Sentinel: Sds200

[Coburnsun]

Is it possible to use Sentinel with an Apple laptop for a sds200??? Thanks in advance

 

[nessnet]

No, (Windows only)
That is... unless you use a virtual Windows on it...
I'll let the experts chime in on the details...

 

[fxdscon]

Is it possible to use Sentinel with an Apple laptop for a sds200??? Thanks in advance

Some info on that here:

Mac Users of Police Scanner Radios | ScannerMaster.com

Mac Users of Police Scanner Radios.

www.scannermaster.com

 

[gary123]

A VM is the way to go using a MAC. This way you avoid all the potential conversion errors and com path issues etc. I recommend setting up a VM using win XP. You wont need anything more advanced that that for programming and interfacing with your unit. You can also add in other scanner apps using the VM. One more point you can be runing the VM while still using the MAC software for other things. This would allow you to have the scanner running in remote mode for example while you are doing other things in MAC.

 

[hiegtx]

A VM is the way to go using a MAC. This way you avoid all the potential conversion errors and com path issues etc. I recommend setting up a VM using win XP. You wont need anything more advanced that that for programming and interfacing with your unit.

Windows XP, I believe, will suffice for Sentinel. However, ProScan requires Windows 7 SP1 or above.

 

[tvengr]

Windows XP, I believe, will suffice for Sentinel.

I ran Sentinel on a Windows XP computer.

 

[hiegtx]

I ran Sentinel on a Windows XP computer.

My point was that ProScan, if the OP wanted that option later, does require more than Windows XP.

 

[N9JIG]

I am the guy who wrote the article on the ScannerMaster site. I have been using Parallels for years with both Sentinel and ProScan and both have worked great. There were some issues on M1 Macs when they first came out but Parallels has fixed that so they work seamlessly. These days my best Windows laptop is my MacBook Pro.

That said, there are other options. It would likely be cheaper to get a bare-bones Windows machine, check your local resale shop, online etc. I have seen cheap laptops for under $100 at MicroCenter etc. that will run both applications. Basically you need a USB port and just about any Windows computer. Stick with Windows 10 or 11 if you can, the older OS's are long past their support periods and eventually some software will stop working on them.

If you have an Intel Mac you can run Bootcamp (free) but that requires rebooting to switch between Windows and Mac. (Parallels lest you run both at the same time and even cut/paste between them!)

There are other virtualization options as well but they are more complicated to set up, if you knew how they work you would not be asking here.

All that said; I have actually ditched MacOS as my daily driver for a home-built Windows machine with tons of RAM and SSD space, a great graphics card and ultra-fast AMD processor. It was about a fourth the price of an equivalent Mac Studio and I can run all my various Windows programs with less issues and configurations. Not as elegant an experience as the Mac but so far I have been pretty happy. Windows 11 seems to have ironed out all the issues I have had with it. I also do not need to pay for the ongoing Parallels subscription.