SDS100 Initial Review

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FoeHammer

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Believe me, after having to replace a $100+ packs because my son decided to fully charge during the winter then stow it away. Full charged on Lithium Polymer in storage is a huge no-no. For safety as well.

My 3S lipos in the drone automatically self discharge to 80% capacity 3.7v nominal when stored full after 5 days

Your stating 3.7 plugged in which is not a true voltage reading of said cell. Once disconnected then yes.

Houk

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I have other hobbies that use Lithium Polymer 3s batteries both 250 size drones & rc trucks ,...My understanding, with Lithium Polymer batteries is that is unhealthy for them to be stored , or remain for a period of time in either a fully charged , or fully discharged state , a "storage charge" of around 40% is recommended , I only charge them when I intend to use them ,.& then only discharge them down to a safe level (as determined by cell count ,mAH etc) & use balance charge to ensure cells are even ,..I charge these in a fire resistant ammo can & monitor the charge cycle , I store them in a fridge at storage charge when not in use , to keep them " dormant" Now I dont know if Lithium Ion is the same thing or not ,Not sure what the SDS uses or how many cells ,..but if it is LiPo I hope the smart charger firmware can accurately determine cell count ,..mAh , voltage & charge at a rate that will not damage the battery or reduce its lifespan or capacity & that during running, the Low Voltage Cutoff can be set or detected correctly , Lipo batteries can be a potential fire hazard if you do not understand how to charge & store them ,..I always try to charge my rc batteries at the slowest rate ,.unless in some sort of emergency rush , I dont wish to put the wear of excessive heat on the battery from the fast charging
 

jonwienke

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The SDS100 uses a single-cell battery, so charge balancing multiple cells in series is not a concern.
 

jonwienke

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They are parallel, not series, so no extra circuitry is required for charge balancing, correct?
 

jasonhouk

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They'd almost have to be as the nomial voltage of most LiPo cells are 3.7. Therefore in parallel @ 1800 mAh each by what's printed on them. Also they wouldn't require balancing as they'd equalize each other for actual voltage.

The newer chemicals in the latest cells for my drone are 4.1 to 4.3 nomial voltage. Some older technology cells had 3.1v

Houk
They are parallel, not series, so no extra circuitry is required for charge balancing, correct?

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FoeHammer

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well I suppose as long as the charging part of firmware is smart enough to properly detect & maintain whatever battery is used with proper lvc & such ,..& as long as the batteries are cheap enough ,...I dont like my batteries or radios running hot though ,..I was hoping for something like individual 18650 cells or something that we could use on real smart chargers & replace cells as needed
 

CQ

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The case will get 8mm bigger, IIRC

Was that outward to increase the depth dimensions?

I really hate that stupid nub in the back for the belt clip. I use the clip at the QTH to mount on a surface for HTs but gets in the way on the mobile mount. Any deeper and may not clip in. I was removing and reinstalling that thing and got tired of screwing around.
 

ur20v

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Was that outward to increase the depth dimensions?

I really hate that stupid nub in the back for the belt clip. I use the clip at the QTH to mount on a surface for HTs but gets in the way on the mobile mount. Any deeper and may not clip in. I was removing and reinstalling that thing and got tired of screwing around.

I hear you on the nub. But what I eventually did was screw a heavy-duty mic holder to the mobile mount I was using so now my 436 just drops into the clip and I don't have to worry about the squeezing arms having to hold it in place any more.
 

toad99

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I noticed that the SDS-100 manual makes no mention of audio AGC. Is it always on? Can it tame the wild variations in volume on some digital systems? My 436 and 536 AGC settings don't seem to do anything and volume offsets don't deliver a consistent level either. On the Oklahoma City Provoice system, the dispatchers seem to have a fairly constant level, but the mobiles can vary from barely audible to total overload. There are some dispatchers (Fire dept) that have a wide variation in volume also.
 

jonwienke

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It's a setting in Sentinel. The SDS100 seems to have somewhat less volume fluctuation, but the audio AGC still isn't as effective as it could be.
 

toad99

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I don't see this setting anywhere in Sentinel. It should be in the system options tab, as it is on the radio itself. I guess it doesn't really matter since it doesn't really work anyway.
 

bob-k

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sounds interesting

I replaced the belt clip stud with a GPS receiver.

Jon, can you tale a shot of this please? As I told you My Peeps will be talking to your peeps about GPS I just have to rebuld my slush funds (less then 2 weeks) having just paid for and recieving my new toy (SDS10)!
 

bob-k

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Interesting


Thanks Jon I feel I will do this as well after the warranty expires till then seek an good external GPS device. Curious knowing external is about $100.00 what is the Internal card cost to buy and to install?

To keep the water resistance properties intact can you recommend a real good antenna? Most of my listening is 800 and 150MHZ areas. I like the Scanner pouch you had in the pictures, I hope to find one like that for the new Toy.

Thanks Jon
 

jonwienke

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I would say use the factory BNC adapter, then use the BNC antenna of your choice.

Remtronix 800 Or Diamond RH77CA would be my main choices.
 
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