SDS100 Initial Review

[mkt853]

How come the opening screen of the SDS100 still says “536/436”?

 

[UPMan]

Because you wrote to it from Sentinel with a profile set with that as the opening message.

 

[abqscan]

Display is more viewable in B/W mode in direct sunlight. Quick way to get there:

Channel hold, the F+long press DISP(9).

Does the display draw less current in B/W mode?

 

[UPMan]

Does the display draw less current in B/W mode?

Not appreciably if at all. Overall, the display accounts for less than 10% of battery budget.

 

[ansky]

Have you noticed any increase or decrease in analog conventional performance? I listen to NYPD in the 470 MHz range so that band is important for me too. I'm hoping there is no degradation in performance of non-simulcast systems.

 

[jonwienke]

"Sensitivity seems quite good. The SDS100 has picked up a few things on analog FM that my 536 completely missed, even when I manually held on the channel and turned the squelch all the way down to 0."

 

[mkt853]

Have you noticed any increase or decrease in analog conventional performance? I listen to NYPD in the 470 MHz range so that band is important for me too. I'm hoping there is no degradation in performance of non-simulcast systems.

I haven’t noticed any, but then again I have a line of sight to the city, so they’ve always come in loud and clear for me. One thing that does seem improved is some of the smaller systems in Westchester coming in quite nicely while the SDS100 is sitting indoors on my desk with stock antenna and not near any windows. I don’t think my 435 or 536 worked as well under the same conditions, though I’ve yet to do a true side by side comparison.

 

[ansky]

I haven’t noticed any, but then again I have a line of sight to the city, so they’ve always come in loud and clear for me. One thing that does seem improved is some of the smaller systems in Westchester coming in quite nicely while the SDS100 is sitting indoors on my desk with stock antenna and not near any windows. I don’t think my 435 or 536 worked as well under the same conditions, though I’ve yet to do a true side by side comparison.

Thanks. When you get a chance can you also try the FDNY frequencies? Their system is simulcast and from my area the signal is strong but they often sound scratchy due to the simulcast issues.

 

[AKJohnny]

OMG, Thank You Uniden! No more squelch tails on analog channels. I listen to a lot low band UHF of police & fire in my area. I've always preferred listening with my Whistlers because of the quiet end of transmissions. I can now put those old Whistlers away!
This SDS100 is quite impressive! The best of my collection. I'm listening to Illinois STARCOM21 DuPage (Simulcast) without any problems so far. I might even be able to put my Unication G4 away as well.
Nice Nice Nice!!

 

[Scanningar]

I'm curious about charging while the scanner is on. Once the battery has fully charged does it switch over to wall power only? Are there any downsides to leaving the scanner plugged in to the wall power for long periods of time while scanning? Would this damage or degrade the battery?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[N9JCQ]

AKJohnny, monitor any Chicago Center, O'Hare or Midway stuff??? If yes, how does it do on the aviation band? Asking for a friend ;-)

 

[UPMan]

Once the battery is fully charged, it stops charging. At that point, the external power is exclusively powering the scanner. The only risk to keeping it plugged in that immediately comes to mind is lightning strike risk (same as anything else).

 

[captainmax1]

Jon, Do you use a standard non-powered T splitter when you use 2 scanners on your base antenna? If you don't use a multicoupler, do you think you get any reception degradation by just using a splitter? I use a 4-way multicoupler with my base antenna and going to order the 8-way multicoupler when I get my SDS100.

 

[BigC801]

AKJohnny, monitor any Chicago Center, O'Hare or Midway stuff??? If yes, how does it do on the aviation band? Asking for a friend ;-)

I listen to Air band VHF and UHF daily, Using the SDS100 did not go well today, intermod and hanging on most channels. I don't know if I can improve it some or not.

The other odd thing for me is its showing a Con+ system with a network Id of 99h, on DSD and the 436hp it shows Network Id of 153....

 

[ur20v]

I listen to Air band VHF and UHF daily, Using the SDS100 did not go well today, intermod and hanging on most channels. I don't know if I can improve it some or not.

Ruh-roh!

 

[KevinC]

I listen to Air band VHF and UHF daily, Using the SDS100 did not go well today, intermod and hanging on most channels. I don't know if I can improve it some or not.

The other odd thing for me is its showing a Con+ system with a network Id of 99h, on DSD and the 436hp it shows Network Id of 153....

153 = 99 in hex. :wink:

 

[BigC801]

153 = 99 in hex. :wink:

See there you go, Thank you, didn't know it would be in Hex

Edit : The other thing I noticed today is the BNC adapter is off just enough my BNC cables will not lock onto it with out pliers,
My Remtronix 800 antenna will go on and lock but it takes lots of force.

 

[KevinC]

See there you go, Thank you, didn't know it would be in Hex

I bet you can change that to decimal in a setting.

 

[KR7CQ]

I'm still in the first few hours so not quite ready for a good review yet, but a few points of agreement with things mentioned above. First, you can tell there is a real computer (so to speak) working inside. This thing generates HEAT. That's not necessarily a problem, but it stands out right away.

Sensitivity on conventional VHF / UHF frequencies is better than the the X36 scanners, no question about it, absolutely no question. I would say it's 10% better in general terms.

I will give a solid review on performance across a half dozen simulcast systems this evening, but so far everything is looking really good there.

 

[KevinC]

I listen to Air band VHF and UHF daily, Using the SDS100 did not go well today, intermod and hanging on most channels. I don't know if I can improve it some or not.

Not sure it would help, but did you update the FW yet?