I was always told there weren't enough Mac users to justify the process. Now with MacOS moving away from Intel processors, it might be even less of an incentive for companies to convert.
SDS150: Uniden SDS150 Review
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Thanks for confirming. However, I'm told that using Parallels will not work with every Mac. I suppose it's hit or miss depending on the Mac version. I don't want to risk a future upgrade on the SDS will nix updates. Glad it works for some people but Amazon accepted the return so I'm good.
While it is frustrating that the SDS150 is not natively compatible with macOS, it is important to distinguish between personal expectations and the product's actual specifications.
At no point has Uniden marketed the SDS150 as macOS-compatible. As with the HomePatrol, BCDx36HP, and SDS100/200 series, the Sentinel software has been a Windows-based application for over a decade. The fact that previous models could be coerced into working via compatibility layers like CrossOver was never an officially supported feature, so its failure to function with newer hardware does not constitute a broken promise or a misrepresented product.
These software requirements are publicly documented and well-established in every manual and review. Returning the unit because it does not fit your workflow is a fair choice, but characterizing this as a failure on Uniden's part is misplaced. The scanner is performing exactly as designed within its published parameters. When making a significant $1,000 investment, it remains the consumer's responsibility to verify that the required support software is compatible with their existing computer ecosystem.
Ditto VMWare Fusion running Windows 11. I have no trouble connecting to or updating any of my SDSxxx or BCDx36HP scanners that way.
Would I like to be able to run Sentinel natively on the Mac? Certainly. Am I going to get upset and give up because I can't? No. It's well established that Sentinel does not natively run on MacOS.
Update: I should note that I'm running VMWare Fusion/Windows 11 on a Mac Mini with the M4 Silicon processor. Works fine, as does my 2019 MacBook Pro (Intel) running Windows 10.
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I did discover a very small but important note on connecting it to a Mac. You can use simpler software like CrossOver (free trial) but you have to plug in the c-cable directly into the computer, not via a C-bank, etc. I don't remember the sequence, but I believe it's plug-in, turn on then select the mass data(?) option. My complain is that they do not note this on their sales page. It would not take much for them to give everyone a free trial of CrossOver or similar software.
USB Mass Storage, the same as taking the microSD card out of the scanner and connecting directly using a built-in card slot or adapter.
Sentinel programming to micro sd card?
Sorry if it's a dumb question but, does Sentinel need the entire scanner in order to program or, can just the card be programed with a pc reader/writer? Thanks!
Can’t speak for Amazon’s advertising, but Uniden.com says “PC programming “. Nothing about supporting Apple or Mac. You have a SDS 100 so you know Sentinel uses Windows. If the SDS 150 started supporting Mac, that would be a huge marketing point and not hidden in small print.
If Uniden provided “free” trial to software they don’t own such as Crossover, someone would have to pay for it which would get passed on to all customers which would not be fair to the majority of users who don’t use Mac.
I feel your pain. I would like a Mac- native Sentinel but I don’t expect Uniden to support Mac (or Linux).
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I’ve been an Apple user for over 25 years. However, I also have a Windows laptop to handle the programming of every radio type I own. Unication, Uniden, Yaesu, etc. And I also collect over a million data records a month from SDR which is easiest to handle with Excel, not Numbers. As far as the SDS150, SDs 100 and SDS 200, I need the Windows machine to handle Sentinel, ProScan and the ARC. Software. None of those run on MacOS. The SharkRF M1KE is the exception. That software is accessible on the browsers of all Apple devices and Windows.
My primary “scanner” at present is the SDS150. It outperforms everything else in my area with over 2,000 talkgroups on the same system. Do you have some type of scanner that is programmable in MacOS?
If I may chime in with a question. I have not been able to set up a shack for many reasons, but thankfully, I just had my outdoor office built, and now, at 30 years of marriage, I have my own space that is permanently stuck in the ground! I am now trying to outfit it for the things I like, and the first on the list was a new scanner. I have always enjoyed scanning and listening, and I listen more than I talk on ham or CB. Last year, I bought an SDS100 and had it programmed by one of the big companies. I could hear some things, but there were so many I could not hear. I live next door to a big university and nothing. I live close to the railroad and many businesses, but again, nothing. I contacted the company and told them, and they said they could do nothing; they pulled the frequencies from the database, programmed it, and shipped it out. Well, I returned it because I couldn't hear everything I wanted to hear. Then I saw a video on YouTube from Boy and a Scanner talking about how DMR frequencies have to be programmed in a special way, and that will open up another world of listening. I purchased an SDS150 but am struggling with the programming. I also want to be able to expand into other ham interests since I am an Amateur Extra but never use the license. This week I was able to have a 25 foot antenna mast installed at the house and I am putting together the Diamond antenna with 60 feet of LMR 400 running into the new shack.
I am a Mac guy, and we use all Macs at work, so that is the world I live in. I was about to buy Parallels, but I keep reading about driver issues and other problems. But then I read about people who say it works seamlessly and is the way to go. Before I spend money on a Windows machine, keyboard, monitor, and the whole thing, I would like to know: in 2026, is it really a viable option to run a VM on a Mac in the ham radio/scanner world, or will I just end up frustrated? I would like to enjoy the hobby without constantly fighting issues. Since I do not know where this world may lead me, I am not sure whether it is best to go ahead and jump into Windows now or to just run Parallels while I try to learn the Sentinel software and see where it all goes.
I am a Mac guy, and we use all Macs at work, so that is the world I live in. I was about to buy Parallels, but I keep reading about driver issues and other problems. But then I read about people who say it works seamlessly and is the way to go. Before I spend money on a Windows machine, keyboard, monitor, and the whole thing, I would like to know: in 2026, is it really a viable option to run a VM on a Mac in the ham radio/scanner world, or will I just end up frustrated? I would like to enjoy the hobby without constantly fighting issues. Since I do not know where this world may lead me, I am not sure whether it is best to go ahead and jump into Windows now or to just run Parallels while I try to learn the Sentinel software and see where it all goes.
I have been using Parallels on Mac for about ten years without issues to update my scanners (SDS 150 included). I am currently running MacOS 27 and Parallels is running the latest update of Windows 11. I've heard about issues, but have not run into them on either my MacBook or iMac.
VMWare Fusion does the same thing as Parallets, and it’s free. You can download and install Windoze 11 free, and it works fine even without activation; only some personalization features are disabled. Works great for me, as I only use it occasionally to program a SDS100 and 200.
I‘ve found VMWare Fusion to be less of a resource hog than Parallels.
Yeah, I don't want issues to deal with but I also dont want another whole computer system to have more log ins, passwords and all that garbage!
bearcatrp
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Suggest you find a cheap laptop on CL with at least win10. Less headache. Never let businesses program a scanner and pay for it. Usually never works out. Suggest you start out with zip code or GPS based scanning with a 10 mile radius. Select what you want to hear from the menu, police, fire, etc.. After a few days, tweak it by range or agencies selected. Study up on how to make favorites to personalize your scanning. Once your comfortable with your scanner and its working to your liking, buy proscan! Lets it record. It logs pretty much everything. Helps making favorites. Getting a outdoor antenna will really help. Just make sure its above your roof. My discone picks up a lot more on the 150 than my 200 ever did.
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Awfully broad generalization. Anybody I’ve ever talked to who got their scanner programmed by Scannermaster was happy with it.
If nothing else, it’s a good way to get started; you can use the scanner right out of the box, and meanwhile learn programming at your own pace.
"When you give a man a fish, he'll feast for the day. When you teach a man to fish, he'll feast for a lifetime."
It isn't THAT hard to learn the basics of an HP/SDS scanner......
It's just daunting with all the controls on display.....
(Imagine what it takes to fly a plane....)
I can't comment to the SDS or HP scanners but honestly I stayed away from Unication pagers for a long time worrying about the programming. My first one, the seller did put one thing in my area in it for me and I learned from there after seeing what he did, lots of reading and lots of questions. After programming different radios and scanners thru out the years I agree a person needs to learn how to put in it exactly what he wants. Even programming for others different ham radios, without a specific list I won't do any programming till they provide that. "Whatever you think" doesn't cut it for me, and I always advise them to learn how to do it themselves.
Learning curves are different for everybody. Been about 10-12 years since I first learned the HP architecture, pretty sure it took me a few days, maybe a week for me to be well versed enough to operate the 436 & 536 blindfolded (a bit of sarcasm here). The SDS100 has a few minor differences but I was able to navigate it seamlessly after my x36HP experience
For you, maybe. But there are a lot of people out there for whom the complexities of this stuff are very daunting, and they have trouble grasping even the basic concepts. And in many cases, people who buy scanners have no interest in tinkering with programming, they just want to turn the thing on and listen.
Sure, the zip code method is fine at first, but there's a whole lot of stuff there that a lot of people have no interest in. For those folks who do want to learn how to program, getting the radio programmed by someone else so they can at least use it as soon as they get it (while they learn to program) isn't a bad thing.
Remember, 99.9% of the people who post in these forums are scannerheads, and they already have a grasp of the basic concepts. Even so, they might want to use the radio right out of the box without fooling with programming at first.
W7GH
Member
There's an 85-year-old lady who has been coming into the shop to ask for help with her RadioShack PRO-651 from 2014 or 2015, which has inexplicably stopped playing the audio from the local police department dispatch. I think she lives alone, and the scanner is her daily buddy. I took on the project personally. How could I say no?
I've ordered a programming cable for her scanner, which was originally programmed for her by RadioShack, and hopefully I'll be able to figure out why the scanner stopped making audio other than button press beeps. But scheduled in October is the cut-over to the new system, and possibly dispatch will go from P25 phase I to phase II. If that's the case, then the PRO-651 will be obsolete for her. If that should come to pass, or if her PRO-651 is dead now, then I've decided to recommend that my new friend buy an SDS100. She doesn't need all the bells and whistles, she just needs to reliably pick up the P25 signal on the police dispatch frequency. There's a local website that plays the audio from all the city agency frequencies (with a delay of several seconds), but I'd much prefer to set up a new scanner for her than try and explain everything she'd need to do to acquire a computer and keep it going.
She's one customer for whom I think an SDS100 would make more sense than an SDS150.
I've ordered a programming cable for her scanner, which was originally programmed for her by RadioShack, and hopefully I'll be able to figure out why the scanner stopped making audio other than button press beeps. But scheduled in October is the cut-over to the new system, and possibly dispatch will go from P25 phase I to phase II. If that's the case, then the PRO-651 will be obsolete for her. If that should come to pass, or if her PRO-651 is dead now, then I've decided to recommend that my new friend buy an SDS100. She doesn't need all the bells and whistles, she just needs to reliably pick up the P25 signal on the police dispatch frequency. There's a local website that plays the audio from all the city agency frequencies (with a delay of several seconds), but I'd much prefer to set up a new scanner for her than try and explain everything she'd need to do to acquire a computer and keep it going.
She's one customer for whom I think an SDS100 would make more sense than an SDS150.
bearcatrp
Member
If she never takes it out of the house, would suggest the SDS 200.
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