Sentinel: "Set Charge While On" for SDS100

[Davey1]

When I program my SDS100 with Sentinel the battery option to Set Charge While On always gets turned Off. So I always manually set it back to On. Is there an option in Sentinel to have this option set to On each time I program the radio? If that option is available I have been unable to find it so far.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

There's no option in Sentinel to change it. You can only set it via the scanner

 

[trentbob]

When I program my SDS100 with Sentinel the battery option to Set Charge While On always gets turned Off. So I always manually set it back to On. Is there an option in Sentinel to have this option set to On each time I program the radio? If that option is available I have been unable to find it so far.

You notice that the radio tends to get warm around the base of the antenna area, this is normal.

The radio was designed so that when you are charging the batteries in the radio while the radio was playing the red light will go off and charging will stop if the radio gets overheated.. you'll notice if you turn the radio off after a while charging will resume.

If you make the change to charge while playing on the keyboard, turn on charge when playing and then hook up to Sentinel and transfer your card to your profile first thing and then transfer back from Sentinel to your card and it will be a permanent setting.

 

[trentbob]

There's no option in Sentinel to change it. You can only set it via the scanner

Interesting John I never knew that, I guess I never tried to do it from Sentinel it was always an option where I used the keyboard.

Also I leave my radio permanently in the nylon carrying case but I have cut out part of the window with an Ecto knife, I leave the belt clip disc on the radio in the case so it leaves a lot of space and I enlarged the venting holes on the nylon case and whenever I try to listen while charging the red light goes off until it cools down.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Interesting John I never knew that,

Yes, never understood why they left out "set charge" but included "Battery Save" and "Low Alert"

 

[tvengr]

Interesting John I never knew that, I guess I never tried to do it from Sentinel it was always an option where I used the keyboard.

Yes, never understood why they left out "set charge" but included "Battery Save" and "Low Alert"

It surprised me also. I never knew that it wasn't available in the profile. I just set Target Model to SDS100 and the Set Charge While On option is not available in Sentinel.

 

[trentbob]

It surprised me also. I never knew that it wasn't available in the profile. I just set Target Model to SDS100 and the Set Charge While On option is not available in Sentinel.

It's an option that I never use because I don't always use that radio anymore so I just charge it and have it ready when I need it, so I'm assuming if you set it on the keyboard and then transfer your card to Sentinel and then back to the radio again it will not be kept as a permanent setting in your profile.

I just figured it would be but I don't think I've ever put to the test since I never charge while on.

 

[mc48]

Once turned on it should stay on unless you get the USB low voltage alarm, then it will turn itself off and need to be manually turned back on
once the low voltage issue is resolved.

 

[trentbob]

Once turned on it should stay on unless you get the USB low voltage alarm, then it will turn itself off and need to be manually turned back on
once the low voltage issue is resolved.

Interesting, not my experience. I never get the low voltage alert when using the wall wort.. maybe a couple times in the car in the beginning when I tried to just use the USB port in the car..

I would never run it and charge it at the same time in a mobile application but at home, when I used to do it, every single time it would overheat and that was the reason that the charging stopped, never got a low voltage alert at home.

The only way I would be able to resume charging was to shut the radio off and let her cool down. That charging light was not coming back on until it cooled off.

 

[sadave]

Once turned on it should stay on unless you get the USB low voltage alarm, then it will turn itself off and need to be manually turned back on
once the low voltage issue is resolved.

That is the answer. I was getting the same symptoms while plugged into power in my car and found that the cable had become defective. I replaced the cable the problem went away.

Shep

 

[trentbob]

That is the answer. I was getting the same symptoms while plugged into power in my car and found that the cable had become defective. I replaced the cable the problem went away.

Shep

We may be talking about two different things here, I found that the USB port in my car was not 2.1 amps or better. Or if using an inferior cable it would cause the same problem with low voltage alert...

but for me it never had anything to do with the fact that the radio was overheating and the safety feature disabled charging until the radio cooled down.

I can understand a low voltage alert causing an interruption in running the radio and charging of course and supplying the proper power supply would resume the charging while running IF.. it wasn't an overheating problem.

If it was the safety feature that halted charging, nothing was going to get that radio to run and charge at the same time until the radio cooled off.😉

 

[dave3825]

What's more interesting is that while Sentinel lacks the "set charge" setting, its interesting that the setting gets reset when the scanner is written to.

 

[mc48]

The setting should/does not change when you write to the scanner.

 

[trentbob]

What's more interesting is that while Sentinel lacks the "set charge" setting, its interesting that the setting gets reset when the scanner is written to.

So that means that if you turn on charge while on by the keyboard and then transfer the card to your profile it doesn't carry over to your profile it gets reset.

Interesting Dave, it really isn't something you want to have on all the time, as I say mine overheats every time but it could be because I leave on the nylon case.

 

[n1chu]

I doubt the nylon case is causing the issue. (I don’t believe the nylon case has a full back.) I actually use the hard leather case from Scanner Master. It has a full back with a metal swivel holster clip attached. But the case is spaced away from the backside of the radio to allow for the (Uniden) mounted plastic swivel clip… which acts as a spacer, keeping the radio away from the leather case. And there are vent holes on the lower side of the leather case on each side. With this case I’ve never had a heat problem. And while I live in Connecticut, where it is cooler on average than other parts of the country, the interior of my vehicle (where my SDS100 resides) heats up when parked in the sun, especially during the warmer seasons, making heat a constant consideration. But, knock on wood, I’ve not experienced overheating while charging, while the radio is on or off. I also have never experienced a swollen battery. My SDS100 was one of the first manufactured and supplied with the smaller battery, (since updated with the free battery upgrade). I also purchased a spare with the charging station and use that most times instead of charging while still in the radio.

 

[trentbob]

The Scanner Master nylon case has a full back, it also has venting holes up the side which I increased the size of, they include the venting holes because the nylon case does overheat the radio.

I proved the point by removing the radio from the case and was then able to charge and listen at the same time without the issue of overheating. I imagine there are different designs of cases.

As I say I used an ecto knife to cut the cheesy bumpy reflective plastic window that covers the actual display but left it on the keyboard to hold the Integrity of the case together.. I thought leaving the belt clip disc on the radio with the case that is designed for the big butt battery would help by giving space behind the area that overheats on all of these radios at the base of the antenna. This is normal.

As I say, the case would not have venting holes on it, if overheating because of the case, was not an issue.

Swapping out batteries from an external charger is optimal, always use your thumb to squeeze the battery cover tightly as you unlatch it, just the other day a friend contacted me and said that the battery clip disintegrated in their hands, I told him this is an issue and what to do.