Advice needed for new SDS200

[jr63049]

Hello all. I am new to the SDS200, but not new to scanning. I have searched numerous forums here and couldn't find a solid answer to my query.

I am in the St. Louis, MO area and have the SLATER and MOSWIN systems programmed for Fire/EMS listening in STL City and County. It seems that my scanner is scanning extremely slow. I have the squelch down to 2. No delay on the dispatch TG. But I still miss an incredible amount of radio traffic. My G5 pager is similarly programmed - in that I have things entered by region (North, South, East Central, JeffCo, etc.), rather than TG type.

My thinking is that this should be scanning quick and smooth. But it's not. It seems laggy, at best. The audio that it DOES catch is crystal clear and the sound is strong. So no issues there.

Perhaps I could send someone who knows better than me a copy of my FL programming and have a peek at it - just to see that I haven't missed anything??? Any takers??

 

[Enforcer52]

Export your programming file to .hpe format, zip it up and post it here so someone can take a look at it.

 

[jtwalker]

You probably have too many sites active in your programming. On trunked systems, the SDS scanners scan sites not talkgroups, so this is what takes time.

You can delete extraneous sites, avoid them, use site quick keys or location control to limit the sites you are scanning to the ones close to you.

 

[jr63049]

I have attached the file as requested.

 

[jr63049]

You probably have too many sites active in your programming. On trunked systems, the SDS scanners scan sites not talkgroups, so this is what takes time.

Something else that I was wondering, if perhaps I ONLY need to use the data frequencies, and not the other frequencies for the specified site. Would that have any impact on how fast things run?

 

[jtwalker]

Something else that I was wondering, if perhaps I ONLY need to use the data frequencies, and not the other frequencies for the specified site. Would that have any impact on how fast things run?

You mean the control channel capable frequencies? I’ve heard this makes a very small difference on the first pass of a site, but probably not the slowness you are observing.

 

[MissouriSirens]

You mean the control channel capable frequencies? I’ve heard this makes a very small difference on the first pass of a site, but probably not the slowness you are observing.

I live in Saint Louis and I actively monitor the SLATER System. I was in your shoes once however I "fixed" that problem by separating the North and South TGs and Sites into two different trunking systems on my SDS100.

I have CCE Fire South as a system and CCE Fire North as a system.

 

[ka3jjz]

See the threads linked in our SDS FAQ - you won't find a better one for these radios - here

SDS100 and SDS200 FAQ Page - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

MIke

 

[scanman1958]

Just enter the 'sites' that are in the St Louis region. You could potentially just program MOSWIN sites in St Louis City, Jeff Co, St Charles Lincoln Co, Franklin Co and maybe a couple more close by. It sounds like you may have programmed the entire state. Sorry if I/we are wrong with that.

 

[jr63049]

I live in Saint Louis and I actively monitor the SLATER System. I was in your shoes once however I "fixed" that problem by separating the North and South TGs and Sites into two different trunking systems on my SDS100.

I have CCE Fire South as a system and CCE Fire North as a system.

Yes. This is exactly how I have mine set up. North, South, Kirkwood, East Central, etc... Each of those with their normally used Tac Channels - instead of everything being separate.

 

[jtwalker]

What do you consider slow? You have 6 sites in this FL and it typically takes between 1.5 and 2 seconds to connect to a site and evaluate it for traffic. This means 9 to 12 seconds for this one FL, when there is no TG active that is in your programming.

What value do you have for global filter ? AUTO is reported to be slow.

Can't really compare to a G5 that stays on one system and one site. Perhaps do a system and site hold on your SDS to match what your G5 is doing and then compare results.

I don't have any other ideas for you.

 

[MissouriSirens]

Yes. This is exactly how I have mine set up. North, South, Kirkwood, East Central, etc... Each of those with their normally used Tac Channels - instead of everything being separate.

I dont know if Im misunderstanding you but it seems like you have them all together? I have all of them except kirkwood as separate systems (Kirkwood and South dispatch share the system)

I can export my HPE if you want to give it a try

 

[jr63049]

I dont know if Im misunderstanding you but it seems like you have them all together? I have all of them except kirkwood as separate systems (Kirkwood and South dispatch share the system)

I can export my HPE if you want to give it a try

I'd gladly have a look at it. Couldn't hurt to see what someone else is doing.

 

[MissouriSirens]

I'd gladly have a look at it. Couldn't hurt to see what someone else is doing.

Here, try this:

Its for an SDS100 so keep that in mind. Maybe you can copy it over or something.

 

[scanman1958]

What part of the city do you live in. I'm in sw city. I have limited reception to surrounding SLATER systems (jeffco and St charles) because I live in a low elevation area. Hopefully you hear more than me. Or you can PM me with more.

 

[N5ZKK]

I have been reading up on FILTERS this weekend and noticed a lot of talk about the filter being set to "Auto" causing a huge slow down in scanning. This was the best information that I have found on filters. File:SDS100 SDS200 Filter Settings.pdf - The RadioReference Wiki