Using SDS100 as Base Scanner?

[emsflyer84]

Hey all, I just got my SDS100 which I LOVE so far. I’m using it fir a Broadcastify feed so it’s kept in my house wired to a roof antenna.

My question is, does atone know if there are any long term issues with leaving it plugged in all the time? Like degrading the battery, overheating, etc?

There are several charge modes, right now it’s set to charge while plugged in. So I have a green light on the scanner. If I turn that mode off, there are no red or green lights, but it stays powered up so I don’t know if it’s just bypassing the battery?

Ideally I’d like to just bypass the battery and run off AC power. I just don’t know the best settings to use.

Thanks in advance!

 

[trentbob]

Just use the wall wart and a micro USB cable that goes into the other receptacle. That just runs the radio off of AC and bypasses the battery. I would recommend not having a capacity in the battery of more than 80%. That's your answer.

 

[donc13]

Hey all, I just got my SDS100 which I LOVE so far. I’m using it fir a Broadcastify feed so it’s kept in my house wired to a roof antenna.

My question is, does atone know if there are any long term issues with leaving it plugged in all the time? Like degrading the battery, overheating, etc?

There are several charge modes, right now it’s set to charge while plugged in. So I have a green light on the scanner. If I turn that mode off, there are no red or green lights, but it stays powered up so I don’t know if it’s just bypassing the battery?

Ideally I’d like to just bypass the battery and run off AC power. I just don’t know the best settings to use.

Thanks in advance!

I don't know specifically about the SDS100, but in the past, using a bcd396t, I simply removed the batteries and used the AC adapter.

Now, the bcd396t didn't use an SD card and the SDS100 does, and using the AC adapter (power outage) to turn an SDS100 on and off can cause problems with the SD card, so you should always keep a backup SD card around and keep your scanner settings, etc up to date in Sentinel.

 

[Randyk4661]

Just use the wall wart and a micro USB cable that goes into the other receptacle. That just runs the radio off of AC and bypasses the battery. I would recommend not having a capacity in the battery of more than 80%. That's your answer.

I wouldn't leave it plugged into the charge jack, the other jack to run the radio just as Trentbob suggested above would be better. I do this when I just want to listen while working at my computer. Handheld scanners were not meant to be run constantly. If you only run it a few hours I don't think you will have any problems. Leave it on 24/7 I think you're asking for trouble especially with the SD card. The other concern I have is the radio gets warm and if you leave it on all the time heat damage might start to occur over time. I wouldn't use a case if it is just sitting on the desk. And one last thing, Exercise the battery once in a while just so it won't get lazy. Nothing worse than a battery with only an 30 minutes of use time when the battery never gets used. You might want to consider getting a SDS200 unit sometime in the future?

 

[captainmax1]

I have left my two SDS100's on since I bought them new when they were released a few years ago. I keep them powered through the top non-charging jack. I use battery power while away from home. My three 536's, 436 and BCT15X have been on for 6-7 years. I have other radios that stay on 24/7 also. No problem.

 

[AB5ID]

You could always leave it on charge if you used a plug in the wall timer to charge it X number of hours per day to maintain a battery no higher than 80% as trentbob suggested.

 

[awhitej2002]

I keep mine in my car hooked up to the cigarette lighter the whole time. I have yet to have any problems with my batteries.

 

[natedawg1604]

Wow so do you have other radios adequate for every day monitoring? That must be nice to have an SDS dedicated as a feed radio.

 

[iMONITOR]

My question is, does atone know if there are any long term issues with leaving it plugged in all the time? Like degrading the battery, overheating, etc?

Check your lithium battery pack daily as there have been reported swelling problems with some and they can become unpredictable, dangerous and destructive!

 

[emsflyer84]

Wow so do you have other radios adequate for every day monitoring? That must be nice to have an SDS dedicated as a feed radio.

Funny you say that, I have a Whistler TRX-1 and a Bearcat BCD325P2. But now that I have the SDS I really want to take it with me everywhere! It’s such a nice unit, leaving it tucked away in a corner in the house seems silly. But it works so damn well for my feed I almost need to keep it for that. I guess I need another SDS for the road

 

[natedawg1604]

Funny you say that, I have a Whistler TRX-1 and a Bearcat BCD325P2. But now that I have the SDS I really want to take it with me everywhere! It’s such a nice unit, leaving it tucked away in a corner in the house seems silly. But it works so damn well for my feed I almost need to keep it for that. I guess I need another SDS for the road

If you aren't familiar, you should seriously consider getting a couple of $25 SDR dongles and DSD+ fastlane or maybe OP-25, they work great for a low $$, high quality feed setup. It's a lot cheaper than getting another SDS. If you're gonna buy a second SDS, get a 200 for the car!

 

[emsflyer84]

If you aren't familiar, you should seriously consider getting a couple of $25 SDR dongles and DSD+ fastlane or maybe OP-25, they work great for a low $$, high quality feed setup. It's a lot cheaper than getting another SDS. If you're gonna buy a second SDS, get a 200 for the car!

Im very intrigued by the SDR idea… I don’t know enough about it. But yea, if there was a way to use an SDR for a feed and keep the SDS100 available for mobile scanning, I’m all for it! Any help with the idea would be great. For instance, I have no idea what you mean by DSD or OP-25…

 

[cmjonesinc]

The most difficult part is getting dsd set up. But even that isn't very difficult. Just a bit of a learning curve. I would highly recommend dsd fastlane. It's the paid version. But fastlane and 2 sdr dongles make a great setup and you can use that sds for other stuff. I use 2 of these.

Nooelec - Nooelec NESDR SMArt v5 SDR - HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) RTL-SDR. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio

<p>This premium RTL-SDR was designed, developed and fabricated by Nooelec in the USA and Canada. It allows you to turn your computer, phone or tablet into a radio scanner/ham radio receiver that can receive nearly all RF signals! Compatible with Windows,

www.nooelec.com

Here's dsd

DSDPlus Fast Lane Program – DSDPlus

 

[emsflyer84]

The most difficult part is getting dsd set up. But even that isn't very difficult. Just a bit of a learning curve. I would highly recommend dsd fastlane. It's the paid version. But fastlane and 2 sdr dongles make a great setup and you can use that sds for other stuff. I use 2 of these.

Nooelec - Nooelec NESDR SMArt v5 SDR - HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) RTL-SDR. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio

<p>This premium RTL-SDR was designed, developed and fabricated by Nooelec in the USA and Canada. It allows you to turn your computer, phone or tablet into a radio scanner/ham radio receiver that can receive nearly all RF signals! Compatible with Windows,

www.nooelec.com

Here's dsd

DSDPlus Fast Lane Program – DSDPlus

Thanks, I’ll play around with this idea. Makes sense to me to use a system like this for an online feed as I’m really not making use of any of the great features of the SDS buy having it just scanning all the same stuff all the time and having it sit on a shelf 24/7.

I’m so new to the SDR idea, does it have similar scanning performance when set up properly? For example, my Broadcastify feed scans probably 40 frequencies in my county (all conventional analog or digital P25), would an SDR setup work in a similar way to a traditional scanner?

 

[jonwienke]

There's no problem leaving a SDS100 plugged in to USB power 24/7/365. The charger charges the battery until it reaches just over 4.2V, and then it shuts off. It doesn't turn on again until you power cycle the unit, or battery voltage drops to about 3.9V. So it's not constantly cooking the battery.

 

[sfb88]

Just for information, a web site called Scanner School offers a free beginners SDR course and a paid advanced course. Perhaps they may be useful.

 

[Xray]

What is the purpose of leaving a radio on 24/7, saving wear & tear on the on/off dial ?

I actually misplaced my 100, hasn't been seen in weeks I am getting a little worried.

 

[GlobalNorth]

I used my SDS100 as a primary base radio for months, until the SDS200 units were available. With simulcast here, it worked great with only an antenna upgrade.

 

[emsflyer84]

What is the purpose of leaving a radio on 24/7, saving wear & tear on the on/off dial ?

I actually misplaced my 100, hasn't been seen in weeks I am getting a little worried.

It’s used for a Broadcastify feed, needs to be on 24/7

 

[thesid]

I keep mine in my car hooked up to the cigarette lighter the whole time. I have yet to have any problems with my batteries.

I do not think starting the vehicle with it plugged in is very healthy for the scanner. It is not healthy to do that to a cell phone.