Disappointed in my SDS200

[lej512]

After extensive research and careful consideration, I broke down and purchased an SDS-100 along with the ARC536 Pro software from Butel. There was a little bit of a learning curve as far as programming but I got it done and I'm happy with the results. I also ordered the Remtronix antenna upgrade. For a handheld it receives ok but really shines on an external antenna outside of the house.

My next step, again after careful consideration, I purchased the SDS200. Being retired from emergency communications, I spend the majority of my free time in my man cave monitoring local festivities. The SDS200 is connected to a Diamond D130J base antenna on the peak of the house. Even so, reception is very disappointing. The RSSI meter shows -110dBm or more on the local public safety repeaters. I get better signal levels on out of county frequencies. I should mention everything in my county is VHF or UHF analog - voted in and simul-cast out.

I actually packed it back up today and went back to using my ICOM IC-R8600 for my primary base scanner.

 

[trentbob]

You probably have a 15 to 30 day window, it's too bad you weren't able to keep a few more days and fine-tune things. I get excellent VHF High and UHF analog reception on my SDS 200.

If you are using the REM handheld antenna that's spuperior on 7-800 MHz it's okay on UHF but not so much on VHF hi. It's terrible.

You do have a great receiver in your base if all you need is VHF high and UHF analog.

 

[mikegilbert]

I sold my SDS100 after weeks of experimenting with the different filter options. It's a technological marvel, and the zipcode-based scanning is phenomenal for road trips, but VHF/UHF performance was a major letdown. Went back to my trusty 346xt.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

I can't speak for the OP's antenna but I've got my SDS100 connected to a Larsen tribander on the peak of my roof. VHF & UHF performance is decent, not nearly as solid as my 536HP or analog-only Icom IC-R20 but. Same antenna works wonders bringing in many surrounding counties' simulcast systems (albeit mostly 700 & 800)

 

[trentbob]

I can't speak for the OP's antenna but I've got my SDS100 connected to a Larsen tribander on the peak of my roof. VHF & UHF performance is decent, not nearly as solid as my 536HP or analog-only Icom IC-R20 but. Same antenna works wonders bringing in many surrounding counties' simulcast systems (albeit mostly 700 & 800)

John I use the Larson tri-band with the heavy duty Mount and the spring on my car.. are you grounding your antenna at all with a pie pan or cookie sheet or anything like that?

 

[devicelab]

The SDS200 is connected to a Diamond D130J base antenna on the peak of the house. Even so, reception is very disappointing. The RSSI meter shows -110dBm or more on the local public safety repeaters. I get better signal levels on out of county frequencies. I should mention everything in my county is VHF or UHF analog - voted in and simul-cast out.

Presuming the programming was correct on the scanner, you may need to install FM notch filter inline with the scanner antenna. It looks like you're outside the area of NYC but I don't know the NE that well. For my area, my scanner discone requires a FM notch and a NOAA notch filter due to the strong RF.

 

[ofd8001]

I'm thinking either de-sense or an issue with the antenna or its cabling.

What happens if you were to connect the SDS 100 to the outside antenna? If it's reception drops off, that suggests the scanner is okay.

You could have something sending out a signal that's being picked up by the outside antenna. Or you could have a bad cable or cable connection.

 

[KM6CQ]

What I can tell you is that my SDS200 works just as well as my Icom R-30 on the Diamond D130J. However, I’ve noticed it doesn’t handle blocking or dynamic compression very well. When no strong signals are nearby, it performs just fine, but once strong signals appear, it becomes deaf, which is typical behavior for SDR radios. On the other hand, with my SDS100, with the stock rubber duck and Remtronix antenna is so compromised that this hasn’t been an issue.

 

[Ubbe]

SDS scanners are not for everyone. They use a receiver chip that has a regulating circuit for its receiver gain that reacts to a wide frequency band of 10MHz for any strong signals and reduce its gain to try and minimize intermod issues as much as possible. Filter settings only changes what comes after the initial gain and prefilter in the receiver and will have no effect.

Only solution in those cases are a narrow notch filter to block the strong transmitter, that can be a nearby NOAA transmitter or a paging transmitter. Using a less effective antenna to keep any signal below the threshold where it starts to reduce gain will help but will then also make you receive all frequencies with less signal levels, but hopefully at a higher level than when it have begun to use its gain reduction feature.

I recommend to always use a variable attenuator when using external antennas to test for at what level of attenuation that you receive the best signal. You can then either use that attenuation level or try different external filters to check if attenuation can be reduced. Sometimes a FM broadcast filter helps if the transmitter have a high signal level that goes thru any of the scanners prefilters, that are not very effective, at any frequency band.

/Ubbe

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

are you grounding your antenna at all with a pie pan or cookie sheet or anything like that?

More like the side cover of an old Dell tower but, yes