Sds100 advice

[kc8rak]

I just ordered a SDS100. Any advice on how you would set the programming up? On old scanner 96 I had it set up for a Marc's bank for lake county where I live then other banks for when I was at work. I travel down to Wooster, Youngstown, lorain county. A lot of stark and summit. So mostly Marcs system. Thanks for any advice. John

 

[baj76]

I dont have one, But i hear the GPS unit works great with the SDS100....Talk to jonwienke

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

For one thing the memory structure of the SDS100 is much different than the Pro 96. Instead of banks and channels, the SDS100 goes by favorites lists that are organized by system > department (or site) then channel. See the FAQ page here and the easier to read manual here for more info. It's a bit of a learning curve if you aren't familiar with dynamically-allocated memory-oriented scanning but it's quite the powerhouse of a radio. Best of luck with it, you'll love it once you get the hang of it

 

[Xray]

Get uniden sentinel software if you haven't already, update the database and browse around what is available in your area. From there it is just a matter of making fav lists [which you can do even without a scanner] and writing the info to your new scanner once it arrives.

I tend to lump all LE, EMS and fire services in 1 list, but nothing to stop you from making separate ones if you wanted to. I only have 3 lists Emergency services [for about a 10 mile radius of my location] Airport and military base. Will probably add another one, misc.

 

[budevans]

Here are some zipped copies of the Favorites Lists that I use for North East Ohio.

The following are the directions on using Sentinel to install the Favorites Lists. First thing is to extract the hpe files from each zip file. Save them to a directory of your choosing.

From the Sentinel Menu Bar at the top of the page, you will see File and directly below File you will see a Paper icon and below that, a Paper icon with a Yellow Star. Click on that icon to Create a Favorites List. Give the Favorites List a name: (example) MARCS-IP Lake County

Next Import from hpe file. In this case the file is: MARCS-IP Lake County.hpe

You should now see directly below Favorites List: MARCS-IP Lake County
Right click on it. A window will open. Look for Monitor Favorites List and Download Favorites List. Make sure both show ON has a check mark in front of it. If it isn't, select ON, by clicking on it.

Next you need to assign a Quick Key (number) for each Favorites List. Just a suggestion, make the first Favorites list Quick Key 1. The next Favorites List Quick Key 2 and so on.

FYI, since the Favorites lists are copies of mine. They will have the Quick Key number that I use. For now, I'd suggest that you keep the numbers I assigned. Once you get used to working with Sentinel, you should change them to the numbers you want.

Here are the current Quick Key numbers:
MARCS-IP Portage County 5
MARCS-IP Summit County 6
MARCS-IP Geauga County 7
MARCS-IP Lake County 8
MARCS-IP Cuyahoga County 9

Quick Keys are used to toggle things On or Off. Favorites Lists, Sites and Departments all can have Quick Keys.

Hope this helps. You can send me "budevans" questions using the Mail button that's at the top of the page. Plus there's the Uniden Forums.

 

[Kaleier1]

Get uniden sentinel software if you haven't already, update the database and browse around what is available in your area. From there it is just a matter of making fav lists [which you can do even without a scanner] and writing the info to your new scanner once it arrives.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Before I got my SDS200 I was thinking of how I would arrange things. I downloaded and installed Sentinel and the database and was pleasantly surprised to see that the format of systems, departments, and channels was already done (but you can edit the names to what you prefer) and it was just a matter of selecting what I wanted to listen too. I went ahead and played with Sentinel setting up favorites lists, expecting to make mistakes and exploring all the options. By the time my SDS200 arrived I just downloaded from Sentinel to the SDS200 and was good to go. Now I leave the USB cable plugged into my SDS200 and unless it is just a quick change, I do everything from my laptop and not through the keypad.

 

[Xray]

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Before I got my SDS200 I was thinking of how I would arrange things. I downloaded and installed Sentinel and the database and was pleasantly surprised to see that the format of systems, departments, and channels was already done (but you can edit the names to what you prefer) and it was just a matter of selecting what I wanted to listen too. I went ahead and played with Sentinel setting up favorites lists, expecting to make mistakes and exploring all the options. By the time my SDS200 arrived I just downloaded from Sentinel to the SDS200 and was good to go. Now I leave the USB cable plugged into my SDS200 and unless it is just a quick change, I do everything from my laptop and not through the keypad.

In that regards, I would also advise any prospective owner NOT to get the country programming service offered by most vendors [some charge as much as $45 per county, others toss in a free county to entice sales] This "service" to me [unless free] verges on a scam, it takes them literally less than a minute to do, and anyone with the barest of computer skills can do it themselves, and better. Even if you got a county pre programmed, you are still going to have to massively tweak it to your liking.
Even if you had no computer skills, or no computer period, I think you'd be better off just using the scan by zip feature than paying $40 for having a bloated county preloaded.

 

[kc8rak]

Thanks everyone.