SDS100 Review From The Road

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RadioDitch

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So as soon as I got my SDS100 it began getting put through it's paces pretty good being on the road. I had one minor issue, which I believe was caused by UPS's "world class" handling (and dropping) procedures, but it was a quick fix and since all has been good.

Initial testing took place on three sites, one simulcast and two not, of the West Virginia SIRN P25 system. No distortion at all, no dropping audio out on the highway. In weak signal conditions non-simulcast with 1-2 bars on the meter driving through the deep holler at a property we own in Morgan County, flanked with 940ft and 760ft ridges on either side respectively, the SDS100 was barely skipping. We've never been able to get a completely reliable decode while moving along the river before, only when stopped with a 436HP or HP2. Granted, not simulcast, but it is P25 trunked. Consistent results on a Larsen triband roof mounted, and a Diamond RH77CA.

Also in WV in terms of conventional in the AAR band, it adequately pulled in 14 miles to the east and 11 miles to the west. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that even with a full size Stationmaster on a 30ft pole, there's multiple 700ft+ ridges in the way. There was actually a moment where it was receiving the defect detector 13mi away (at 3 watts) before it broke squelch on my commercial rig. Gooood stuff.

In New Jersey, with high RF density and nearly all simulcast systems it remained consistent. On the New Jersey ICS P25 Phase II system it received and held the West Orange Simulcast solid, and flawlessly decoded everything. I thought it was a busy day, until I realized that my x36HP's and HP2 really had been that bad. On the Union County Simulcast it was about even with my x36HP's and HP2, but that's more to do with Union County's Communications Unit being artists at what they do than the radio. It also performed flawlessly on the North Simulcast of NJSP's Motorola Type II SmartZone Omnilink analog trunked system, which can be a problem with other scanners. Overall it worked great in North Jersey which is an environment that is just loaded with RF and interference. This all was also monitored on a Larsen Tri-Band, hole mounted on the roof of my truck, running regular old RG58, all units powered by rechargables.

In New York City, it worked great on the Metro-25 Simulcast in the concrete and steel canyons of midtown Manhattan. And honestly? Midtown is RF hell. There's moments your cell phone barely works. But the SDS100 held it's own, with only a few quick smidges of drop out around Times Square, which I would expect from any radio.

The big test today was a system that even some authorized users have an issue with, Connecticut State Police's Motorola SmartZone system, using P25 and multiple simulcasts. There's a particular stretch of the Merritt Parkway between Stamford and Trumbull where I've never had any scanner that wouldn't fall silent due to choking on the decode. On the Troop G Simulcast, the SDS100 noticeably struggled, but it was able to manage to process more data to audio than anything else ever had. It was a significant difference proportionately. The CSP SmartZone system is a pain in the butt period, just junk. So it actually says A LOT that the SDS100 even was able to do what it did. This was on a Larsen triband then a Maxrad MAX8375 800MHz. Same results.

Overall, very satisfied. I haven't had the backlight issue or reported EDACS issue. Battery life was about 6hrs, but that is something UPMan and the guys already know about and have a solution for. And honestly? Not a big deal, I just plugged it in to my truck's 12v. I'll be patiently waiting for a mobile version, whenever that happens down the road.

Really good design and performance.
 
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Nasby

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Great review. Very detailed and easy to undestand.
You really had your SDS running a full marathon.
 

mkt853

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CT
So as soon as I got my SDS100 it began getting put through it's paces pretty good being on the road. I had one minor issue, which I believe was caused by UPS's "world class" handling (and dropping) procedures, but it was a quick fix and since all has been good.

Initial testing took place on three sites, one simulcast and two not, of the West Virginia SIRN P25 system. No distortion at all, no dropping audio out on the highway. In weak signal conditions non-simulcast with 1-2 bars on the meter driving through the deep holler at a property we own in Morgan County, flanked with 940ft and 760ft ridges on either side respectively, the SDS100 was barely skipping. We've never been able to get a completely reliable decode while moving along the river before, only when stopped with a 436HP or HP2. Granted, not simulcast, but it is P25 trunked. Consistent results on a Larsen triband roof mounted, and a Diamond RH77CA.

Also in WV in terms of conventional in the AAR band, it adequately pulled in 14 miles to the east and 11 miles to the west. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that even with a full size Stationmaster on a 30ft pole, there's multiple 700ft+ ridges in the way. There was actually a moment where it was receiving the defect detector 13mi away (at 3 watts) before it broke squelch on my commercial rig. Gooood stuff.

In New Jersey, with high RF density and nearly all simulcast systems it remained consistent. On the New Jersey ICS P25 Phase II system it received and held the West Orange Simulcast solid, and flawlessly decoded everything. I thought it was a busy day, until I realized that my x36HP's and HP2 really had been that bad. On the Union County Simulcast it was about even with my x36HP's and HP2, but that's more to do with Union County's Communications Unit being artists at what they do than the radio. It also performed flawlessly on the North Simulcast of NJSP's Motorola Type II SmartZone Omnilink analog trunked system, which can be a problem with other scanners. Overall it worked great in North Jersey which is an environment that is just loaded with RF and interference. This all was also monitored on a Larsen Tri-Band, hole mounted on the roof of my truck, running regular old RG58, all units powered by rechargables.

In New York City, it worked great on the Metro-25 Simulcast in the concrete and steel canyons of midtown Manhattan. And honestly? Midtown is RF hell. There's moments your cell phone barely works. But the SDS100 held it's own, with only a few quick smidges of drop out around Times Square, which I would expect from any radio.

The big test today was a system that even some authorized users have an issue with, Connecticut State Police's Motorola SmartZone system, using P25 and multiple simulcasts. There's a particular stretch of the Merritt Parkway between Stamford and Trumbull where I've never had any scanner that wouldn't fall silent due to choking on the decode. On the Troop G Simulcast, the SDS100 noticeably struggled, but it was able to manage to process more data to audio than anything else ever had. It was a significant difference proportionately. The CSP SmartZone system is a pain in the butt period, just junk. So it actually says A LOT that the SDS100 even was able to do what it did. This was on a Larsen triband then a Maxrad MAX8375 800MHz. Same results.

Overall, very satisfied. I haven't had the backlight issue or reported EDACS issue. Battery life was about 6hrs, but that is something UPMan and the guys already know about and have a solution for. And honestly? Not a big deal, I just plugged it in to my truck's 12v. I'll be patiently waiting for a mobile version, whenever that happens down the road.

Really good design and performance.

CSP troop G isn't on the old 800 MHz Type II SmartZone system anymore. CSP in the western half of the state moved to the new statewide P25 700 MHz system a while ago. Never had a problem with the old 800 MHz system - been monitoring that one going back to the days of the 296 and 796. The 700 MHz system can be problematic though, and the SDS100 does a great job with it. Audio is about as clear as you can get, and I haven't had any issues with missing transmissions or garbled audio.
 

RadioDitch

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CSP troop G isn't on the old 800 MHz Type II SmartZone system anymore. CSP in the western half of the state moved to the new statewide P25 700 MHz system a while ago. Never had a problem with the old 800 MHz system - been monitoring that one going back to the days of the 296 and 796. The 700 MHz system can be problematic though, and the SDS100 does a great job with it. Audio is about as clear as you can get, and I haven't had any issues with missing transmissions or garbled audio.

Crap. Not sure how I forgot about that. There were still certainly users on the Type II SZ System, including Troop G simulcast. There was traffic on it. Either way though, I've never, ever had anything but problems with it.
 
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mkt853

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Crap. Not sure how I forgot about that. There were still certainly users on the Type II SZ System, including Troop G simulcast. There was traffic on it. Either way though, I've never, ever had anything but problems with it.

Oh yeah there are definitely still users on the troop G simulcast zone of the old 800 MHz system. The MTA is probably the most common user since most of the Metro North stations are in Fairfield County. The DEEP police are probably the next most common talk group that you'll see on troop G simulcast. Every now and again a CSP talk group that has yet to switch over to the new system but affiliates with a troop G site pops up.
 

mike1988

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Brandon Fl
So as soon as I got my SDS100 it began getting put through it's paces pretty good being on the road. I had one minor issue, which I believe was caused by UPS's "world class" handling (and dropping) procedures, but it was a quick fix and since all has been good.

Initial testing took place on three sites, one simulcast and two not, of the West Virginia SIRN P25 system. No distortion at all, no dropping audio out on the highway. In weak signal conditions non-simulcast with 1-2 bars on the meter driving through the deep holler at a property we own in Morgan County, flanked with 940ft and 760ft ridges on either side respectively, the SDS100 was barely skipping. We've never been able to get a completely reliable decode while moving along the river before, only when stopped with a 436HP or HP2. Granted, not simulcast, but it is P25 trunked. Consistent results on a Larsen triband roof mounted, and a Diamond RH77CA.

Also in WV in terms of conventional in the AAR band, it adequately pulled in 14 miles to the east and 11 miles to the west. Doesn't sound like much until you realize that even with a full size Stationmaster on a 30ft pole, there's multiple 700ft+ ridges in the way. There was actually a moment where it was receiving the defect detector 13mi away (at 3 watts) before it broke squelch on my commercial rig. Gooood stuff.

In New Jersey, with high RF density and nearly all simulcast systems it remained consistent. On the New Jersey ICS P25 Phase II system it received and held the West Orange Simulcast solid, and flawlessly decoded everything. I thought it was a busy day, until I realized that my x36HP's and HP2 really had been that bad. On the Union County Simulcast it was about even with my x36HP's and HP2, but that's more to do with Union County's Communications Unit being artists at what they do than the radio. It also performed flawlessly on the North Simulcast of NJSP's Motorola Type II SmartZone Omnilink analog trunked system, which can be a problem with other scanners. Overall it worked great in North Jersey which is an environment that is just loaded with RF and interference. This all was also monitored on a Larsen Tri-Band, hole mounted on the roof of my truck, running regular old RG58, all units powered by rechargables.

In New York City, it worked great on the Metro-25 Simulcast in the concrete and steel canyons of midtown Manhattan. And honestly? Midtown is RF hell. There's moments your cell phone barely works. But the SDS100 held it's own, with only a few quick smidges of drop out around Times Square, which I would expect from any radio.

The big test today was a system that even some authorized users have an issue with, Connecticut State Police's Motorola SmartZone system, using P25 and multiple simulcasts. There's a particular stretch of the Merritt Parkway between Stamford and Trumbull where I've never had any scanner that wouldn't fall silent due to choking on the decode. On the Troop G Simulcast, the SDS100 noticeably struggled, but it was able to manage to process more data to audio than anything else ever had. It was a significant difference proportionately. The CSP SmartZone system is a pain in the butt period, just junk. So it actually says A LOT that the SDS100 even was able to do what it did. This was on a Larsen triband then a Maxrad MAX8375 800MHz. Same results.

Overall, very satisfied. I haven't had the backlight issue or reported EDACS issue. Battery life was about 6hrs, but that is something UPMan and the guys already know about and have a solution for. And honestly? Not a big deal, I just plugged it in to my truck's 12v. I'll be patiently waiting for a mobile version, whenever that happens down the road.

Really good design and performance.



What is the solution on the battery not lasting long? I just purchased the sds 100 today.


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jonwienke

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What is the solution on the battery not lasting long? I just purchased the sds 100 today.

Uniden is shipping a larger battery and battery door for free to users who puchased first-run scanners with the small battery.
 

mike1988

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Ok. So when my scanner arrives do I need to do anything to get the better battery from uniden?


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jonwienke

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Register it with my.uniden.com. Instructions are in the box.
 

KN4C

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Ok. So when my scanner arrives do I need to do anything to get the better battery from uniden?


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Just register it online with Uniden and make sure your address current.
 

SteveSimpkin

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Ok great. Thank you. What antenna do you recommend? I'm in Tampa Florida.
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Be aware that the SDS100 has a raised area around the antenna base that helps provide its water resistant rating. This makes it incompatible with most SMA antennas. The included SMA to BNC adapter allows you to use BNC antennas. Because of this, you might want to consider using the BNC (male) version of any antenna you may be planning to use.
 

TailGator911

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Very good review, Radio Ditch. You certainly put the SDS100 through the mill in your tested areas. It's positive reviews such as this that make me wonder if the negative reviewers are simply missing something in their programming sequences. Midtown Manhattan? That is truly a test.
 

jdeverett

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TailGator911, The most logical response to an excellent review.



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RadioDitch

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Very good review, Radio Ditch. You certainly put the SDS100 through the mill in your tested areas. It's positive reviews such as this that make me wonder if the negative reviewers are simply missing something in their programming sequences. Midtown Manhattan? That is truly a test.

I think a lot of them also didn't do the applicable firmware updates.
 

scosgt

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Very good review, Radio Ditch. You certainly put the SDS100 through the mill in your tested areas. It's positive reviews such as this that make me wonder if the negative reviewers are simply missing something in their programming sequences. Midtown Manhattan? That is truly a test.

Don't get caught. Scanners are illegal in cars in New York State
 

sfb88

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Baltimore, MD
Kind of OT but I am curious. Radio Ditch references hams in his sig. Does having a ham license make having a scanner in your car legal?
 
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