SDS100 for dummy's

[dansmall]

Ok, I think I made another bad decision... $700 worth!!! I have a degree in engineering and an 167 IQ but can't figure out how to make this thing work.

I have favorite lists loaded, some with "quick keys" but all I get when I turn the scanner on is a display ......... loading favorite lists, then it shows the lists, then goes to a screen "Scan Mode, Nothing to scan". What on earth do I need to do to get it to scan?

HELP !!

 

[Saint]

TRY THIS

Nothing to Scan - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Steve

 

[n1chu]

“Nothing to Scan” Checklist for BCD436HP, BCD536HP, SDS100, SDS200 Here is a comprehensive listing of all the causes that produce the Nothing to Scan warning. If you see the “Nothing to Scan" warning on your display, it is caused by one or more of the following ;

Scanner Checklist:
1. A location has to be set in 'Set Your Location' to monitor the Database.
2. You must enable at least one Favorites List or the Full Database in 'Set Scan Selection>Select Lists to Monitor'.
3. Favorites Lists or Systems with QK's assigned to them must be enabled with QK's or in 'Set Scan Selection>Manage Quick Key Status'.
4. Make sure 'ID Search' is On for the system if no IDs are programmed.
5. Service Types for the channels you want to monitor must be set to On.
6. Any FL with 'Use Location Control' set to On must have locations programmed for the Departments and/or Sites.

If you are programming everything in Sentinel first and sending it to the scanner:

Edit Profile>Scan Selection tab: Make sure 'Monitor' and 'Download' are On for FL's you want to scan.
Check or uncheck 'Monitor Full Database'.
Edit Profile>Service Types tab: Make sure the Service Types you want to monitor are checked.
Custom 1 is needed for miscellaneous channels.
Edit Profile>Location Settings tab: Make sure you have a location programmed for scanning the Full Database or FL's with 'Use Location Control' set to On.
Edit Profile>Quick Key Status tab: Make sure FLQK's are checked for FL's you want to monitor.
Edit Favorites List>System QK Status tab: Make sure SQK's are checked for systems you want to monitor.
Edit Favorites List>System>Options tab: Make sure 'ID Search' is On if no IDs are programmed.
Edit Favorites List>System>Dept/Site Quick Keys Status tab: Make sure Department/Site QK's are checked for departments/sites you want to monitor.
Edit Favorites List>System>Dept/Site>Location tab: Make sure Departments/Sites have locations programmed if 'Use Location Control' is set to On for the FL. 8/7/2018 Upman added “Do you have any sites programmed and enabled? If not, you have NOTHING TO SCAN.”

 

[fxdscon]

Ok, I think I made another bad decision... $700 worth!!! I have a degree in engineering and an 167 IQ but can't figure out how to make this thing work.

I have favorite lists loaded, some with "quick keys" but all I get when I turn the scanner on is a display ......... loading favorite lists, then it shows the lists, then goes to a screen "Scan Mode, Nothing to scan". What on earth do I need to do to get it to scan?

HELP !!

Nothing to Scan - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual

.

 

[doctordialtone]

Scan Mode, Nothing to scan

That can be about 100 different things.

Take a look at this "Easier to Read" manual

Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual

Check out these suggestions:
Nothing to Scan

 

[dansmall]

Nothing to Scan - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual

.

So, this confusses issues even more, it tells me to use functions that don't even appear on the scanner. This should not be rocket science, all I want to do is program a specific municipality into the scanner, turn it on and have it scan that choice.

 

[weshouldrun]

This is the blind leading the blind, but make sure you go to menu and scroll down to "select service types" and make sure the service types that you want to hear are turned ON. After my first update, almost all mine were turned off. I wasn't hearing any tac groups with fire rescue and was very frustrated until I searched it here. Turned almost all service types on and now all good. I consider that issue a design flaw. Probably one of many.

 

[dansmall]

Well, in looking at that, it appears that nothing is on... now what do I do to turn them on?

 

[weshouldrun]

Scroll down to each service type and push your volume knob down to turn them on. I turned almost all mine on. You can always turn some off later.

 

[ratboy]

I kind of think of the Uniden SDS scanner operation and programming as the equivalent of the fire alarm system of a building I used to work in. Needlessly complicated, with way too many "enter" commands to accomplish the most trivial task.

If you ever have programmed an AOR scanner, it seemed sort of familiar. You had to do step after step, with "Enter" after every one. If you made a mistake, start over from scratch. If you take more than 7 seconds to enter a command, start over, from scratch. If you hit "enter" twice, start over from scratch. It took over a dozen commands to do anything. With the manual, it was a nightmare, without it, it was pretty much impossible.

Even the factory rep had problems using it. When it hit 10 years old, they decided not to do an update with that company again, and instead did what they should have done, decided on a certain set of criteria, with the number one non hardware choice being "ease of use", and looked at proposals from 3 different companies, and picking one out that the employees who actually use it like. Now it's scroll to highlight the station you want to turn on/off, hit "enter", it says, "Are you sure?", and you hit "Yes" or "No". Needless to say, fire system training is no longer the dreaded thing it used to be.

 

[GeekNJ]

You need to RTFM a bit. Don’t take this as criticism but a suggestion Each question on HOW to perform a function is answered in Easier to Read SDS100/200 Digital Scanner Manual

Open that page and Ctrl-F on light or service type or ???? and you will get how to perform the action.

Figuring out WHY something is happening or not is a great question to ask but how to perform a task should be simple, especially for a 5th grader or Mensa member.

If you haven’t, go to YouTube and search on SD100 or SDS200 and watch videos. That was the best way for me to understand my 436HP where I could watch someone performing the steps vs reading the manual. Search YouTube for SDS200 initial setup or SDS200 basic operations.

 

[Kaleier1]

Scroll down to each service type and push your volume knob down to turn them on. I turned almost all mine on. You can always turn some off later.

Pushing the volume knob does not turn service types on or off. It changes the brightness of the display.

In order to turn the service types on or off, after scrolling down using the Function knob, you have to push the Function knob OR press the "E" key.

Note: You cannot turn service types on or off that are not in in the currently selected favorites lists being scanned. They will just appear with dashes like "---" instead of "on' or "off". In other words if if your currently selected favorites lists to scan are police and aircraft, all other service types such as Fire, Transportation, etc will just show "---" in the scanner. This is true even if you have a Fire favorites list in the scanner but don't have it currently selected as a favorites list to scan. This does not apply to Sentinel. Make sure all service types that are in your favorites lists and you want to hear are tuned on in Sentinel.

 

[Ubbe]

Pushing the volume knob does not turn service types on or off. It changes the brightness of the display.

That's correct for the SDS200 which has 3 knobs. The SDS100 only have one knob that combines four functions, volume, squelch, scrolling and Enter, together with the function side button.

/Ubbe

 

[nessnet]

dansmall:

First, the SDS100/200 are good radios, you didn't make a mistake.

A few years ago, I was in the same boat. (Engineer, very tech savvy, etc) and was getting very frustrated because I couldn't hear anything. But with determination, a bit of patience and yes RTFM and reading the various Wikis here on RR, I got it all (?) figured out.

Now, I am one of those here that help others. Trust me, you will get there, it just is a bit of a learning curve - and a bit of effort..

 

[dansmall]

OK, issure solved....I'm not stupid, the hardware is fine.... it was the Sentinal software. Luckely I know trunking and when I dug into it, it was copying System information to the favorite list but not the frequency table so, there was nothing to scan. Delete the software and the stored profiles, wipe the database on the scanner, start again, now it copies the frequency table and we're scanning. Sheesh, all of this so I don't have to strap 3 walkie talkies to my utility belt!!

 

[Ubbe]

First, the SDS100/200 are good radios, you didn't make a mistake.

...I'm not stupid, the hardware is fine..

It's a reason to why the mastermind behind the SDS scanners, Unidens Upman, once stated that if you do not have any simulcast issues then you will probably be better off using a different kind of scanner. And he wasn't kidding. SDS100: - Global Auto Filter Vs. Global Attenuation

/Ubbe

 

[weshouldrun]

Pushing the volume knob does not turn service types on or off. It changes the brightness of the display.


It appears you are mistaking the 100 for the 200. Or vice versa.

 

[Kaleier1]

That's correct for the SDS200 which has 3 knobs. The SDS100 only have one knob that combines four functions, volume, squelch, scrolling and Enter, together with the function side button.

/Ubbe

Ah! Good to know! Thank you. I don't have an SDS100 and despite the title of the post saying it was for the SDS100, I had tunnel vision due to owning an SDS200 and my attempt to help became one of those "knowing just enough to be dangerous" replies.

I read and learn a lot from your replies here on the forum Ubbe. I have never come across someone with who has as much knowledge as you and I certainly appreciate you sharing what you know and I know other do too. Thank you for your contributions to the forums and always helping everyone out.

 

[Kaleier1]

That's correct. I had tunnel vision because I own an SDS200 despite the title of the post saying it was for an SDS100.