Anyway can Uniden fix the simulcast issue with a proven radio? The SDS100 has already crapped out twice and the second time will cost me money. Great on the simulcast but if it doesn’t receive the simulcast issue issue. I need a firmware/software fix for the 436/536 and all would be great. I know it’s not that simple. But Uniden work on the request. I’m not gonna pay for a second fix that may break again. This radio is susceptible to vibrations.
Simulcast issue firmware/software for BCD436/536HP that the SDS does?
- Thread starter CORN
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A 'simulcast fix' for the x36HP series, to make them more simulcast resistant like the SDS series is not going to happen. The 436 & 536 simply do not have the type of hardware inside that can deal with the issue. The receiver in the SDS series is based on an SDR, and, via firmware, can be set to handle the out of sync signals from the multiple sites. Yes, it would be great if that were possible for the x36 series, but it's more of an internal components issue than something addressed by firmware.
What sort of issue keeps recurring with your SDS100? If it's a repeat of what happened the first time, I would be contacting Uniden to see if it can be handled as a failed repair from the first time. Hope you can resolve that in your favor.
Ubbe
Member
A cheap USB SDR receiver dongle have I/Q output that handles simulcast transmissions.
You could try and connect a coax to that dongle and have an isolated wire connected to the end that you turn around a coil or something in the scanner to pick up the IF frequency, 21,4MHz or whatever it could be, and then demodulate the signal on a PC using DSD+ or similar software.
Hopefully the scanner will get enough data to be able to trunktrack and perform satisfactory, but with bad audio, and you then listen to the audio that comes from the DSD+ software.
DSD+ seems to be much better at decoding digital signals than any scanner as you are using a much more powerful CPU. When I decode the IF out from a TRX-2 while scanning and using DSD+ it decodes complete words while the scanner struggles to determine if it is a valid transmission.
/Ubbe
You could try and connect a coax to that dongle and have an isolated wire connected to the end that you turn around a coil or something in the scanner to pick up the IF frequency, 21,4MHz or whatever it could be, and then demodulate the signal on a PC using DSD+ or similar software.
Hopefully the scanner will get enough data to be able to trunktrack and perform satisfactory, but with bad audio, and you then listen to the audio that comes from the DSD+ software.
DSD+ seems to be much better at decoding digital signals than any scanner as you are using a much more powerful CPU. When I decode the IF out from a TRX-2 while scanning and using DSD+ it decodes complete words while the scanner struggles to determine if it is a valid transmission.
/Ubbe
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
The SDS200 is miles above any of it's predecessors. It's different hardware.
Firmware/software can't "fix" hardware not designed for the task.
Firmware/software can't "fix" hardware not designed for the task.
They've tried to band-aid the issue by adding threshold adjustments on the x36 scanners and this has worked to a degree for some users/applications but everyone's experience is different with a few different factors affecting the possibility of simulcast reception on the x36's. Though the SDS is "software-defined", it's the hardware that drives its ability to handle simulcast. I wouldn't anticipate any future firmware upgrades for x36 series scanners since they're no longer Uniden's flagship models, especially to address an issue already handled by their current SDS line, but I could be wrong. Also with the recent death of their director of product development Mr. Paul Opitz, it may be a while before we see a firmware update of any sort for their current line. We'll just have to be patient, wait and see
Not to disparage your solution, (it's actually quite well thought-out, and I applaud your efforts), but it's rather impractical for a handheld scanner, if you're using it for what it was intended.
Thanks all. I used my SDS100 in a mobile setting and twice it quit receiving. I sent it in and when I got it back last April worked great until the other day. Was hearing great in one county then when I changed counties it quit receiving, wouldn’t even lock on a Noaa channel. Btw, the memory % is reading 0 while my 436 that has the same stuff in it is reading 2%. Weird.
Both my 100 and 200 showing 0%. Working fine
Asking for firmware/software to fix an older radio (even an x36HP) as it pertains to simulcast is like asking for software to fix the fact your car is too wide for a bridge. Software can't change the laws of physics.
Any chance you are running a ham rig somewhere close to your scanner and are overloading the circuitry? There are many things that can cause a radio to fail/stop receiving that are not the scanner's fault.
...Or a fluorescent light......
Highly unlikely unless it was something like an ambulance, and even those are going LED.
No transmitting equipment nearby. I’ve read where others have had similar issues. I think I was one of the ones that got a lazy tech to make mine, lol and to the others that work well.....well y’all got lucky.
I've posted this before. My 100W VHF/UHF antenna is 3 feet away from the antenna for my SDS100. No problems with desense.
My discone, is 15' under my 1.5KW HF OCF antenna, for my shack scanner.
When operating a local transmitter it should be very obvious when/ if the scanner is getting overloaded.
seth21w
Member
I have a sds100 and a bcd436hp and with a unication sized antenna on the 436 and the latest firmware it handles simulcast just about the same as sds100. Just find a stubby.
But does the 436 with the stubby antenna have the same range as the SDS100 receiving other system or conventional repeaters
seth21w
Member
No there are trade offs but besides lsm 436 beats 100 on analog dmr vhf uhf etc.
Analog DMR???
I've comparison tested multiple 426 and SDS100 units against each other, using a common antenna fed through a multicoupler to ensure both radios are getting the exact same signal, and scanning a mix of 800MHz, UHF, VHF, and airband. Under those circumstances, there is very little performance difference between the SDS100 and 436, except where simulcast is involved.
I see the same results as Jon does in 16 Uniden scanner rack all sharing the same antenna.
seth21w
Member
It depends on if the 436 is an early model or late model for the uhf reception I have a late model 436 and its slightly better analog reception. But yours may vary from mine.
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