True, we will never know. A removable faceplate design would have made sense for the 996 and 536 models as well. Perhaps in the case of the SDS200, it would have pushed the price point beyond what Uniden felt hobbyists would be willing to pay?They did, indeed. I don't know if Uniden ever considered that for the SDS200 and I doubt we ever will know. It would have been simple to do that during the design phase. Ham radio manufacturers realized the need 20 years ago for their mobile rigs.
Oh well, we don't have a Way Back Machine, so we can't go back in time.
In any case, hobbyists wanted that option and now Rich & crew have produced a solution. With the small size of the 996 screens, the RH-200 will be a real win for those who want to use them mobile.