I think this really sucks!

[HMD]

I tried to record some transmissions with the SDS100 plugged into AC and the battery out. "This function is not available when batteries are low or not installed."

I understand when the battery (There's only one battery) is low, but why not when the unit is plugged in, but the battery is out?

 

[doctordialtone]

why not when the unit is plugged in

That's the way it was designed. Nothing you can do about it. Put the battery in and enjoy!

 

[dougjgray]

I suspect that without the battery and there is a interruption in external power in the middle of writing to the sd card it may corrupt the sd card

 

[HMD]

I suspect that without the battery and there is a interruption in external power in the middle of writing to the sd card it may corrupt the sd card

So I could put in a new card.

 

[dougjgray]

True

 

[fxdscon]

I tried to record some transmissions with the SDS100 plugged into AC and the battery out. "This function is not available when batteries are low or not installed."

I understand when the battery (There's only one battery) is low, but why not when the unit is plugged in, but the battery is out?

Done that way on purpose to prevent corrupted SD cards in the event of an A/C power failure when the scanner is writing to the card and the batteries are low or not installed.

 

[HMD]

Done that way on purpose to prevent corrupted SD cards in the event of an A/C power failure when the scanner is writing to the card and the batteries are low or not installed.

I think people should have a choice, as long as there's a warning. Understand the risk. I think Uniden's lawyers told them they have to cover their butts.

 

[Ubbe]

It doesn't make sense really to have that limitation. There's no battery backup when you use a SDS200 or BCD536 that only runs on mains power when used at home. What's the difference? It's the same thing with all battery powered Uniden scanners since HP-1. They probably just kept copying that (lack of) functionality to next generations without really thinking it through what negative aspects it could have versus any positive effects.

/Ubbe

 

[KK4JUG]

It's been that way for a long time. Does anyone really think Uniden simply doesn't care. This complaint comes up every once in a while so they're certainly aware of it. I think fxdscon is right. One person said they could simply put in a new card. Well, just put in a battery.

 

[eaf1956]

I suspect that without the battery and there is a interruption in external power in the middle of writing to the sd card it may corrupt the sd card

And yet the SDS 200 has no battery and I guess they don't care if it corrupts a SD card by your reasoning.

 

[fxdscon]

by your reasoning.

That was the actual, official reason given by Uniden for the SD card - battery powered scanners:

BCD436HP: - Can it run WITHOUT batteries?

I know this is a handheld/portable, but from what I've read it will not run on dead batteries even if the scanner is connected to a charging source. With that said, what if you just take the batteries out altogether? Will it work this way running off, say, a wall-wart?

forums.radioreference.com

Rechargeable AA Batteries For HomePatrol

I think I am in need of new Rechargeable AA Batteries For HomePatrol. When I unplug it, I get a low battery warning after about 10 minutes. Is Uniden (Rechargeable AA Batteries For HomePatrol-1 Simple Program Scanner (Quantity: 4) - Accessories at Uniden) the best place to buy them?

forums.radioreference.com

.

 

[dougjgray]

Is the batteries that big and heavy

And yet the SDS 200 has no battery and I guess they don't care if it corrupts a SD card by your reasoning.

So is the battery to big or heavy for you

 

[buddrousa]

No but you are more likely to lose battery power than you are house power.

 

[Citywide173]

And yet the SDS 200 has no battery and I guess they don't care if it corrupts a SD card by your reasoning.

How do you power an SDS 200 without an external power source to even come to this postulation? That question asked, there have been several situations where people's SD cards on the 536 were corrupted in a low voltage mobile setting before the suggestion of turning off the record function was made. The SDS200 is a 12 volt system, which I'm sure is much more capable of providing the necessary power. The question is; does your USB charger provide enough power to reliably write to the SD card? Uniden thinks not and designed the system to protect itself.

 

[Ubbe]

The question is; does your USB charger provide enough power to reliably write to the SD card? Uniden thinks not and designed the system to protect itself.

Uniden includes a 2000mA charger with the SDS100 scanner and scanner needs 750mA in use and an additional 500mA if battery charge are enabled. Total of 1250mA at max. Plenty of overhead in the charger.

/Ubbe

 

[eaf1956]

How do you power an SDS 200 without an external power source to even come to this postulation? That question asked, there have been several situations where people's SD cards on the 536 were corrupted in a low voltage mobile setting before the suggestion of turning off the record function was made. The SDS200 is a 12 volt system, which I'm sure is much more capable of providing the necessary power. The question is; does your USB charger provide enough power to reliably write to the SD card? Uniden thinks not and designed the system to protect itself.

It was stated that without a battery they couldn't record because of the possibility of external power loss corrupting the SD CARD.

"I tried to record some transmissions with the SDS100 plugged into AC and the battery out. "This function is not available when batteries are low or not installed."

My statement was that they do it on the SDS 200 which has no battery and must not be worried about SD CARD corruption. I wish to God you people would learn to read.

 

[Citywide173]

It was stated that without a battery they couldn't record because of the possibility of external power loss corrupting the SD CARD.

"I tried to record some transmissions with the SDS100 plugged into AC and the battery out. "This function is not available when batteries are low or not installed."

My statement was that they do it on the SDS 200 which has no battery and must not be worried about SD CARD corruption. I wish to God you people would learn to read.

I read it just fine. There is a distinct comprehension part on your end. You CAN NOT COMPARE a 12 volt system and a 5 volt (max) system that relies on a USB connection. Even the 12 volt powered mobile versions experience the problem when the voltage drops. Your statement "And yet the SDS 200 has no battery and I guess they don't care if it corrupts a SD card by your reasoning." makes no sense and is a straw man argument at best.

 

[sfb88]

Can someone with SDS 200 knowledge, Ubbe or Johnweinke perhaps, comment on whether the 200 has something like a supercapacitor in its circuit to handle power transients.

 

[hiegtx]

Can someone with SDS 200 knowledge, Ubbe or Johnweinke perhaps, comment on whether the 200 has something like a supercapacitor in its circuit to handle power transients.

I can't answer that specific question. But, since I received my SDS200, there have been quite a power interruptions that have caused the scanner to shut down. So far, it has not corrupted a memory card.

Now that I said that, probably the next glitch will kill the card.

 

[Ubbe]

No supercapacitor in any radio or scanner I know of that are used to power the radio or scanner for a few seconds at apower failure. They are only used to replace memory backup batteries.

It will only trash the SD card if it is writing to it when the power fails. So if you have any type recording enabled and there's an active call you are monitoring could it trash the file system. You then only need to reformat the SD card, it is not broken in any way. It's only the file system map that are busted.

Most changes you do are only stored in memory and are only written to the SD card when you power off. You loose those settings at a power failure so the next time you power on your favorit lists or loaded GPS systems might be the ones you used the previous day.

/Ubbe