Sentinel Refuses to Write or Read to My New SDS200, and Won't Install on a Laptop Either

[Checkerboard]

I got my new SDS200 two days ago, but have yet to be able to use Sentinel to program it. I owned two Home Patrol 2s and a BCD436 before, and I used Sentinel successfully with those. My main desktop PC runs Windows 10 Home Edition. I downloaded the latest Sentinel, and purged any old data or Sentinel versions.

Sentinel installed correctly, and it updated frequencies from Radio Reference properly. With the USB cable connecting the scanner to the PC, I can "view" the scanner as a USB drive on the Windows File Explorer, and am even able to view the micro SD card's contents (so it's communicating with my PC).


I created a simple Favorites List, and attempted to write it to the scanner, and I get the same result, over and over - the spinning Windows circle and the "(Not responding)" statement at the top.





It is then impossible to shut down Sentinel- Even using Task Manager to "End Task" does nothing. If I want to quit Sentinel, I have to reboot my PC!





Then I thought I'd try downloading, installing, and running Sentinel on my 3 month-old Lenovo laptop. Did the download, unzipped the files, but every time i try to install Sentinel, I get a pop-up window saying "This setup requires the .NET Framework 2.0. Please install the .NET Framework 2.0 and run this setup again."

I have the latest version of .NET, but I figured I would click the button to go to the web and download .NET Framework 2.0. I did that (it's actually called AspNet Core 2.0.9 Runtime that I found).

Sentinel simply refuses to install on my laptop, giving me the same pop-up demanding .NET Framework Version 2.0


I have spent about five hours total trying everything, and am at my wit's end!

On my PC, which can "see" my connected scanner as a USB drive, Sentinel hangs every time when trying to read or write to the scanner.

On my new laptop, Sentinel won't allow the install, because it cannot find the .NET Framework 2.0.

I feel like I'm screwed here. Any help or insight would be unbelievably welcome! Thanks all, KM6U

 

[belvdr]

I don't know why the first computer won't write to the scanner. For the Lenovo, Go into Control Panel > Programs and Features and install .NET 3.5, which includes 2.0 and 3.0, as seen below.

 

[Checkerboard]

I don't know why the first computer won't write to the scanner. For the Lenovo, Go into Control Panel > Programs and Features and install .NET 3.5, which includes 2.0 and 3.0, as seen below.

Hi an thanks for the tip. On my Lenovo, under Control Panel > Apps and Features (I cannot find Programs and Features), is where I can find these- the.NET 5.0.0, and the one I downloaded yesterday, the ASP.NET Core 2.0.9 Runtime. I did not see any other .NET versions.

 

[RandyKuff]

Type "Control Panel" in your search box to get to the control panel belvdr is pointing you to...

 

[belvdr]

Easiest way is to right-click Start > Run. Type:

control

Hit enter and it opens Control Panel. It will default to a category view. Click "Uninstall a Program". In the new window, click "Turn Windows features on or off". From there, you can select .NET 3.5.

 

[Checkerboard]

OK guys... I have goose bumps - installation on the new Lenovo laptop was successful!

I'm actually a little timid to connect it to my scanner after so many fails... but I'm gonna try now. Thank you so much for the tip and the follow-up explanations - I found the Control pane and turned on .NET3.5 I'll post my results in a few moments KM6U

 

[Ubbe]

I created a simple Favorites List, and attempted to write it to the scanner, and I get the same result, over and over - the spinning Windows circle and the "(Not responding)" statement at the top.

Try reading from the scanner. If that works then it's probably some sort of illegal values or characters in the data that you have created in Sentinel. You have the target set as SDS200? Is it a normal C: drive and not a virtual drive or on the Cloud? Try pulling the SD card out from the scanner and program directly in the PC using a $5 SD card interface.

/Ubbe

 

[Checkerboard]

Try reading from the scanner. If that works then it's probably some sort of illegal values or characters in the data that you have created in Sentinel. You have the target set as SDS200? Is it a normal C: drive and not a virtual drive or on the Cloud? Try pulling the SD card out from the scanner and program directly in the PC using a $5 SD card interface.

/Ubbe

Well! I was able to program three favorites lists and load them onto the SD200! Thank you... now I have a new issue. The 3 favorite lists can be seen scanning, but even with the outdoor antenna, no signals are ever heard - and I have a busy PD and Sheriff depts. that I should be able to hear. And one more clue - the squelch, when fully opened up to "0" has no effect- I hear no speaker noise, and the scanner continues to scan all lists. I will create a new post for this issue. Thanks again, KM6U

 

[Ubbe]

- the squelch, when fully opened up to "0" has no effect- I hear no speaker noise, and the scanner continues to scan all lists.

That's normal if all channels are digital or have a subtone programmed, but scan speed goes down to a crawl like 10ch/s.

/Ubbe

 

[Checkerboard]

That's normal if all channels are digital or have a subtone programmed, but scan speed goes down to a crawl like 10ch/s.

/Ubbe

Well ... all the channels out here are just analog. Would I inspect the Favorites Lists somehow, to see if subtones are programmed and enabled? I would rather have all subtones off and just rely on old-fashioned Squelch. Thanks Ubbe

 

[hiegtx]

Well ... all the channels out here are just analog. Would I inspect the Favorites Lists somehow, to see if subtones are programmed and enabled? I would rather have all subtones off and just rely on old-fashioned Squelch. Thanks Ubbe

Open your list in the Favorites Editor.
In the "Audio type" field for a given channel, you can do one of several things:
Set the audio as Analog
That lets you either assign a specific CTCSS or DCS code, or leave the choice set as Search, which will identify any tone or code in use. You can then either use the found code or tine, or leave the channel as 'Search', in case another user on the same frequencyutilizes a different tone or doce setting.

Set the audio as Digital
That lets you enter a specific NAC (P25), Color Code (for DMR), or Area or RAN (used in NXDN transmissions)
Or just leave it as Search, which will find & display any of the above that are in use.

You can also set the audio as All, and let the scanner check to see if any tones, codes, color codes, etc, are in use.

 

[Checkerboard]

On it- many thanks Steve!

 

[Checkerboard]

OK Steve- I set everything to "CTCSS Search," and now squelch works like... a squelch! Is there downside to keeping all channels in "search mode?" i.e., slower scan speed? Thank you!

 

[hiegtx]

OK Steve- I set everything to "CTCSS Search," and now squelch works like... a squelch! Is there downside to keeping all channels in "search mode?" i.e., slower scan speed? Thank you!

It does result in a slightly slower scan speed, as the scanner first tries to establish whether or not the signal received is digital, and if digital whether it can detect a code or other squelch setting (NAC, Color Code, RAN, or Area). Whether the slowdown annoys you or not is up to you. If it does not bother you, then just accept it and move on.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Make sure you have the appropriate Service Types enabled.

If these are FLs you made they will probably be "Custom 1".

 

[Ubbe]

Is there downside to keeping all channels in "search mode?" i.e., slower scan speed?

All scanning are done by detecting the carrier from the squelch. It's only when you have a carrier on a frequency that it stops and then checks how you have programmed that channel. If you have set it to search for parameters it will immediately let you monitor and at the same time starts to decode any subtones or digital signal.

If you have set the Digital Wait Timer to a delay I suggest you change that to 0mS to not mute the first part of the transmission that might let you loose the first word in a conversation.

If you set define values like a color code or NAC or CTCSS then scanner will first stop on the channel and then tries to decode the protocol and then see if it is a match to what you have programmed. It will take some time and will be a delay until the audio are unmuted. If there was no match it will continue to scan after that delay. My experiance with the latest Uniden scanners are that it sometimes decodes incorrectly and if a defined value have been set it doesn't find a match and skips the channel. I would suggest to always use search as much as possible to avoid that problem. One negative aspect of Unidens way of handling encryption are that the user have no selections to change that. If it thinks that there's an encrypted transmission it skips the channel, and it seems that it sometimes false detect encryption mode and just skips over non-encrypted transmissions.

So no, scan speed are not affected, it's probably 45ch/s as normal, but monitoring are improved if you have everything set to search mode.

/Ubbe

 

[Checkerboard]

All scanning are done by detecting the carrier from the squelch. It's only when you have a carrier on a frequency that it stops and then checks how you have programmed that channel. If you have set it to search for parameters it will immediately let you monitor and at the same time starts to decode any subtones or digital signal.

If you have set the Digital Wait Timer to a delay I suggest you change that to 0mS to not mute the first part of the transmission that might let you loose the first word in a conversation.

If you set define values like a color code or NAC or CTCSS then scanner will first stop on the channel and then tries to decode the protocol and then see if it is a match to what you have programmed. It will take some time and will be a delay until the audio are unmuted. If there was no match it will continue to scan after that delay. My experiance with the latest Uniden scanners are that it sometimes decodes incorrectly and if a defined value have been set it doesn't find a match and skips the channel. I would suggest to always use search as much as possible to avoid that problem. One negative aspect of Unidens way of handling encryption are that the user have no selections to change that. If it thinks that there's an encrypted transmission it skips the channel, and it seems that it sometimes false detect encryption mode and just skips over non-encrypted transmissions.

So no, scan speed are not affected, it's probably 45ch/s as normal, but monitoring are improved if you have everything set to search mode.

/Ubbe

Thanks @Ubbe- I set everything to Search for Parameters, as you say, and will leave it like that. You refer to " If you have set the Digital Wait Timer to a delay I suggest you change that to 0mS " - I looked for a Digital Wait Timer setting, but could not find it in Favorites Editor nor in Profile Editor. Where is it exactly? Could it be called something else?

 

[ProScan]

Thanks @UbbeI looked for a Digital Wait Timer setting, but could not find it in Favorites Editor nor in Profile Editor. Where is it exactly? Could it be called something else?

The 'Digital Waiting Time' parameter is present at the conventional system level and Motorola trunking site level.

 

[Checkerboard]

The 'Digital Waiting Time' parameter is present at the conventional system level and Motorola trunking site level.

I looked at Profile and Fav List Editors in Sentinel to find " 'Digital Waiting Time' parameter is present at the conventional system level" No joy.

 

[hiegtx]

I looked at Profile and Fav List Editors in Sentinel to find " 'Digital Waiting Time' parameter is present at the conventional system level" No joy.

For a Conventional system, the waiting time setting is under the Options tab for the system:


For a Motorola Type II system, the setting is under the Options tab for the site:

For a P25 system, the setting is not there since all transmissions are digital anyway. That would also be the case with DMR and NXDN systems, since they also are only digital transmissions.