squelch control

[gordwa]

Ok here goes. I have a week old sds200 that will hardly pick up anything. I have tried different settings till I'm blue in the face. I called Uniden tech support and i might as well talked to the wall.All the radios i have owned in the past when you turn the squelch control all the way down you should hear a lot static ?I can turn mine down and i hear nothing. Sometimes a very strong channel will be heard on the channels im trying to scan but most of the time the unit is totaly quiet.I have done both DMR and Nxdn upgrades and im running a diamond discone.I don't know if I'm having a software issue or not. Uniden just told me to send it in .Any thoghts would be appreciated

Gordy

 

[nessnet]

First - what are you trying to scan?
Important info for us to try and help.

Also, remember, there are differences between analog and digital when it comes to squelch.

To start: test the unit by checking your WX reception.

 

[MStep]

First - what are you trying to scan?
Important info for us to try and help.

Also, remember, there are differences between analog and digital when it comes to squelch.

To start: test the unit by checking your WX reception.

Do NOT rush to send it in. On any receiver or scanner which has just started to misbehave with reception, as nessnet points out above, the National Weather Service 162 MHz frequencies is the first place to start to troubleshoot reception issues. That is pretty much the "standard" by which most seasoned scanner and receiver enthusiasts judge their reception. For most of us, it's a "known quantity".

Please keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Icanhearit]

If I were you, I'd do the following first (or let us know you have done the following, at least steps 1-3, 6):

1. Download Sentinel (and use it for the following)​

2. check if you have any firmware need update (Update->Update firmware)​

3. Update Sentinel Data Base (Update->Update Master DataBase)​

4. Use the Updated database to create a favorite list (FL) (say P25 based trunk system), keep the favorite list small for now to those you believe are nearby (You tube for Sentinel tutorial how to add and then remove Unneeded. Even better, assign it a number​

5. Edit the Sentinel default profile ->Scan Selection (check off Monitor full database, but set Monitor & Download FL as on)​

5.a Click Service Type tab and make sure the service type as listed in your FL is has check mark (or just flip most of them to on)​

6. power up sds200 to mass storage mode and write the FL, AND force update the whole Database to scanner.​

eject sds200 storage from your PC as if you would do when ejecting a usb thumb drive B4 power recycle the sds200 scanner.​

7. Power on SDS200, see how it goes​

​

The above is to make sure your scanner database is up2date, and by keep your scan list small (into the FL) , in case your area communication is sporadic, you won't miss it that may have missed if using the huge ZIP code based scan list.​

​

Worst case, try scan weather channel or your local FM radio frequency to see if you pickup anything (Download proscan, and you can easy set the frequency at the right side of scanner GUI and click "Tune")​

​

 

[MStep]

Ok here goes. I have a week old sds200 that will hardly pick up anything. I have tried different settings till I'm blue in the face. I called Uniden tech support and i might as well talked to the wall.All the radios i have owned in the past when you turn the squelch control all the way down you should hear a lot static ?I can turn mine down and i hear nothing. Sometimes a very strong channel will be heard on the channels im trying to scan but most of the time the unit is totaly quiet.I have done both DMR and Nxdn upgrades and im running a diamond discone.I don't know if I'm having a software issue or not. Uniden just told me to send it in .Any thoghts would be appreciated

Gordy

If the radio is only a week old, you are likely within the limits of your return/exchange period, BUT you have already invested in DMR and NXDN, which you may have to write off as a loss.

Once again, for all those having Santa deliver those new SDS radios (ditto with the x36 series), DO NOT purchase upgrade keys until you are sure the radio is working properly.

Folks here might be able to give you better advice if you would tell us from which retailer you purchased your unit? This could be a critical factor in determining what direction to take with your radio.

 

[kevino]

You will not be able to hear the rush of "white noise" when turning the squelch knob counter-clockwise while listening to a digital channel or system, this only happens when the channel or system is analog.

 

[Ubbe]

All the radios i have owned in the past...

Have any of those old radios been used in the same location as the SDS200 so you'll know that there should be a good reception where you have your SDS200? Can you run it in a car or at another place or do you have another scanner/receiver to compare with using some analog channels? Check the antenna and/or coax if you use an external antenna. For digital systems, check that all service types are enabled.

/Ubbe

 

[mc48]

Set the squelch to 2, if you set it to zero there is still no white noise but it will slow down the scan speed. To hear the noise you expect turn off all the systems (nothing to scan on display) and the squelch will let you hear that noise and adjust it (analog & digital).

 

[gordwa]

I want to thank everyone for there input .I have found out most of my problem for the moment. I took your advise and tried to lock in the weather freq. When i did i heard a bunch of noise so i checked out the rg6 with my electrical tester and sure enough it was shorted. I put the antenna that came with the unit at it seems to be scanning pretty good from the main scanner base. The BNC connector was a piece of junk it was a screw on type so im trying to find a good crimp on.Now my problem is a software issue.I took some ill advise to format my sd card and that turned into a real problem .It took forever and a lot of research to get it programmed again. I cant seem to get Sentinel to to work correctly .Im getting a fail to load error and just cant seem to get it to work correctly?

 

[donc13]

Just a few things... As others said, try the weather channels. Leave squelch at 2 and you won't get white noise on digital systems.

Update the database in the scanner, the one it came with is several years old.

 

[gordwa]

Yes the weather channel came in load and clear with the stock antenna

 

[Eng74]

With the SDS-200 on trunked systems you need to adjust the filters for some reason. Most of the time you do not need to do that with the 100.

 

[stwings]

For the SD card problem, if you go into the sentinel software, under the "Scanner" tab, click on the "Clear User Data..." tab. This should reset your SD card.

 

[JoeBearcat]

You will not be able to hear the rush of "white noise" when turning the squelch knob counter-clockwise while listening to a digital channel or system, this only happens when the channel or system is analog.

... and using CSQ (not using CTCSS/CDCSS).

 

[nessnet]

"I cant seem to get Sentinel to to work correctly .Im getting a fail to load error and just cant seem to get it to work correctly?"

More detail on the Sentinel issues needed.
Are you getting a .NET needed error?
Or, a failure to download from Uniden (what URL are you going to, to download)?
Or are you getting a permissions error from your OS (which Windows ?)?

 

[MStep]

If you are lost, prior to sending the unit back, see if you can find someone in your area with the same radio. There is a 50/50 chance that this is operator error. Someone local to you who is familiar with the radio should be able to make a diagnosis in less that 30 seconds.