SDS100 Prerelease Discussion

[trp2525]

...But the $699+ (plus extras) price tag is probably going to be out of my budget, unless I sell almost every scanner and radio I have...

Keep in mind the $699 price for the SDS100 is the MSRP/list price. The Uniden BCD536HP has the same $699 MSRP/list price but actually sells for much less. Using Scanner Master's current pricing as an example, their "regular " selling price for the BCD536HP is $559.95 and it is currently "on sale" for $499.95: Uniden Bearcat BCD536HP Police Scanner | ScannerMaster.com

I'm sure product availability, supply-and-demand and dealer competition will all play a part in the actual "street prices" that we see for the SDS100 especially when it is first made available for retail sale. Eventually I would expect pricing to be similar to the BCD536HP example above seeing that it has the same MSRP/list price from Uniden.

 

[mancow]

I just want one. Now.

 

[racingfan360]

UpMan, are you in a position to comment on the recording capabilities of the SDS100? Same as the x36 series, or any improvements?

One major step forward would be adopting a header format for the wav files that enables offline analysis. It used to work fine before the DMR upgrade to the x36 series. Having to wade through thousands of files using the scanner hardware interface is a pain.

https://forums.radioreference.com/uniden-software-discussion/287928-wav-file-manager.html

 

[VicradioZone]

Come Downunder and put in a good word to Uniden Australia to get on the SDS100 Bandwagon

You're an ideas man Frank. I like it.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[slicerwizard]

The man just survived cancer and you want him to go to Detroit and put his life at risk??? 🤔

Hey - he said Windsor Ontario.

You make it sound like he said Sarnia, which would give him cancer all over again...

 

[lolbananalol2]

I sent Uniden Australia an email earlier. Hopefully they bring the scanner here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[werinshades]

I apologize if this has been asked, but didn't see anything on the spec sheet in regards to UID's. Is this feature still available? Will I be able to take my SD card out of my 436 and use it in my SDS 100 if I decide to do so? Or just put the SD card in my computer, read it to the new Sentinel program that will be necessary and customize it?

 

[jonwienke]

Is it fully SDR or a conventional superhet with digitized I.F like how Motorola used their "Abacus" ASIC in the Astro series?

I seriously doubt that Uniden could do direct sampling of 1300MHz for the announced price, so I suspect the digital stuff starts with the IF.

 

[safetyobc]

That's correct.

That’s great to hear!

 

[Jay911]

I apologize if this has been asked, but didn't see anything on the spec sheet in regards to UID's. Is this feature still available? Will I be able to take my SD card out of my 436 and use it in my SDS 100 if I decide to do so? Or just put the SD card in my computer, read it to the new Sentinel program that will be necessary and customize it?

Not sure what UIDs have to do with compatibility between scanners, but UPMan has said that he is currently using x36HP Sentinel for programming his (engineering demo) SDS100. He said that screen customizations (one of the new features) are getting wiped out every time he programs the radio, but otherwise it works fine. The implication with that statement is that either a revised version of the x36 software, or a new piece of software heavily borrowing from x36 Sentinel, will be what's used in production versions.

All that being said, I would never recommend taking the microSD card out of one device and using it in another device not of the exact same model (i.e. don't take your HP1 card and try to use it in your 436). The programming for one model over the other would not work.

 

[werinshades]

Not sure what UIDs have to do with compatibility between scanners, but UPMan has said that he is currently using x36HP Sentinel for programming his (engineering demo) SDS100. He said that screen customizations (one of the new features) are getting wiped out every time he programs the radio, but otherwise it works fine. The implication with that statement is that either a revised version of the x36 software, or a new piece of software heavily borrowing from x36 Sentinel, will be what's used in production versions.

All that being said, I would never recommend taking the microSD card out of one device and using it in another device not of the exact same model (i.e. don't take your HP1 card and try to use it in your 436). The programming for one model over the other would not work.

Will the SDS series have UID capabilities? If I was to purchase the scanner, I would duplicate the programming minus all the customized features of course.

 

[UPMan]

SDS100 has all the features (except 1 IIRC) of the BCD436HP. UIDs are supported.

 

[werinshades]

SDS100 has all the features (except 1 IIRC) of the BCD436HP. UIDs are supported.

Thanks Paul...I assumed that, but you know what they say about assumptions. It might be too early to say but I'll ask, a "new" version of Sentinel or are you thinking they will be upgrade the current version?

 

[Jay911]

SDS100 has all the features (except 1 IIRC) of the BCD436HP.

Based on the manual, I'm guessing that's the "RF Power Plot"? It's absent from the Analyze section.

Another question about Analyze, specifically System Status - the intro video seemed to imply (around 0:49) that on System Status in the SDS100, the radio receives and broadcasts thru the speaker the talkgroup activity, whereas this doesn't happen on the x36. Is this fact, or just audio from the scanner recorded over the video?

 

[UPMan]

No, system status only monitors the control channel. Audio was an overlay.

 

[mancow]

I seriously doubt that Uniden could do direct sampling of 1300MHz for the announced price, so I suspect the digital stuff starts with the IF.

No but a smaller portion of it.

 

[woodpecker]

Will the SDS100 have an option to resume search/scan after a delay timeout if a DMR frequency has no audio on it, I find the 436 and 536 useless from this perspective as they continually hang on DMR frequencies that beacon or are sending data and require a button push or knob twist to continue.

Negative delay is not the answer, this is one thing both AOR and Whistler got right with DMR but I think Uniden messed up big time.

 

[UPMan]

The answer is to program the frequency as DMR One Frequency. Then, lockout the undesired TG.

 

[werinshades]

Will the SDS100 have an option to resume search/scan after a delay timeout if a DMR frequency has no audio on it, I find the 436 and 536 useless from this perspective as they continually hang on DMR frequencies that beacon or are sending data and require a button push or knob twist to continue.

Negative delay is not the answer, this is one thing both AOR and Whistler got right with DMR but I think Uniden messed up big time.

This happens if it's programmed as Conventional and not DMR One Frequency. Program it correctly, put it in ID Search and you'll be much happier with the performance.

Whistler doesn't "trunk track" so all you have to do is put in all the frequencies and hope it's not too busy.

 

[jonwienke]

Alternatively, ProScan has a feature in which you can set a time interval, and if a conventional frequency or trunked TG hangs the scanner longer than the set time, it is automatically locked out (you can specify either temporary or permanent) and scan or search will resume. It's handy when you have Close Call turned on, and you get a P25 control channel hit.

But if the hangup is from a control channel, the best thing to do is program it as part of the appropriate type of trunked system instead of a conventional freq.