Uniden Reversed A Engineering Design Used FOR Decades

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iMONITOR

Silent Key
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In my old age I sometimes get annoyed about little things and I'm compelled to talk about Uniden's decision to reverse the location of controls on the SDS200.

It's bad enough they put the function knob and the volume/squelch controls on the opposite sides of the scanner from previous designs. But why did they also change to layout of the volume/squelch controls in relation to each other. The volume control is now on the top and the squelch control is is under it. By itself it might not be so bad but I have a ASD200, BCD535HP and a BCT15X. Controls normally become instinctive in a short time unless you're constantly switching between totally different layouts.

Anyone know the reasoning behind this?
 

mc48

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I hope you never buy a car with the fuel fill on the right side, That would really be rough. ;)
I just was using my BC250 in the basement and guess what, the controls are on the right side.
 

iMONITOR

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I hope you never buy a car with the fuel fill on the right side, That would really be rough. ;)
I just was using my BC250 in the basement and guess what, the controls are on the right side.

LOL! I used to have a 2010 Ford Edge SL stripped down plan Jane, no high tech, no toys. Last year I bought a 2019 Ford Edge fully loaded with everything! I'm still trying to figure out how to get it out of the garage! :unsure: :cautious::oops::rolleyes::cry:o_O:eek:
 

henrybravo

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Your BCD536HP has the function knob on the left and the squelch/volume controls on the right just like the SDS200, so that's consistent at least (your BCT15X is the outlier now in that regard :) ). Squelch is often a set-it-once-and-forget-it setting, meanwhile the volume knob is used frequently and for powering down the scanner, so it does make sense to have the volume knob on top if you were designing a scanner from scratch these days.

I do agree that it sucks a bit to have to re-learn the muscle memory for volume/squelch. It took me several days to get used to the 200 versus my 536. We may have to consider this generation of scanners to be the moment they moved the volume knob to its "correct" position, assuming they stick with it going forward. ;) I just got a Note 20 Ultra, and the power button is on the same side as the volume controls (everything is on the right side). Took me a bit to get used to that layout as well. First world problems. :LOL:
 
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The volume controls on the SDS200 vs the BCD536HP are opposite top and bottom. Then there are the bCD996T, BCD996XT and BCD996P2, all opposite from the SDS200 and BCD536HP. There's no rhyme or reason. There there's all the inconsistencies with Ham gear too. :rolleyes:

The only time it's a big problem is when I get a phone call or the wife is trying to talk to me from the kitchen and I have to turn them all down momentarily.
 

henrybravo

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The volume controls on the SDS200 vs the BCD536HP are opposite top and bottom.
Correct; I just meant the function control is on the left side and the volume/squelch controls are on the right side. In that regard, the 200 and 536 are the same, unlike the 15X which has the function on the right and vol/sq control on the right.
The only time it's a big problem is when I get a phone call or the wife is trying to talk to me from the kitchen and I have to turn them all down momentarily.
Yep, understood. Maybe something like a little sticker dot on all the volume buttons would help.
 

jaspence

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Is it possible that a new design team in a large Asian company could have anything to do with the changes? The last Icom HT I purchased has a terrible keyboard compared to my previous Icoms.
 

Ubbe

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The reason for the change from BCT15 to x36 to have the dial wheel and keypad at seperate ends of the scanner are very obvious if you do a lot of programming on the scanner. The BCT15 have the dial and keypad on the right side and when editing something like alpha tags using both hands, one on the dial and the other pushing buttons, gets a little cramped and the left hand covers the display. Even the old BC780 had dial and keypad at different sides of the display.

I've always thought that Uniden had their SQ och VOL buttons reversed compared to other scanners and receivers. It seems more logical to me, and most scanner and receiver designers, to have the volume control at the top. It was a bit of a surprise that Uniden changed their positions on the SDS200.

/Ubbe
 

K7MRT

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The volume controls on the SDS200 vs the BCD536HP are opposite top and bottom. Then there are the bCD996T, BCD996XT and BCD996P2, all opposite from the SDS200 and BCD536HP. There's no rhyme or reason. There there's all the inconsistencies with Ham gear too. :rolleyes:

The only time it's a big problem is when I get a phone call or the wife is trying to talk to me from the kitchen and I have to turn them all down momentarily.
You actually turn DOWN the radio volume when the wife talks to you??
 
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