200 arrived Sat- BC Warehouse

Status
Not open for further replies.

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
5,605
Just thought I would share, I bought a second SDS200 on Thursday afternoon from Bearcat Warehouse. Some difficulties with having my expiration date on my card accepted and three different employees were helpful, Melissa did it manually over the phone.

Free shipping, it arrived on Saturday morning. I'm very familiar with the radio as I maintained four of them at my job before I retired and I have one of my own already. They all had noticeable hums.

So it took me minutes to hook up to Sentinel and fully program it from my ready profile. It has the latest firmware update 1.10. 08... I'm sure the 08 is just some kind of housekeeping, Maybe a minor adjustment or spelling correction.

My serial number indicates that it is the 1,089th unit made in Vietnam in the year 2020.

The unit does not have a hum as the other five that I have unboxed did. I was pleased with this. With an external speaker plugged in the back of the unit in a very quiet room if I put my ear up against the speaker and push I can barely make out the noise that used to be heard from across the room on other units with the mitigation device installed. I'm sure many of you have heard it on various videos. I recognized it but really had to push the speaker against my ear and listen very carefully if I wanted to hear it, as soon as I removed the speaker from my ear it was gone, nothing, no sound coming out of the speaker. I would call that no hum.

I also noticed that the keypad was well-lit, this is the first time I've seen that. The left side vertical numbers are dimmer just like they are on the SDS 100s but the display is clearly lit well and can be seen in the dark just like the 100. Everything else tech-wise seems to be working fine.

I have 30 days to return it for a refund if I need to.

I have no idea how many they have left, just thought I would share the experience and the changes I noticed.
 

Saint

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
4,492
Location
Fort Erie Ontario Canada
On the sds100 scanner discovery mode for conventional frequencies does not work properly does it work like it's supposed to on the sds200
 

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
5,605
On the sds100 scanner discovery mode for conventional frequencies does not work properly does it work like it's supposed to on the sds200
I will have to check that out and let you know, not an option I ever cared to use. I'll take a look at it tonight.

I don't even use the ZIP code method of listening either. I've had the same favorites list with the same numbering assignment of the same things that I listen to specifically for many many years.

I certainly will take a look at that.

I did not install nxdn in this particular unit because the local police in the next city just went encrypted so I went in and removed all of the nxdn from the radio because it was hanging up on-site hold. A long time common problem. F- Department gets you out of it.
 

Saint

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
4,492
Location
Fort Erie Ontario Canada
I will have to check that out and let you know, not an option I ever cared to use. I'll take a look at it tonight.

I don't even use the ZIP code method of listening either. I've had the same favorites list with the same numbering assignment of the same things that I listen to specifically for many many years.

I certainly will take a look at that.

I did not install nxdn in this particular unit because the local police in the next city just went encrypted so I went in and removed all of the nxdn from the radio because it was hanging up on-site hold. A long time common problem. F- Department gets you out of it.
Thanks for taking a look when I do a conventional discovery and set it to just find new frequencies it does not check the national data base or if I make a favorites list with frequencies I have it will no check it either, I am hoping if the sds200 had the same problem it's fixed now. I am just waiting for the store I buy my scanners in Canada to receive the order of new sds200 scanners and will be ordering one.
Steve
 

paranoia11

Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
ME
[QUOTE="trentbob, post: 3339395, member: 106074"

My serial number indicates that it is the 1,089th unit made in Vietnam in the year 2020.


Could please help me know how to do that, I would like to check this on mine.

thank you !!
Mark
 

garys

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Messages
6,069
I recently installed my SDS200 in my new to me 2019 Tacoma. Two things I noticed right away were that the radio did not reboot every time I start the truck. In my Tundra, I had installed a boost transformer to keep that from happening, but don't need it now. Also the speaker is mounted on the drivers side "B" pillar and there is no hum at all. Whether that's due to the better broadcast radio, more modern electrical system, or something else, I don't know.

In my Tundra the hum was minimal and decreased when I did the hardware modification that Uniden sent out. Now, it's gone entirely.
 

NuthinFancy

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
125
Location
Speigletown NY
Paranoia11 , glad to hear your scanner finally arrived. it was worth the wait. the programming you had done unfortunately made you wait longer What a great scanner .the reception is definitely improved with the simulcast issues I am hearing sites that were garbled before not to mention the nice color display!
 

letarotor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,050
Location
Arlington, TX
Just thought I would share, I bought a second SDS200 on Thursday afternoon from Bearcat Warehouse. Some difficulties with having my expiration date on my card accepted and three different employees were helpful, Melissa did it manually over the phone.

Free shipping, it arrived on Saturday morning. I'm very familiar with the radio as I maintained four of them at my job before I retired and I have one of my own already. They all had noticeable hums...

..My serial number indicates that it is the 1,089th unit made in Vietnam in the year 2020.

The unit does not have a hum as the other five that I have unboxed did. I was pleased with this. With an external speaker plugged in the back of the unit in a very quiet room if I put my ear up against the speaker and push I can barely make out the noise that used to be heard from across the room on other units with the mitigation device installed. I'm sure many of you have heard it on various videos. I recognized it but really had to push the speaker against my ear and listen very carefully if I wanted to hear it, as soon as I removed the speaker from my ear it was gone, nothing, no sound coming out of the speaker. I would call that no hum.

Congratulations on getting the second one. I guess I have not paid attention but were the earlier models made in China or Japan or somewhere different than Vietnam? It seems like I remember seeing Vietnam on something Uniden not long ago but I don't think it was the radios. But it could have been? I bought my 200 right as they were originally released and I really haven't had any issues with it. I've never heard a hum but I have seen that mention before. I also wasn't aware of the keypad or light dimming issue on some of them but I'll have to look at mine and see if I notice anything.

Was there a sale going on or some kind of good deal? I haven't been looking for another one or checking the prices lately but I sure wouldn't mind having one more either. I bought a bracket that sits the radio up at an angle facing me on my desk. I bought a second bracket since I was only paying $13 for these good quality, metal brackets from a seller on eBay back then. It seems like it works on all Uniden radios but I think it helps the most on the SDS200 since it has a screen. It really helps point the radio up and I have considered in the future possibly trying to get another SDS200. If the price was right, I might do it a little earlier?

Enjoy the new radio!

Brian (COMMSCAN)
 

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
5,605
Congratulations on getting the second one. I guess I have not paid attention but were the earlier models made in China or Japan or somewhere different than Vietnam? It seems like I remember seeing Vietnam on something Uniden not long ago but I don't think it was the radios. But it could have been? I bought my 200 right as they were originally released and I really haven't had any issues with it. I've never heard a hum but I have seen that mention before. I also wasn't aware of the keypad or light dimming issue on some of them but I'll have to look at mine and see if I notice anything.

Was there a sale going on or some kind of good deal? I haven't been looking for another one or checking the prices lately but I sure wouldn't mind having one more either. I bought a bracket that sits the radio up at an angle facing me on my desk. I bought a second bracket since I was only paying $13 for these good quality, metal brackets from a seller on eBay back then. It seems like it works on all Uniden radios but I think it helps the most on the SDS200 since it has a screen. It really helps point the radio up and I have considered in the future possibly trying to get another SDS200. If the price was right, I might do it a little earlier?

Enjoy the new radio!

Brian (COMMSCAN)
I'm quite sure that the SDS series has all been made in Vietnam but there might be parts made in China. I don't know that.

No sale going on but they were one of the only vendors who had it in stock. I was also impressed that, they have different options when the shipping is free, I guess according to Logistics but they sent mine UPS 2 day air and it was free.
 
Last edited:

paranoia11

Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
ME
Paranoia11 , glad to hear your scanner finally arrived. it was worth the wait. the programming you had done unfortunately made you wait longer What a great scanner .the reception is definitely improved with the simulcast issues I am hearing sites that were garbled before not to mention the nice color display!
I also love the display, saying that my BCD536HP display was just about unreadable all the time.
 

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
5,605
[QUOTE="trentbob, post: 3339395, member: 106074"

My serial number indicates that it is the 1,089th unit made in Vietnam in the year 2020.


Could please help me know how to do that, I would like to check this on mine.

thank you !!
Mark
The first three numbers indicate the model number, then you should see a z, the z indicates it's a scanner, then you have the year made. 8, 9, or 0. Then you have the place it was made which is number 8 for Vietnam. There are numbers for China, Philippines and beta engineering which would have been the beta testers serial numbers. Those radios were the ones to have of course. The numbers after that with zeros in front of them are the number of units made that particular year. Every year the number starts over.
 

paranoia11

Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
103
Location
ME
The first three numbers indicate the model number, then you should see a z, the z indicates it's a scanner, then you have the year made. 8, 9, or 0. Then you have the place it was made which is number 8 for Vietnam. There are numbers for China, Philippines and beta engineering which would have been the beta testers serial numbers. Those radios were the ones to have of course. The numbers after that with zeros in front of them are the number of units made that particular year. Every year the number starts over.

Thank you very much, for that info and reply, I think mine was made this year also in Vietnam and was number 937 if I did it right, thanks again for the reply.
 

letarotor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,050
Location
Arlington, TX
I'm quite sure that the SDS series has all been made in Vietnam but there might be parts made in China. I don't know that.

No sale going on but they were one of the only vendors who had it in stock. I was also impressed that, they have different options when the shipping is free, I guess according to Logistics but they sent mine UPS 2 day air and it was free.
Okay nice! I didn't realize they were out of stock at most places right now. And I did look with a magnifying glass at the back of my radio and saw that it does say Vietnam haha. I guess I just wasn't sure. I thought that Japan was where some of the Uniden products used to get made and it may be? Oh yeah, and other good selling point was the two day UPS shipping for free. I have literally gotten to where I will not buy something if the only option to receive it is USPS. They can't deliver something correctly if their life depended upon it. But UPS does a great job out here where I live anyway. I've noticed a lot of companies offering the option if not just using somebody besides USPS nowadays. I think many businesses have gotten tired of the post office failing them. Thanks for the reply, and once again, have fun with the new radio!

Brian (COMMSCAN)
 

Ubbe

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
8,944
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
when I do a conventional discovery and set it to just find new frequencies it does not check the national data base or if I make a favorites list with frequencies I have it will no check it either
The SDS100 isn't fixed and that discovery problem occured in vers 1.11.07 and forward in the 436/536, so the SDS200 will for sure also have the same broken code.

/Ubbe
 

Saint

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
4,492
Location
Fort Erie Ontario Canada
The SDS100 isn't fixed and that discovery problem occured in vers 1.11.07 and forward in the 436/536, so the SDS200 will for sure also have the same broken code.

/Ubbe
Thanks for taking the time to pass on the information on Discovery Problems, I think I'm not going to buy the SDS200 until Uniden comes out with some firmware updates for the SDS100 and the SDS200. If Uniden is not going to stand behind these scanners then I won't be spending the ridiculous prices in Canada for these scanners anymore, thanks again.
Steve
 

KO4IPV

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
368
Just thought I would share, I bought a second SDS200 on Thursday afternoon from Bearcat Warehouse. Some difficulties with having my expiration date on my card accepted and three different employees were helpful, Melissa did it manually over the phone.

Free shipping, it arrived on Saturday morning. I'm very familiar with the radio as I maintained four of them at my job before I retired and I have one of my own already. They all had noticeable hums.

So it took me minutes to hook up to Sentinel and fully program it from my ready profile. It has the latest firmware update 1.10. 08... I'm sure the 08 is just some kind of housekeeping, Maybe a minor adjustment or spelling correction.

My serial number indicates that it is the 1,089th unit made in Vietnam in the year 2020.

The unit does not have a hum as the other five that I have unboxed did. I was pleased with this. With an external speaker plugged in the back of the unit in a very quiet room if I put my ear up against the speaker and push I can barely make out the noise that used to be heard from across the room on other units with the mitigation device installed. I'm sure many of you have heard it on various videos. I recognized it but really had to push the speaker against my ear and listen very carefully if I wanted to hear it, as soon as I removed the speaker from my ear it was gone, nothing, no sound coming out of the speaker. I would call that no hum.

I also noticed that the keypad was well-lit, this is the first time I've seen that. The left side vertical numbers are dimmer just like they are on the SDS 100s but the display is clearly lit well and can be seen in the dark just like the 100. Everything else tech-wise seems to be working fine.

I have 30 days to return it for a refund if I need to.

I have no idea how many they have left, just thought I would share the experience and the changes I noticed.
Just received the SDS100 there is a defined darkness to the left numerical key pad
 

trentbob

W3BUX- Bucks County, PA
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
5,605
Thanks for taking the time to pass on the information on Discovery Problems, I think I'm not going to buy the SDS200 until Uniden comes out with some firmware updates fogr the SDS100 and the SDS200. If Uniden is not going to stand behind these scanners then I won't be spending the ridiculous prices in Canada for these scanners anymore, thanks again.
Steve
Just received the SDS100 there is a defined darkness to the left numerical key pad
Yep it's the same way on mine.
Steve
Yes it is the same for everybody on the 100 and 200, when the sds200 first came out the keyboard lighting was so dim you couldn't see it in the dark. I find this unit to be a great Improvement.

Steve, being reality-based and noticing it's been well over a year since the last update for the SDS, I wouldn't be holding my breath for any proactive intervention on these radios.

I'm just being, again, reality-based, Paul is gone now.

My main reason for posting this was to identify that... Those who were waiting, now is your time.

As far as any firmware updates or improvements or any concerns being addressed, I would go by the responses that you've had here on RR from Uniden... All I hear is crickets chirping...

Don't know what that means, and something might break out any day. I truly believe that something was done in the production line here, probably something that should have been done a year ago.

When I unpacked my radio, I did it in such a way, all I did was take the radio itself out and didn't touch anything else, the cables and power supply were ready to go. I fully expected I would be returning this radio post haste. Looks like I'm going to be keeping it. :)
 
Last edited:

Bob1955

Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2016
Messages
792
Location
Eastchester, NY
Just thought I would share, I bought a second SDS200 on Thursday afternoon from Bearcat Warehouse. Some difficulties with having my expiration date on my card accepted and three different employees were helpful, Melissa did it manually over the phone.

Free shipping, it arrived on Saturday morning. I'm very familiar with the radio as I maintained four of them at my job before I retired and I have one of my own already. They all had noticeable hums.

So it took me minutes to hook up to Sentinel and fully program it from my ready profile. It has the latest firmware update 1.10. 08... I'm sure the 08 is just some kind of housekeeping, Maybe a minor adjustment or spelling correction.

My serial number indicates that it is the 1,089th unit made in Vietnam in the year 2020.

The unit does not have a hum as the other five that I have unboxed did. I was pleased with this. With an external speaker plugged in the back of the unit in a very quiet room if I put my ear up against the speaker and push I can barely make out the noise that used to be heard from across the room on other units with the mitigation device installed. I'm sure many of you have heard it on various videos. I recognized it but really had to push the speaker against my ear and listen very carefully if I wanted to hear it, as soon as I removed the speaker from my ear it was gone, nothing, no sound coming out of the speaker. I would call that no hum.

I also noticed that the keypad was well-lit, this is the first time I've seen that. The left side vertical numbers are dimmer just like they are on the SDS 100s but the display is clearly lit well and can be seen in the dark just like the 100. Everything else tech-wise seems to be working fine.

I have 30 days to return it for a refund if I need to.

I have no idea how many they have left, just thought I would share the experience and the changes I noticed.
This is the BEST place to purchase Bearcat Scanners. Melissa goes out of her way to help you. Also, not to mention Paul that works there too.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top