SDS100 - Can't Hear Ham Radio ??

[kslangnc]

I'm a newbie. (Disclaimer!) I had purchased an SR30C and could only get Ham conversations. I traded up for an SDS100 to hear emergency, police, etc. I'm enjoying it, but now I have yet to hit on any of the Amateur Ham chats that I enjoyed listening to. Is the SDS100, as a digital scanner, not able to pick them up? Or, as I suspect, and I doing something wrong?

Help for a newbie much appreciated!

 

[1544c702]

It'll pick 'em up. Just have to turn it on in settings. Under "Set Service Types".

 

[jonwienke]

The SDS models are totally capable of monitoring ham frequencies and repeaters. You probably don't have that service type turned on, it's not enabled by default.

 

[Ubbe]

Or, as I suspect, and I doing something wrong?

If you remember what frequencies HAMs where using most often then push the channel button and enter the frequency and then hit channel again. You can tune up and down in frequency with the dial knob.

In that mode it doesn't matter what settings you have in the scanner, it should monitor any activity there are on the frequency as long as the squelch are set low enough like 5 and lower, preferable at 2.

Don't expect the SDS receiver to be as good as the one in the SR30C. If I monitor a repeater on 145.000 at -80dBm signal strenght and another repeater, also at -80dBm, kicks in at 145.075 then a mix of those two can be heard at several other repeater frequencies at a -100dBm level. SDS scanners seems to work best at 800MHz and a bit worse at 450MHz and can be real bad in the 145MHz VHF band.

/Ubbe

 

[R0am3r]

More nonsense and the same old tired misinformation. My SDS scanners are fantastic receivers on both VHF and UHF. I hear P25, DMR, and NXDN systems from all over Oneida County NY as well as the surrounding counties. Yes, I own the SDS100 and SDS200 scanners and they work great.

 

[ratboy]

The SDS200, and I own 2 of them, are NOT great on VHF or UHF at all. My old handheld GRE's with the stock ducks blow them away running any sort of antenna I can use in my apartment. Rail on the 200's is very weak, as is 2M. 440 on them is better, but nothing to give me any sense of them being worth the price they cost, as old garage sale scanners beat them hands down on analog below 470MHZ. They do digital great though, so they are worth having.

 

[N4DJC]

Once I got the filters set up for mine it worked as well as my dual band transceivers with similar antennas.

When I’m monitoring rail bands, I switch to a Ringo Ranger. I have no problems hearing NS yard ops twenty five miles away.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Did you program known repeaters in your area? Press Function key (key with green radio wave icon on side of radio) then press zip/services. Scroll down to "Ham" and make sure it's turned on. Feel free to peruse the easier to read SDS100 manual here to familiarize yourself with the basic functions

 

[kslangnc]

Probably only nonsense because I don't know what I'm doing. Gave that as a disclaimer...haha. Hey, thanks for all of the input.

I did pick up a few today.

Did you program known repeaters in your area? Press Function key (key with green radio wave icon on side of radio) then press zip/services. Scroll down to "Ham" and make sure it's turned on. Feel free to peruse the easier to read SDS100 manual here to familiarize yourself with the basic functions

Thanks.... Love your avatar, too. Will give it a try.

 

[teknishun]

Well, I don't know what it is like in your area but I am in the Houston area, which is a pretty darn big section of real estate if you consider all the surrounding towns and counties, and the problem I find down here is that the ham repeaters on 2 meters and 440 just are NOT THAT ACTIVE.
I have a dual band, dual receiver Yaesu in my car and scan about 50 to 60 repeaters and hardly ever hear anyone talking. The morning and the evening rush hours are when you hear the most traffic. During most of the rest of the day the repeaters are dead. ALSO, a lot of the older analog 2 meter and 440 repeaters are being converted to DMR as that seems to be the new rage.

 

[tkenny53]

Edit profile and check all services, no real reason to leave any out

 

[KA1RBI]

More nonsense and the same old tired misinformation. My SDS scanners are fantastic receivers on both VHF and UHF. I hear P25, DMR, and NXDN systems from all over Oneida County NY as well as the surrounding counties. Yes, I own the SDS100 and SDS200 scanners and they work great.

It is NOT nonsense - SDSx00 users in high-density areas suffer from severe intermod and desense. This is why some users have a good experience and some don't. Signals in the SDS can be blocked by strong signals a MHz or more from the desired frequency.

If you want an actual example look no further than the New York forum- take a look at the current top thread in that forum SDS 100 Bleed over from NWS. How do you interpret that thread? Are you arguing that K2HZ doesn't know what he's talking about?

If one were to say that the SDS scanner is basically an RTL-SDR with a fancy screen one wouldn't be too far wrong... It may have extra bandpass filters -- but bandpass filters by definition only filter out stuff outside the band...

Max

 

[iMONITOR]

Edit profile and check all services, no real reason to leave any out

The reason to leave some out is you might miss a lot of what you want to hear, because your scanner is stopped and busy listening to what you don't want to hear.

 

[KE5MC]

The reason to leave some out is you might miss a lot of what you want to hear, because your scanner is stopped and busy listening to what you don't want to hear.

It depends on your method of scanning. Favorite List scanning that have been careful groomed for what you want to hear, not an issue. Zip code scanning and maybe GPS, but not to sure about GPS as I don't use it and don't know how it brings in a new area as you move.

 

[jonwienke]

It makes the process seamless and automatic. As you move, the scanner adjusts what it scans so you're always scanning reasonably local traffic.

 

[kslangnc]

Well, I don't know what it is like in your area but I am in the Houston area, which is a pretty darn big section of real estate if you consider all the surrounding towns and counties, and the problem I find down here is that the ham repeaters on 2 meters and 440 just are NOT THAT ACTIVE.
I have a dual band, dual receiver Yaesu in my car and scan about 50 to 60 repeaters and hardly ever hear anyone talking. The morning and the evening rush hours are when you hear the most traffic. During most of the rest of the day the repeaters are dead. ALSO, a lot of the older analog 2 meter and 440 repeaters are being converted to DMR as that seems to be the new rage.

That might be it. I can hear a conversation now on a 444 freq. The other day they were talking about their ability to eat 3 Wendy's Triples. You know, important stuff! for some reason, I found that really funny.

 

[ratboy]

One night I was listening to some guys on 2M one night, and all they talked about for like 2 hours was:

1. Diabetes.
2. Hip Replacements.
3. Knee Replacements.
4. Bypass Surgery.
5. Cataracts.

A couple of the guys talking "Had it all"! Sheesh.

 

[W4EMS]

Part of the hobby. Some of these folks are disabled and don't have anyone else to talk to and this is a means to stay connected.
I just move to another frequency or turn volume down.

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

One night I was listening to some guys on 2M one night, and all they talked about for like 2 hours was:

1. Diabetes.
2. Hip Replacements.
3. Knee Replacements.
4. Bypass Surgery.
5. Cataracts.

A couple of the guys talking "Had it all"! Sheesh.

Ahhhh, a subject near and dear to my heart as I recently had cataract surgery. I can see clearly now the cloudy film is gone. LOL!!

There's a net in my area that meets every weekday morning and it seems like one of the main daily topics is everybody's aches and pains. Sometimes it can be humorous and sometimes it can be depressing.

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

Part of the hobby. Some of these folks are disabled and don't have anyone else to talk to and this is a means to stay connected.
I just move to another frequency or turn volume down.