SDS 100 users...Issues with scanning Salt Lake County

[jordljacobsen]

Does anyone with a SDS100 scanner often miss radio traffic? Like the d@mn thing just stops scanning. Do we have simulcast distortion? Are we supposed to scan all the "sites" or just the simulcast frequencies? It's like it does good for a second, then it goes quiet. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm about ready to throw it through a d@mn window and/or cry. I'm sure when the new P25 system comes out, we will all be crying for a bit. ha

 

[m00se]

A lot of variables could be a factor here.
What sort of antenna are you using with it?
What sites do you have programmed in it?
Whats your relative location in SLco and are you listening in car, at home, at work, ect?
Do you have any other scanners or SDR setups to compare it against?

 

[Ubbe]

Go to the menu and Set Your Location and look at your mobile phones GPS info and enter your latitude and longitude. Set range to 0 and start scan. Check that all service types are set to On and not Off, you can always turn off some of them later on. It will automatically exclude sites that are too far away and include those in scan that are close enough to be received.

If you don't hear much you could be at bad location to receive the signals. Have you successfully used other scanners? Perhaps you'll need a better antenna, higher up connected with coax.

It could also be interference that blocks reception. Go into the menu and Global Auto Filter settings and switch to another mode, from Normal to Inverse or some of the other modes.

/Ubbe

 

[gmclam]

Does anyone with a SDS100 scanner often miss radio traffic?

If I am locked onto a single trunked P25 system, it's either waiting for the next call or I am monitoring one. While monitoring you're likely to miss other calls. The saying goes "the more you scan, the more you miss".

Like the d@mn thing just stops scanning.

Because it's stopped on a signal? Or what?

Are we supposed to scan all the "sites" or just the simulcast frequencies?

In general terms, if you're able to get great signal strength and decode rate from a Simulcast site, that's all you need. Of course there are exceptions.

I'm sure when the new P25 system comes out, we will all be crying for a bit. ha

I thought the traffic there was still on the MOT system, are you monitoring that? Or perhaps trying to monitor both old and new simultaneously?

 

[enosjones]

The New system isn't passing traffic the current system is, usually on a simo site the sds100 should follow simulcast without too much distortion

 

[N7OLQ]

A couple of comments:
- Simulcast distortion does not apply to the current 800MHz system with analog voice. The distortion comes from P25 digital voice. However the SDS scanners handle this quite well anyway.
- The way you have it programmed matters. If you are scanning a single system (UCA), your scanner may be letting go of the control channel to look for signals on the other sites that Sentinel will program by default. You need to either hold the site or disable all the other sites you don't want the scanner to waste time looking for.
- if you are on one system and one site with good control channel quality you should not be missing much. If there are 15 active talkgroups on your site, and you only want to hear 1 of them, it may take a second or so to hit your TG.

 

[jordljacobsen]

A couple of comments:
- Simulcast distortion does not apply to the current 800MHz system with analog voice. The distortion comes from P25 digital voice. However the SDS scanners handle this quite well anyway.
- The way you have it programmed matters. If you are scanning a single system (UCA), your scanner may be letting go of the control channel to look for signals on the other sites that Sentinel will program by default. You need to either hold the site or disable all the other sites you don't want the scanner to waste time looking for.
- if you are on one system and one site with good control channel quality you should not be missing much. If there are 15 active talkgroups on your site, and you only want to hear 1 of them, it may take a second or so to hit your TG.

So I have it programmed using Sentinnel I have all of UCA Salt Lake County loaded, but I "avoid" everything except West Jordan PD, VECC Fire, and UPD East and UPD Midvalley, and Draper PD. Then for the sites I used the Salt Lake County Simulcast, Cliff Lodge when I'm working at Snowbird, and then occasionally Nelson Peak. Would avoiding a lot of the unused Talk groups help? I mostly listen to it in West Jordan and Draper. It's like it does really good for a second, then it's like, "I'm tired now, I'm done." It drives me nuts.

 

[N7OLQ]

So I have it programmed using Sentinnel I have all of UCA Salt Lake County loaded, but I "avoid" everything except West Jordan PD, VECC Fire, and UPD East and UPD Midvalley, and Draper PD. Then for the sites I used the Salt Lake County Simulcast, Cliff Lodge when I'm working at Snowbird, and then occasionally Nelson Peak. Would avoiding a lot of the unused Talk groups help? I mostly listen to it in West Jordan and Draper. It's like it does really good for a second, then it's like, "I'm tired now, I'm done." It drives me nuts.

3 sites doesn't sound like too much, but what I do is in the Favorites list, highlight the top system (UCA) and under the 'Sites' tab, I set everything I will never listen to to Avoid, and the sites I might listen to, I give each a Quick Key starting in the 20's (my TG list QKs only use 0-19). Then go to the 'Dept/Site Quick Keys Status' tab and only check the quick keys you want enabled by default when you program the scanner. So if my local site is 21 and the others are 22 and 23, I uncheck 22 and 23 so the only site that will be used is 21 (be default), then if I travel, I hit quick key 22 to turn that site on, and then hit 21 to turn that site off, etc.
I'm not sure what you mean by avoiding the unused TGs. It sounds like you only have 5 talkgroups enabled. But generally, no, that will not make a difference. There is a data stream your scanner is decoding on the control channel until it sees one of your talkgroups go active, then it leaves the control channel and jumps to that assigned frequency. Once the channel goes inactive, it re-acquires the control channel and starts decoding the data and looking for one of your talk groups again.
Also, make sure you do not have an antenna connection problem. You should be able to tell by watching the signal strength when it is monitoring the control channel. Another problem that can affect the SDS scanners is that they auto-attenuate the front end receiver if there is a strong signal near by that is within about 6 MHz (I think), so if you are near any 800MHz transmitter sites, they could be making your scanner go deaf during the transmission.

 

[gmclam]

Would avoiding a lot of the unused Talk groups help?

Not really. Here's how trunking works. The scanner is receiving & decoding data from the control channel. When it gets notified of an active TG, it looks in your list to see if it's there (enabled, not avoided, etc) and if so, switches to the voice channel. While you're away listening to that conversation, indications of any other TGs you want will be missed.

This is amplified if you scan more than one system (or scan conventional channels). With only Conventional Channels, the scanner could resume scanning and pick up a conversation in the middle of it. With trunked, that is not likely. The control channel would have to be resending indication that the TG is (still) active.

 

[gldavis]

If I am at home, I "lock" my SDS100 onto 1 Site, and 1 site only. I can then search or scan the individual Talk Groups, as needed. (I think this was explained earlier)

 

[jordljacobsen]

Not really. Here's how trunking works. The scanner is receiving & decoding data from the control channel. When it gets notified of an active TG, it looks in your list to see if it's there (enabled, not avoided, etc) and if so, switches to the voice channel. While you're away listening to that conversation, indications of any other TGs you want will be missed.

This is amplified if you scan more than one system (or scan conventional channels). With only Conventional Channels, the scanner could resume scanning and pick up a conversation in the middle of it. With trunked, that is not likely. The control channel would have to be resending indication that the TG is (still) active.

Appreciate it. Thank you. This makes me think more that I have a scanner issue. Definitely going to make sure I don't have any conventional channels.

 

[N7YUO]

Good evening
This is a request for information, not a comment on this thread.
I've decided to but a SDS100, so I seek advice from my trusted friends here.
1. I looked at Scanner Master site. There are lots of options, each comes with a price.
2. I prefer to do my own programming, so what software should I obtain and from where?
3. I understand the SDS100 charges by a small usb port, do I need to buy a dedicated charger?
4. How long will the SDS100 operate when on battery? I scan while mobile and portable a lot.
5. Additional features like DMR. Can software upgrades be obtained later, and how would that work?

I went on a trip to Portland, OR and back in September. I took along my WS1040. It was pretty much useless except for Utah and parts of Idaho.
Much of the areas in Oregon were using P25 phase 2, including Umatilla County, where I have family. That used to be a Motorola uhf trunked system, but now it is 700 MHz.
I also took along my Unitrunker setup and it decoded the P25 phase 2 system. It showed control frequency once, but each voice frequency showed up twice due to TDMA. My scanner could find the data channels, but that is all.

 

[enosjones]

Sds100 would work best for Salt Lake for the simulcast site on both the current 800 mhz Motorola system and the upcoming 700 mhz phase 1 or 2 digital system coming online soon. Both of which have simulcast sites of which only Sds100 will work the best with, sds100 also will do provoice nexedge and dmr for a fee upgrade

 

[KD7DDC]

1. I looked at Scanner Master site. There are lots of options, each comes with a price.
2. I prefer to do my own programming, so what software should I obtain and from where?
3. I understand the SDS100 charges by a small usb port, do I need to buy a dedicated charger?
4. How long will the SDS100 operate when on battery? I scan while mobile and portable a lot.
5. Additional features like DMR. Can software upgrades be obtained later, and how would that work?

2. Sentienal is the free software for Uniden scanners including the SDS100.
3. It should come with a charger. You also can charge from any USP power source of correct power.
4. Not sure battery on SDS100 my 436HP which is comparable usually can scan for about 10-12 hours. You also can get a car charger for when mobile.
5. You can upgrade later by purchasing the codes then entering them into the scanner

 

[tvengr]

Then for the sites I used the Salt Lake County Simulcast, Cliff Lodge when I'm working at Snowbird, and then occasionally Nelson Peak.

The 3 sites mentioned all use rebanded frequencies. The system type is Motorola. You need to use a custom 800 MHz rebanded bandplan for all 3 sites. The system will not trunk track properly if you don't. It should be OK if you appended the systems from Sentinel. Did you make any changes to the sites?

 

[pmstewart]

I have found it most helpful to use more than one scanner. I use the SDS100 in trunk mode and a second scanner simply scanning the conventional frequencies of the site or sites I have programmed into the SDS100.

The SDS in trunk mode follows the control channel and will only allow traffic thru when the scanner detects a clean or new transmission and will not dump in on an already initiated transmission. However, in conventional mode you can catch transmissions already in progress which helps to minimize on lost conversations. Also, at least in Weber County, some transmissions are only on a given independent repeater which is to far away for me to monitor. Using conventional channels helps extend the range of the analog signal and allows me to hear stuff that the sites in my area are not channeling thru the control channel.

 

[Brock2016]

Does anyone with a SDS100 scanner often miss radio traffic? Like the d@mn thing just stops scanning. Do we have simulcast distortion? Are we supposed to scan all the "sites" or just the simulcast frequencies? It's like it does good for a second, then it goes quiet. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm about ready to throw it through a d@mn window and/or cry. I'm sure when the new P25 system comes out, we will all be crying for a bit. ha

Hello my name is Chris I just got a Sds100. I’ve been using scanners since late 80s been out of it for a while . I’m 50 years old and prefer meeting someone one on one for scanner help. I need help with this new scanner happy to pay for someone’s time . I live in downtown salt lake by Tempe square on South Temple .. Fee free to text me is you can help and are in downtown Salt Lake and have a SDS100 and are proficient with it . 8017590452 Thank you..

 

[gldavis]

Hello my name is Chris I just got a Sds100. I’ve been using scanners since late 80s been out of it for a while . I’m 50 years old and prefer meeting someone one on one for scanner help. I need help with this new scanner happy to pay for someone’s time . I live in downtown salt lake by Tempe square on South Temple .. Fee free to text me is you can help and are in downtown Salt Lake and have a SDS100 and are proficient with it . 8017590452 Thank you..

I live in Bountiful, just North of you. I'm happy to help out as I can. We just held a training/familiarization session a couple days ago, comparing Sentinel and Proscan. Each has it's merits. Feel free to PM me if you wish.