Finally unboxed my 200

[Xray]

Received my new 200 about 4 days ago, finally got around to popping it open. Going to take a while to program it to my tastes, I basically want only 4 or 5 quick key systems or whatever you call them. 1 for local airport, 1 for military airbase that should be within range, one for local law enforcement and emergency services, and one that expands further out.
So far its a mess so I gave up on figuring it out for a while, just programmed it to scan by zip and its doing good with that, haven't noticed any hum. Got some down time with the pandemic thing so its just a matter of working up the motivation to figure it out, think I'm going to start from scratch instead of the mess I loaded into it.

 

[ofd8001]

Congratulations on your new scanner!

If it was me, I'd create a separate Favorites List for each of those scanning interests. The late Upman created an excellent video on how to do this:

Doing the zip code scanning is casting a pretty wide net to scan. Doing Favorites Lists allows you to refine or pare down the available things to just those you choose.

Just give yourself permission to make mistakes and be patient with the scanner. Most everyone started out knowing very little and had a challenging learning curve.

 

[Kaleier1]

I downloaded and started playing with Sentinel weeks before I got my SDS200 so when it came I was ready to program it. I wasn't familiar with the system, department stuff but when I downloaded the database and look through it for my area I saw how things were named and it made sense.

 

[ofd8001]

I did the same thing in anticipation. However once I got the scanner and saw how it actually worked, I ended up changing everything around. A lot of fine tuning goes into this.

The first "Sentinel" scanner I got was the 536, some 6 years ago. I continue to learn more and find better ways of doing things.

 

[Xray]

Thats what I was doing wrong, lumping everything into 1 fav list, now its just a matter of creating new ones for various interests then culling down stations of no interest/out of range. I've got quick keys of 0, 1 and 2 but haven't quite figured out how to activate them, right now I am switching between them within the menu, just pressing the number doesn't seem to do the trick I am guessing it must be a sequence of key presses to switch between favs

 

[rcool101]

As long as your Quick Keys are Favorite Lists just hit 0-E, 1-E, 2-E. .....I put one system in one Favorite List and assign a FL QK. I don't use Dept or System quick keys. It's the dumb down version to program...KISS

 

[Xray]

Thanks for the tips, hitting 1-E ect does nothing for me must be set up different or something, after I do that can't even figure how to get back to scanning and have to turn it off. Am liking the unit so far [have had a 100 for half a year so I am familiar with basic operations], am looking forward to see how it does with air band, heard its a mixed bag.
Am within 15 miles of a major airport and I have a discone on the roof, barely any traffic here at night though with the decrease in traffic, should be able to monitor some in the am.

 

[rcool101]

To get back to scanning just press the menu button to go back to anything previous...

 

[darkness975]

@Xray is that a real $100 bill in that image? hah ...

Lucky if you have no hum. Mine has a hum but it is very quiet and I can only hear it later at night when nothing else is running and I am within a couple feet or so of the unit. If it doesn't get worse I don't think I will pursue a permanent fix since I don't have the skills to do it myself and I would have to ship it to someone/somewhere that can do it like Jonwienke.

I am assuming mine has the mitigation piece installed already (purchased it late December 2019).

 

[Xray]

@Xray is that a real $100 bill in that image? hah ...

Lucky if you have no hum. Mine has a hum but it is very quiet and I can only hear it later at night when nothing else is running and I am within a couple feet or so of the unit. If it doesn't get worse I don't think I will pursue a permanent fix since I don't have the skills to do it myself and I would have to ship it to someone/somewhere that can do it like Jonwienke.

I am assuming mine has the mitigation piece installed already (purchased it late December 2019).

My rainy day fund, hopefully it doesn't start pouring !

I like this unit, glad I pulled the trigger. Got it new from a reputable dealer $60 off retail, don't think anyone will do any better for the foreseeable future. Has a good form factor, decent sound, ergonomics are Ok.
I personally don't think pricing it outrageous, my 1st handheld, AOR1000XT, I recall paying around $1.5K new in the mid 90's, so if anything I think the trend has gone way down for top of the line units,

 

[darkness975]

My rainy day fund, hopefully it doesn't start pouring !

I like this unit, glad I pulled the trigger. Got it new from a reputable dealer $60 off retail, don't think anyone will do any better for the foreseeable future. Has a good form factor, decent sound, ergonomics are Ok.
I personally don't think pricing it outrageous, my 1st handheld, AOR1000XT, I recall paying around $1.5K new in the mid 90's, so if anything I think the trend has gone way down for top of the line units,

I originally had reservations. I even emailed to try and cancel the order but it had already shipped. I ended up keeping it after all. Buying big ticket items is always a mixed bag of emotions for me. I want things but hate spending money ... !

I have both the 100 and 200. My 200 has a Comet BNCW100RX antenna and the 100 has the Remtronix antenna. Both have the same Favorites Lists loaded up. The 200 with the Comet pulls in certain analog systems that the 100 stumbles on since the Remtronix is designed for 700/800 Mhz.

 

[zerg901]

I have watched several videos about programming the SDS scanners; but the videos almost seem to assume that you know how to program the scanner before they start to 'teach' you how to program the scanner.

Let me try to give a very quick overview of using the radios.

1. Turn on radio - punch in zip code - listen to a wide range of channels in your local area.

2. Figure out how to create 'Favorites Lists'. Apparently 'Favorite Lists' allow the user to manually select the channels that you want to hear from the nationwide database.

There are also "Quick Keys" and maybe "System Keys". These seem to be methods of accessing other groupings of channels.

Maybe someone with more experience with these scanners can expand on this quick overview.

-----------------------

Note 1 - the SDS100 battery compartment is opened by pulling the 'lever' on the bottom of the radio.

Note 2 - when setting up Sentinel, if you get a message about "unmount" then ???? - no idea what 'unmount' is.

 

[hiegtx]

I have watched several videos about programming the SDS scanners; but the videos almost seem to assume that you know how to program the scanner before they start to 'teach' you how to program the scanner.

I would suggest that you start here:

SDS100 and SDS200 FAQ Page - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Be sure and explore the various links on that page, including this.

1. Turn on radio - punch in zip code - listen to a wide range of channels in your local area.

I you want to use your location (either by zip code or actual latitude & longitude) and a range, be sure and update the database in Sentinel first. Then, you can enter your location and range information in the Profile in Sentinel, then write that updated information to the scanner.
For more about how using location and range works, see this:
How it Works: Location, Location, Location

2. Figure out how to create 'Favorites Lists'. Apparently 'Favorite Lists' allow the user to manually select the channels that you want to hear from the nationwide database.

Start with these pages:

SDS Sentinel Software Manual

Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual

There are also "Quick Keys" and maybe "System Keys". These seem to be methods of accessing other groupings of channels.

See this:

Uniden Scanners Systems, Sites and Groups - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

and also:

Uniden BCDx36HP Quick Keys and Number Tags - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

(That is titled for the 436HP & 536HP scanners, but quick keys and number tags work the same in both the x36HP & SDS series scanners.)

 

[GMB951]

I so far have done manual on all the BDC 996P2s so we will see how this one works for me the others are easy the are menu driven