I don't have that problem - might be a slightly out-of-spec BNC connector on your antenna.
SDS200 initial reviews
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Stridsberg is combining three antennas into the SDS200. Spare jack is capped with a 50 ohm load. Comparing the SDS200 to a ham rig is irrelevant.
Mine arrived earlier today. I first plugged it in and use the ZIP Code feature to get it up and running. Audio was good, reception on my house antenna was very good.
This is going in my truck, but I'm going to take a couple of days to get used to it before that happens.
After I was sure it was working, I did the software upgrade, then loaded my own data via Sentinel. Once I got that loaded and confirmed it was working the way I wanted, I played with the profile and display settings. I'm using green on black initially as it's less busy than the multi color mode. I'm using simple mode for Conventional and Trunking.
After all of that was set, I purchased the DMR and NXDN keys. I noticed that there was a discount for both keys, so that cost came in a bit under $100.00. No Pro Voice for this scanner as I don't get enough use to make it worth while.
The display is really clear, crisp, and readable. I probably won't have to use Siren in my truck any longer, which is good. It will probably look even better once I take the protective film off the display.
It took me a while to find the MENU function on the squelch knob, but once I did that, it was easy. Speaking of that, it's going to take a while to retrain my muscles to find the Volume and Squelch controls. Not sure why they did it, but that's not a big deal.
Audio is much more crisp, clear, and loud than on my 536HP. Should be really good with an external speaker in the truck. None of the problems that another user reported. It's silent when there is no signal. DMR and NXDN audio are much clearer as well, compared to the x36HP scanners.
As others have noted, the placement of the LAN and USB A connectors on the front is a bit weird. Definitely not a show stopper, but would likely be more convenient and free up space on the front for something else. The Micro USB on the front works fine for programming and virtual control with both Sentinel and ARC536. The Micro USB on the back seems to do nothing, although my computer installed software to recognize it. Uniden must have something in mind for that. The USB on the front is also a mystery.
The key backlighting could be a bit brighter and the soft key buttons could stand to be backlit as well, but neither is a deal breaker.
One Sentinel thing that has sort of bugged me for a while. I can't seem to find a way to write only the Profile information other than be deselecting all of the Favorites Lists. It would be nice to have a separate "Write Profile" function. Or maybe there is an I'm just missing it.
Overall, it's a very, very good scanner. It's a good follow on to the x36HP line.
This is going in my truck, but I'm going to take a couple of days to get used to it before that happens.
After I was sure it was working, I did the software upgrade, then loaded my own data via Sentinel. Once I got that loaded and confirmed it was working the way I wanted, I played with the profile and display settings. I'm using green on black initially as it's less busy than the multi color mode. I'm using simple mode for Conventional and Trunking.
After all of that was set, I purchased the DMR and NXDN keys. I noticed that there was a discount for both keys, so that cost came in a bit under $100.00. No Pro Voice for this scanner as I don't get enough use to make it worth while.
The display is really clear, crisp, and readable. I probably won't have to use Siren in my truck any longer, which is good. It will probably look even better once I take the protective film off the display.
It took me a while to find the MENU function on the squelch knob, but once I did that, it was easy. Speaking of that, it's going to take a while to retrain my muscles to find the Volume and Squelch controls. Not sure why they did it, but that's not a big deal.
Audio is much more crisp, clear, and loud than on my 536HP. Should be really good with an external speaker in the truck. None of the problems that another user reported. It's silent when there is no signal. DMR and NXDN audio are much clearer as well, compared to the x36HP scanners.
As others have noted, the placement of the LAN and USB A connectors on the front is a bit weird. Definitely not a show stopper, but would likely be more convenient and free up space on the front for something else. The Micro USB on the front works fine for programming and virtual control with both Sentinel and ARC536. The Micro USB on the back seems to do nothing, although my computer installed software to recognize it. Uniden must have something in mind for that. The USB on the front is also a mystery.
The key backlighting could be a bit brighter and the soft key buttons could stand to be backlit as well, but neither is a deal breaker.
One Sentinel thing that has sort of bugged me for a while. I can't seem to find a way to write only the Profile information other than be deselecting all of the Favorites Lists. It would be nice to have a separate "Write Profile" function. Or maybe there is an I'm just missing it.
Overall, it's a very, very good scanner. It's a good follow on to the x36HP line.
Ubbe
Member
In what way?
I am very interested in knowing how well the receiver works in a SDS200 compared to a standard hetereodyn receiver of good quality.
/Ubbe
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- May 25, 2004
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- 76
My all too brief time with the SDS200 began yesterday at 3pm when I received it from Zip Scanners and has now temporarily been interrupted by having to send it back to TX for repair today. (Is there a plaque or something for first repair of a model?). My noise from the speaker problem started immediately upon powering on. The details I posted in this thread yesterday and in the speaker noise again thread started by member allend so I wont rehash what was said previously. I actually saw his thread after I experienced my issue so I wasn't looking for something to make me notice the noise. From the SDS100 and back decades, I have never had an issue with my many Uniden scanners and I really hope this is a very isolated problem. I am dangerous to know just enough about electronics to understand potential causes but this seems to be definitely confined to the radio itself.
As I also said earlier Zip has a strict 15% restock policy and wouldn't even entertain an exchange, probably similar to other vendors but in hindsight other dealers sound like they will refund if as new. Yes Zip's policy says refund if defective but after chatting with their scanner 'expert' he had a hard time even understanding my problem so trying to convince them there is a problem would probably taken a lot of work. So instead of eating $105 I decided to repair it. Hopefully the techs have their schematics ready for the 200 and can find the problem quickly and not 'be in spec'.
Despite the issue, I can favorably compare it to the SDS100 in terms of display and simulcast decoding. The number board backlight display is darker than main display so will see if that may become a problem. The audio, apart from the low noise issue, is very good and better than my 996p2. I am really wanting to put this radio through its paces as far as overall frequency coverage and hopefully will get it back soon.
As I also said earlier Zip has a strict 15% restock policy and wouldn't even entertain an exchange, probably similar to other vendors but in hindsight other dealers sound like they will refund if as new. Yes Zip's policy says refund if defective but after chatting with their scanner 'expert' he had a hard time even understanding my problem so trying to convince them there is a problem would probably taken a lot of work. So instead of eating $105 I decided to repair it. Hopefully the techs have their schematics ready for the 200 and can find the problem quickly and not 'be in spec'.
Despite the issue, I can favorably compare it to the SDS100 in terms of display and simulcast decoding. The number board backlight display is darker than main display so will see if that may become a problem. The audio, apart from the low noise issue, is very good and better than my 996p2. I am really wanting to put this radio through its paces as far as overall frequency coverage and hopefully will get it back soon.
Thanks to you and the others for shedding light. I will be able to order mine tomorrow and can't wait!
Mine is 001723 and is better than the one Jeff has.
Earlier than mine.
Maybe someone wants to start a separate thread on this where people can report their SN and results.
Maybe someone wants to start a separate thread on this where people can report their SN and results.
I got mine today, updated the firmware and database. The splash screen says SDS100. Cleared the data on the SD card, and redownloaded the programming, making sure the profile was set to SDS200 - but the splash screen still says SDS100. Works though.
Also, when I first turned it on, the 536 was outperforming the SDS100, decoding TGs that the SDS200 was missing. Seemed to improve after the radio was running for a few minutes - does the SDR need to temp stabilize / burn in?
Is it possible I flashed the incorrect firmware into the radio? (v 1.07.04 sub 1.02.00)
Also, when I first turned it on, the 536 was outperforming the SDS100, decoding TGs that the SDS200 was missing. Seemed to improve after the radio was running for a few minutes - does the SDR need to temp stabilize / burn in?
Is it possible I flashed the incorrect firmware into the radio? (v 1.07.04 sub 1.02.00)
Last edited:
edweirdFL
Member
My firmware out of the box and after updating with Sentinal 2.01 Rev 3 was
main 1.06.25 -> 1.07.04
sub 1.01.10 -> 1.02.00
Database 07/15/2018 -> 01/27/2019
main 1.06.25 -> 1.07.04
sub 1.01.10 -> 1.02.00
Database 07/15/2018 -> 01/27/2019
That's probably because of the opening message that is programmed in the profile in Sentinel.
Yea that's it - thanks.
P
Hi what should it read? Thank You
You can customize the Opening Message (splash screen) to whatever you like - I had probably done that with the SDS100 and forgot to change it when I downloaded the programming into the SDS200.
The good:
-Audio is phenomenal. Crisp, not muffled, not tinny, great natural sounding freq. response, sounds like a commercial grade radio. Audio amp seems to have lots of power. . drives an external moto speaker well and loud without distortion. Internal speaker also great, better than 536 IMO.
-Analog audio isn’t ‘hissy’ sounding like the SDS-100. Yes, apples to oranges comparison but worth noting.
The needs-improvement:
-First 1/4 - 1/2sec of analog transmissions are clipped, even when holding on the channel. Side by side comparisons with BCD396XT and Icom ID-5100 have verified this. I suspect this can be resolved in FW.
BTW I’m on the latest available production FW as of today: 1.07.04/1.02.00.
-Audio is phenomenal. Crisp, not muffled, not tinny, great natural sounding freq. response, sounds like a commercial grade radio. Audio amp seems to have lots of power. . drives an external moto speaker well and loud without distortion. Internal speaker also great, better than 536 IMO.
-Analog audio isn’t ‘hissy’ sounding like the SDS-100. Yes, apples to oranges comparison but worth noting.
The needs-improvement:
-First 1/4 - 1/2sec of analog transmissions are clipped, even when holding on the channel. Side by side comparisons with BCD396XT and Icom ID-5100 have verified this. I suspect this can be resolved in FW.
BTW I’m on the latest available production FW as of today: 1.07.04/1.02.00.
Just stop it. No more warnings, just stop.
The posts about Stridesburg model numbers are off topic for this thread and have been deleted.
This thread is for initial reviews of the SDS200 from people who have actually received or used one or for questions about those initial reviews. If you want to discuss something else, please start a new thread.
This thread is for initial reviews of the SDS200 from people who have actually received or used one or for questions about those initial reviews. If you want to discuss something else, please start a new thread.
is LED as long lasting as that really? I assume a finite # of hours on LED, even though this # may be large. i always keep mine on squelch. not necessary? figure i have 20 or 25 years left to live. lol. not worried about the next guy, just my lifetime.
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