SDS100/SDS200: SDS200 cutting out

[Shooter65]

My SDS-200 rcvs all the channels I want but regularly cuts out. Sometimes I misses the first word of a transmission other times it will cut out midsentence so I might get PD running a plate ABC-123 clearly but when the cop or dispatch confirms the plate I may hear A_C 23, or some of an address for FD but not all of the words. I have the sq at 2, a Diamond Antenna D130NJ with 30' of low loss 50 RG-8 type n. Antenna is above the roof line and clear line of sight to TX tower. The system it is monitoring is P25 FB2. I get the tx but have intermittent dropout of words. Any clues or is this a ship the unit in for repair deal.

 

[kc2asb]

Is there a drop in signal strength when it cuts out? Try listening to a NOAA weather channel and see if it still exhibits the behavior.

 

[fxdscon]

My SDS-200 rcvs all the channels I want but regularly cuts out. Sometimes I misses the first word of a transmission other times it will cut out midsentence so I might get PD running a plate ABC-123 clearly but when the cop or dispatch confirms the plate I may hear A_C 23, or some of an address for FD but not all of the words. I have the sq at 2, a Diamond Antenna D130NJ with 30' of low loss 50 RG-8 type n. Antenna is above the roof line and clear line of sight to TX tower. The system it is monitoring is P25 FB2. I get the tx but have intermittent dropout of words. Any clues or is this a ship the unit in for repair deal.

Check to see if you have any priorities enabled.

 

[hiegtx]

Also see if you have Close Call enabled, That also will result in the interruption of reception audio.

 

[Ubbe]

Any clues or is this a ship the unit in for repair deal.

It's probably the low quality of reception in SDS scanners that shows its ugly head. Set a field in the display to show Digital Error Count and look at that number if it suddenly go up. It should be below 5 to get a perfect reception but above 10 it starts to go real bad. Uniden implemented the different filter settings to try and fight the poor receivers overload and desense issues, so take a go at that.

/Ubbe

 

[richardbritt]

One thing is that RG-8 is terrible especially at 800 mhz. Not sure what you're listening to. 9913 is much better. And there are lower loss cables than 9913. Also have you looked at trying a antenna preamp? If you are rural antenna preamps are good. Not so much in a city with lots of other signals that might cause intermod. Or simulcast distortion. The old fashioned radio shack TV antenna preamps work well and are cheap enough to try. Sounds like you are losing your signal and it's dropping out. P25 is usually clear or non existent.

 

[RMason]

My SDS-200 rcvs all the channels I want but regularly cuts out. Sometimes I misses the first word of a transmission other times it will cut out midsentence so I might get PD running a plate ABC-123 clearly but when the cop or dispatch confirms the plate I may hear A_C 23, or some of an address for FD but not all of the words. I have the sq at 2, a Diamond Antenna D130NJ with 30' of low loss 50 RG-8 type n. Antenna is above the roof line and clear line of sight to TX tower. The system it is monitoring is P25 FB2. I get the tx but have intermittent dropout of words. Any clues or is this a ship the unit in for repair deal.

It sounds like Close Call or one of the priority modes are turned on. Each of these will cause interruptions in the received signal. Check to see if you have any of these turned on:

Priority Scan
Close Call
Weather Priority

 

[nessnet]

My SDS-200 rcvs all the channels I want but regularly cuts out. Sometimes I misses the first word of a transmission other times it will cut out midsentence so I might get PD running a plate ABC-123 clearly but when the cop or dispatch confirms the plate I may hear A_C 23, or some of an address for FD but not all of the words. I have the sq at 2, a Diamond Antenna D130NJ with 30' of low loss 50 RG-8 type n. Antenna is above the roof line and clear line of sight to TX tower. The system it is monitoring is P25 FB2. I get the tx but have intermittent dropout of words. Any clues or is this a ship the unit in for repair deal.

Having close call or any priority setiin on will cause cutouts.
A negative delay seting will also cause problems.

Before you send it off for repair...
Define "clear line of sight" please.
Are you within actual sight of the transmitter?
Or, are you >10/15 miles?

If it is low signal....
I'd first look at that RG8.
Try any BNC antenna directly on the radio - do you still have the stock antenna?

 

[Shooter65]

Is there a drop in signal strength when it cuts out? Try listening to a NOAA weather channel and see if it still exhibits the behavior.

Great suggestion, on NOAA there is no breakup or loss of audio. Now to figure out why it happens on a trucked system.

 

[kc2asb]

Great suggestion, on NOAA there is no breakup or loss of audio. Now to figure out why it happens on a trucked system.

That is good news! As others have mentioned, any chance "Weather Priority" is on?

I'm far from being an expert on programming trunking systems and the various settings involved. However, many in this thread are very knowledgeable on this topic and can certainly help you here.

 

[RMason]

on NOAA there is no breakup or loss of audio.

How did you tune to the NOAA station? If you are holding on it, the priority modes are likely disabled.

Can you attach a screenshot of the sds200 display when cutting out?

 

[Shooter65]

My SDS-200 rcvs all the channels I want but regularly cuts out. Sometimes I misses the first word of a transmission other times it will cut out midsentence so I might get PD running a plate ABC-123 clearly but when the cop or dispatch confirms the plate I may hear A_C 23, or some of an address for FD but not all of the words. I have the sq at 2, a Diamond Antenna D130NJ with 30' of low loss 50 RG-8 type n. Antenna is above the roof line and clear line of sight to TX tower. The system it is monitoring is P25 FB2. I get the tx but have intermittent dropout of words. Any clues or is this a ship the unit in for repair deal.

Thanks to everyone who suggested fixes. It was a combo of Priority and Close Call. The tip on trying NOAA was the clue that the coax, antenna and scanner were all goood. I appreciate everyones quick help.

 

[kc2asb]

Thanks to everyone who suggested fixes. It was a combo of Priority and Close Call. The tip on trying NOAA was the clue that the coax, antenna and scanner were all goood. I appreciate everyones quick help.

Glad to hear that the problem was resolved without sending it on a trip to Uniden!

 

[Ubbe]

It was a combo of Priority and Close Call.

Interesting. When I look at the different display settings for simple/detailed/conventional/trunk they all have the PRI and CloseCall symbols at the row at the bottom of the display. Did you manage to somehow remove those indicators?

/Ubbe