SDS100/SDS200: New SDS Firmware is here!

[RoninJoliet]

That beam antenna display on #172 is just "fantastic",.....

 

[captainmax1]

Yes way. They have plenty of separation. They all work perfectly the way I placed them. The 2 masts are 5 feet apart. The photo is decieving and makes them look on top of each other. I added a 380Mhz. Yagi to hear the West Point system a few months ago so I updated the photos.
Thank You for keeping us up to date @JoeBearcat

How many radios/scanners do you have hooked up to these antennas? Do you have a lot of antenna switches and use a few at a time?

 

[pro106import]

How many radios/scanners do you have hooked up to these antennas? Do you have a lot of antenna switches and use a few at a time?

I have 7 radios going most of the time, with a couple others added during special events. No antenna switches. Each antenna has a certain purpose and aimed in that direction. I listen (and talk to) New Jersey to Cape Cod and everything in between.
Bob
N1MLZ

 

[rr60]

What he actually said was "They have not started on the main bug list yet, but should be soon."

Take that for whatever it's worth. Or complain that I'm nitpicking and reading too much into the wording, however "should be soon" doesn't exactly inspire much confidence when we're already at a year and a half since that main bug list started being compiled, and have very little to show for it to date. "Soon" in this context could mean next week, next month, or next year. 🥴

Up on the soapbox…The x36 harangue did it for me. After reading all SDS threads I am glad I have stood fast, the x36’s were my last purchase. Plenty of alternatives. Plenty.

 

[JimD56]

Sentinel, SDS100, SDS200 Updated No Issues.

 

[donc13]

Up on the soapbox…The x36 harangue did it for me. After reading all SDS threads I am glad I have stood fast, the x36’s were my last purchase. Plenty of alternatives. Plenty.

Name a *SCANNER* alternative to the SDS scanners. Not a pager dedicated to a 1 or 2 hard coded systems. A full flegged scanner.

 

[werinshades]

Name a *SCANNER* alternative to the SDS scanners. Not a pager dedicated to a 1 or 2 hard coded systems. A full flegged scanner.

I'll agree with you here. If you monitor simulcast systems, it's the best scanner option out there.

 

[Markb]

I'll agree with you here. If you monitor simulcast systems, it's the best scanner option out there.

All these years and this debate STILL rages on!

 

[mikewazowski]

All these years and this debate STILL rages on!

Yup, and I’m not sure how it ended up in a firmware upgrade thread.

 

[trentbob]

Yup, and I’m not sure how it ended up in a firmware upgrade thread.

Where else... you going to go?

 

[werinshades]

Well....to bring it back to the topic at hand, I'm still noticing decoding improvement on my 800mhz Phase 2 system..so there

 

[trentbob]

I have run everything through the sieve. I haven't said much in this thread since the beginning, what is the point?.....
I don't see anything improved on audio but I've noticed that VHF reception is a wee bit compromised. Again, what does that mean in the greater scope of things? I found that some filter adjustments have helped that, I have no doubt it's secondary to the resolution of decoding issues on the higher end of the VHF band, but then again, what do I know?
These two radios are a treasure trough of unknown value.

 

[4436time]

THANK YOU! Finally someone else sees the same problem I have been having for years. I hope @JoeBearcat has it as a priority with the fixes. Most people don't even realize why they are having problems with P25 systems. The signal is there. Plenty of it. Either their squelch isn't at zero or their filters are not set for the best results.
I agree that the current threshold at setting 2 is -90db. I put my radio on a service monitor and that is about where the squelch opens at #2.

Same issue and what's worse is that one system is simulcast that the 536 and 996xt both lock onto. Have to system hold both SDS200's and set squelch to 1 to receive. All scanners on the same antenna.

 

[werinshades]

Same issue and what's worse is that one system is simulcast that the 536 and 996xt both lock onto. Have to system hold both SDS200's and set squelch to 1 to receive. All scanners on the same antenna.

Change filters, turn on attenuator at the site level. Need to tweak it a tad.

 

[4436time]

Signal strength is actually on the low side. With the system held and squelch at 2, I get 0 bars most of the time with an occasional 3 bars. With squelch at 1, solid 3/4 bars with an occasional 5. Both SDS200's do this. I've changed filters and increased system hold times to 2sec. Same. The 200's should be doing a better job of receiving this system than the 536 and 996xt as they generally do with most other systems, just not this one. One of the 200's is an early release while the second is a year+ newer.

 

[pro106import]

Same issue and what's worse is that one system is simulcast that the 536 and 996xt both lock onto. Have to system hold both SDS200's and set squelch to 1 to receive. All scanners on the same antenna.

I have just learned to live with it. I don't think they are going to do any "major" updates anymore. Even though this one should take a whole 5 minutes if the code was open source. The update they just came out with was pretty much useless I would say to 90% of the users. Between all the people that don't even understand this squelch problem, and how long it has been since a real update, I threw the towel in and just leave the squelch open and only use the radio for P25 systems. @Ubbe explained it perfectly in post #174 in this thread. @werinshades , read his post. You will understand the problem better. It has nothing to do with signal, attenuator, or filters ect...
And no, I did not notice any decode difference with the firmware update.

 

[werinshades]

@Ubbe explained it perfectly in post #174 in this thread. @werinshades , read his post. You will understand the problem better. It has nothing to do with signal, attenuator, or filters ect...
And no, I did not notice any decode difference with the firmware update.

I understand what you're asking, and as I said, I hope a firmware update comes out to address your problem, pretty much a system-wide adjustable squelch, similar to the way filters are user adjustable.

But, not everyone having issues with receive are identical to yours. Based on the last response, and both SDS's "appear" to be having an issue with the signal quality. Not necessarily firmware related, as there are many threads with suggestions. Filters are tricky and some think they're setting the filter properly and may not be, that's for another day to discuss.

 

[4436time]

I have just learned to live with it. I don't think they are going to do any "major" updates anymore. Even though this one should take a whole 5 minutes if the code was open source. The update they just came out with was pretty much useless I would say to 90% of the users. Between all the people that don't even understand this squelch problem, and how long it has been since a real update, I threw the towel in and just leave the squelch open and only use the radio for P25 systems. @Ubbe explained it perfectly in post #174 in this thread. @werinshades , read his post. You will understand the problem better. It has nothing to do with signal, attenuator, or filters ect...
And no, I did not notice any decode difference with the firmware update.

Not willing to give up on any updates just yet. I'll leave the 200's as-is hoping Uniden delivers and will dedicate another scanner to that system. Interference shouldn't be ruled out either since these scanners seem more susceptible to it than the others.

 

[ScannerDude244]

Anyone who has LTE interference see any improvements?

 

[N9PVW]

I have Hughesnet, I recommend before and will again, stay away for this company. I have to take my Laptop, and a card reader to the Library to do my updates. I had no problems updating my SDS200 with the new firmware.