SDS200 Hum repaired, but returned

[Anderegg]

Thank you for chiming in. Might I recomend your engineering team do a simple test to confirm the "improved mitigation" effect of slightly bending the mitigation plate. Simply take any new SDS200, turn it on, and squeeze it by the top and bottom front portion of the outer case over the repair part. The hum/buzz will lessen as pressure is applied. Now slightly bend the mitigation plate up in the middle, reinstall, and repeat the test. The hum/buzz should now be mitigated to the maximum possible amount, and should not increase or decrease in amount when pressing on the case. A modification (convex) of the copper sticker applied to the plate, allowing for more surface contact in the area being lifted towards the center, may also provide a more long lasting improved grounding condition.

Paul

I would like to apologize about all the troubles that you guys are having with the fix for the SDS200 Hum. I can assure you that I have sent this over to my corporate team where the Factory and Engineering team will be receiving and reviewing.

 

[TailGator911]

It sounds to me like only certain production runs are producing scanners with the hum issue. Serial numbers don't seem to nail it down. The hum issue is definitely in the minority of SDS200 owners. Something going on over there in Vietnam that Uniden should look into. There seems to be possibly 25-30 SDS200 owners experiencing this problem that post here continuously. The majority of us do not have this problem. I have purchased 3 of them now that are hum free, 2 for myself and 1 as a gift. Others say they have purchased in bulk and they say they all have it. How does one explain that? I would suggest an inspection at the Vietnam site to observe the particular workers who are assembling the chassis and mitigation part assemblies. Something is going on somewhere. Even though the complaints are coming from a small percentage of SDS200 owners, it is not fair to them not to have their scanners replaced with a properly working model. And, even though this small percentage of owners are not nearly enough to initiate a total recall, it is obvious that the problem, altho already addressed and 'mitigated', has persisted somehow. If either of my SDS scanners made this irritating noise that people have described, I would probably be more vocal than some. I hope a solution for all is forthcoming.

JD
kf4anc

 

[Anderegg]

I am fairly sure Uniden can confirm that the hum/buzz is a design flaw in the scanner, and there are not any that are hum/buzz free. If Uniden were to say otherwise, and confirm to you or anyone that there are completely 100% hum/buzz free units out there in the wild, there would be a class action lawsuit to have every effected scanner replaced with a new buzz free device.

Paul

 

[TailGator911]

Mine are hum/buzz free. As much as you would like to think otherwise, this is fact. If they buzzed at all, I would not have them.

 

[werinshades]

I would like to apologize about all the troubles that you guys are having with the fix for the SDS200 Hum. I can assure you that I have sent this over to my corporate team where the Factory and Engineering team will be receiving and reviewing.

Just to clarify for the others, are any of these "fixes" recommended by Engineering? The squeezing, bending, soldering etc. is what I'm referring to. As in my example, would soldering the mitigation part, bending it etc. (if it cracked and caused damage),?

 

[TailGator911]

I think the initial 'mitigation' fix was recommended by Uniden, but the squeezing, bending and soldering was offered up as suggestions by affected owners. If you were to try those and damage the scanner you would be on your own, me thinks.

 

[werinshades]

I think the initial 'mitigation' fix was recommended by Uniden, but the squeezing, bending and soldering was offered up as suggestions by affected owners. If you were to try those and damage the scanner you would be on your own, me thinks.

Kinda why I'm asking. Will the warranty be voided if these "fixes" resulted in a repair to the scanner. I'm thinking your correct, but hopefully no one who wasn't qualified didn't try it.

 

[TailGator911]

Yeah that's a good question for Uniden Support, as to voiding the warranty. I would guess if you took the scanner apart and soldered anything it would void the warranty, fixed or not. But, Uniden would be the qualified reply for that.

 

[Anderegg]

You can't bbreak the mitigation part or hurt the scanner in any way by sligtly bending (bowing) the part. It exerts more force to simply install the part than the added tension from bending it applies to the thick metal parts it touches.

The warranty states that repairing issues with other than approved Uniden techniques voids the warranty, so soldering, even if you completely eliminated the hum, and resolved the issue beyond what Unidens solution offers, wuld null out your warranty for other problems you might have.

Paul

 

[werinshades]

You can't bbreak the mitigation part or hurt the scanner in any way by sligtly bending (bowing) the part. It exerts more force to simply install the part than the added tension from bending it applies to the thick metal parts it touches.

The warranty states that repairing issues with other than approved Uniden techniques voids the warranty, so soldering, even if you completely eliminated the hum, and resolved the issue beyond what Unidens solution offers, wuld null out your warranty for other problems you might have.

Paul

Very true about bending the mitigation part in the scanner. I suppose if you broke it while bending, you could order a new one.

 

[radio3353]

It sounds to me like only certain production runs are producing scanners with the hum issue. Serial numbers don't seem to nail it down. The hum issue is definitely in the minority of SDS200 owners. Something going on over there in Vietnam that Uniden should look into. There seems to be possibly 25-30 SDS200 owners experiencing this problem that post here continuously. The majority of us do not have this problem. I have purchased 3 of them now that are hum free, 2 for myself and 1 as a gift. Others say they have purchased in bulk and they say they all have it. How does one explain that? I would suggest an inspection at the Vietnam site to observe the particular workers who are assembling the chassis and mitigation part assemblies. Something is going on somewhere. Even though the complaints are coming from a small percentage of SDS200 owners, it is not fair to them not to have their scanners replaced with a properly working model. And, even though this small percentage of owners are not nearly enough to initiate a total recall, it is obvious that the problem, altho already addressed and 'mitigated', has persisted somehow. If either of my SDS scanners made this irritating noise that people have described, I would probably be more vocal than some. I hope a solution for all is forthcoming.

JD
kf4anc

What you describe is a classic definition of 'process variation'. It is a very undesirable condition in manufacturing. To qualify my comment, I spent the vast majority of my career in manufacturing engineering in aerospace and defense electronics manufacturing. We were paid a very good salary to eliminate process variation. It reflects poorly on Uniden's manufacturing that this problem continues to happen not just out of the box, but weeks or months after a product was working properly then degraded. Or, after Uniden's so called fix was installed. Granted this is a consumer product and not high-end electronics like I was responsible for. But, nevertheless every manufacturer has a responsibiliy to 'do it right' and perform corrective and preventive action on an ongoing problem. And I don't think anyone who spends time here can objectively posit that the hum is not a problem just because they don't hear it on their unit. We have seen too many voices to the contrary and an admission (by means of their mitigation attempt) from Uniden that it really does exist.

 

[Joe_Blough]

I would like to apologize about all the troubles that you guys are having with the fix for the SDS200 Hum. I can assure you that I have sent this over to my corporate team where the Factory and Engineering team will be receiving and reviewing.

Uniden acts like it is the day after Ben Franklin discovered electricity. Everyone knows what the issue is and what the proper fix is except Uniden. It's the lack of a ground between the display chassis and the metal case. It's been months since this was reported and it's just being sent to be reviewed now? Did you make sure to tell the Factory and Engineering team that end users are doing their job for them for free and doing it much better?

 

[Joe_Blough]

I would like to apologize about all the troubles that you guys are having with the fix for the SDS200 Hum. I can assure you that I have sent this over to my corporate team where the Factory and Engineering team will be receiving and reviewing.

The time limit to edit my previous reply expired, but I wanted to add this to it.

I'll even give Uniden the correct fix:

Have the top metal cover manufactured with a threaded stud and use an insulated braided grounding strap secured to this top metal cover's thread stud with a nut and star washer. The other end of the braided grounding strap is soldered to the display chassis.

The braid allows it to move and flex without breaking (like a wire would) when taking off the top metal cover. The threaded stud allows you to remove the nut to disconnect the braid completely from the top metal cover so you can get the cover out of the way for any repairs. Having the braid insulated will keep it from shorting anything out when you put the cover back on. Soldering to the display chassis prevents having to redesign the display chassis to include a threaded stud and nut (if it would even fit) which would be a lot more costly than just changing a metal plate to include a threaded stud.

Now you have a securely connected ground that doesn't depend on how tightly the top metal cover is put on (like the Uniden metal piece) and won't come undone from heat or vibration, and which still allows the top cover to be removed.

 

[werinshades]

Did you make sure to tell the Factory and Engineering team that end users are doing their job for them for free and doing it much better?

Probably left that out, like the part you don't own one

 

[werinshades]

And I don't think anyone who spends time here can objectively posit that the hum is not a problem just because they don't hear it on their unit. We have seen too many voices to the contrary and an admission (by means of their mitigation attempt) from Uniden that it really does exist.

I think you misinterpreted what some of us have posted. I have a "slight processor noise" that can be heard IF the scanner is not receiving a transmission or any of the other scanners are silent. I have an external speaker on my SDS 200, and while I did install the mitigation part in the event I sell this down the road and a buyer asks. If Uniden decides to do some permanent fix and I have to send it back, I won't be one of the first to do this as it's a non-issue for me personally.

I don't want to see other users screw up a $700 scanner based upon an unauthorized repair. Some of these suggestions are coming from non-owners but they "use" the scanner in some capacity. If this changes, then by all means do it. Until then, just wait.

 

[KI6AOK]

In my case the hum/buzz was improved with the mitigation part installed, but not eliminated. In fact, with time it worsened agin. I added folded tin foil on top of the mitigation part, squeezed the top cover down while putting the screws back in, and now no hum/buzz. We will see if this holds. This hum was not subtle; you definitely could hear it through the external speaker and it’s annoying.

 

[Anderegg]

I liken the hum/buzz to that of a cheap 12v wall wart plugged into an AC outlet, or a higher pitched lower decibel version of what those green transformer boxes on the side of the road sound like.

Paul

In my case the hum/buzz was improved with the mitigation part installed, but not eliminated. In fact, with time it worsened agin. I added folded tin foil on top of the mitigation part, squeezed the top cover down while putting the screws back in, and now no hum/buzz. We will see if this holds. This hum was not subtle; you definitely could hear it through the external speaker and it’s annoying.

 

[bravo14]

Back in May I send the unit in for some tests and a month later got a new unit with a lower s/n and 2-3 weeks after I got the unit it started to do the same thing. Now it’s at uniden see what happens.

 

[radio3353]

...I don't want to see other users screw up a $700 scanner based upon an unauthorized repair. Some of these suggestions are coming from non-owners but they "use" the scanner in some capacity. If this changes, then by all means do it. Until then, just wait.

Neither do I. And your constant harping on non-owners is irrelevant. I talk to my friends about high-end cars all the time because it interests us, but I don't own a Tesla or Corvette or Maserati. In your world I shouldn't be allowed to talk about them because I don't own one?

The sad part is that buyers of a $700 radio even feel the need to do an unauthorized repair because of Uniden's poor response to the issue (e.g. mitigation part that sometimes works, a statement by management that nothing else will be done, a recent statement by tech support that the problem will be forwarded to manufacturing and engineering months after endless discussions and user attempts to fix it.) And, by the way, the hum issue extends beyond RR. I subscribe to a Yahoo Group about scanning in my area and just today I saw a post telling a potential buyer looking for a LSM solution to steer clear of the SDS200 because of on-going complaints of quality. The hum issue was specifically mentioned.

 

[werinshades]

Neither do I. And your constant harping on non-owners is irrelevant. I talk to my friends about high-end cars all the time because it interests us, but I don't own a Tesla or Corvette or Maserati. In your world I shouldn't be allowed to talk about them because I don't own one?

Talking about a product you don't own is one thing, but do you go on a forum and tell everyone that it's defective and offer up unauthorized repairs that "potentially" could void the warranty, but don't disclose you don't own one but you know everything thing you need to know? I heard about the Whistler TRX-1 but stay clear of the forum since I don't "own" one and never have. Until Uniden Support gives direction I think patience is in order.