SDS200 Hum repaired, but returned

[Firekite]

if you're not confident in your electrical skills, might want to wait till Uniden advises us on the next step.

I’m not convinced of the difficulty you’re ascribing to the fix, but someone who isn’t going to do it isn’t going to do it, regardless. Uniden has known about the issue for quite a while, now, and they’ve already “advised us” as to the next step, which is their mitigation part workaround, which is much cheaper. If you I hold your breath for anything more, you might not make it.

It looks like it is very close to the solder joint labeled R836_SDA. Thanks.

It looks well elevated over the board with no real risk of touching anything on it.

 

[werinshades]

I’m not convinced of the difficulty you’re ascribing to the fix, but someone who isn’t going to do it isn’t going to do it, regardless. Uniden has known about the issue for quite a while, now, and they’ve already “advised us” as to the next step, which is their mitigation part workaround, which is much cheaper. If you I hold your breath for anything more, you might not make it.

Most of us (not all), do not have experience opening up a $700 scanner, purchasing a tool and performing the task described. I'm applaud you and others who have done so and are happy with it. I'll leave that here and hope Uniden does come around soon so I can breathe a little better..lol! Meanwhile...I have some Saturday night listening to do...good luck to anyone who attempts this and is successful.

 

[kruser]

Question for you...what is the part in your photo made from? It looks like it is very close to the solder joint labeled R836_SDA. Thanks.

It's metal.

As long as the radios covers are in place, there is virtually no possibility the part could short something out or fall out.
It basically attempts to ground the metal frame around the display glass to the chassis which in effect, will also ground the front circuit board which seems to be the main cause of the hum discussed in this thread.

The problem is Uniden's part relies upon pressure to maintain a good electrical connection. The radios outer covers create and maintain this pressure.
Over time, parts compress or change due to temperature and the hum returns. The proper fix is to provide adequate grounding of the front board to the chassis by way of removing the conformal and lacquer coatings from the front pcb OR redoing the ground strap wires correctly. Either method will fix the hum and just redoing the ground straps requires no tampering with the coatings on the display PCB.
When I lifted my ground straps from the chassis screws, I heard the hum. Put the ground straps back in place and hum was gone. I still touched up the crimped ring terminals Uniden used on the ends of all the ground straps in my SDS200 with solder as some of them were poorly made and/or crimped. Some looked like strands in the already small gauge wire were broken when stripped and some strands did not even make it into the sleeve before being crimped. User tumegpc pointed this out in this post in this thread:

Unauthorized modification to fix hum

For me I would rather take on a challenge and see how its done and take on a project and do it and WOW myself once I fixed it. This is all about learning and growing in-stead of being scared and worrying about some warranty issue. Plus the cost of shipping the radio and the time the radio is...

forums.radioreference.com

That right there is the main cause of hum in these units and why some do not have the hum at all like I did not. My ground straps were conducting unlike those that have the hum. I blame this on poor workmanship at the assembly factory and final inspection for not noticing it.
I also agree that Uniden should have properly grounded the display PCB in these radios. That's just good practice in any electronic design, especially one involving RF. The end users should not need to scrape the conformal or lacquer coatings from their display boards.
That's an accident waiting to happen when someones razor knife slips and knocks an SMD component off the board or cuts a tiny copper trace on the board nearby one of the mounting holes.

 

[frazpo]

It basically attempts to ground the metal frame around the display glass to the chassis which in effect, will also ground the front circuit board which seems to be the main cause of the hum discussed in this thread.

It's too bad it isn't all cut and dry (consistent). Some have lacquer and no hum. Some have ground straps in perfect condition and the hum (me). I had even created multiple additional grounding points and still had the hum but was tolerable. It wasn't until I cleared the lacquer from the holes I had complete silence. It's a bizarre issue.

 

[kruser]

It's too bad it isn't all cut and dry (consistent). Some have lacquer and no hum. Some have ground straps in perfect condition and the hum (me). I had even created multiple additional grounding points and still had the hum but was tolerable. It wasn't until I cleared the lacquer from the holes I had complete silence. It's a bizarre issue.

Mine has a thick coat of lacquer so no ground through the screws in mine anyway.
I could only make it hum by disconnecting the ground straps at their chassis screws. Being as yours had hum with good ground straps makes me wonder if there is not a component difference or a difference in how well a component is soldered too the display board.
Something sure must be different!
Oh well, at least we have a fix that seems to work for everyone that has tried this.

I have grounded my front board in one of my 536HP models since all this surfaced and I am happy to report that any digital artifacts heard as the scanner is booting or operating with the volume turned down are now completely silent. I only did the one hooked to an amplified speaker is it was the most noticeable but my others also have the digital sounds when any SD card writes or reads occur. Grounding that models front board seems to cure it also.

 

[Lazer9]

My experience and I am unhappy. Spent hours troubleshooting the first sds200 I had bought new on Amazon trying to get it to supply a good clean feed via broadcastify. Even had some help off someone a bit more technically inclined off a FB group with proper cables, Ys, ground loop isolaters, and methods. Finally came upon some of these numerous threads discussing the issue. Had ordered the Uniden supplied mitigation "fix" part once finding that in one of these discussions. Once received, took a deep breath and reluctantly opened the case only to realize it had apparently already been installed in the radio I purchased. Filed a claim with Uniden warranty, paid the return shipping and within a week had a replacement shipped to me which seemingly solved this problem. The slip included even said "Replalced with a factory serviced unit". So here I am, less than two weeks back up and notice what seems to be an even worse persistent crackling low but very annoying ticking/hum as the transmissions are received via the external spkr jack as before. I refuse to work on a $700 radio myself that is still under warranty. Has anyone been able to get a refund that has been through this multiple times? Don't feel it should be on my dime AGAIN either to pay for return shipping on a known and obvious fairly widespread issue. Strange the Uniden rep I first spoke with on the phone seemed to fully understand the issue, gave me great customer service and instructions on the warranty claim procedure and when I even went into detail referencing this thread and the user found fix involving scraping off lacquer or whatever off screws to obtain a proper ground, I was assured Uniden reps actively monitor these threads and are aware of proper repair needed. This is quickly turning in to one of my worst experiences ever with a consumer electronic purchased new in warranty.

 

[frazpo]

My experience and I am unhappy. Spent hours troubleshooting the first sds200 I had bought new on Amazon trying to get it to supply a good clean feed via broadcastify. Even had some help off someone a bit more technically inclined off a FB group with proper cables, Ys, ground loop isolaters, and methods. Finally came upon some of these numerous threads discussing the issue. Had ordered the Uniden supplied mitigation "fix" part once finding that in one of these discussions. Once received, took a deep breath and reluctantly opened the case only to realize it had apparently already been installed in the radio I purchased. Filed a claim with Uniden warranty, paid the return shipping and within a week had a replacement shipped to me which seemingly solved this problem. The slip included even said "Replalced with a factory serviced unit". So here I am, less than two weeks back up and notice what seems to be an even worse persistent crackling low but very annoying ticking/hum as the transmissions are received via the external spkr jack as before. I refuse to work on a $700 radio myself that is still under warranty. Has anyone been able to get a refund that has been through this multiple times? Don't feel it should be on my dime AGAIN either to pay for return shipping on a known and obvious fairly widespread issue. Strange the Uniden rep I first spoke with on the phone seemed to fully understand the issue, gave me great customer service and instructions on the warranty claim procedure and when I even went into detail referencing this thread and the user found fix involving scraping off lacquer or whatever off screws to obtain a proper ground, I was assured Uniden reps actively monitor these threads and are aware of proper repair needed. This is quickly turning in to one of my worst experiences ever with a consumer electronic purchased new in warranty.

So far this is the only solid fix. Call uniden back and show them this post. Have them explain why they are not doing it. Read the thread from this post on. 4-5 of us have totally rid the scanner of the hum and crackling.

SDS200 Hum repaired, but returned

If they made a major revision to the internal hardware to eliminate the grounding issue on the SDS200, that would open them up to having to REPLACE every single SDS200 that previously shipped...replace or modify and replace internal components to the extent it would be easier and cheaper to just...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[allend]

This is the main reason why I just worked on my radio myself. I do not trust Uniden on their warranty and the time its really going to take to fix my radio.

Instead of saying that this is the worst radio warranty experience I by passed it and did the complete HUM repair fix myself. Just saying.

 

[bravo14]

I sent the 200 in over a month ago and came back with same issue. I did put 2 pennies and the hum went away. I took the pennies out and used copper tape and hum still there. I hope someone can help me to fix this or I may sell it since it is horrible to listen to the hum.

 

[frazpo]

I sent the 200 in over a month ago and came back with same issue. I did put 2 pennies and the hum went away. I took the pennies out and used copper tape and hum still there. I hope someone can help me to fix this or I may sell it since it is horrible to listen to the hum.

If the pennies worked put them back. The fear was that they would slip out and cause a short. Find a way to secure them with the copper tape maybe? I would offer up to do the repair but just dont want the liability. It really is very simple though.

 

[bravo14]

If the pennies worked put them back. The fear was that they would slip out and cause a short. Find a way to secure them with the copper tape maybe? I would offer up to do the repair but just dont want the liability. It really is very simple though.

I thought of doing that again. The Pennies where too thick made a slight hump and the cover was slightly tight to put back on. I did the penny test but was afraid of shorting out the board and the housing be too bendy.

 

[allend]

I sent the 200 in over a month ago and came back with same issue. I did put 2 pennies and the hum went away. I took the pennies out and used copper tape and hum still there. I hope someone can help me to fix this or I may sell it since it is horrible to listen to the hum.

Sorry to hear that your radio had to be shipped in and then came back with the same HUM noise. Honestly people can help you and maybe for a few bucks and their time you can ship it to someone personally and they can do the fix for you. But I would not sell the radio. I almost got to your point with frustration until I knew there was a perm fix. Then I just took my time and set out to do the fix myself. I thought once I had it all apart I was over my head but I just kept taking my time and kept all of the screws and everything laid out in a systematically order and did it.

Been extremely happy since. Absolutely no HUM ever since. I do not even think about it anymore. The HUM noise does not even come to mind.

I used every other way to fix the radio with all of the temporary fixes but the HUM noise always came back. Good Luck

 

[Lazer9]

This is the main reason why I just worked on my radio myself. I do not trust Uniden on their warranty and the time its really going to take to fix my radio.

Instead of saying that this is the worst radio warranty experience I by passed it and did the complete HUM repair fix myself. Just saying.

And I both respect and appreciate those who have seemingly not only found the problem and correct fix but are inclined and brave enough to dig deeper into a $700 radio to apply it.

What I don't agree with is some of the attitudes in this thread that those of us not so willing to dig in the innards and apply the found solution are looked down on and shrugged off as guilty to the point of being too weak and wrong for calling out Uniden's handling of such an important and obvious defect and inability to fix properly.

If this were say Baofeng or a $60 radio, then I would accept being the weak ass by refusing to repair the defect myself and would stfu about any higher expectations from the manufacturer. In fact to go a bit further, I would have just bought some damn Baofengs and dug right in looking at it as a learning experience and if I short something out, big deal, what's $60 to learn....

 

[frazpo]

What I don't agree with is some of the attitudes in this thread that those of us not so willing to dig in the innards and apply the found solution are looked down on and shrugged off as guilty to the point of being too weak and wrong for calling out Uniden's handling of such an important and obvious defect and inability to fix properly.

I certainly don't blame anyone for not digging into the fix if they are not comfortable doing so. I think its wrong that consumers have found the obvious fix and here we sit without a peep from uniden. They know the mitigation part helps very little without applying further "aftermarket pressure" to the part against the frame. There is no doubt that they know about the latest 100% fix found by staticdischarge that is posted in this thread. The only thing I'm going to call anyone out on is why the guys with the hum aren't calling Uniden and asking why they are not offering this fix! My guess is they have a number of how many affected units are still out there and the number is small enough that they dont care. Only a theory though. This isn't right guys. I know the frustration, I was there. Especially when guys post they have three without the hum. It's unfair for consumers to spend that kind of money and it ends up a gamble to see if I spent $700 on a humming radio while the guy next door lucked out. If I lived close enough to any of you guys I'd do the fix for free.

 

[StaticDischarge]

OK... So as it is that I am in-between jobs at the moment and have extra time and Uniden seemingly refuses to step up to the plate on this SDS200 hum issue for whatever reason they may have - or not...

For the month of October 2019 I will offer my time -FREE- to apply my "hum fix" to those that choose to accept and agree to my conditions.

My conditions:

a). You contact me off list providing a valid email.
b). You provide six (6) quality pictures of your scanner, one of each side, via email prior to shipping.
c). You agree to send only your scanner and power supply to me with a prepaid return shipping label. (Know this: how you ship it to me is how it will be returned to you! So pack it well!!!)
d). You will not hold me responsible for anything shipping related! (pictures of your box prior to shipping back to you will be provided)
e). You accept that this is ONLY for the repair of the hum issue as nothing else will be considered, offered or agreed to.
f). I will not charge you for this service, but will not refuse donations (including but not limited to a complimentary SDS100 and SDS200 provided by Uniden! Hint, hint Uniden! since you seemingly monitor these postings and the fact that I am doing you a BEYOND HUGE favor!).

I am only one guy so if this gets overwhelming you may have to wait or you may not even get my service so please be aware!

RadioReference.com:

I apologize to you if this is against the terms, being up front with you, I did not read them to see if I am violating. If I am in violation, please make an exception for the owners of these affected scanners so that;

Normal scanning may now resume...

 

[phask]

OK... So as it is that I am in-between jobs at the moment and have extra time and Uniden seemingly refuses to step up to the plate on this SDS200 hum issue for whatever reason they may have - or not...

For the month of October 2019 I will offer my time -FREE- to apply my "hum fix" to those that choose to accept and agree to my conditions.

My conditions:

a). Youhis is against the terms, being up front with you, I did not read them to see if I am violating. If I am in violation, please make an exception for the owners of these affected scanners so that;

Normal scanning may now resume...

WOW - what a great offer.

I did mine, and I have a suggestion that would help. If you have a machinist friend, have them remake a drill bit into an end mill/ flat bottom drill with a pilot. It would make the job of removing the coating EZ-PZ. You could turn by hand, ( I had one of these made years ago for a project, close to the right size, but no idea where it is).

I can't think of any off the shelf item that would work, though a center drill might.

 

[werinshades]

OK... So as it is that I am in-between jobs at the moment and have extra time and Uniden seemingly refuses to step up to the plate on this SDS200 hum issue for whatever reason they may have - or not...

For the month of October 2019 I will offer my time -FREE- to apply my "hum fix" to those that choose to accept and agree to my conditions.

My conditions:

a). You contact me off list providing a valid email.
b). You provide six (6) quality pictures of your scanner, one of each side, via email prior to shipping.
c). You agree to send only your scanner and power supply to me with a prepaid return shipping label. (Know this: how you ship it to me is how it will be returned to you! So pack it well!!!)
d). You will not hold me responsible for anything shipping related! (pictures of your box prior to shipping back to you will be provided)
e). You accept that this is ONLY for the repair of the hum issue as nothing else will be considered, offered or agreed to.
f). I will not charge you for this service, but will not refuse donations (including but not limited to a complimentary SDS100 and SDS200 provided by Uniden! Hint, hint Uniden! since you seemingly monitor these postings and the fact that I am doing you a BEYOND HUGE favor!).

I am only one guy so if this gets overwhelming you may have to wait or you may not even get my service so please be aware!

RadioReference.com:

I apologize to you if this is against the terms, being up front with you, I did not read them to see if I am violating. If I am in violation, please make an exception for the owners of these affected scanners so that;

Normal scanning may now resume...

A suggestion I'd make, is prior to shipping send out a form via PDF, must be signed and emailed back to you prior to shipping it to you and performing the modification.

 

[frazpo]

OK... So as it is that I am in-between jobs at the moment and have extra time and Uniden seemingly refuses to step up to the plate on this SDS200 hum issue for whatever reason they may have - or not...

For the month of October 2019 I will offer my time -FREE- to apply my "hum fix" to those that choose to accept and agree to my conditions.

My conditions:

a). You contact me off list providing a valid email.
b). You provide six (6) quality pictures of your scanner, one of each side, via email prior to shipping.
c). You agree to send only your scanner and power supply to me with a prepaid return shipping label. (Know this: how you ship it to me is how it will be returned to you! So pack it well!!!)
d). You will not hold me responsible for anything shipping related! (pictures of your box prior to shipping back to you will be provided)
e). You accept that this is ONLY for the repair of the hum issue as nothing else will be considered, offered or agreed to.
f). I will not charge you for this service, but will not refuse donations (including but not limited to a complimentary SDS100 and SDS200 provided by Uniden! Hint, hint Uniden! since you seemingly monitor these postings and the fact that I am doing you a BEYOND HUGE favor!).

I am only one guy so if this gets overwhelming you may have to wait or you may not even get my service so please be aware!

RadioReference.com:

I apologize to you if this is against the terms, being up front with you, I did not read them to see if I am violating. If I am in violation, please make an exception for the owners of these affected scanners so that;

Normal scanning may now resume...

This is great!
Also worth noting that staticdischarge does come from an electronics background. Am I right on this? Seems like you mentioned that previously? Im sure guys would feel more comfortable knowing this.
I would definitely offer my time also if I didn't travel so much for work.
Uniden owes you!!

 

[Lazer9]

@ StaticDischarge Very much appreciated and will certainly keep your offer in mind. First I will attempt a conversation with a Uniden Rep and specifically attempt to encourage them to acknowledge this particular thread and go from there.

I am curious to know better if others having experienced this undesirable residual noise/hum/ticking distortion, if it has been mainly observed when outputting via the rear ext speaker 3.5mm port? Has anyone set up an online feed via this port supplying the audio to PC as described in the broadcastify RR suggested setup FAQ and regarding the use of a ground loop isolator? Lastly I am curious what type of 3.5mm Male plug being used as in mono or stereo tip?

Also, is anyone electrically inclined familiar with the term "bridge tied load amplifier" in relation to what type of rear output Uniden has apparently went to with the last two base model scanners (536hp & sds200) ? The reason I ask this is a knowledgeable friend is beginning to believe my noise issues may not be related to this issue but rather no longer being recommended to use the rear output to supply audio to pc when setting up a feed.

 

[allend]

I think with a generous donation for the time to fix the radio people are looking at about a 100 dollar fix with shipping included. Seems pretty fair.