SDS100 vs SDS200 FM Broadcast Performance Different, Why? Anyone Else Notice The Same Situation?

[JamesO]

So I have both a SDS100 and SDS200 and when checking/comparing WFM/FM Broadcast between the 2 units with the same antenna the SDS200 seems to have SUPERIOR WFM/FM Broadcast performance. Less garbled and static filled FM Broadcast channels on the SDS200 when compared to the SDS100.

I recall the SDS100 was FM Broadcast band challenged from the get go and there were a few updates that at least stopped the drop outs FM Broadcast, however, the garbled and static filled audio is still present on the SDS100.

So why is there a difference and can the SDS100 ever perform like the SDS200 for WFM/FM Broadcast?

Has anyone else compared the 2 radios and found similar FM Broadcast performance?

Do others see a similar difference in the FM Broadcast between the 2 models?

Does Uniden have an answer they choose to share?

While some may wonder why WFM/FM Broadcast is desirable understand that at a number of sporting/racing events I often will need to listen to FM Broadcast as well as other standard comms so FM Broadcast is a useful feature.

Interested in what others have noticed.

 

[eaf1956]

I don't use a scanner @$700+ to listen to FM broadcast.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Badboy536]

Are both of the sds's on the latest firmware?

 

[iMONITOR]

Has anyone else compared the 2 radios and found similar FM Broadcast performance?

I don't own either one but posibly the heat build up in the SDS-100 might contribute to the problem. The smaller speaker in the 100 doesn't help either.

 

[teknishun]

So I have both a SDS100 and SDS200 and when checking/comparing WFM/FM Broadcast between the 2 units with the same antenna the SDS200 seems to have SUPERIOR WFM/FM Broadcast performance. Less garbled and static filled FM Broadcast channels on the SDS200 when compared to the SDS100.

I recall the SDS100 was FM Broadcast band challenged from the get go and there were a few updates that at least stopped the drop outs FM Broadcast, however, the garbled and static filled audio is still present on the SDS100.

So why is there a difference and can the SDS100 ever perform like the SDS200 for WFM/FM Broadcast?

Has anyone else compared the 2 radios and found similar FM Broadcast performance?

Do others see a similar difference in the FM Broadcast between the 2 models?

Does Uniden have an answer they choose to share?

While some may wonder why WFM/FM Broadcast is desirable understand that at a number of sporting/racing events I often will need to listen to FM Broadcast as well as other standard comms so FM Broadcast is a useful feature.

Interested in what others have noticed.

I read your post and I set both my SDS100 and SDS200 up exactly the same way using FM Broadcast band
and the exact same favorites list. The system type = conventional, modulation = FMB and audio option = search.

My results match yours exactly. The SDS100 has dropouts on FM even with an outside antenna connected.
I live in a strong signal area so to compare the SDS100 to the SDS200 I used the stock rubber duck antenna
on the SDS100 and the stock metal telescoping antenna for the SDS200. No outside antennas were used.

The SDS200 for the most part sounds pleasant and clear. The SDS100 is awful - there is a lot of crackling
or whooshing noise in the reception. Some stations are slightly garbled. There are dropouts in the SDS100
and if I move the unit around in the room it will drop some stations altogether.

When it comes to commercial FM broadcasts the SDS200 performs circles around the SDS100.

 

[teknishun]

There are dropouts in the SDS100 and if I move the unit around in the room it will drop some stations altogether.

Even inside the house with a rubber duck the signal strength is a full 5 bars on FM. The signal just cuts out and goes
away every few seconds - BUT - this is not a "priority" issue or a weather channel issue. None of that stuff is
turned on and the only favorites list that is being monitored is the one I built for FM broadcast band.
Sometimes the dropout lasts so long that the scanner moves on to the next frequency because of a loss of signal.

 

[ab5tf]

I had to kick in the attenuator on the SDS200 to hear most of the FM broadcast stations in my area. Maybe that will help?

 

[JamesO]

I don't use a scanner @$700+ to listen to FM broadcast.

What you choose to do with your radios and how you choose to use your radios is your personal preference. You are adding NOTHING to this thread. I expected useless comments like this.

As I said there are REASONS I need to use the scanner for FM Broadcast band. Additionally the SDS100 DOES NOT perform to a reasonable level of specification in the FM Broadcast band. What is interesting is the SDS100 has had FM Broadcast problems from day one, it is not only me. While there was some improvements with newer firmware, it is still does not perform properly on FM Broadcast. The SDS200 is head and shoulders better in performance.

Uniden probably figured out what the problem was with the hardware and resolved it/changed it for the SDS200.

To answer all other questions:

1. This is not a "Heat" related issue. I have not noticed any "Heat" related issues with my SDS100. Additionally when I did the most recent comparison between the SDS200 and SDS100, the SDS100 had not been turn on for a few days, it was room temperature when I ran the test.
There is something wrong with the filtering and/or the SDR portion of the SDS100, I have many other SDR type of receivers and none of them exhibit this poor FM Broadcast band performance like the SDS100.

2. The speaker is not part of the problem with the SDS100, there appears to be a RF/Filter performance problem with the SDS100. While the SDS200 sounds better, the SDS100 will have some portions, typically the lower end, of the FM Broadcast band almost sound normal, buy when compared to the SDS200 the SDS100 is still raspy and distorted while listening to the better portion of the FM Broadcast band.

3. Both the SDS100 and SDS200 have the same and latest firmware installed.

4. This is not an issue of attenuation needing to be on or off. While I do have strong FM signals, the Attenuator on the SDS100 makes things for the most part worse while the SDS200 does not need any attenuation and it works close to as perfect as I would expect.

There are CLEARLY differences in the SDS100 vs the SDS200, my guess is it is hardware related? But this is a PROBLEM that Uniden needs to take seriously and address. They know or should know why the SDS100 does not function well on the FM Broadcast band, there did work on the firmware and improve it some, but it has never been correctly resolved.

I would bet anyone that owns an SDS100 will have problems with the FM Broadcast band and if compared to a SDS200 it will be a night and day difference.

If you have problem, OWN it and ADDRESS it!!

So Uniden, any comments or thoughts?

 

[UPMan]

I agree, WFM/FMB is better on the SDS200.

 

[JamesO]

I agree, WFM/FMB is better on the SDS200.

Is there a reason that WFM/FMB cannot perform better on the SDS100?

The SDS100 is not really usable for the entire FMB band across the full spectrum, some portion sounds tolerable, but at least in the upper range say above 104 MHz things really fall apart and sound pretty bad. The radio really does not perform as it should, seems to warrant a closer look and possibly a fix.

Quite possible there could be something that also impacts performance in other bands as the NOAA weather and analog performance of the SDS100 is far worse than the SDS200 from a quick comparison.

Would not be the first time SMD components were not labeled in the tubes correctly and wrong value components were automatically placed on circuit boards???? I think we have seen this has happened before.

 

[ryaus1]

I would like to have resolution on this as well. I have an SDS100 scanner and compared to my previously owned Uniden scanners, FM broadcast on the SDS100 is absolutely useless - even with a broadband antenna.
FM broadcast is of importance to me especially in emergency situations and AM broadcast being outside the frequency range.

 

[UPMan]

SDS200 has some hardware changes. Can't be retroactively applied to SDS100.

 

[KR7CQ]

As someone who tested the SDS100 and returned it, and then bought an SDS200 and fell in love with it within 24 hours, my experience is that they are not the same creature in terms of reception in some situations. I suspect that the metal case is part of that, but I appreciate Upman's confirmation that there are hardware differences. It's weird because I was fully prepared to find that they were the same thing with the same issues, but I had to find out for myself, and am glad that I did. For me it's night and day for a few reasons.

 

[JamesO]

Guess we will need to wait for the SDS105, SDS110 or SDS125 handheld to be released with a new hardware design to perform as expected??

 

[teknishun]

I agree, WFM/FMB is better on the SDS200.

On a side note -- On the SDS200 when monitoring FM Broadcast band, the signal strength indicator means nothing.
There are either 5 bars or no bars. Nothing in between. The 5 bars occurs every time the squelch is open even if there
is no transmission occurring on that frequency. Even on a very weak station you can hardly hear there are 5 bars of signal.

That seems a bit odd.

 

[synthetik]

May have been covered but with the latest firmware and audio filter on 'normal' using FMB I'm getting *nearly* crystal clear audio on broadcast FM now (before last firmware update I had the same issue) on the SDS100. Great across the whole band, I do live in a big city with plenty of nearby stations, RSSI is in the -30 to -50 range both with my roll up J-poll and diamond SRH320A on the unit inside.

My signal bars do change and bounce around, I just removed the antenna to switch during a search and I'm pulling down decent/copyable signals from the unit with no antenna attached in the -90 RSSI range.

 

[synthetik]

Here are two audio samples for reference (renamed the extension to .txt to attach, rename to .wav to listen), these are pretty indicative of the type of signals I receive on most stations. I am noticing a few stations still have the dropout issue even with clean full signal and some seem to get minor popcorn crackle when the music hits certain frequencies but overall a good experience. I hope they're able to improve even more with the next firmware. I hope you get your issues resolved as well!

 

[sibbley]

Are the SDS 100 others are using here from the original release around June last year? My original unit exhibited all these issues on broadcast FM + the horrible analog performance. However, my refurbished replacement received in late September/early October exhibits none of these issues. I just listened to 2 songs each on a different FM station and had no dropouts/static/crackle. I can't do a video of FM broadcast at the moment, but will get one and post when I get to work.

I see where Upman says the hardware changes can't be retroactively applied to the SDS 100. I do wonder in that case, what changes were made between my original scanner and the refurbished replacement I recieved. There is an absolute night/day difference between the two units.

 

[sibbley]

Link to FM broadcast video. MOV_0105.mp4

 

[jfr454]

This peaked my interest so I searched the FM radio frequencies with my SDS100 and found them all to be loud and clear. No problems listening, an occasional drop out (1 sec) but not often. On another note, the audio through the headphone jack is outstanding. The internal speaker produces a scratchy sound.