sds200 signal bars come and go every couple seconds

[dfw1193]

I have an observation, my sds200 with the Mansfield site programmed and all other systems avoided permanently from the fw regional system except the mansfield tx site shows scanning and signal bars but the signal bars disappear every second or so then come back again.

I have verified all priorities are off, no close call, custom searches nothing else for the unit to do but the id scanning of the depts I have pd, fd, cty serv and ems set up as dept qkeys. I thoght all was well till 2 days ago I got a bcd325p and using the sds200 info from the menus setup the same thing on the 325p2, now when they are both on the sds200 is missing some transmissions completely and some others are cutting off the first 1/2 second or so of the full transmission that the 325 receives.

I am at a loss to figure this out but now wishing I got the 325 earlier and set it up with the info from my 536 or 436.

I am really liking the 325 and really liking the sds200 less and less, so why does the signal bars keep disappearing and coming back its like its trying to do something else but for the life of me i cant figure it out.

Guess I will clear out the sds200 and start from scratch maybe even manually program it like I did with the 325 and see if it still does the same thing.

 

[eaf1956]

I have an observation, my sds200 with the Mansfield site programmed and all other systems avoided permanently from the fw regional system except the mansfield tx site shows scanning and signal bars but the signal bars disappear every second or so then come back again.

I have verified all priorities are off, no close call, custom searches nothing else for the unit to do but the id scanning of the depts I have pd, fd, cty serv and ems set up as dept qkeys. I thoght all was well till 2 days ago I got a bcd325p and using the sds200 info from the menus setup the same thing on the 325p2, now when they are both on the sds200 is missing some transmissions completely and some others are cutting off the first 1/2 second or so of the full transmission that the 325 receives.

I am at a loss to figure this out but now wishing I got the 325 earlier and set it up with the info from my 536 or 436.

I am really liking the 325 and really liking the sds200 less and less, so why does the signal bars keep disappearing and coming back its like its trying to do something else but for the life of me i cant figure it out.

Guess I will clear out the sds200 and start from scratch maybe even manually program it like I did with the 325 and see if it still does the same thing.

Normal operating aka housekeeping

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[dfw1193]

So its normal to miss some transmissions and have others cutoff by 1/2 second due to housekeeping? They need to add another cpu to handle that and the unit to multitask if that is true and what I am seeing is normal.

 

[doctordialtone]

Of course the member who answered isn't an expert. He's just speculating.

 

[BenScan]

I'm in Bedford, TX and have similar issues when trying to hear Irving, TX. If I set squelch to zero and filter to inverted it improves, but then scanning stops on conventional channels. I made a video the other day comparing a Unication with the SDS-200. The Unication just works(with stock antenna), and the SDS-200 seems to need special attention and an elevated antenna to work.

 

[eaf1956]

So its normal to miss some transmissions and have others cutoff by 1/2 second due to housekeeping? They need to add another cpu to handle that and the unit to multitask if that is true and what I am seeing is normal.

So buy that new Whistler... it has to be perfect and has no issues oh wait it isn't available

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[tumegpc]

So buy that new Whistler... it has to be perfect and has no issues oh wait it isn't available

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No scanner is perfect. I do find that my TRX-1 locks on to more signals, as where the SDS100 would miss a second or two of the beginning of the conversation. The SDS100 sometimes skips over that frequency completely and then will lock on its second attempt.

The SDS100 does a little better when the filter is set on Auto.

 

[KR7CQ]

I'm in Bedford, TX and have similar issues when trying to hear Irving, TX. If I set squelch to zero and filter to inverted it improves, but then scanning stops on conventional channels. I made a video the other day comparing a Unication with the SDS-200. The Unication just works(with stock antenna), and the SDS-200 seems to need special attention and an elevated antenna to work.

Very interesting. This is what I saw with the SDS100 (G4 caught more traffic) but my hope is that with my discone at around 30' the SDS200 should be able to get a good signal from the sites that I need to listen to. When you speak of an elevated antenna what have you tried with the SDS200? One comment that I have seen several times among the various criticisms that I have seen on the SDS scanners is the missed 1/4 to 1/2 second from the beginning of transmissions. I wonder is this isn't just an SDR thing.

 

[BenScan]

Very interesting. This is what I saw with the SDS100 (G4 caught more traffic) but my hope is that with my discone at around 30' the SDS200 should be able to get a good signal from the sites that I need to listen to. When you speak of an elevated antenna what have you tried with the SDS200? One comment that I have seen several times among the various criticisms that I have seen on the SDS scanners is the missed 1/4 to 1/2 second from the beginning of transmissions. I wonder is this isn't just an SDR thing.

I'm in a 2nd story apartment with a vaulted ceiling. I have a RadioShack 800Mhz rubber duckie at the peak of the ceiling that I'm currently using with the SDS-200. It's about 10 feet higher than the Unication in the video.

 

[dfw1193]

Dont know but I know that sds100 being delivered today im not picking it up cause of this discovery and 3 days from now it gets returned from the amazon locker back to amazon and i get a refund, no fuss. Ill keep the sds200 just cause its pretty and mostly works right except the noise I have accepted and the backlight for what it is DIM. Im going to test the 325 against my 536 but expect the 536 will work like the 325 and not miss anything. Im done with sds scanners now. I may watch for a bcd996p2 but I will use the info from the 436 and 536 db to manually program the 325 then use proscan to save the programming. Still love the bc898t, and bc785d I have. Always been a Uniden fan, but now not so much, technology just like ms windows 10 has moved to a place thats unacceptable for me.

Money saved and lessons learned. Tonight I will put a felt sheet filter over the speaker inside my sds200, noise issue solved.

 

[UPMan]

It is normal for the signal bars to cycle. The scanner periodically performs a number of housekeeping tasks (including checking for location updates among other things) that the G4 does not have to do, as it does not have said features. You can delay the housekeeping by setting a long site hold time, but that is at the cost of scanning other systems (another thing the G4 does not have to do). This is not new for the SDS100, older models do exactly the same thing.

 

[BenScan]

It is normal for the signal bars to cycle. The scanner periodically performs a number of housekeeping tasks (including checking for location updates among other things) that the G4 does not have to do, as it does not have said features. You can delay the housekeeping by setting a long site hold time, but that is at the cost of scanning other systems (another thing the G4 does not have to do). This is not new for the SDS100, older models do exactly the same thing.

Yet, I was locked on to the Irving system, with only one site, so that just doesn't make sense why I was seeing the drop out.

 

[KevinC]

Yet, I was locked on to the Irving system, with only one site, so that just doesn't make sense why I was seeing the drop out.

Set your site hold time to 255 seconds and should only drop every 4 1/2 minutes. If it's still dropping something else is going on.

 

[UPMan]

Yet, I was locked on to the Irving system, with only one site, so that just doesn't make sense why I was seeing the drop out.

It still does the housekeeping even when locked onto sites or systems.

 

[dfw1193]

Ill try those suggestions see if they help, also going to compare the 436, and 536 to the 325 and see what happens. Never knew this was an issue or even happening until I got my 325 the other day.

 

[eaf1956]

It is normal for the signal bars to cycle. The scanner periodically performs a number of housekeeping tasks (including checking for location updates among other things) that the G4 does not have to do, as it does not have said features. You can delay the housekeeping by setting a long site hold time, but that is at the cost of scanning other systems (another thing the G4 does not have to do). This is not new for the SDS100, older models do exactly the same thing.

I told them exactly that Upman but they said I wasn't an expert and was "just guessing" some folks just love to complain.

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[mkt853]

Yet, I was locked on to the Irving system, with only one site, so that just doesn't make sense why I was seeing the drop out.

It's unfortunate that it works this way, but as others have said your unit is behaving as designed. This isn't new behavior. When you're locked onto a site like that, it's really only listening to the control channel about half of the time (you can see the time that the bars go away during housekeeping is about the same as the time the bars are on), so you are definitely going to miss transmissions, potentially many depending on how busy the system is. When listening to certain systems I noticed this when I would miss a quick reply, and thought something was wrong with my scanner or its ability to follow a system, but it seems this is the way it is meant to be. I would assume the location change check doesn't happen if there is no GPS connected. Mine sits on my desk and isn't ever going anywhere, so checking the location is kind of dumb. I don't know what other housekeeping tasks are involved, but it sounds like they aren't critical if simply increasing your hold time can delay those tasks for 4 1/2 minutes.

 

[tumegpc]

So no what I'm hearing is that no matter what settings I apply to my SDS100 I'm going to see those characteristics of "housekeeping".

"This is not new for the SDS100, older models do exactly the same thing." That explains why my 436HP does the same, which is not a good thing.

 

[doctordialtone]

So no what I'm hearing is that no matter what settings I apply to my SDS100 I'm going to see those characteristics of "housekeeping".

"This is not new for the SDS100, older models do exactly the same thing." That explains why my 436HP does the same, which is not a good thing.

The 996/396 models don't do this that I can see/hear...

 

[chill30240]

My SDS100 does the same thing and my 436 did too. I thought it was supposed to do it. Neither unit ever missed any traffic though.