SDS100/SDS200: SDS100/SDS200 New Public Release Sub CPU 1.03.05

[sallen07]

The point is on a Simulcast system you would NOT be able to select a specific tower as they are all broadcasting on the same frequency.

Where did I say I was "selecting a specific tower"?

I monitor two sites. One of the sites is in the western part of the county, where I live. If I pull up a system map, there are three towers that are all close and about the same distance to my house. That's pretty much the perfect recipe for simulcast distortion ... three strong signals that are slightly out of phase.

The other site is in the eastern part of the county, but there is one tower at the airport (on the west side). I am much closer to that tower than any of the other towers for the eastern site. It's quite possible that a signal from one or more of the other towers would also be picked up here, but they would be far less strong than the one from the tower that is close.

I'm not saying that I'm "selecting" that one tower. I'm just stating that scanner is likely to be dealing with a LOT more simulcast distortion on the first site than the second. The only "selection" is due to geography.

 

[werinshades]

I held off posting my results for a few days to confirm it wasn't "perceived" findings after an hour of good decode.

I previously reported improvements to my P25 Phase 2 talk groups since the 1.03.02 public release. A gradual "unintended" improvement since these firmware updates were directed to those with Motorola Type 2 reception issues. and not Phase 2. After reading some of the posts from users with Phase 2 systems, it seemed that a filter switch was a common suggested improvement and Wide-Invert was mentioned.

On Thursday night, I did just that and switched all my SDS200's to Wide Invert and gave it a go. To my pleasant surprise, I immediately noticed less episodes of "garbling", but have in the past been fooled and thought I'd give it a few days. As of this morning I'm happy to report the results are still positive. Besides the filter change, one thing else I did seemed to help. Changing the modulation to FM cleared up some of the remaining episodes of "garbling". While I've read through the threads that some haven't ever experienced this issue on their P25 Phase 2 talk groups, others have. My "suspicion" is this has something to do with the modulation type that the control channel is transmitting. While this "theory" is not confirmed, reading how those with Type 2 systems noticed improvement with the latest firmware release, made me think it might be it. Just some thoughts, nothing confirmed, but after 3+ days of this change, and the results I've noticed, just maybe, you never know. I'll continue to evaluate and post if anything changes.

 

[eaf1956]

Where did I say I was "selecting a specific tower"?

I monitor two sites. One of the sites is in the western part of the county, where I live. If I pull up a system map, there are three towers that are all close and about the same distance to my house. That's pretty much the perfect recipe for simulcast distortion ... three strong signals that are slightly out of phase.

The other site is in the eastern part of the county, but there is one tower at the airport (on the west side). I am much closer to that tower than any of the other towers for the eastern site. It's quite possible that a signal from one or more of the other towers would also be picked up here, but they would be far less strong than the one from the tower that is close.

I'm not saying that I'm "selecting" that one tower. I'm just stating that scanner is likely to be dealing with a LOT more simulcast distortion on the first site than the second. The only "selection" is due to geography.

If I switch to the Monroe East site, Wide Invert works on both. Could very well be different simulcast conditions (I am approximately equidistant to three towers for West but only close to one for East) OR ... could be 800MHz versus 700MHz.

In the above Quote switching to the Monroe East site. My county has 3 towers Simulcast and there is no way to select a specific tower. All the towers are on the same frequency with the same traffic on each one. Granted one tower may be stronger at any particular location but you can't tell which tower other than OK that tower is closer so that must be the one I hear. And enough is enough...I am done.

 

[sallen07]

In the above Quote switching to the Monroe East site. My county has 3 towers Simulcast and there is no way to select a specific tower. All the towers are on the same frequency with the same traffic on each one. Granted one tower may be stronger at any particular location but you can't tell which tower other than OK that tower is closer so that must be the one I hear. And enough is enough...I am done.

I'm very sorry that my posts about switching sites (not towers) have confused you. Go look at the maps and perhaps you'll understand.

Our county has a simulcast system which uses 21 towers, split into three sites: one with nine towers, one with eight, and one with four. I'm talking about two different SITES, not selecting a particular tower. Trust me, I understand quite well how a simulcast system works. Do you?

 

[maus92]

I'm very sorry that my posts about switching sites (not towers) have confused you. Go look at the maps and perhaps you'll understand.

Our county has a simulcast system which uses 21 towers, split into three sites: one with nine towers, one with eight, and one with four. I'm talking about two different SITES, not selecting a particular tower. Trust me, I understand quite well how a simulcast system works. Do you?

Simulcast "cells" is the terminology Motorola engineers use to describe groups of sub-sites operating on the same frequency pairs.

 

[Mikek]

After upgrading to this version, I have issues with conventional channels: Occasionally, the squelch does not close after the carrier drops.

 

[Ubbe]

After upgrading to this version, I have issues with conventional channels: Occasionally, the squelch does not close after the carrier drops.

It seems that either the bandwidth of the discriminator have been set more narrow or the squelch index have been changed so that the old SQ setting of 2 are now more like a 1,5 setting and can be too loose. Set the SQ to 3 or 4.

/Ubbe

 

[Mikek]

It seems that either the bandwidth of the discriminator have been set more narrow or the squelch index have been changed so that the old SQ setting of 2 are now more like a 1,5 setting and can be too loose. Set the SQ to 3 or 4.

/Ubbe

This seems to happen regardless of squelch setting. In channel hold mode, for example, the squelch blows and I can manually increase the squelch to 15 with no effect (will remain open). Bumping the channel up/down and back will close the squelch on that channel.

 

[Ubbe]

This seems to happen regardless of squelch setting. In channel hold mode, for example, the squelch blows and I can manually increase the squelch to 15 with no effect (will remain open). Bumping the channel up/down and back will close the squelch on that channel.

I have had that kind of symptoms all along in older firmwares. If I measure sensitivity with a signal generator and go up in level like -40dBm then the signal level indication can get stuck at that level when I lower the signal or remove it completely. It always restores to normal mode if I change channel back and forth. When a channel change happens all data are flushed and new data are read. So there's some kind of bug doing this that probably will be very difficult to find and we have to live with it. Even software like Windows are not 100% bug free.

/Ubbe

 

[JoeBearcat]

Any word on an updated Remote Command list ? Seems ProScan has it.

I received approval to release it to ProScan, but the auth to make it public was a little cryptic. I will check again.

 

[citiot]

Anyone else notice a big 'pop' noise on AM in waterfall when monitoring transmissions?

I'm getting this while listening to transmissions after I scroll onto the transmissions...

"loud POP! Breaker one 9, loud POP!"

Evident with external speaker, internal speaker.

Pop is there when regular scanning AM, but not too loud.

 

[vortex360]

No more MPSCS after the update and waterfall purchase. I'm right on the state line and I just don't get any Michigan at all whatsoever. I messed around with all the filters for hours. I just don't see any point to it if they are not going to fix this. If it's not broken, don't fix it. Now the radio has lost a lot of functionality even though I purchased the waterfall.

 

[Nascar18]

I'll take my 996P2 any day over this SDS 200. It's going to be a work in progress forever. The UHF analog is awful .

 

[ProScan]

Any word on an updated Remote Command list ? Seems ProScan has it.

Are you looking specifically for the waterfall protocol? I actually figured it out before I received the updated protocol list. The updated protocol list confirmed what I knew already. How I did it was by sending AAA to ZZZ to the scanner and watching the returned data.

 

[Icanhearit]

Then it would really be hilarious if WTF is used for WaTerFall.

 

[WD6ABC]

Are you looking specifically for the waterfall protocol? I actually figured it out before I received the updated protocol list. The updated protocol list confirmed what I knew already. How I did it was by sending AAA to ZZZ to the scanner and watching the returned data.

Would love it. Is there a NDA involved with Uniden?

 

[ProScan]

Would love it. Is there a NDA involved with Uniden?

Yes

 

[WD6ABC]

Yes

Other than waterfall, are there any other commands added to the listing from 2019 ? (and Thank you)

 

[ctiller]

is uniden looking into the issue with weaker system reception dropping off after the update? My nearby systems sound great, but still having issues with more distant ones. i'm not the only one with this issue.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Would love it. Is there a NDA involved with Uniden?

There is unless management approves it for public release. Many things have NDA requirements and cannot be made public.

As I mentioned, their comments were a little cryptic when I asked for it for Bob and asked if it can be released to the public.