Sentinel: What software is best for the SDS 200 ?
- Thread starter KG5KS
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I use Sentinel (free from Uniden) and ProScan.
My suggestion would be use Sentinel till you understand how to load and run the scanner...
Then you can graduate to using the ProScan software after you understand how your scanner operates...
Then you can graduate to using the ProScan software after you understand how your scanner operates...
So where is the best place to buy the Proscan software ?
So where is the best place to buy the Proscan software ?
ProScan
Computer Aided Scanning Software for the Uniden BC125AT BC250D BC296D BC346XT BC346XTC BC780XLT BC785D BC796D BCD160DN BCD260DN BCD325P2 BCD396T BCD396XT BCD436HP BCD536HP BCD996P2 BCD996T BCD996XT BCT15 BCT15X BR330T SDS100 SDS100E SDS200 SDS200E UBC125XLT UBC126AT UBCD3600XLT UBCD436PT...
and I see you're a RR premium subscriber which is super helpful. There are some that run things without the help of direct importing things to build Lists but geez.....imho, having that subscription makes things SO much easier.
tvengr
Well Known Member
You will still need Sentinel for updating the firmware and database.
Thats pretty much a given...
But thats the only time you would net to revert back to Sentinel...
Proscan,
Excellent!!!
Excellent!!!
Not to be left out; A Butel ARC user;
I’m not going to compare as others have got that covered. I did however list a couple of things to help you make your choice.
Sentinel will always be needed for Uniden Firmware updates but BUTEL ARC PRO and PROSCAN are also available. Here is a link showing a description of the Butel ARC PRO product… ARC536PRO software download
YOU WILL NEED TO VERIFY THE NEXT PARAGRAPH-I COULD HAVE IT WRONG. …WELCOME ANYONE TO JUMP IN WITH CONFIRMATION OR CORRECTIONS;
Another consideration is with Sentinel I believe you can get database updates every week for free, simply by using Sentinel to link up with RR (Radio Reference) without needing to become a “Premium Member” on (RR).
RR is where the database is. In order to get the data to download into whichever software program you use (ARC, SENTINEL, ProScan) you link into it using your software programming, do any editing you think necessary and then, using the appropriate programming cable, send or write your scanner. I’d you use Butel ARC PRO I believe there is a condition set where you must subscribe to RR. But the charge is very reasonable. I also have ProScan but don’t use it and I didn’t research if you need (it’s been a while) to do the same RR subscription as with the Butel ARC product.
I use Butel. I’m NOT saying it’s better than ProScan. And I do believe any popularity survey will show ProScan the overall winner. Maybe because it works with just about every scanner model out there, so, one price gets you more versatility, where the Butel programming is more customized to work optimally on one series of scanners at a time. For example, DMA scanners may use different software than SDS scanners. In my case, I started with Butel before FreeScan and then ProScan came alive. And I just stuck with what I knew.
I’m not going to compare as others have got that covered. I did however list a couple of things to help you make your choice.
Sentinel will always be needed for Uniden Firmware updates but BUTEL ARC PRO and PROSCAN are also available. Here is a link showing a description of the Butel ARC PRO product… ARC536PRO software download
YOU WILL NEED TO VERIFY THE NEXT PARAGRAPH-I COULD HAVE IT WRONG. …WELCOME ANYONE TO JUMP IN WITH CONFIRMATION OR CORRECTIONS;
Another consideration is with Sentinel I believe you can get database updates every week for free, simply by using Sentinel to link up with RR (Radio Reference) without needing to become a “Premium Member” on (RR).
RR is where the database is. In order to get the data to download into whichever software program you use (ARC, SENTINEL, ProScan) you link into it using your software programming, do any editing you think necessary and then, using the appropriate programming cable, send or write your scanner. I’d you use Butel ARC PRO I believe there is a condition set where you must subscribe to RR. But the charge is very reasonable. I also have ProScan but don’t use it and I didn’t research if you need (it’s been a while) to do the same RR subscription as with the Butel ARC product.
I use Butel. I’m NOT saying it’s better than ProScan. And I do believe any popularity survey will show ProScan the overall winner. Maybe because it works with just about every scanner model out there, so, one price gets you more versatility, where the Butel programming is more customized to work optimally on one series of scanners at a time. For example, DMA scanners may use different software than SDS scanners. In my case, I started with Butel before FreeScan and then ProScan came alive. And I just stuck with what I knew.
ProScan too is customized and designed optimally to each scanner..
It's more to do with the features, features, and more features.
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 utility
- Find & Replace utility
- Update Text Tags utility
- Import directly from RRDB. RadioReference subscription required
- Import from the 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) 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
- View the differences between ProScan and the Scanner favorites when writing and reading to and from the scanner
- Modify Uniden (HPDB) Database utility
- Change the system type in one step
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Sentinel, of course, is required to main the database on the HP, x36HP, & SDS series scanners (separate versions, one for the HP-1 & HP-2, a different one for the x36HP & SDS scanners). And, if and when a firmware update is available, then sentinel is needed to handle that task.
A Premium Subscription is required for direct database imports from the RR Database, for both ProScan & the ARC software. It's also needed for imports in FreeSCAN, which does not support any of the database scanners, and does not support DMR and NXDN systems for the P2 series scanners.
There's nothing inherently "wrong" with the ARC software, If you are comfortable with it's layout & operation, then use it,. I try to suggest that new users download & try both ProScan as well as the ARC version for their scanners.
To me, the biggest drawback for the ARC software is it's pricing structure, and the need for multiple versions. Initially, the ARC software programs were specific for a specified model, such as ARC396, ARC996, and and ARC330. Later editions of the software devolved into category software, with several scanners using the same program, such as ARCXT, which covers the XT and P2 series scanners, and ARC536, which is for the x36HP & SDS series scanners. ProScan handles all of the scanner models noted, in one version, and at a single purchase cost (for all of these scanners @ $50. ProScan gives you programming capability, as well as logging & virtual control, in it's one price purchase. For the ARC software, you have to choose between the Basic version, imports & programming only, for about $40, or, if you want logging & control, then the "Pro" version is required, at about $70. So, your choice is either a couple of editions, at either $40 (Basic) or $70 (Pro) each, in order to cover the XT/P2 scanners, & the database scanners (x36HP & SDS), verses a one time, $50, purchase of ProScan which covers all of these, as well as including logging & virtual control. Both the ARC software programs, & ProScan, offer free lifetime updates whether refining the current capabilities or adding new functionality.
The above features (among others), as well as more comfortable pricing, are why I use ProScan instead of buying multiple ARC programs.
To add to the “There's nothing inherently "wrong"” with the ARC software” post, which I agree with in its entirety, concerns what additional features the price of Butel will get you. (This may apply to ProScan also but as am not familiar with ProScan, I will leave that to others.)
I use Butel ARC PRO for the BCD436HP, BCD536HP and the SDS100/SDS200. But regardless of if I purchased the PRO or BASIC edition, I cant expect to download from RadioReference.com (RR), their full database into the ARC PRO software programming without a subscription to RR, which gives me privileges as a “Premium Subscriber”. While this subscription cost is very reasonable, without it I wouldn’t be able to access RR and have this download privilege. But, there IS a workaround if you choose not to become a Premium Member of RR. Using the free Uniden Sentinel software gets you the ability to access the RR database AND download it into the Sentinel program. I believe any licensing costs are paid for by Uniden and passed along to the end users as an inclusion in the price paid for the scanner, which is necessary for firmware updates anyway.
So, using Sentinel gives me access to the RR database which I can update in Sentinel. (RR updates this database on a weekly basis.) And from there I can “write” to my scanner the entire RR database and edit as I please in Sentinel or simply keep whole. I then close out Sentinel and open Butel ARC PRO and “Read” that database from my scanner. Now I have the ARC PRO software fully populated with the same RR database without (personally) subscribing to RR.
But, given that RR has been around for years and never charged anything to access their compilation of frequency listings submitted by everyday average scanner enthusiasts, there was obviously a need to finance the cost of such an operation so when RR asked for donations, I donated. Today, that free database is still available at RadioReference.com. The “Premium Subscriber” comes into play when using the automatic download feature when using aftermarket software such as Butel and ProScan. I commend RR’s efforts along with other regional frequency compilation sites for their ambitious work, who considered their efforts as an expansion of the hobby, at least initially. To that end, I encourage supporting these sites, either formally through their subscriptions programs or just sending them some of your spare change, whatever you can afford.
I use Butel ARC PRO for the BCD436HP, BCD536HP and the SDS100/SDS200. But regardless of if I purchased the PRO or BASIC edition, I cant expect to download from RadioReference.com (RR), their full database into the ARC PRO software programming without a subscription to RR, which gives me privileges as a “Premium Subscriber”. While this subscription cost is very reasonable, without it I wouldn’t be able to access RR and have this download privilege. But, there IS a workaround if you choose not to become a Premium Member of RR. Using the free Uniden Sentinel software gets you the ability to access the RR database AND download it into the Sentinel program. I believe any licensing costs are paid for by Uniden and passed along to the end users as an inclusion in the price paid for the scanner, which is necessary for firmware updates anyway.
So, using Sentinel gives me access to the RR database which I can update in Sentinel. (RR updates this database on a weekly basis.) And from there I can “write” to my scanner the entire RR database and edit as I please in Sentinel or simply keep whole. I then close out Sentinel and open Butel ARC PRO and “Read” that database from my scanner. Now I have the ARC PRO software fully populated with the same RR database without (personally) subscribing to RR.
But, given that RR has been around for years and never charged anything to access their compilation of frequency listings submitted by everyday average scanner enthusiasts, there was obviously a need to finance the cost of such an operation so when RR asked for donations, I donated. Today, that free database is still available at RadioReference.com. The “Premium Subscriber” comes into play when using the automatic download feature when using aftermarket software such as Butel and ProScan. I commend RR’s efforts along with other regional frequency compilation sites for their ambitious work, who considered their efforts as an expansion of the hobby, at least initially. To that end, I encourage supporting these sites, either formally through their subscriptions programs or just sending them some of your spare change, whatever you can afford.
As noted, even without a paid subscription, you can always access the database files in Sentinel. That will show all of the systems in a given location, excepting those which were updated after the current database pull, done each Sunday. Those will show up after the next database update. The other category of systems that you won't be able to append from the database would be system types that no scanner can receive, or trunked systems that, as yet, do not have any talkgroups listed.
You can carefully select Departments in a trunked system, or conventional system channels & append those. However, for larger regional or statewide trunked systems, appending anything from one of those will also append all of the system's sites. If you are using location control, whether manually entering your location or using a GPS, your scanner will ignore the out of range sites. But if not using location, then you would need to either selectively delete the unwanted sites, or set that as Avoid.
When importing via software as a premium subscriber, whether using ProScan or ARC, you can select only the sites (as well as talkgroups) of interest in your area.
Note that ProScan (and presumably the ARC software) allows you to copy data from a webpage or other document to the Windows clipboard, then selectively paste it into the appropriate fields in the software. You can do that even without a paid subscription.
Not sure I follow… if I understand you correctly the file we can pull from RR using Sentinel won’t allow for appending? What about AFTER it’s read into ProScan or ARC PRO? Are there certain parameters missing in the Sentinel software? That’s not my experience… yet anyway…
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