SDS 200 Programming Question

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cicolini

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I just bought an SDS200 and im having a really hard time to get it to work. Does anyone know of a service where I can just pay someone to set it up for me? I know I could eventually just figure it out myself but I would rather just save myself the headache. All I want is to listen to Police around me when driving (I have the GPS adapter) I don't care about anything besides local and state police around me. I live in Peabody Massachusetts (Essex County) but I do travel across to Worcester pretty frequently so I would need ultimately need Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk counties programmed in
 

hlmthree

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I just bought an SDS200 and im having a really hard time to get it to work. Does anyone know of a service where I can just pay someone to set it up for me? I know I could eventually just figure it out myself but I would rather just save myself the headache. All I want is to listen to Police around me when driving (I have the GPS adapter) I don't care about anything besides local and state police around me.
Scanner Master offers that service.
 

hiegtx

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I just bought an SDS200 and im having a really hard time to get it to work. Does anyone know of a service where I can just pay someone to set it up for me? I know I could eventually just figure it out myself but I would rather just save myself the headache. All I want is to listen to Police around me when driving (I have the GPS adapter) I don't care about anything besides local and state police around me. I live in Peabody Massachusetts (Essex County) but I do travel across to Worcester pretty frequently so I would need ultimately need Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk counties programmed in
I would suggest that you make a request for your thread to be moved to your state forum. There, you might be able to get with someone near you who can create a file for you to load via Sentinel. To do that, do not create a new thread. Instead, click on the Report in the lower left corner of one of your posts, and request that a moderator move your thread to the state forum. Someone in the area would be more likely to see it there.

ScannerMaster does offer to program a new data card with the areas you request. However, that service starts at $59.95 for one county, then additional $20 for a second county, or $40 to add three.
 

cicolini

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I would suggest that you make a request for your thread to be moved to your state forum. There, you might be able to get with someone near you who can create a file for you to load via Sentinel. To do that, do not create a new thread. Instead, click on the Report in the lower left corner of one of your posts, and request that a moderator move your thread to the state forum. Someone in the area would be more likely to see it there.

ScannerMaster does offer to program a new data card with the areas you request. However, that service starts at $59.95 for one county, then additional $20 for a second county, or $40 to add three.
I have asked to have it move, thank you
 

TailGator911

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ScannerMaster does offer to program a new data card with the areas you request. However, that service starts at $59.95 for one county, then additional $20 for a second county, or $40 to add three.

How many people are reading this and shaking their heads and saying to themselves 'I am in the wrooong business'
 

KEWB-N1EXA

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How many people are reading this and shaking their heads and saying to themselves 'I am in the wrooong business'
Buy now pay later ! plastic money ...
For the price of A SDS200 and the Fee for Programming it you could buy a fleet of used 15x's and 996's then use Freescan or Thumbump the Frequencies in.
The MA SP is mostly Analog Smart net I'm jumping from zone 4 to 3 in SE MA then in Boston Zones 1 and 5 with a $10 ebay Uniden 235XLT
when i'm in the car.

Pete
 
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hiegtx

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Also this place does as well
That's jonwienke's site. He does several things, including installing an internal GPS.

Go to his payments page then scroll down to see the various items and services.
How many people are reading this and shaking their heads and saying to themselves 'I am in the wrooong business'
The biggest drawbacks I have with regards to someone paying to have a scanner programmed, especially by a dealer, as opposed to someone local is that, first, they are only going to program what the database shows in that area, which may, or may not, be the best thing to do. Besides, on the database scanners from Uniden (HP, x36HP, and SDS series), you have the full database on the memory card. You can 'point & shoot' (appending systems from the database to a Favorites list) to create a list in only a few minutes. Or, for the Uniden scanners, update the database then use location, range, and the database to get started.

The other issue is this: You pay someone, 'today', to program your scanner. Are you going to pull out your wallet & pay again when something changes? While some areas dom't change nearly as often as larger metro areas, things do change at times, especially if your area joins a regional or statewide trunked system.
Been doing that for years. You should learn to do that before you buy programming software.

Yo
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this, I agree that it's in your long term interest to learn how to program via the keypad. But, for a new user, whose never had a scanner, or who is upgrading from much older units, it's frustrating to sit there looking at a high dollar scanner while you try to learn how to program manually, Many of the people that do that get discouraged & sell the radio at a loss instead of being able to enjoy it.

Plus, especially with a new user, using software enables them to see most all of the information required & entered, making it much easier to spot and correct errors & omissions that need to be corrected. Plus, if nothing else, the user can post their programming file & let someone more familiar with that model or area, take a look and offer suggestions.
 

garys

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You don't need to do any programming for what you want to listen to.

First download the Sentinel program and install it.


Once that's installed go to UPDATE and download the latest version of of the nationwide database.

Then go to TOOLS|Select Target Model and select SDS 200.

Then go to FILE|Open and open the the SDS Profile that will appear in the pop up window.

Then got to EDIT and click on EDIT PROFILE. That will pop up a window where you can set up the options you want to use.

First go to Set Scan Selection and check the box that says "Monitor Full Database."

Second go to "Service Types." Check the "Law Dispatch", "Law Tac" and "Law Talk" boxes, clear all of the other ones.

Third go to "Location Settings" and select 9600bps from the "Baud Rate" drop down box. Also set the range. Start with a low number, like 1 mile. You can adjust that later if you don't think you're hearing enough.

When that's done, close the box then go to FILE|SAVE. It may ask you enter a file name, so just type in something like SDS200 and close the pop up box.

Then, attach the scanner to your the computer with a USB cable and turn on the scanner. Press "E" to enter the Mass Storage Mode. The screen will then say that it is writing to the SD Card, followed by USB Mass Storage.

In Sentinel click on "Write to scanner." Another window will pop up. Check "Force Write Full Database." Then click on "Okay"

Sentinel will write your profile settings and the full database to the scanner. When it's done, unplug the USB cable and the scanner will restart.

Make sure that your GPS is connected. After the scanner locates your location it will start automatically scanning based on location data stored in the Master database. The scanner will automatically turn systems and departments on and off as you your location changes as you drive.

There is limited information on pages 22-25 of the SDS200 manual.

The GPS turns on automatically when the scanner is powered up, there is no need to turn it on manually. As long as the master database is turned on, the GPS will do the rest.

One thing I did was to go into the SET SCAN SELECTION and turn off all of the Nationwide Systems listed. I found that when I had them turned on I picked up a lot of stuff that I wasn't interested in.

It's really a lot easier than my instructions make it seem.



I just bought an SDS200 and im having a really hard time to get it to work. Does anyone know of a service where I can just pay someone to set it up for me? I know I could eventually just figure it out myself but I would rather just save myself the headache. All I want is to listen to Police around me when driving (I have the GPS adapter) I don't care about anything besides local and state police around me. I live in Peabody Massachusetts (Essex County) but I do travel across to Worcester pretty frequently so I would need ultimately need Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk counties programmed in
 
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