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

[FoeHammer]

I have a cheap sdr usb dongle , it works great , is always plugged in , does get warm , & very rarely does it need the adjustment for drift ,( I dont know how they handle that with the sds) I use an external antenna in the city It works great on analog frequencies & really dont have overload problems ,..If the SDS is basically this dongle ,...in a handheld case ,..then to me it should work fine , unless the issues are some sort of settings , like gain , or ppm drift thing , or location ,..Its just that my 11 dollar usb sdr works great ,..so what is causing the problems with SDS for some people ? it is a more complex device than i imagine it I suppose

 

[SCPD]

I have a cheap sdr usb dongle , it works great , is always plugged in , does get warm , & very rarely does it need the adjustment for drift ,( I dont know how they handle that with the sds) I use an external antenna in the city It works great on analog frequencies & really dont have overload problems ,..If the SDS is basically this dongle ,...in a handheld case ,..then to me it should work fine , unless the issues are some sort of settings , like gain , or ppm drift thing , or location ,..Its just that my 11 dollar usb sdr works great ,..so what is causing the problems with SDS for some people ? it is a more complex device than i imagine it I suppose

The current sdrs that are on the market use different tuners then the sds100 ..
facts

1 USB DONGLE r820t or r820t2 chip thats now been discontinued Also had fully customizable gain
2 SDS100 SCANNER r836 the new tuner Has full time auto gain built in to the rf of chip not user adjustable
3 Never compare 11.00 to a scanner unless you start developing your own scanner in that price range.. Design of the software itself... not open source and very reliable... doesnt crash like sdrsharp used to or does on windows 10... the extio provided crashes repeatedly on usb dongles...
4 Both chipsets are recommended for vhf and uhf 10mhz spectrum
5 scanner runs on only a 2.5-100khz spectrum
6 usb dongles monitor off a center frequency rage.
7 Scanner scan each individual frequency, system frequecy control channel..
8 band shift throws off the ppm for on frequency operation at different frequencies and temperatures...


To test a dongle's ppm

1 Tun to 162.400 162.450 162.5 162.525 and 162.55 while having ppm set at zero and tell me what exact frequencies truly come in at without changing PPM on a cold device...

2 Now unplug and let set and till cool.

3 Plug in usb dongle and start adjust ppm and run and recheck your national NWS/noaa wether

4 Now goto an 800mhz or even 700mhz frequency.. Note goto the frequency active

5 Set PPM and note the difference between VHF weather band and 700mhz or 800mhz offsets

6 Subtract the PPM from vhf to 800mhz offset

7 now subtract the ppm from 700mhz or 800mhz from the VHF and thats frequency accuracy in PPM..

8 Whats ppm on vhf when coll and when warmed fully up... whats it on 700mhz or 800 mhz cool then warmed fully up? Thats your frequency offset drift if you subtract them... and post your findings...

 

[SCPD]

When I first heard that this was an SDR based design/receiver, I was like......uh oh..... It's a great scanner, don't get me wrong but having followed the whole SDR dongle thing and it's issues with frequency drift and dialing in the PPM for the less expensive dongles and then came the Airspy which is pretty much dead on frequency......makes me wonder of the quality of the tuner and frequency drift and bleedover which this morning I was hearing a NOAA weather broadcast on a regular VHF police frequency and why it seems like in a few posts I've seen recommended using FM instead of NFM, etc. I have seen myself where FM works better on DMR systems than the default NFM settings on RRDB......I dunno????, new to this type of scanner I guess as we all are and time will tell how it's best handled. My .02

Love the SDS-100 display!!! and all the Uniden patented technologies too numerous to mention for me and it's awesome on 800Mhz trunking systems and P25 decode.

same here.. Have till about the 30th then sending back to amazon... already have a return label with tracking printed directly from amazon and am hoping to see an update soon Or be forced to send it back... Id rather keep and have it fixed either by firmware for the tuner update or by recall and repaired to work properly on uhf/vhf and have some kind of front end gain control... maybe Paul as a UNIDEN REPRESENTATIVE can have someone call and see if Raphael Micro will make the r820t for a batch to uniden and replace hi new unstable Tuner (BTW Paul pinouts are same so just a out with new in with r820t2)...Only difference is the r820t2 has a selectable user gain... One auto Gain on an SDR (r836) does not fit everyone in every area/situation... Not being a Uniden hater.. I love my unidens but this one is like the 436 to me (paper weight) unusable till fixed... And for future reference the antenna is not the issue.. OVERLOAD is the issue because of the bandwidth that the tuner tries to use.. 10mhz bandwidth to pic up a 7.5 khz signal is way to much... If Raphael could just change that via firmware i think you would be all set.... as theres no need to monitor 10mhz while trying to receive a 100khz fmb or a 7.5 khz nfm frequency..
I think maybe 150khz per tune .. instead of 10 msps or 10 mhz per tune.. (would stop ghosting and would stop interference and out of band auto agc)

 

[jonwienke]

When I first heard that this was an SDR based design/receiver, I was like......uh oh..... It's a great scanner, don't get me wrong but having followed the whole SDR dongle thing and it's issues with frequency drift and dialing in the PPM for the less expensive dongles

Frequency drift is due to the reference oscillator design and quality, and has nothing to do with whether the receiver is a SDR or a conventional design.

 

[SCPD]

Frequency drift is due to the reference oscillator design and quality, and has nothing to do with whether the receiver is a SDR or a conventional design.

I agree the oscillator is working but the band still gets wiped... so i turned on close call and all bands are maxed out... I need help maybe somehow to find the interfering frequencies... only thing im finding on cc on other scanners and signal stalker is 96.3mhz fm so ordered that through scanner master fm trap hope it works on the antenna feed before multicoupler...

 

[jonwienke]

Get a SDR dongle and connect it to your multicoupler. Turn off auto RF gain in SDR#. You'll be able to see the frequencies that are likely causing the interference.

 

[SCPD]

Get a SDR dongle and connect it to your multicoupler. Turn off auto RF gain in SDR#. You'll be able to see the frequencies that are likely causing the interference.

Ok heres the list ready?
all found with rf gain all the way down

fm band -60 noise floor
1 96.3 mhz -13 DB wow thats 47 DB rf gain all the way down

airband -100 noise floor

VHF High Band -110 noise floor

152.47mhz PAGER wow 0db and some

157.74mhz PAGER wow -9 DB

NWS noise floor -117
162.4 -117 barely hear anything but static
162.45 - 119 pager on coinciding with pager soundwise from 157.74
intermod par 158vhffm installed no intermod cant hear 156.135 p25 ems or sheriff.. on 156.21 p25 conv


162.5 -117
162.525 -119
162.55 -112

uhf
nothing at all

700 band 640-770 verizon wireless???????????????????????? shadowing onto 870-900?????????????????????

maybe the nonstop digital buzzzzzzzzing signal from verizon cell is what im hearing in VHF and UHF and 800

oredered the fm trap off scannermaster... have par filters but they knock out all in bewtween from 152.48 pager to 160mhz... when gain is turned back up


Only question to ask seeing i need to monitor 850-854 is the a Verizon LTE filter available that wont knock out 850-854 which is already weak?


filters installed after tests are

PAR tuned to 152.48mhz tuned PAR 152VHFFM

PAR tuned to 157.74mhz tuned PAR 158VHFFM

so fm trap on way

Havent heard of an lte filter for verizon...
main frequencies needed to hear out p25 conventional is
154.145
151.085
156.21
156.12
153.845
156.135
155.34

800
TRS Mot type II mixed

850-854

 

[jonwienke]

If you're getting a full-scale signal with manual RF gain turned all the way down, that's a pretty tough environment for any radio work well.

You should be able to filter 700MHz cellular without killing 800MHz public safety.

 

[SCPD]

If you're getting a full-scale signal with manual RF gain turned all the way down, that's a pretty tough environment for any radio work well.

You should be able to filter 700MHz cellular without killing 800MHz public safety.

all i find are F connector lte bandstop filters.. dont wanna go with f connectors

can you recomment one or have any model #s cant find one anywhere

 

[buddrousa]

I have a cheap sdr usb dongle , it works great , is always plugged in , does get warm , & very rarely does it need the adjustment for drift ,( I dont know how they handle that with the sds) I use an external antenna in the city It works great on analog frequencies & really dont have overload problems ,..If the SDS is basically this dongle ,...in a handheld case ,..then to me it should work fine , unless the issues are some sort of settings , like gain , or ppm drift thing , or location ,..Its just that my 11 dollar usb sdr works great ,..so what is causing the problems with SDS for some people ? it is a more complex device than i imagine it I suppose

Your $11 USB DONGLE works great if only hooked up to a high dollar computer and custom set to your location with constant voltage and current.

 

[Ubbe]

all i find are F connector lte bandstop filters..

That's bacause they are designed to be used to block LTE signals to terrestial television antenna amplifiers and receivers. I think they all are low pass filters and blocks everything above 700MHz? You probably need a customised PAR filter.

/Ubbe

 

[FoeHammer]

I did not know the version of chip used had no manual gain control , & its not that I was comparing the sds to an 11 dollar dongle , just that ,in my case I get excellent performance with my 11 dollar dongle , weather connected to my outdoor antenna & desktop , or even with a little whip on my laptop , so I would expect that same or better performance from the sds , yet hear of people having to return it

 

[jonwienke]

its not that I was comparing the sds to an 11 dollar dongle , just that ,in my case I get excellent performance with my 11 dollar dongle , weather connected to my outdoor antenna & desktop , or even with a little whip on my laptop , so I would expect that same or better performance from the sds , yet hear of people having to return it

People return stuff for all kinds of reasons, some valid, and some flagrantly stupid. One guy was contemplating returning his SDS100 because reception performance was bad. I told him to try going for a drive with his scanner to see if it was local interference. Turns out he has a FM broadcast station, a cell tower, and 2 pager transmitters within rock-throwing distance of his house, and when he hooked up his SDR dongle they were all maxing out his band scope in SDR# even with manual gain turned all the way down. So now he's getting some filters to block the interference, and probably isn't going to return his scanner. Some people don't bother to troubleshoot their problems and just assume it's a terrible product, and return and badmouth the product as having crappy reception. In some cases they do so without ever having even seen one.

Every product has some terrible reviews, you need to read bad reviews carefully to see if it's user error or simple bashing, and read good reviews to see if they ignore problems, or use unrealistic or deceptive test procedures to hide flaws.

 

[Ubbe]

....in my case I get excellent performance with my 11 dollar dongle.....

There are SDR dongles for $7 that comes with both a remote controller and a magnet antenna and there are television receiver boxes using the SDS100 chip that comes with a remote controller for $20. You can buy the dongle IC R820T2 for $3 if you buy one single IC and I believe the SDS100 chip R836 goes for $5.70 or if it was $7.50

There are no 100% working scanner. It's always some kind of hardware or most likely software fault but the latest scanners can at least be software updated. There are probably 1,000 SDS100's being sold and the number of unsatisfied users are probably no more than for any other scanner out there. It's just that a SDS100 are so expensive that you automaticly think that quality are related to cost, it's the human nature, and it should be so much better than any other scanner. Also some people try to use it in an RF enviroment that are not suitable for this scanner, which probably also have other scanners struggling to perform at their best.

/Ubbe

 

[SCPD]

People return stuff for all kinds of reasons, some valid, and some flagrantly stupid. One guy was contemplating returning his SDS100 because reception performance was bad. I told him to try going for a drive with his scanner to see if it was local interference. Turns out he has a FM broadcast station, a cell tower, and 2 pager transmitters within rock-throwing distance of his house, and when he hooked up his SDR dongle they were all maxing out his band scope in SDR# even with manual gain turned all the way down. So now he's getting some filters to block the interference, and probably isn't going to return his scanner. Some people don't bother to troubleshoot their problems and just assume it's a terrible product, and return and badmouth the product as having crappy reception. In some cases they do so without ever having even seen one.

Every product has some terrible reviews, you need to read bad reviews carefully to see if it's user error or simple bashing, and read good reviews to see if they ignore problems, or use unrealistic or deceptive test procedures to hide flaws.

?? flagrantly stupid ?? me?

IM that one your post is about... Well fedex just picked the junk up and back to amazon

OK SO FILTERINGS NOT WORKING....

https://www.scannermaster.com/HPN_30118_Combined_Notch_Filter_p/24-531024.htm
and had the par filters I already dave..
VHFSYM152HT tuned by par to 152.48mhz
VHFSYM158HT tuned by par to 157.74mhz
now the fm trap and the antenuator from scanner master
and a VHF BandPass Filter
ISSUE KEEPS HAPPENING ON VHF HIGH BAND...
noone give me greif

a vhf passband is actually all i need to rid the FM broadcast station and cell signals.. Direct from Dale over at PARELECTRONICS


Stop telling me to buy a $$1100.00 usd microwave filter to filter out cell signals.. the VHF Bandpass filters are all i need and either way he SDS100 is worse for me then the bcd436hp reception wise.. done. just bought a ws1098 and sent back to amazon the SDS 100 $500.00 in filters later the junk still did not work... Also started a credit card product not as described..charge for the TRBO,ProScan upgrade and nxdn upgradesthat always lose signal therefore those options do NOT work as advertised are always dropping in and out... SDS HAS MORE ISSUES THEN 436HP.. GARBAGE

IM DONE ... Get well soon UNIDEN... prayers for your futures... sent pro18 in for the upgraded hardware instead.........


Oh yes moral of the story 890.00 on filters dont do the trick jon The SDS is overloaded internally

 

[mule1075]

?? flagrantly stupid ?? me?

IM that one your post is about... Well fedex just picked the junk up and back to amazon

OK SO FILTERINGS NOT WORKING....

https://www.scannermaster.com/HPN_30118_Combined_Notch_Filter_p/24-531024.htm
and had the par filters I already dave..
VHFSYM152HT tuned by par to 152.48mhz
VHFSYM158HT tuned by par to 157.74mhz
now the fm trap and the antenuator from scanner master
and a VHF BandPass Filter
ISSUE KEEPS HAPPENING ON VHF HIGH BAND...
noone give me greif
a vhf passband is actually all i need to rid the FM broadcast station and cell signals..


Stop telling me to buy a $$1100.00 usd microwave filter to filter out cell signals.. the VHF Bandpass filters are all i need and either way he SDS100 is worse for me then the bcd436hp reception wise.. done. just bought a ws1098 and sent back to amazon the SDS 100 $500.00 in filters later the junk still did not work... Also started a credit card product not as described..charge for the TRBO,ProScan upgrade and nxdn upgradesthat always lose signal therefore those options do NOT work as advertised are always dropping in and out... SDS HAS MORE ISSUES THEN 436HP.. GARBAGE

IM DONE ... Get well soon UNIDEN... prayers for your futures... sent pro18 in for the upgraded hardware instead.........

You said yesterday that the fm trap and attenuator were on their way from scannermaster. If that is correct how did you test those before shipping the unit back to Amazon?

 

[SCPD]

You said yesterday that the fm trap and attenuator were on their way from scannermaster. If that is correct how did you test those before shipping the unit back to Amazon?

Dont be stupid i posted i had the label 4 printed from amazon days ago.... fm trap and antennuator arrived yesterday and did nothing for the sds100 when fedex dropped a package off to me about 8:!2 am today i handed them the pos sds100 i stayed awake all night testing... its GARBAGE

PS the 2 par vhf 152 and vhf158 i had already owned... and all other scanners work... and with 1 antenna, Stop the grief you people give and start helping... Yes Jon recommended help... But then condemned me in his last post call me flagrantly stupid

 

[mule1075]

Dont be stupid i posted i had the label 4 days ago.... Filters arrived yesturday and didnt do ANYTHING for the sds100

One thing I am not stupid let's get that straight. If you have all the problems you say then no scanner should work well in the rf hell you state you are in. The pro18 has one of the worst front ends as many gre made scanners of that time frame almost unusable without attenuation on vhf in a high rf environment. Good luck and happy scanning.

 

[Blunt630]

Keene is surrounded by mountains. Maybe that's your issue.

 

[SCPD]

One thing I am not stupid let's get that straight. If you have all the problems you say then no scanner should work well in the rf hell you state you are in. The pro18 has one of the worst front ends as many gre made scanners of that time frame almost unusable without attenuation on vhf in a high rf environment. Good luck and happy scanning.

Did not call you stupid.. Referring to jons post about me being "flagrantly stupid"