SDS100 & Starcom

[werinshades]

My SDS100 arrived this morning and have been getting my Sentinel programming updated for the past week in the anticipation of it's arrival. Besides all the other departments and agencies I programmed, I had Starcom Site 1-02 all set and ready. This is a simulcast site that I've had issues with since the Uniden Digital scanners and Starcom were first introduced.

I watched the beta testers numerous videos on other simulcast systems that had very similar programming and simulcast issues that we experience with Starcom. I am happy to report after a good 6+ hour run of excellent results, no simulcast digital garble at all. Uniden has finally found the solution after all these years!

If anyone is on the fence about making the purchase, don't be. I'm sure a Desktop model will be introduced in the near future. The major differences in price vs Whistler is Uniden trunk tracks via the control channel in MotoTRBO and NXDN trunking systems which we have plenty of around here. With the addition of proper simulcast decoding, the SDS series scanners are worth it.

 

[mws72]

Your comments about the trunk-tracking via the control channel of Mototrbo and especially NXDN is why I am saving money but won't be able to get it for the foreseeable future, maybe Christmas or January. I will be getting rid of the TRX-1 I have.

 

[werinshades]

Your comments about the trunk-tracking via the control channel of Mototrbo and especially NXDN is why I am saving money but won't be able to get it for the foreseeable future, maybe Christmas or January. I will be getting rid of the TRX-1 I have.

You will be very pleased as I was coming from the TRX-2, which I happily sold.

 

[N9JIG]

I will be in the area over the weekend for Ted's memorial and will do some monitoring of known trouble spots. I expect the same stellar results I have had here, in Ohio and Boston over the last couple months.



I will take some video of the Chicago area results and post them on the ScannerMaster page.

 

[ILjim]

Thanks for sharing your results. Glad to hear that it handles StarCom21 without LSM distortion. With my PSR-500, I do get overload from cell towers. I personally find this issue at its worst when driving along I-94 from Downtown Chi into the south suburbs and vice-versa. With that, did you have any problems monitoring w/ the SDS100 around cell towers?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[werinshades]

Thanks for sharing your results. Glad to hear that it handles StarCom21 without LSM distortion. With my PSR-500, I do get overload from cell towers. I personally find this issue at its worst when driving along I-94 from Downtown Chi into the south suburbs and vice-versa. With that, did you have any problems monitoring w/ the SDS100 around cell towers?

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Well...I have 4 cell towers 1/2 block from me so I think that should pass that test..lol!

 

[werinshades]

Whoa...what was that?

Had it in ID Search during the Midway Disaster Drill they had going on. TGID# 2751 tones out so I had to check it. It ended up being Fire Dispatch 1 on the Northwest Central System. One of the radios must have affiliated with Site 102, but it was coming in loud and clear. SDS100 is sitting on my desk, pretending to be a desktop and only using the stock antenna. I'm only a few blocks west of Midway Airport.

Yesterday I was in my car, and had to give it a go. I had to put the foil tape on my battery compartment on the 436 to improve UHF reception. SDS UHF reception was very similar to the 396XT's reception on analog during my unofficial test. 470 Mhz departments were nothing to write home about on the 436, but on the SDS 100..it's much better. Some departments don't always put out alot of power, and those I'm aware of around me.

Still no issues on Starcom.

 

[justinkmunger]

I posted the following in the Uniden Prospective Owners forum:

https://forums.radioreference.com/u...tion-video-comparison-sds100-vs-bcd436hp.html

but in hindsight it probably would have been more appropriate in this thread instead.

TL;DR: I couldn't receive the 1-049 Cook North / NWCD Simulcast site here at all in Edgewater on the BCD436HP, but it's now rock-solid on the SDS100. I linked to YouTube videos I made showing the difference in the post.

I had tried 1-002 (Cook South - Simulcast) before on the BCD436HP but it never locked on to the control channel, which was baffling since the nearest tower is a lot closer than anything on 1-049 is (only 4-5 miles I believe). Yesterday I found out that both my Uniden and Whistler scanner programming applications failed to put in 6 of the site frequencies, including the control channel, so that explains that!

Once I put those in, I found I could actually receive 1-002 here in Edgewater on the BCD436HP but had some garbled and missed transmissions and had to work to find a spot where it was somewhat monitorable. The SDS100 receives it perfectly no matter where I am in my home.

With the stock rubber duck, I'm also able to listen to 1-001 (DuPage County - Simulcast) and 1-015 (Lake County - Simulcast). And with a yagi I'm also able to hear 1-026 (Kane County - Simulcast) as well. Obviously the two CCS North/South sites work well, but there's not much that's unencrypted there to listen to.

I'm just getting back into scanner listening after a 7 year hiatus. When I got my BCD436HP, the first thing I tried to monitor was STARCOM21 and no matter what I did, I just couldn't receive anything. I did some research and I was so bummed when I learned how common the simulcast reception problems were. I found I could receive 1-049 pretty well once I got into the NW suburbs, so I even made a few special trips out there just so I could listen to it!

I originally had low expectations about the SDS100 because of all the comments from people having problems listening to their local simulcast systems, but my experience has been fantastic, especially with STARCOM21 reception here in the city. I was able to monitor it all the way into the city on the Eisenhower to Congress Parkway, through Grant Park to Lake Shore Drive and all the way back to Edgewater without any gaps in coverage (off of site 1-002), all with the stock rubber duck.

So I'd definitely recommend this radio to anyone in the city, especially on the north side, who wants to be able to solidly monitor STARCOM21.

 

[werinshades]

I posted the following in the Uniden Prospective Owners forum:

https://forums.radioreference.com/u...tion-video-comparison-sds100-vs-bcd436hp.html

but in hindsight it probably would have been more appropriate in this thread instead.

TL;DR: I couldn't receive the 1-049 Cook North / NWCD Simulcast site here at all in Edgewater on the BCD436HP, but it's now rock-solid on the SDS100. I linked to YouTube videos I made showing the difference in the post.

I had tried 1-002 (Cook South - Simulcast) before on the BCD436HP but it never locked on to the control channel, which was baffling since the nearest tower is a lot closer than anything on 1-049 is (only 4-5 miles I believe). Yesterday I found out that both my Uniden and Whistler scanner programming applications failed to put in 6 of the site frequencies, including the control channel, so that explains that!

Once I put those in, I found I could actually receive 1-002 here in Edgewater on the BCD436HP but had some garbled and missed transmissions and had to work to find a spot where it was somewhat monitorable. The SDS100 receives it perfectly no matter where I am in my home.

With the stock rubber duck, I'm also able to listen to 1-001 (DuPage County - Simulcast) and 1-015 (Lake County - Simulcast). And with a yagi I'm also able to hear 1-026 (Kane County - Simulcast) as well. Obviously the two CCS North/South sites work well, but there's not much that's unencrypted there to listen to.

I'm just getting back into scanner listening after a 7 year hiatus. When I got my BCD436HP, the first thing I tried to monitor was STARCOM21 and no matter what I did, I just couldn't receive anything. I did some research and I was so bummed when I learned how common the simulcast reception problems were. I found I could receive 1-049 pretty well once I got into the NW suburbs, so I even made a few special trips out there just so I could listen to it!

I originally had low expectations about the SDS100 because of all the comments from people having problems listening to their local simulcast systems, but my experience has been fantastic, especially with STARCOM21 reception here in the city. I was able to monitor it all the way into the city on the Eisenhower to Congress Parkway, through Grant Park to Lake Shore Drive and all the way back to Edgewater without any gaps in coverage (off of site 1-002), all with the stock rubber duck.

So I'd definitely recommend this radio to anyone in the city, especially on the north side, who wants to be able to solidly monitor STARCOM21.

Great report, and like you am seeing some great results. The common complaints some might read in the Uniden forums is the backlight...by design it stays on for the alloted time then shuts off. UPMan is working with his engineers so many will be happier...lights up during an active transmission then shuts off after the transmission ends that the user programmed.. It'll be fixed.

Some of the biggest complainers about poor reception are now dialing it back a little. Many are finding out the system they're comparing it to the previous scanners, wasn't programmed properly because they loaded it directly from the database based upon their zip codes, which wasn't correct. I use the database as a tool, but have always programmed my scanners my way and that's probably what happened. The old saying "if you want something done right, do it yourself" are words to live by while programming. I've seen 2 opposite reports on one of the Phoenix systems, the Ohio MARCS system etc.

This scanner is very sensitive...as I previously compared it to the 396XT and it still holds true. So...if you are around another strong radio source, the intermod might wipe it out. I live by Midway, and their have been times due to the location of the scanner, intermod was heard. Very similar results when I had my 396XT running a 460Mhz analog channel and that's where I hear it here. The trade off is enormous...the digital signals, simulcast reception is outstanding. UPMan has a running Google document and the three Starcom reports have been 10's. Well worth it...

 

[justinkmunger]

I definitely have seen the issues with strong radio sources. I'm not that far from Loyola University and their 3 DMR conventional repeaters cause problems with all my scanners and receivers. CPD District 24 HQ is a little further away, but I get problems from that as well since it has CPD, CFD, and EMS repeaters on their tower.

The SDS100 definitely seems to have more image issues on 450-480 MHz than the BCD436HP has. I've been playing with both of these this morning listening to CPD Zone 9 and I've heard 2 or 3 different CPD dispatch repeaters coming in on that frequency with the SDS100, well enough to decode their CTCSS tones. The BCD436HP has been completely quiet.

I spend a lot of time doing searching and discovery of frequencies/systems, so I don't think the SDS100 would work well for this particular use. I had planned on keeping the BCD436HP anyways, so I'll still be able to put it to good use for that. But I think if you have frequencies programmed already with CTCSS/DCS tones set, the SDS100 works just fine and you won't hear the images. So for most people I don't think this is really going to be a dealbreaker.

Aside from improved simulcast reception, the SDS100 has much improved handling of (what I believe to be) cell tower interference. There are a few cell sites around my home with 1/4 mile that generate interference On my BCD436HP, using anything except the stock rubber duck, I'm plagued with static pops and other noises that make DMR control channels unable to decode properly unless they are very strong.

However, I'm not hearing the static pops on the SDS100. I'm definitely seeing interference from the cell towers but it's not static pops anymore. And as a result, I'm seeing a marked improvement in my ability to decode DMR systems now.

With the BCD436HP I'm virtually unable to decode the ARINC - DMR O'Hare Airport DMR Motorola Connect Plus (TRBO) system (submitted this week so hopefully it will be added to the DB soon, it's VERY active!) anywhere here at home except one spot near my back porch. With the SDS100 I'm able to receive it in a few spots near the front of my home (nearest the cell site) but the BCD436HP still can't decode it.

I've also noticed improved decoding for pdvWireless Site 119 to the point where I can now walk around my home and still be able to monitor it on the SDS100. With the BCD436HP there were only a few spots that I could get the static pops down enough and the actual signal to at least 2 bars to be able to decode anything at all.

So, yeah, if you're going to listen to digital systems, simulcast or not, the SDS100 is the hands-down winner, at least in my own experience!