Sr. Citizen & New Uniden SDS200: Which Software For, Please

[BOBRR]

Hello,

Receiving a new SDS 200 as a birthday gift.

Have the following questions, please.

Am a Sr. citizen now, and am fairly sure I'm going to have my problems and a steep learning curve with it.
So, am willing to get a external software package if it will truly make life easier for me.

Probably a criteria that the package have a zillion bells and whistles is not
that important to me now.

What i want is one that I can import the RR files to it, and program the CC/ trunked items "easily". Very easily.
Basic "stuff," and ease of programming most important.

So, do I want to stick with Sentinel, or go with Butel or ProScan ? Or, ? Why ?

If anyone has a few spare minutes, and could describe all the pluses and minuses for each, in some detail,
would truly be most appreciative.

(I know there's a specific ProScan Forum, but thought best to ask here first)

Thanks, really appreciate the help,
Bob

 

[R8000]

Bob, the SDS series scanners program with free Uniden software you download from their website. It's called Sentinel. You use Sentinel to program it, update the database as well as firmware updates. There's a huge learning curve, so give it a chance. There's many YouTube videos out as well that show how to program it.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Sentinel is free and downloads free database updates. Also downloads firmware when necessary. It probably has the widest user base, so help should be easy. Some of us have been using it for a decade.


I have not used the other two programs for my SDS. But generally I think proscan has more features for online feeds and recording. Butel probably has a subset of sentinel features and may require a paid subscription to RR for similar, but still a subset of functions. They both cost $.

 

[ka3jjz]

And, once again, the SDS100 wiki has a link to the Sentinel Easier to Read guide. I would suspect it's not 100% on topic for the SDS scanners, but it should be pretty close...Mike

 

[KE5MC]

Bob,
Once you come up to speed using Sentinel and want to dive deeper then try Proscan for the full featured 30 day trial. I've used both and have found Proscan a better choice because of features and support by the author.
Good Luck with your new scanner.

P.S. See what I mean about support...

 

[ProScan]

Sentinel is needed for firmware updates. It's also needed for accessing the full HPDB (Uniden DB) (updated weekly) which is derived from the RRDB (Radio Reference DB). Sense you're a Premium Subscriber, you can import directly from the RRDB in real time. Sentinel is needed for Profile editing. ProScan doesn't have a profile editor as It would be 100% duplication that couldn't be improved on so I could spend time in other areas.

ProScan has extra capabilities that I don't believe Sentinel has such as:
Multiple Favorites on the same tree which makes it easy to Copy & Paste and Drag & Drop systems
Find Duplicates
Find & Replace
Import directly from RRDB. RadioReference subscription required
Import Win Clipboard or from a RR web page. No RadioReference subscription required
Versatile Sorting options
Google Maps showing all the systems with circles or rectangles
Export nicely formatted web page showing any or all (user selectable) the FQK's, SQK's, Number Tags, and systems
Copy & Paste and Drag & Drop nodes to other systems and other ProScan instances
SDS200 FTP Read & Write using the Ethernet connection

 

[iMONITOR]

I agree fully with Bob @ ProScan! You really need both Sentinel (no choice), but if you really want to take your SDS200's capabilities to the max, (and you will), you will want to get ProScan as well! Well worth the investment!