SDS100/SDS200: Upgrading from WS1040 to SDS100 questions

[RadioScannerSA]

Hi,

I currently have a WS1040 scanner mounted in my car connected to an outside antenna (https://rcw.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/5.-ANT-M-504-Mobile-Antennas-Highband.pdf).
I'm looking to upgrade to the SDS100 and so I have a couple of questions.

1. My WS1040 scanner is on the whole day when I'm driving, using a car power adapter. Can I do the same with the SDS100 by plugging it into the USB port? Can it handle that without overheating or killing the battery?

2. WS1040 has a BNC antenna, can the SDS100 connect to it the same via an adapter?

3. The main reason I'm upgrading is that sometimes the Whistler picks up frequencies, but it makes a noise like this: http://www.w2sjw.com/sounds/DMR_TDMA.mp3. I've now read that it is most likely that the frequency is DMR and the WS1040 can't decode those, but the SDS100 can. Is this true? Can anyone confirm this? And would I need a further upgrade on the SDS100 to listen to those? Or is it the digital 1 that is included in the SDS100? Would an encrypted frequency also make that noise? Because I'm actually not sure if the frequencies are encrypted or not.

4. SDS100 is very much focused on the zip code feature. I live in South Africa so it isn't supported. I usually just work finding new frequencies using the limit search and the close call function, and I want to transfer all the analog frequencies I have saved on the WS1040 to the SDS100. Is it as simple as that? Or is the SDS100 useless outside of USA/Canada?

 

[bradenmikael]

You need to purchase the DMR upgrade either through the scanner dealer, which is more expensive because they will tack on more money for the convenience of them doing it for you, or you can purchase the upgrade directly through Uniden which is cheaper and putting in the upgrade key is super easy.

Look into the Whistler TRX-1. It can handle DMR out of the box, as an alternative in case you don’t want to spend quite as much.

 

[bradenmikael]

Hi,

I currently have a WS1040 scanner mounted in my car connected to an outside antenna (https://rcw.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/5.-ANT-M-504-Mobile-Antennas-Highband.pdf).
I'm looking to upgrade to the SDS100 and so I have a couple of questions.

1. My WS1040 scanner is on the whole day when I'm driving, using a car power adapter. Can I do the same with the SDS100 by plugging it into the USB port? Can it handle that without overheating or killing the battery?

2. WS1040 has a BNC antenna, can the SDS100 connect to it the same via an adapter?

3. The main reason I'm upgrading is that sometimes the Whistler picks up frequencies, but it makes a noise like this: http://www.w2sjw.com/sounds/DMR_TDMA.mp3. I've now read that it is most likely that the frequency is DMR and the WS1040 can't decode those, but the SDS100 can. Is this true? Can anyone confirm this? And would I need a further upgrade on the SDS100 to listen to those? Or is it the digital 1 that is included in the SDS100? Would an encrypted frequency also make that noise? Because I'm actually not sure if the frequencies are encrypted or not.

4. SDS100 is very much focused on the zip code feature. I live in South Africa so it isn't supported. I usually just work finding new frequencies using the limit search and the close call function, and I want to transfer all the analog frequencies I have saved on the WS1040 to the SDS100. Is it as simple as that? Or is the SDS100 useless outside of USA/Canada?

Sorry, should have posted a link for you:

Whistler TRX-1 - Digital Handheld Scanner Radio

AVAILABLE AT The Whistler TRX-1 is a multi-system adaptive digital trunking scanner with Motorola P25 Phase I&II, X2-TDMA, and DMR making it capable of monitoring the following unencrypted channels/systems: Conventional DMR, Hytera XPT, MotoTRBO™ Capacity Plus, MotoTRBO™ Connect Plus, and...

whistlergroup.com

 

[RadioScannerSA]

Thanks, I've looked at it. But apparently, the TRX doesn't follow the DMRs as well, is that true?

Also, do you have any input on my other questions?

Thanks for the help!

 

[doctordialtone]

input on my other questions?

Here is the link to Uniden for the upgrades which are less expensive directly from Uniden.

 

[trentbob]

Hi,

I currently have a WS1040 scanner mounted in my car connected to an outside antenna (https://rcw.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/5.-ANT-M-504-Mobile-Antennas-Highband.pdf).
I'm looking to upgrade to the SDS100 and so I have a couple of questions.

1. My WS1040 scanner is on the whole day when I'm driving, using a car power adapter. Can I do the same with the SDS100 by plugging it into the USB port? Can it handle that without overheating or killing the battery?

2. WS1040 has a BNC antenna, can the SDS100 connect to it the same via an adapter?

3. The main reason I'm upgrading is that sometimes the Whistler picks up frequencies, but it makes a noise like this: http://www.w2sjw.com/sounds/DMR_TDMA.mp3. I've now read that it is most likely that the frequency is DMR and the WS1040 can't decode those, but the SDS100 can. Is this true? Can anyone confirm this? And would I need a further upgrade on the SDS100 to listen to those? Or is it the digital 1 that is included in the SDS100? Would an encrypted frequency also make that noise? Because I'm actually not sure if the frequencies are encrypted or not.

4. SDS100 is very much focused on the zip code feature. I live in South Africa so it isn't supported. I usually just work finding new frequencies using the limit search and the close call function, and I want to transfer all the analog frequencies I have saved on the WS1040 to the SDS100. Is it as simple as that? Or is the SDS100 useless outside of USA/Canada?

First of all we need more information, where do you live? Hometown, County and State.

Your current radio compared to an SDS 100 is like comparing oranges to bowling balls. The sound that you hear is digital transmissions that your current twice rebranded approximately 16 year old designed radio is not capable of receiving.

Your receiving needs depend on your Hometown, County and State and the corresponding information in the radio reference database.

To answer the question of the BNC connection an adapter comes with the SDS 100 to convert the SMA to BNC, as far as the power source goes you can power it from the cigarette lighter, but you would need to turn the radio off while starting up the car because the SDS100 has a data card where information is stored and it will be corrupted by starting and stopping a power sources without giving the radio time to cycle through. The SDS 100 has two power connections, one that will run the radio and charge it at the same time if you choose to and one that's a power source only.

Your present radio does not cover all of the digital radio that the SDS 100 is capable of including phase 2 tdma transmissions. Upgrades can be purchased directly from Uniden including DMR, nxdn, if that's what is used in your area, without knowing where you live and consulting the database we don't know what your needs are.

 

[trentbob]

OP.. I just noticed that you live in South Africa so.. I'll look in the database but you're going to need a source of what it is that you listen to. I don't know if the US zip code searching method will work in South Africa you may have to go by longitude and latitude which the ZIP code gives an approximal estimation of.

 

[RadioScannerSA]

First of all we need more information, where do you live? Hometown, County and State.

Your current radio compared to an SDS 100 is like comparing oranges to bowling balls. The sound that you hear is digital transmissions that your current twice rebranded approximately 16 year old designed radio is not capable of receiving.

Your receiving needs depend on your Hometown, County and State and the corresponding information in the radio reference database.

To answer the question of the BNC connection an adapter comes with the SDS 100 to convert the SMA to BNC, as far as the power source goes you can power it from the cigarette lighter, but you would need to turn the radio off while starting up the car because the sts100 has a data card where information is stored and it will be corrupted by starting and stopping a power sources without giving the radio time to cycle through. The SDS 100 has two power connections, one that will run the radio and charge it at the same time if you choose to and one that's a power source only.

Your present radio does not cover all of the digital radio that the SDS 100 is capable of including phase 2 tdma transmissions. Upgrades can be purchased directly from Uniden including DMR, nxdn, if that's what is used in your area, without knowing where you live and consulting the database we don't know what your needs are.

Thanks so much! This is useful.
I am in South Africa where there just isn't much information one what systems people use. So I can't tell you which systems they use, however, when I overhear others on the system, it very much sounds like a DMR-toned voice. So that's just why I'm assuming it is.

But, have there been any trouble with running the scanner for many hours in one go in the car?
Currently, when I switch the car off and on with the WS1040, it doesn't get corrupted, is that because it's built different to what you mentioned with the SDS?

 

[trentbob]

Thanks so much! This is useful.
I am in South Africa where there just isn't much information one what systems people use. So I can't tell you which systems they use, however, when I overhear others on the system, it very much sounds like a DMR-toned voice. So that's just why I'm assuming it is.

But, have there been any trouble with running the scanner for many hours in one go in the car?
Currently, when I switch the car off and on with the WS1040, it doesn't get corrupted, is that because it's built different to what you mentioned with the SDS?

Yes it is built differently, again, apples and bowling balls. You can run the SDS 100 as long as you want, as long as you turn it off and on letting it recycle and store data in the card before cutting the power source, that's what could corrupt the data card.

I don't know about South Africa at all, I don't even know if the USA version would even work. I can try to research it but I would need a very specific area of South Africa, it's a large place LOL.

 

[trentbob]

Well this is not good news, the SDS 100 will not cover TETRA. I'm curious what is it that you listen to? There are some standard aircraft frequencies I found and some stuff in the UHF 1 band. I would also be concerned with encryption and that might be some of the noise that you're hearing also.

 

[n1chu]

So you just want to replace the Whistler with the SDS100 solely on that one agency that may be DMR in an attempt to monitor it? Before you do the swap I’d check out that channel that gives you the sample sound bite you offer. If it’s encrypted the DMR upgrade will not help, you’d be out the money you paid for it and you would end up avoiding it on any scanner you chose to use. While no one minds fielding the antenna and power connection questions as they are easy ones, they can wait. It may just turn out that encryption is involved which would eliminate your need to swap out scanners because no scanner can un-encrypt.

 

[RadioScannerSA]

If I get the TRX 1, would I be able to switch off the car without worrying about corruption?

I don't listen to the police, I just like doing long trips around the country and listening to what's around. And I often get that sound (http://www.w2sjw.com/sounds/DMR_TDMA.mp3) when I do a limit search or close call. So it just makes me think I'm missing out on a lot by not having that decoder on the WS1040.

Let me know your thoughts.

 

[RadioScannerSA]

So you just want to replace the Whistler with the SDS100 solely on that one agency that may be DMR in an attempt to monitor it? Before you do the swap I’d check out that channel that gives you the sample sound bite you offer. If it’s encrypted the DMR upgrade will not help, you’d be out the money you paid for it and you would end up avoiding it on any scanner you chose to use. While no one minds fielding the antenna and power connection questions as they are easy ones, they can wait. It may just turn out that encryption is involved which would eliminate your need to swap out scanners because no scanner can un-encrypt.

Is there any specific way to tell if it's just a DMR vs encrypted?

 

[n1chu]

A frequency search is a good start. Learn who it’s assigned to and then research what type of system it is.

 

[trentbob]

If I get the TRX 1, would I be able to switch off the car without worrying about corruption?

I don't listen to the police, I just like doing long trips around the country and listening to what's around. And I often get that sound (http://www.w2sjw.com/sounds/DMR_TDMA.mp3) when I do a limit search or close call. So it just makes me think I'm missing out on a lot by not having that decoder on the WS1040.

Let me know your thoughts.

The sound you're hearing sounds like a control channel from a digital system that your radio is not capable of picking up.

If you're going to spend the money I would do more research first, the DMR reception on a whistler TRX is not the same as on a Uniden SDS 100 which I think has been mentioned. The Whistler is not licensed for DMR, that's why it's free but it is felt that it doesn't work as good as Uniden.

Too many unknowns, some Public Service might be using frequencies in the low end of the 400 MHz or even 300 MHz range. Unknown if they're DMR. I wouldn't spend a dime until you're sure.

I know nothing about you're part of the world and transparency with radio frequencies and such information nor do I know what's encrypted and what's not.

If I could suggest, try to contact some local ham radio operators or those who are familiar with shortwave radio, perhaps a club. Communicate with them through their site. You can also visit your local fire department or fire brigade and pop in and say hello, don't know how things work where you live but they may be friendly and will talk with you about radios they use, you can do that with your local EMS stations also. Get a feel for what's being used.

If the police are using TETRA who's to say all of Public Service is using it, who knows if it's encrypted? Do some of the legwork first, reach out and talk to people, there's has to be other hobbyist who might have a wealth of information, you can go to a ham radio store, they might even have lists made up.

Don't spend money for something that could turn out to be a doorstop that you have to return. If you do buy a scanner, make sure the vendor has a good return policy.

And yes a TRX has a data card that can also be corrupted.

 

[hiegtx]

If I get the TRX 1, would I be able to switch off the car without worrying about corruption?

Both the SDS100 & TRX-1 have batteries. As long as the batteries are not dead, simply turning off your car would not corrupt the scanner's card. As long as whatever you power the SDS100 is capable of proving about 2 amps @ the standard USB 5.0 volts, the scanner would both operate and charge at the same time. So, after shutdown, presumably with at least some charge, you would still have an hour (more likely even longer) that the scanner will run off of it's battery.

The TRX-1 also has batteries and can charge them. So, again, just turning your vehicle off is not likely to be a problem.

 

[n1chu]

Short answer; If you don’t use the record feature on the Uniden scanners that use an SD Card, you don’t need to worry about corrupting the card, regardless of how the scanner is turned off (the prescribed method using the on/off switch on the scanner, or turning off the ignition switch with the scanner connected to the accessory side of the ignition switch. Anything connected to the accessory side of the ignition switch is not powered when the ignition switch is off. It’s just like tapping into the fuse panel and finding no power on certain fuses when the ignition switch is off.

I believe the corruption you mention is due to reports of the Uniden scanners that run SD Cards. They might become corrupt when power was divorced from them (using the prescribed method) without first allowing the radio to “write” to the card. That particular issue has to do with those who ran the record feature. I’ve been divorcing power to my 536 and SDS200 using the ignition switch (instead of manually turning the radio off with the provided on/off switch) and have never corrupted my SD Cards because I do not run the record feature. I just have to remember to use the prescribed method of turning the scanner off if I have made any programming changes. Even something as simple as “Avoid”ing a channel or TalkGroup requires I turn the radio off and back on before I allow divorcing power by turning off the ignition switch. I must let the scanner “write” to the SD Card first so that my changes are remembered/written to the SD Card. Otherwise the changes I have made are not remembered the next time the scanner is turned on.

 

[Ubbe]

I don't listen to the police, I just like doing long trips around the country and listening to what's around.

Whistler have only one search range that can be programmed and are locked to the bandplan. A Uniden scanner would be more suitable for doing searches as you can set 10 different search ranges with what step sizes you want for each range and do it directly on the scanner. But Whistler have DMR and NXDN included and have a 100% decode accuracy, it always shows the correct TG and color code and the other parameters and Uniden does not have that same accuracy, for now, but JoeBearcat mentioned that Uniden have managed to improve the decode quality that will be included in a coming firmware upgrade.

I would probably get the TRX-1 and program lots of scan lists that are configured to mimic search ranges for the different bands you have. To create all channels in a range you can use the demo version of any Butel program for a Uniden scanner that has a function to create frequencies in a range with a step size and just copy and paste the result into a textfile to be imported in EZ-Scan. You can also create frequency lists in Excel, or import that Butel result, and edit to your liking before exporting to text or csv and then import into EZ-Scan.

When doing these type of things you always first enter a couple of channels in the scan list you intend to use and export and look how the file are configured, where the frequency are and its name tag and where the scan list number are, and then you build on that, preferable in Excel.

/Ubbe