Replacement SD Cards

[UPMan]

We will be switching our production from using 8GB TLC type SD cards to 4GB MLC type SD cards (we actually originally provided 4GB TLC cards then did an unadvertised change to 8GB).

All devices will eventually wear out an SD card (if it does any writing at all). I typically have to replace my dashcam's 2 cards every 3 months or so. It is just the nature of the SD technology.

The benefit of MLC, and what makes it worth us changing even though it will be at a lower (but still the advertised) capacity, is that MLC NAND memory has a tremendously longer life. It is recommended for use in dashcams, security video cams, and other devices that do intense data writing. They advertise up to 12,000 hours of continuous video writing before failure (in 64GB cards).

So, when you go to replace your card, we are now highly recommending you get an MLC type card. They are typically advertised as "industrial" or "high endurance." Here is an example of one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-In...F8&qid=1474011547&sr=8-1&keywords=mlc+sd+card

For the capacity, the price isn't unreasonable, either.

 

[DSC45]

Lucky with original SD cards

I have the original 4gb Micro SD Cards in my three 536HP's. Lucky, I guess! One of my scanners was purchased on the original offering. I know many of the forum members have had there share of bad luck with their sd cards.

I can't explain why, but I can tell you I don't use the record option on my scanners, as a matter of fact I have turned that option off since available. I also connect the scanners to surge protectors. I've read on the forum that some contribute sd card failure to the recording option.

 

[bee]

I have had my "HP 1" 5 years with no problems. My "HP 2" 2 years with no problems

What causes the SD card, failure?

 

[marksmith]

I have the original 4gb Micro SD Cards in my three 536HP's. Lucky, I guess! One of my scanners was purchased on the original offering. I know many of the forum members have had there share of bad luck with their sd cards.

I can't explain why, but I can tell you I don't use the record option on my scanners, as a matter of fact I have turned that option off since available. I also connect the scanners to surge protectors. I've read on the forum that some contribute sd card failure to the recording option.

The replay option is the same as recording. It continuously records the last x seconds of activity in a loop. Same or worse impact to the card.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[Jay911]

I have had my "HP 1" 5 years with no problems. My "HP 2" 2 years with no problems

What causes the SD card, failure?

Number of writes.

It's kind of like a lightbulb. Some last a couple weeks, some last over 100 years. But all will eventually burn out.

 

[bee]

Thanks Jay. But what is "writes"?

 

[Jay911]

Any time the scanner is writing to the card. If you tell it to save a found CTCSS/DCS/NAC/CC, if you shut the scanner down (and it writes the scanner status to the card), if you are receiving a signal and either instant-playback or long-term recording is enabled, etc.

 

[troymail]

Cards can also fail from time to time if the radio isn't powered down properly and/or release properly from your PC. Some have also suggested that simply removing and re-inserting the card frequently will also affect the life of the card.

I can't say if that's true but I can say that I record all of the time, usually remove the card(s) from radios to transfer to my PC, and update programming and library data quite often. I learned very early on to be more careful about both properly powering my radios down, releasing the card after inserting it into my PC and avoiding touching the contacts.

My radios typically run 24/7/365 and, based on experience, keep many spare/new cards on hand (and order new ones when I see sales) just to be ready for failures .... I've seen lots of failures.

 

[gary123]

The SD cards are good for 10,000s of read write cycles. card failure should not be a real issue unless a cheap card is used. Either way I recommend reading and saving the card contents regularly. Since the cards are cheap I have 2 for the main favorite list that i use just in case. I also use different cards for different uses this lets me have a card for DMR searching etc while not having to worry about selecting and deselecting favorite lists etc.

 

[N9JIG]

It is a proven fact that failure rates are reduced to almost zero merely by the presence of a programmed spare on hand. The only time I had an SD-Card failure was when I had no spare available...

Back to reality here: When I travel I always do keep a spare card. I do not use the replay option so I shut that off to reduce the amount of writes to the card.

 

[KK4JUG]

I've never heard of an SD card wearing out. They may fail because of poor workmanship, heat degradation, damage or whatever but I find it hard to believe they'll wear out.

 

[pb_lonny]

They can and do wear out after enough write cycles.

 

[KK4JUG]

I guess "wear out" is a relative term. A good quality SD card should be good for 100,000+ cycles. A lesser quality card will quit performing sooner because, well, because it's lesser quality.

So, yes, they'll wear out but the better the quality, the longer the life span.

 

[ShyFlyer]

Moral of the story: you get what you pay for so purchase the highest quality card you can afford.

 

[marksmith]

I've never heard of an SD card wearing out. They may fail because of poor workmanship, heat degradation, damage or whatever but I find it hard to believe they'll wear out.

What would be unheard of is an SD card that does not wear out.

Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk

 

[buddrousa]

What is unheard of is educated users that know how the things they have work.

 

[gary123]

What is unheard of is people backing up stuff.

 

[KK4JUG]

What is unheard of is people backing up stuff.

Lose it once and that'll make a believer out of you.

 

[greggk]

What is unheard of is doubting Upman.

 

[kandrey89]

We will be switching our production from using 8GB TLC type SD cards to 4GB MLC type SD cards (we actually originally provided 4GB TLC cards then did an unadvertised change to 8GB).

All devices will eventually wear out an SD card (if it does any writing at all). I typically have to replace my dashcam's 2 cards every 3 months or so. It is just the nature of the SD technology.

The benefit of MLC, and what makes it worth us changing even though it will be at a lower (but still the advertised) capacity, is that MLC NAND memory has a tremendously longer life. It is recommended for use in dashcams, security video cams, and other devices that do intense data writing. They advertise up to 12,000 hours of continuous video writing before failure (in 64GB cards).

So, when you go to replace your card, we are now highly recommending you get an MLC type card. They are typically advertised as "industrial" or "high endurance." Here is an example of one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Transcend-In...F8&qid=1474011547&sr=8-1&keywords=mlc+sd+card

For the capacity, the price isn't unreasonable, either.

UPMan, should stop using ****ty cards then.

I use Samsung EVO (TLC) cards in my dashcams for over 1.5 years and have had no problems.
Similarly, only because BCD436HP cannot accept anything larger than 32GB or a certain number of recorded folders, the only card I had was a SanDisk 32GB, but I hate SanDisk, because of performance and reliability issues, and even then I write all the time to that card, and it's been working fine for 2 years.
Don't know about Transcend, never used them, since they don't own their own fab, can't believe their stock from the fab is any better than SanDisk or Kingston, or others.