Loss of audio SDS200

[n1chu]

My SDS200 (I will designate it as radio 1) will loose all audio after it’s been on for a bit. A quick troubleshooting process was to check for a corrupted SD card first. I’ve replaced the card with a known good card from my other SDS200 (radio 2) and SDS100. The card I pulled from Radio 1 also plays fine in radio 2. So I gather it’s not a case of a corrupted SD card. Radio 1 still looses audio.

Next, I will plug in an headphone to determine if I’m having a problem with the external amplified speaker I have plugged in.
(The order in which I am conducting these steps is driven by ease of access. Radio 1 is buttoned up in a center console in my truck. The SD card and headphone port are accessible from the face of radio 1 whereas the external amplified speaker is plugged into the back of radio 1, requireing I open up the console.)

Ive never had an amplified speaker behave as I described here but here’s hoping I find it to be the case. I’d rather a bad amp circuit in the external speaker than something wrong with the SDS200. Currently, I’m leaning towards the fault being with the radio, in which case I’ve got one more check to perform on the radio before I have to “unbutton” the console and definitively rule out the amplified speaker... a hard reset of the radio, returning it to its factory default settings. Question; Have there been any software/firmware updates on the SDS200 I will need to reinstall after I do the reset to factory default settings?

 

[n1chu]

...other than the 1.10.00 Tax Day update 2019.

 

[tvengr]

What make and model amplified speaker are you using? The speaker cannot ground the sleeve of the external speaker jack. The Uniden BC23A has an isolation transformer inside to prevent that from happening. Has the problem occurred from the beginning or started recently?

 

[n1chu]

What make and model amplified speaker are you using? The speaker cannot ground the sleeve of the external speaker jack. The Uniden BC23A has an isolation transformer inside to prevent that from happening. Has the problem occurred from the beginning or started recently?

Recently. I believe the speaker could be the 20 watt external Uniden speaker which I don’t believe is amplified. (The speaker is mounted flat on its back with double sided foam tape, the wires routed through a hole into the console where I can’t see if there is both speaker wires and a power lead. But there is no “busy” lamp on the front panel, so, without removing it I can’t read the model #. It has worked fine up until recently... just taking the lazy approach until it warms up...

 

[buddrousa]

Does a power cycle restore audio?

 

[n1chu]

Does a power cycle restore audio?

Yes

 

[n1chu]

Recently. I believe the speaker could be the 20 watt external Uniden speaker which I don’t believe is amplified. (The speaker is mounted flat on its back with double sided foam tape, the wires routed through a hole into the console where I can’t see if there is both speaker wires and a power lead. But there is no “busy” lamp on the front panel, so, without removing it I can’t read the model #. It has worked fine up until recently... just taking the lazy approach until it warms up...

Recently. I believe the speaker could be the 20 watt external Uniden speaker which I don’t believe is amplified. (The speaker is mounted flat on its back with double sided foam tape, the wires routed through a hole into the console where I can’t see if there is both speaker wires and a power lead. But there is no “busy” lamp on the front panel, so, without removing it I can’t read the model #. It has worked fine up until recently... just taking the lazy approach until it warms up...

 

[n1chu]

Update; I plugged in the headphones and then removed them... one of my last steps diagnosing the audio loss before I had to open up the console... since doing that I’ve not experienced a loss of audio. Could it be simply excersizing the earphone jack was all that was needed? A piece of (conductive) debris causing the jack to think there was a headphone plugged in? Highly unlikely. But so far so good.

on another related note about the Uniden amplified speaker. I seem to remember a Uniden amplified speaker without the light that indicated the amp was running. Were there two versions?

 

[RRR]

And again, ensure the "Audio off" time (cuts speaker off during transmissions to lessen "hum") is set to "Infinite" ...I have had the same issue, and set the "audio off" time to infinite, and it hasn't done it since.

 

[kruser]

Could it be simply excersizing the earphone jack was all that was needed? A piece of (conductive) debris causing the jack to think there was a headphone plugged in? Highly unlikely. But so far so good.

Yes, dirty contacts in external speaker and headphone jacks are pretty common problems especially after something has been using one of the jacks for some time and then removed. The contacts don't always make a good connection when the device is unplugged. Exersising the jack does fix it most of the time.
Worst case, you may need to spray some deoxit in the jack and then exercise it to clean up the contacts.
Really old jacks can lose their spring tension. When the device is removed, the spring contact does not have enough strength to close the contact. A new jack may be needed to fix this or the jack bypassed if it will never be used again.

 

[n1chu]

And again, ensure the "Audio off" time (cuts speaker off during transmissions to lessen "hum") is set to "Infinite" ...I have had the same issue, and set the "audio off" time to infinite, and it hasn't done it since.

Good catch! I just checked it and I already had it set to infinite. I believe that’s the default value? Because I never touched that setting...

 

[n1chu]

Yes, dirty contacts in external speaker and headphone jacks are pretty common problems especially after something has been using one of the jacks for some time and then removed. The contacts don't always make a good connection when the device is unplugged. Exersising the jack does fix it most of the time.
Worst case, you may need to spray some deoxit in the jack and then exercise it to clean up the contacts.
Really old jacks can lose their spring tension. When the device is removed, the spring contact does not have enough strength to close the contact. A new jack may be needed to fix this or the jack bypassed if it will never be used again.

Ok. Well, so far it hasn’t happened since I excersized the jack. Maybe that’s all that is wrong. Time will tell.

thanks to all for the help.

 

[n1chu]

My SDS200 (I will designate it as radio 1) will loose all audio after it’s been on for a bit. A quick troubleshooting process was to check for a corrupted SD card first. I’ve replaced the card with a known good card from my other SDS200 (radio 2) and SDS100. The card I pulled from Radio 1 also plays fine in radio 2. So I gather it’s not a case of a corrupted SD card. Radio 1 still looses audio.

Next, I will plug in an headphone to determine if I’m having a problem with the external amplified speaker I have plugged in.
(The order in which I am conducting these steps is driven by ease of access. Radio 1 is buttoned up in a center console in my truck. The SD card and headphone port are accessible from the face of radio 1 whereas the external amplified speaker is plugged into the back of radio 1, requireing I open up the console.)

Ive never had an amplified speaker behave as I described here but here’s hoping I find it to be the case. I’d rather a bad amp circuit in the external speaker than something wrong with the SDS200. Currently, I’m leaning towards the fault being with the radio, in which case I’ve got one more check to perform on the radio before I have to “unbutton” the console and definitively rule out the amplified speaker... a hard reset of the radio, returning it to its factory default settings. Question; Have there been any software/firmware updates on the SDS200 I will need to reinstall after I do the reset to factory default settings?

Update: I have determined my external speaker is NOT an amplified speaker. So that eliminates one possible cause. And, I have swapped out the SDS200 with my other SDS200... so far, no problems with the vehicle installation. So I gather it’s a problem with the SDS200 I removed from the vehicle. It is currently playing in my house and so far it has not had any audio dropouts. The only differences between the vehicle and house is ambient temps. In the vehicle it is exposed to colder temps initially and possibly excessive heat because it’s mounted in a console between the seats which runs up to the dashboard. Maybe the heaters floor duct is directing heat into the console. I previously posted my audio goes away... one minute it’s working and the next it’s not. Scanner scans, stops on busy channels but no audio. Once it goes quiet it won’t come back on it’s own. I thought it might be a dirty phone jack because plugging in a set of headphones, excersizing the plug would bring the audio back. But I got the same results by turning the scanner off and then back on... without touching the phone jack. That tells me it’s something other than a dirty or defective phone jack. Before I send it in for the $90 repair ($79.95 plus $10 shipping) I wonder if there are any more suggestions?

 

[kruser]

Knowing that a power cycle restores audio should rule out the physical jacks from being flaky. Same goes for a cold solder joint in the audio stage.
My next guess would probably be a faulty audio amp chip.

I think you exercised both the front and rear headphone and speaker jacks so that should rule the jacks out.
It almost has to be a faulty audio amp chip or even a bad capacitor in the audio stage.

It's a shame you must spend $90 dollars for a part that probably costs under a dollar. But what are you going to do without a service manual and schematic. You would basically be doing a lot of guessing. Of course it probably would not fail while you are trying to troubleshoot the thing!

 

[jonwienke]

Wouldn't the scanner still be under warranty?

 

[kruser]

Wouldn't the scanner still be under warranty?

I don't remember when the SDS200 became available but you may be correct and many probably are still under warranty.

 

[n1chu]

Wouldn't the scanner still be under warranty?

No. It’s older than the length of the warrenty.

 

[n1chu]

Wouldn't the scanner still be under warranty?

Nope

 

[n1chu]

Knowing that a power cycle restores audio should rule out the physical jacks from being flaky. Same goes for a cold solder joint in the audio stage.
My next guess would probably be a faulty audio amp chip.

I think you exercised both the front and rear headphone and speaker jacks so that should rule the jacks out.
It almost has to be a faulty audio amp chip or even a bad capacitor in the audio stage.

It's a shame you must spend $90 dollars for a part that probably costs under a dollar. But what are you going to do without a service manual and schematic. You would basically be doing a lot of guessing. Of course it probably would not fail while you are trying to troubleshoot the thing!

I’ve had it running in the house for a couple of days now without it acting up. I’m guessing it’s probably a temp sensitive thing. So as long as it continues to play, it’s not going in for repair. The one in my vehicle will now take up permanent residence in the vehicle. I have fabricated a blocking panel to keep the heat from blowing into the front of my radio console. Hopefully, I won’t ruin two SDS200’s!

 

[vortex360]

Mine is doing the exact same thing. Pretty pissed off right now.