I would jump on the used one for 450.00 and test it out prior to adding any paid upgrades. You can easily recoup your money and sell it for at least what you paid for it.
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qcomnet
Member
To me, $620 sounded like a deal for a new one. Hook me up. 
OR, and hear me out on this.
Buy the used one for your P25 simulcast stuff and use your 996P2 for your VHF, UHF and DMR stuff. Since those are strengths of the 996P2 and the SDS200 strength is simulcast P25 stuff.
Buy the used one for your P25 simulcast stuff and use your 996P2 for your VHF, UHF and DMR stuff. Since those are strengths of the 996P2 and the SDS200 strength is simulcast P25 stuff.
You know what they say about ASSuming things, iMONITOR!
Nope, no fishing expeditions here, just responsibilities of work & home take priority to my hobby of monitoring & I don’t always have a phone strapped to my backside to reply instantly. Here’s the explanation you aren’t entitled to, but I’ll gladly share.A brand new SDS200 bundled with a new HT radio are available online from a reputable dealer for $719. I’m a repeat customer (other products, not an SDS200) so the vendor is offering me personally a $50 lot discount. This is a courtesy discount for my loyalty & may or may not apply to everyone on here (thus me protecting the dealers name). I don’t need the HT, but a buddy of mine can’t afford the HT at regular cost so I’ll sell it to him at roughly 1/2 price for $50. He wins & my total investment in the new SDS200 would be $619...no shipping, no tax.
I don’t need to “find” someone to sell me a used SDS200 for a given price, I already have that. The used seller has agreed on $450 based on our conversations and can only tell me he got ‘all the upgrades’ when he bought the scanner new (just got confirmation of the upgrades supposedly being there) and his original purchase price indicates the 3 mode upgrades ~should~ be there. The seller doesn’t like or understand the SDS200, so I’m going to look at and if all checks out, purchase this radio in a few days once I’ve confirmed upgrades & functionality of the scanner overall.
Once again, thanks to all who have provided useful feedback on this thread-as long as the used SDS200 checks out I’ll go that route based on it having all 3 upgrades.
iMONITOR, go find another thread to play troll!
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Hey qccomnet...see my other post in this thread, part of the pricing is a loyalty discount and part would be from selling a HT in the lot priced bundle to a friend. It’s not a straightforward $620 cost, but it would be my actual investment. Since this doesn’t apply to everyone, I haven’t disclosed the seller. If it were open to all as an advertised cost, I’d gladly have posted for all to enjoy.
I'll sit this one out.
Sounds good, no harm...no foul. Hoping the used one pans out at this point as what it appears to be, but if not I’ll grab the new one and add upgrades as budget allows.
There are deals out there, just have to dig a little.
OK, update on the scanner situation...I've bit the bullet big time here...
The used SDS200: I finally got a chance to make the trip and assess the scanner (it was a few hours away). The upgrade voice modes are all prompting for the activation key & don't say any modes are enabled-disappointing, but not a deal breaker. The scanner did have all accessories, plus the GPS accessory module (not sure I'll use it as this will likely be a home use scanner). No hum, no screen flicker, and the keypad lighting seems to be typically dim but as evenly distributed as the better ones I've seen photos of. Negotiated cost on this one landed at $420 so I brought her home. SCORE!
And never being one to leave well-enough alone, I also located a store demo SDS100 for $569 at mtctadio in TX and made that purchase--it will be here by this time tomorrow.
Thoroughly impressed with how the SDS200 handles simulcast! One of the problematic systems that I just could NOT get with the 996P2 was the second thing the SDS200 grabbed and it was crystal clear! HOWEVER, I do see that I have a LOT to learn about the SDS series radios--it's one thing to follow the forums here without an SDS in front of you, but it's quite another to be looking at the menu settings and Sentinel software and having that 'duh-huh' look when it comes to much more than zip code quick start!
Let the fun begin!
The used SDS200: I finally got a chance to make the trip and assess the scanner (it was a few hours away). The upgrade voice modes are all prompting for the activation key & don't say any modes are enabled-disappointing, but not a deal breaker. The scanner did have all accessories, plus the GPS accessory module (not sure I'll use it as this will likely be a home use scanner). No hum, no screen flicker, and the keypad lighting seems to be typically dim but as evenly distributed as the better ones I've seen photos of. Negotiated cost on this one landed at $420 so I brought her home. SCORE!
And never being one to leave well-enough alone, I also located a store demo SDS100 for $569 at mtctadio in TX and made that purchase--it will be here by this time tomorrow.
Thoroughly impressed with how the SDS200 handles simulcast! One of the problematic systems that I just could NOT get with the 996P2 was the second thing the SDS200 grabbed and it was crystal clear! HOWEVER, I do see that I have a LOT to learn about the SDS series radios--it's one thing to follow the forums here without an SDS in front of you, but it's quite another to be looking at the menu settings and Sentinel software and having that 'duh-huh' look when it comes to much more than zip code quick start!
Let the fun begin!
The used SDS200: Negotiated cost on this one landed at $420 so I brought her home. SCORE!
I also located a store demo SDS100 for $569 at mtctadio in TX and made that purchase
Well that was an exceptional deal on the SDS200 for sure! The guy's house must have been going into foreclosure to sell it that cheap! He could have posted it on RR or Ebay and easily fetched around $550-$600. Also a good price on the SDS100 as well.
I was AMAZED the SDS200 was still available--he had it on FB Marketplace for $500 when I first saw it listed about time I started this thread, and dropped it to $450 with a simple 'are you firm on price' inquiry. It wasn't his problem, but I think the other $30 today was for me making a return trip to buy, even though it was just bad timing that we didn't catch up last time I was in his area. At least there was a trail that I knew the radio didn't have a shady background-he just didn't like it as well as his TRX2 and wasn't dealing with simulcast.
And GEEZ do I have some learning to do! The BCD996P2 wasn't too bad when I got it years ago but I have some heavy duty studying as well as trial & error ahead of me with these SDS units, but looking forward to the challenge.
TailGator911
Silent Key/KF4ANC
Yup, you scored! Sounds like a great deal and I was hoping you weren't the victim of a scanner scammer. I love it when a plan comes together!
Yeah, you will be a busy boy with that toy for a while. You know where to go if you have a question. Like I always say - above all, have fun with it!
JD
kf4anc
Yeah, you will be a busy boy with that toy for a while. You know where to go if you have a question. Like I always say - above all, have fun with it!
JD
kf4anc
The SDS200 and the SDS100 were SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED for P25 Simulcast issues that so many other brands of scanners might have.
If you are monitoring mostly P25 Simulcast then the SDS200 is the way to go. Just sayin' .......
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