Problem with a SDS100

[rbrtklamp2]

Hey guys can we please stay on topic with this thread. I would really like to get this situation for all of is experiencing problems with our radios.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Ubbe]

50W at 10 feet result in 0.3W and 5volt in a 50 ohm system. A couple of antiparallell diods whould have protected the input. The only schematic of Uniden scanner I have are for the BC780 and that have protection diods at the antenna input.

/Ubbe

 

[CQ]

Horsepuckey. I transmit 50-100 watts PEP VHF (2m) on my Icom 746 Pro quite often (usually everyday) and my SDS100 sits on a desk stand 3-ft away and is not affected in the least. No problems whatsoever.

I'm assuming your radios are 3 ft. away from each other (transceiver/scanner) in a fixed station and not from a TX antenna, correct?

I've had radios side/side and stacked for years with no issues. I was referring to TX antenna to SDS100 RX antenna distance as typically mounted in vehicles.

 

[TailGator911]

I'm assuming your radios are 3 ft. away from each other (transceiver/scanner) in a fixed station and not from a TX antenna, correct?

I've had radios side/side and stacked for years with no issues. I was referring to TX antenna to SDS100 RX antenna distance as typically mounted in vehicles.

I should have taken the time to read your post more thoroughly and noted that you were referring to a vehicular scenario. Thanks for pointing that out to me in a polite manner. I apologize for any distraction.

JD
kf4anc

 

[richee2000]

has anyone on this thread had low signal on analog UHF /VHF/800 (compared to the 436) and tinny audio on analog on their SDS100? I sent my SDS100 back for a refund, but would like to re-purchase one if these issues are resolved. I loved the p25 digital system performance.

 

[bmdoss]

Just sent mine in for bad UHF/VHF reception.

has anyone on this thread had low signal on analog UHF /VHF/800 (compared to the 436) and tinny audio on analog on their SDS100? I sent my SDS100 back for a refund, but would like to re-purchase one if these issues are resolved. I loved the p25 digital system performance.

 

[richee2000]

Please let us know your outcome

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[coolderb]

Honestly, depending on what they are being used for, transistors have a fairly high failure rate compared to other components in any electronic. One of the main functions of them is to amplify current, and any shorts in the system can cause a lot of stress on them. We haven't had a ton of SDS100s go through our repair department, and those are not commonly the reason they have.

It is possible it is a manufacturing defect; anyone who has worked in a factory can tell you mistakes can happen. it's the job of ISO compliance to minimize that, and it's a big part of why we have warranties. A transistor is likely to fail if any of the components in the circuit have a problem, so while they may pop up as a replaced part often, it can be caused by any number of failures. We track all of these failures and if there was any sort of common defect, we remedy them, but it does not seem to be the case here.

Most likely it's not anything you are doing with your unit, you can help ensure the health of your scanner by avoiding dropping it, making sure it has good air flow around it, and as hard as it may be, sometimes it's good to give them a bit of a rest.

I'm a bit confused by the last recommendation "...sometimes it's good to give them a bit of a rest." Does that mean that we should only use our SDS100s for a limited amount of hours per day? I have never owned a scanner, and I have owned many (beginning in the 70's), that required giving them a rest. In fact, my BCD536 and PSR800 (which is now my daily portable until I get my SDS100 back from repair) have been operating 24 hours per day for years.

Hopefully the SDS100 is repaired correctly, quickly and will not be on any sort of 'minutes restriction' like an injured professional athlete.

 

[UnidenSupport]

I'm a bit confused by the last recommendation "...sometimes it's good to give them a bit of a rest." Does that mean that we should only use our SDS100s for a limited amount of hours per day? I have never owned a scanner, and I have owned many (beginning in the 70's), that required giving them a rest. In fact, my BCD536 and PSR800 (which is now my daily portable until I get my SDS100 back from repair) have been operating 24 hours per day for years.

Hopefully the SDS100 is repaired correctly, quickly and will not be on any sort of 'minutes restriction' like an injured professional athlete.

Any electronic that is ran constantly is more prone to component failure. This is just a general recommendation, it is not a requirement specific to the SDS100, I simply meant that powering them off here and there will extend their life, and that applies to all scanners or electronics in general.

 

[richee2000]

To Uniden support: please advise us on here when there is a firmware update for the sds100 that would solve the issue of the poor analog performance and poor tinny audio on analog. We will be ordering sds100 units when these fixes are available through firmware updates.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[kb2crk]

Well I am glad I read some of these threads. I was thinking about getting one of these scanners but I think I will wait until Uniden gets the bugs worked out and their quality control up to par.

 

[mule1075]

To Uniden support: please advise us on here when there is a firmware update for the sds100

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

The always post when there are firmware updates. No matter what the update is about.

 

[radio3353]

Any electronic that is ran constantly is more prone to component failure. This is just a general recommendation, it is not a requirement specific to the SDS100, I simply meant that powering them off here and there will extend their life, and that applies to all scanners or electronics in general.

Would you please back this up with some science? I think your proposition is rubbish.

Electronics held at a constant temperature (like always on) will survive better than thermal cycling (i.e. on and off.) Also true for tube equipment. When you turn off your TV it doesn't really turn completely off - it goes into stand-by mode. Same with many high-end audio components.

 

[rbrtklamp2]

Ok I have finally sent both of my SDS 100 Scanners into Uniden Repair. I will let you guys know how it goes. I hope the office is staffed as my package will to be signed for due to the insurance on the package. I'm not sending 1300 dollars worth of radio through the mail with out insurance.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[slicerwizard]

Electronics held at a constant temperature (like always on) will survive better than thermal cycling (i.e. on and off.) Also true for tube equipment.

Agreed. Thermal cycling is a slow killer. Not much of it in typical battery powered receivers, although the SDS100 breaks that rule.

When you turn off your TV it doesn't really turn completely off - it goes into stand-by mode. Same with many high-end audio components.

The major current draws (and heat sources) turn off.

 

[nanZor]

Would you please back this up with some science? I think your proposition is rubbish.

Uniden is right as a general rule. Most often seen in the broadcast / telcom / studio environment, where a piece of gear is plugged in and never turned off for years, sometimes a decade or more of perfect operation.

Then comes a rack or room move. At first powerup, the unit that ran flawlessly for a decade, is lights out. Those units that had been cycled once in awhile (power-cycled digital gear for example) seem to have a better chance of surviving a long term rack or room move.

I've seen this happen to electrolytic caps held at a steady-state voltage for years and never given a chance to discharge and charge back up again, Think of it as endlessly trickle-charging a very dinky battery.

Basically it is just the opposite of taking a moldy-oldy classic piece of gear that has been off for a decade or more, and powered up with a variac slowly.

It is good *general* advice. Home users may not notice it - (a rare power outage may actually help here), and there's no way to predict it, nor how much it will extend the life.

I do know how *expensive* it is to turn off a piece of gear that never got turned off in it's lifetime - better cross fingers, or make a power cycle part of the preventative maintenance plan.

 

[nanZor]

More directly to the point about "taking a break" with batteries being beneficial..

Consider that most of the higher end battery charger / analyzers capable of repetetive charge/discharge cycling, will usually rest between 10 minutes to an hour before changing the direction of charge or discharge so as not to put unnecessary wear on the batts doing this.

That goes for all chemistries. The canonical Maha MH-C9000 which deals with nimh takes an hour break between reversing directions.

Even cellphone batts, which have a tendency to be in a perpetual state of charge or discharge benefit from being given a rest once in awhile with the phone turned completely off.

So yes, it does help.

 

[Ubbe]

More directly to the point about "taking a break" with batteries being beneficial..

Probably only applies to batteries that has heat as its worse enemy.

When you use a device like the SDS100 that gets very warm inside and turn it off to let it cool and then switch it on again, that's almost exactly how the electronic manufactures run their accelerated life tests to let a device age several years in a couple of weeks time.

When material heat up and cool down it expands and retracts and makes huge stress on anything that aren't flexible enough. In the old times we had component legs that could flex but now with surface mounted components, and partucular the extra tiny ones in modern scanners, have zero flexibility and are less tolerant to temperature changes, even if the chemicals inside them have much better temperature specification than the old legged components.

I have repaired numerous electronic devices just by heating up their circuit board using hot air so that the solder just melts and that mends any cracks in the solder joints.

Server rooms have a constant temperature and companies never turn off their servers when they go home for the night to let their expensive equipment rest. I've never heard that recommendation being said by anyone until now.

/Ubbe

 

[scannermike11]

first i would like to see Uniden to do well with scanners but first wrong call was to do away from AA battery's
it is like scanner of 20 years ago if you need more power to run the SDS100 you should have add one or two more AA battery and this whole thing never happen and you are making your hand held radios to big
SDS100 almost is a base size radio i have other hand held radio i can put in my packet and i can not take this radio like the bcd436hp to fair because someone always run up to and is looking for their lose child .

 

[nanZor]

Probably only applies to batteries that has heat as its worse enemy.

No probably. It's called diffusion-recovery / rest. Batteries in constant service (regardless of chemistry) that have a period of rest applied between charge / discharge last longer. Or at least once in awhile a period of rest.

Essentially the chemical reaction at rest is different than that during charge or discharge.

Without going into a lot of detail about diffusion (searchable though, CPF Forums, EV forums, etc etc ), think of batteries, regardless of chemistry, as muscles. Muscles need a similar period of rest chemically to recover to function properly over the long haul. If you are doing 200 yard sprints at the track, but never take a minute's break between them, you don't last long.

Same analogy for batteries.