.
 

ma8007

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Sadly the firmware update made no difference..Ebay here I come.. I will take a beating but it does me no good to keep it if I cant understand what is being said..Stay tuned Radio Reference members..Thanks everyone!!
 
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SCPD

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Update:
Using a different antenna made a world of difference. Even though the RSSI levels are the same the radio performs better than the 436





I’m Not happy even with the latest firmware.
What I’m seeing monitoring just one P25 Harris site holding on one TG when the RSSI goes above - 90 dB
The radio will drop the CC and appears searching for another
The sys ID, RFSS and Site ID blank out, eventually it does reconnect to the CC
When the RSSI is below - 90 dB its fine

I have a 436 right next to the SDS and it’s fine

Both radios were programmed manually
 

KR7CQ

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Sadly the firmware update made no difference..Ebay here I come.. I will take a beating but it does me no good to keep it if I cant understand what is being said..Stay tuned Radio Reference members..Thanks everyone!!

Same experience here in terms of overall performance in Phoenix. And I was told "but you haven't tried firmware X!".

The problems I had were significant, despite the fact that I LOVE so much of what the SDS100 is. Reception matters. Unications receive more simulcasts in Phoenix, and I'm not surprised to hear that they do this in other locations as well, like yours. Then of course, Unication users deal with the fact that they are not scanners and have annoyances of their own for scanner users, believe me I know, and I have expressed those issues (but hey, it's a pager).

I had high hopes that the SDS100 would be "the one", but no, not for me either. Sorry.

**The next things you may be told:

"You are near some type of interference"
"You got a defective unit"
"You need to be patient, firmware may fix this"
 

mancow

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I hate hearing this since it was everything to me that you guys had hoped for. I am now hearing a system that was maybe 20% copy at best on a beam and now it's probably 90% on a compromised antenna. I wonder what the difference is.
 

allend

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Well more firmware updates will probably be coming down the pipes to fine tune these new radios. Just have to give it time for these updates to happen. Nothing will be perfect for every area. You just need to do your research and read threads and forums to figure out what kind of radio equipment works best in your area and go with what works.
 
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