You bought an used/new scanner, now how do I program it?

[iMONITOR]

Take a look at message 6 of this thread and you'll quickly learn why "read the manual' is often the wrong answer

Mike

OEM user manuals are usually written early on during the development of a scanner before it even exist. Just like computer software manuals, they were written by programmers that know the software inside and out and they often assume a lot. The manuals are often written by people that don't even speak or understand English and they need to be translated. The SDS100 was designed in Japan, manufactured in Vietnam, and supported by a Paul Opitz who was going though a very serious battle with cancer at that time and during it's release. Things were destined to be left out, misunderstood, and even left to the imagination.

The answer I often see here on RR is not "read the manual" rather a link to "Easier To Read" manuals, and as you said yourself, Youtube instructional videos. When I have referred a user to the manual, I also noted the page number that contains the information they either missed, or didn't read to begin with.

 

[ka3jjz]

The thing that really irks me is that much of the problem of publishing manuals, regardless of the point at which they are written, is not getting any cheaper. Uniden could have used their own TWiki to add details and features as they came along, and there's virtually no publishing costs. Paul's demise couldn't have come at a worse time, God knows, and now we're left with figuring out things almost on our own. We do get some help from time to time, to be sure, and I've attempted to gather the things that we discover into our own wiki. But in reality, it belongs elsewhere. Translations aside, I would bet that there would be a fair number of native English speakers that would love to get their hands on a new product. But sadly those days seem to be gone. And of course, there's the issue of NDAs that would complicate matters. It's not a pretty situation to be sure

 

[ka3aaa]

you will learn how to use and program it by playing with it and reading the manual, its that simple

 

[ka3jjz]

No it really isn't, if you take your viewpoint of that of a newcomer. But you're entitled to your opinion. I would wager good money, though, that at least some of the SDSs you see for sale are from newcomers who get very frustrated because the manual is so incomplete. They might not know about this site and the extensive wikis we have, and lose interest

Mike

 

[K7MFC]

Part of the fun is figuring it out too! Otherwise it’s just an appliance

 

[tvengr]

Part of the fun is figuring it out too! Otherwise it’s just an appliance

I'm still trying to figure out how to operate my microwave oven. Scanners are simple!

 

[KT4HX]

I bought my SDS200 after being away from scanners for a while. The last current model I had was the BCD996P2 (using Free Scan). I sold it when I Iost interest in the hobby about six years ago. Astronomy is my primary hobby and I was devoting most of my time to that at the time, and still do. But I made room to return to scanning in a small way, though not a cheap way. We have a lot of simulcast in our region, so I decided to go in for a pound, in for a lot of pennies with the SDS200.

Anyway, I will say I was intimidated by the SDS200 initially. But after watching a few YouTube videos, reading some posts here and becoming familiar with Sentinel before and after receipt of the scanner, it went pretty well. A few little hiccups from time to time, but over a year of owning it I am feeling pretty comfortable. While I do not use it nearly as much as a lot of folks use their scanners because it is my secondary hobby, and there are several functions I do not use, I am happy that I bought it and it wasn't nearly as daunting as I had feared.

 

[dmchalmers]

As I mentioned above, my main beef with the “easier to read” manuals is that the author just copied the contents of the original owner’s manuals pretty much verbatim, even the illustrations. There’s hardly any original writing or information in the ones I’ve read. I don’t disagree that the Uniden manufacturer’s owners manual can be lacking, but I seriously fail to see any significant advantage of those “easier to read” manuals. Other than they’re online and the content is organized a bit differently.

Sorry to say i recieved more help as a beginner with Digital from Marks Scanners an YOU Tube.