SDS100/SDS200: SDS100 Firmware 1.05.00M/1.01.05S Open Beta

[WX4JCW]

Did some more testing today on UHF/VHF
Diamond RH77CA added with Jon's BNC adapter improved the reception about 10% on UHF, there is a large Hump yard close by but haven't been able to pick up any railroad traffic yet, even with a mobile antenna (Austin Spectra) on my truck the reception seems weak.

im close to concluding that the reception issues are 25% antenna and 75% something else,

the funny thing is i went through Madison, Wisconsin a bunch recently and Danecom is on 150/170 for their trunk system, and in the Fargo area their P25 VHF channels have no issues, it seems to be an issue with analog channels 700/800 P25 is awesome and 800mhz analog trunk seems the same as other radios

 

[rbrtklamp2]

I don't know what's going on with UHF and VHF but I hope it's not a hardware issue. It has been two weeks now since the last firmware update and they were usually weekly. I really hope they didn't find something wrong with the board as we saw how that went with the 436. I was really looking forward to a firmware upgrade as things tend to get a little better with each one. Hopefully we will see something soon that will correct the missed the conventional analog comms in the UHF and VHF bands. Also I am not having a problem with the blinking LED mine is working exactly as it should I have been testing it for two weeks now so LED problems would be news to me but no doubt I am sure there is some circumstance that is causing a issue with the users who are seeing that. I would also like to add that a good adjustable AGC setting would be quite welcomed as well as my audio is all over the place up and dow, hi and low. I hope we see something helpful pop up soon. I usually don't jump on the first to buy bandwagon but couldn't help myself with this radio and bought 2 right off the bat. So I really hope these issues can be fixed via firmware.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[WX4JCW]

I don't know what's going on with UHF and VHF but I hope it's not a hardware issue. It has been two weeks now since the last firmware update and they were usually weekly. I really hope they didn't find something wrong with the board as we saw how that went with the 436. I was really looking forward to a firmware upgrade as things tend to get a little better with each one. Hopefully we will see something soon that will correct the missed the conventional analog comms in the UHF and VHF bands. Also I am not having a problem with the blinking LED mine is working exactly as it should I have been testing it for two weeks now so LED problems would be news to me but no doubt I am sure there is some circumstance that is causing a issue with the users who are seeing that. I would also like to add that a good adjustable AGC setting would be quite welcomed as well as my audio is all over the place up and dow, hi and low. I hope we see something helpful pop up soon. I usually don't jump on the first to buy bandwagon but couldn't help myself with this radio and bought 2 right off the bat. So I really hope these issues can be fixed via firmware.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

i wouldnt think its the board, SDR's are fickle creatures as it is, i play with them all the time, and they really need a lot of work to set them up properly

 

[rbrtklamp2]

i wouldnt think its the board, SDR's are fickle creatures as it is, i play with them all the time, and they really need a lot of work to set them up properly

So do I, I have 2 hack RF's, 2 airspy 2's, a couple of expensive USRP'S and some older USB Dongles from when they first became a big thing and 4 or 5 newer ones with the R820T2 chips in them. The only problem is the programs we use for SDR allow the end user to set the gain and many other settings that help us dig out the signals we want to hear. With the SDS100 we are using a SDR without any of the variable settings available to us. I would like to see a beta firmware that allows the end user to tweak some of the more sensitive settings SDR requires. I think if we could take advantage of its SDR base design the scanner would be much more useful and responsive to those of us that know how to use SDR's. Make it a setting in the menu advanced SDR use and basic SDR use. I can't help but feel if we had the ability to control some of the settings for the SDR on the radio the end users may be able to get it working a little better on their individual systems and frequencies and not trying to make a SDR that is one fits all. Just my opinion.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[WX4JCW]

So do I, I have 2 hack RF's, 2 airspy 2's, a couple of expensive USRP'S and some older USB Dongles from when they first became a big thing and 4 or 5 newer ones with the R820T2 chips in them. The only problem is the programs we use for SDR allow the end user to set the gain and many other settings that help us dig out the signals we want to hear. With the SDS100 we are using a SDR without any of the variable settings available to us. I would like to see a beta firmware that allows the end user to tweak some of the more sensitive settings SDR requires. I think if we could take advantage of its SDR base design the scanner would be much more useful and responsive to those of us that know how to use SDR's. Make it a setting in the menu advanced SDR use and basic SDR use. I can't help but feel if we had the ability to control some of the settings for the SDR on the radio the end users may be able to get it working a little better on their individual systems and frequencies and not trying to make a SDR that is one fits all. Just my opinion.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Good idea but also save the default settings in case you mess up


Sent from my iPhone 8 using Tapatalk Pro
Jason WX4JCW
XPR7550 - SDS100

 

[SCPD]

Saying something good about the AOR DV10 receiver since the Railroads band (160Mhz to 162Mhz) works much better than the Uniden SDS-100.
The SDS-100 (SDS100 Firmware 1.05.00M/1.01.05S Open Beta) misses several analog frequencies and fails to decode NXDN more often
Both units on a telescopic whip antenna 26 5/8 inches fully extended

 

[jonwienke]

Correct length for 1/4-wave whip on railroad band is about 18.5 inches, not 26+.

 

[WX4JCW]

I wonder if PPM has anything to do with it


Sent from my iPhone 8 using Tapatalk Pro
Jason WX4JCW
XPR7550 - SDS100

 

[APSN556]

Correct length for 1/4-wave whip on railroad band is about 18.5 inches, not 26+.

That doesn't negate the fact that the other radio is performing better with the same antenna.

 

[SCPD]

Correct length for 1/4-wave whip on railroad band is about 18.5 inches, not 26+.

My AOR DV10 (1807A 2018/07/13 ) out performs (analog / NXDN) my SDS-100 (1.05.00M/1.01.05S Open Beta 07-27-2018)
with 18.5 inch or 26 5/8 inch antenna on the Railroad band (160Mhz to 162Mhz). Both work better with telescopic antenna (26 5/8 inches) fully extended.
Therefore I find myself using the AOR DV10 most of the time for Railroad monitoring.
Also saying something good about the AOR DV10 receiver because of it's 7.4V 2000 mAh Li-ion battery and alkaline battery tray
that makes easy to switch in AA batteries when needed.

.

 

[jonwienke]

That doesn't negate the fact that the other radio is performing better with the same antenna.

Fixing the antenna tuning will help troubleshoot whether the issue is hardware performance, or a firmware bug.

 

[SCPD]

Fixing the antenna tuning will help troubleshoot whether the issue is hardware performance, or a firmware bug.

sorry internets tweeking duplicate post.

 

[SCPD]

Fixing the antenna tuning will help troubleshoot whether the issue is hardware performance, or a firmware bug.

Unfortunately im noticing the same twith railroad and VHF when first turn on everything picks up. After on about 15 minutes fire ground on 156.12 is in search mode on 159.135 only on the sds100. My other scanners pick nothing up on 159.135 but do on the correct frequency of 156.12.

Is it a possibility of the PPM being of f 3mhz?? ffrom warmed up temps?

Just noticing on my end. I sent a message to someone whois a database editor from the area whom is familiar with our system and he is indeed from the area and does not know of 159.135mhz being used for anything.in my small rural community.. And this happened while there was a barn fire 1 mile away..

Hope its a new ground/ops frequency but its picking up 159.135 when 3 others are closecalling on 156.12 which is the known ops/fireground in area..this is with rubber duck that came with the sds100..

 

[jasonhouk]

My suspicion is 156.12 is imaged on 159.135. Apply IFX to the latter and see if the image ceases.

Houk

Unfortunately im noticing the same twith railroad and VHF when first turn on everything picks up. After on about 15 minutes fire ground on 156.12 is in search mode on 159.135 only on the sds100. My other scanners pick nothing up on 159.135 but do on the correct frequency of 156.12.

Is it a possibility of the PPM being of f 3mhz?? ffrom warmed up temps?

Just noticing on my end. I sent a message to someone whois a database editor from the area whom is familiar with our system and he is indeed from the area and does not know of 159.135mhz being used for anything.in my small rural community.. And this happened while there was a barn fire 1 mile away..

Hope its a new ground/ops frequency but its picking up 159.135 when 3 others are closecalling on 156.12 which is the known ops/fireground in area..this is with rubber duck that came with the sds100..

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[SCPD]

My suspicion is 156.12 is imaged on 159.135. Apply IFX to the latter and see if the image ceases.

Houk

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Already applied IFX f-7 on 159.135 same..

and nothing on 156.12 while it picks it up on other scanners in clear.. Note its conventional only having the issue...

 

[jonwienke]

Is it a possibility of the PPM being of f 3mhz?? ffrom warmed up temps?

Unlikely. If the scanner's reference oscillator was off by 19,000PPM, that would cause every received frequency to be off by the same percentage. It wouldn't be just one freq showing up in the "wrong" place, every frequency would be off by ~2%. It's either an image, or intermod from something mixing with the 156.200 freq showing up ~3MHz away.

 

[SCPD]

Unlikely. If the scanner's reference oscillator was off by 19,000PPM, that would cause every received frequency to be off by the same percentage. It wouldn't be just one freq showing up in the "wrong" place, every frequency would be off by ~2%. It's either an image, or intermod from something mixing with the 156.200 freq showing up ~3MHz away.

Maybe the fact that firehouse is literally right across the road from me... And its volunteer countywide Its probably an image when leaving and going to a call..Plus our neighbors are also Volunteers so the are next door across the road in opposite direction.... Thank you.

I will monitor more during our "hopefully not"next wildland fires... as it only happens when something in our small rural town goes off on the county system and fireground... If nothing local is happening nearby everything is all good.. Even on Tuesday night pager/siren tests at 7pm only interference when our local station transmits to the repeater so makes a lot of sense..

Wondering if I should try getting a notch filter to notch out 157.2525 (i know this is a marine channel but country is fcc approved to use this outside i believe 25km of maritime ops)

It would have to have low loss on 156.31 and 159.045 as those are repeater frequencies for fire and ems?


Sorry for my typos... hope its all understandable

 

[jonwienke]

If the transmitter is within a few hundred feet, that would totally account for why you're getting that behavior. Most likely if you drive a mile or two down the road the problem will go away.

Another possibility is that you're hearing the repeater input frequency--the same traffic, but at a lower power level, and on a frequency offset from the repeater output. If you only hear the duplicate on one side of the output freq, that's somewhat more likely--an image will often appear on both sides of the real signal.

 

[SCPD]

If the transmitter is within a few hundred feet, that would totally account for why you're getting that behavior. Most likely if you drive a mile or two down the road the problem will go away.

Another possibility is that you're hearing the repeater input frequency--the same traffic, but at a lower power level, and on a frequency offset from the repeater output. If you only hear the duplicate on one side of the output freq, that's somewhat more likely--an image will often appear on both sides of the real signal.

You are exactly spot on.. MVA nys rt 73 1/2 mile away.. Same issue... wonder if theres a VHF band attenuater I can add as the repeaters wont come in at all with built in Antenuator... maybe like a 3db as I dont want to lose the repeaters which are also VHF hiband

 

[SCPD]

Deleted post