SDS100/SDS200: SDS and Unication technology

[scanmanmi]

What are the technological differences between Unication and the SDS? After realizing scanner mfg were making radios they knew were incapable of correctly decoding simulcast I was upset. Then I read all the wonderful reviews of the Unication but it's not a scanner. Then came the SDS with lots of promises and lots of the reviews are terrible or not as expected. Why can't someone make a scanner that works as well as the Unication? Is it a different patented technology?

 

[letarotor]

My SDS100 works great and fixed my my simulcast reception problems...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[mharris]

What are the technological differences between Unication and the SDS? After realizing scanner mfg were making radios they knew were incapable of correctly decoding simulcast I was upset. Then I read all the wonderful reviews of the Unication but it's not a scanner. Then came the SDS with lots of promises and lots of the reviews are terrible or not as expected. Why can't someone make a scanner that works as well as the Unication? Is it a different patented technology?

The Uniden has an inexpensive consumer grade TV tuner on board for SDR. The Unication G Series uses commercial grade components. Thats one of the differences between the two.

 

[scanmanmi]

The Uniden has an inexpensive consumer grade TV tuner on board for SDR. The Unication G Series uses commercial grade components. Thats one of the differences between the two.

That's amazing!

 

[seth21w]

The Uniden has an inexpensive consumer grade TV tuner on board for SDR. The Unication G Series uses commercial grade components. Thats one of the differences between the two.

Yes the unication is the same or even greater reception than even subscriber radios such as motorola! The sds100 would not handle my harris system. Sold mine when i saw the g4 in action on the system. It is amazing that it is less than 600 for the g4. I caught mine on sale for 535 for the phase 2.

 

[jonwienke]

The Harris P25 reception issues with the SDS100 have been mostly fixed with the recent firmware updates.

The Unication units have been out for several years, so their firmware has had more time for refinement and bug fixes. It's also easier to debug firmware for a device with limited functionality; the Unications don't do DMR or NXDN, just P25 and analog, are dual band rather than multi band, and lack many basic scanner features. They do one job very well, but only one job.

Not sure where you're getting the notion that most SDS100 reviews are terrible. Look at the rating comparison spreadsheet and the SDS100 stacks up pretty well against everything else, including the Unications.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pDX7yhQP03RC7yOzeAnkH530ux9hQcNpIirA4CnpS3M/edit#gid=0

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

My SDS100 works great and fixed my simulcast reception problems.

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Same here!! It's great to hear all of my county's system from my house, rather than 70% to 75% of it.

 

[SOFA_KING]

I believe the SDS100 is a dud, and will go down in the history books as such. Just too many bad points to ignore. Honest reports from bigger city areas say it's overloaded beyond any use. One can only imagine how many images it's plagued with. If I had one, I'd tell you how many images issues it has, as I would test that. I'm sure some test results will eventually surface. I'm not wasting all that money on a dog like the SDS100. Just my opinion, it's not worth it.

People will defend it (and their latest new toy 'bragging rights') until a new model with much better technology replaces it...then years later they will finally tell the truth about what it really is. (I've seen that many times here)

Unication set the bar high, and that is what Uniden needed to aim for, especially for that kind of money. Not a current hog that eats Li Ion batteries and generates enough heat to use as a space heater in winter time, all the while generating more NOISE as it gets hot...even enough radiated noise to set off radar detectors! It's a pig. Face it! But I thank those who tried it and were honest about it's faults. Corporate defenders? Not so much.

What's nice about it? The display options. That's about it. Maybe some simulcast performance, but I still do not see Unication like results. That's what I expect, and won't buy-in until they make a model that achieves that level of performance. Sadly, we might have to wait may years for the model that gets it right. Whistler still has a shot at it, but should seriously get their trunking protocols working for all trunking modes. That will be part of their test. Uniden wasted it's effort on this dog, and no 'firmware update' is gonna fix a bad hardware design. Period!

Would a SDSxxx base/mobile model be any better? Nope. I bet not. Same $#!+. They could dissipate heat better with a hefty heat sink, and that might reduce noise, but the potential city overload issues would probably still exist. And how much more would a base/mobile cost? Maybe $1,000 with digital mode add-ons??? Please don't tell me they they are trying to make that an "SDS Home Patrol III" with a tiny (crappy) Home Patrol speaker.

Pass on this line of Uniden scanners. I hope the next line gets it right...and sooner than later.

Phil

 

[Markscan]

For what it’s worth, my SDS100 works as good as my G5 on all my local systems. And I’m using the original firmware.


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[jonwienke]

I believe the SDS100 is a dud, and will go down in the history books as such. Just too many bad points to ignore.

Given that you've never owned one, your opinion isn't worth much. It's working as advertised for most users despite the protestations of a couple of people in Phoenix, one of whom sold his radio before the first firmware update came out.

 

[buddrousa]

Phil unless you try it you will not know. You are listening to the Uniden bashers. Your bashing is like the man that complains about politics and does not vote.

 

[seth21w]

Phil unless you try it you will not know. You are listening to the Uniden bashers. Your bashing is like the man that complains about politics and does not vote.

I have bought it! I am not a basher i loved unidens for years! But the sds100 just doesnt perform as well on the system i listen to that happens to be a harris phase 2 lsm. Especially not with the included antenna. The performance and quality of the unication vs uniden is commercial vs hobbyist.

 

[jonwienke]

I have bought it! I am not a basher i loved unidens for years! But the sds100 just doesnt perform as well on the system i listen to that happens to be a harris phase 2 lsm.

Did you sell your SDS100 before or after the firmware updates that were specifically for Harris P25 systems?

 

[seth21w]

Did you sell your SDS100 before or after the firmware updates that were specifically for Harris P25 systems?

After

 

[UPMan]

So, you sold it yesterday?

 

[mharris]

I just want to say that my SDS100 works well enough that I have no desire to get rid of it, and I will always purchase the latest Uniden scanners because I enjoy using them.

Unfortunately, there will always be a difference in performance between hobby radios and commercial radios. I'm very confident that if Whistler comes up with an offering it will also be inferior to the Unication (or other commercial line) regarding receiver performance.

The good news is that Uniden listened to its fan base, and IS getting closer to offering acceptable performance on these complex systems. We all know that money makes the world go around. If Uniden was convinced they could sell enough units at $1000 a piece they could likely manufacture a winner. The other option would be to manufacture a 700/800Mhz only radio with very tight specs but with scanner features. That's been suggested before but again, when you're running a for profit business you can't always make these ideas work.

If Unication would develop a scanner user only FW for the G series that would be a very good answer. Time will tell....

 

[seth21w]

I just want to say that my SDS100 works well enough that I have no desire to get rid of it, and I will always purchase the latest Uniden scanners because I enjoy using them.

Unfortunately, there will always be a difference in performance between hobby radios and commercial radios. I'm very confident that if Whistler comes up with an offering it will also be inferior to the Unication (or other commercial line) regarding receiver performance.

The good news is that Uniden listened to its fan base, and IS getting closer to offering acceptable performance on these complex systems. We all know that money makes the world go around. If Uniden was convinced they could sell enough units at $1000 a piece they could likely manufacture a winner. The other option would be to manufacture a 700/800Mhz only radio with very tight specs but with scanner features. That's been suggested before but again, when you're running a for profit business you can't always make these ideas work.

If Unication would develop a scanner user only FW for the G series that would be a very good answer. Time will tell....

Thats all good points and a good idea.

 

[seth21w]

So, you sold it yesterday?

I had it on the 1.3.05 i think, i submitted logs and kept doing the beta testing then the official firmware came and it was worse than the 1.02.05b i think it was and it was about that time that i heard the g4 for the first time and compaired the two together simultaneously. That was all she wrote been happy ever since, sold 2 scanners and about 3 antennas i dont need anymore.

 

[BenScan]

I think the answer comes down to focus. Unication pagers are narrowly focused on a particular use in 700/800Mhz or 700/800/VHF or UHF. Scanners are less focused on a particular function and cover a very wide range of frequencies. I don't think scanner makers want to over-price their products, so they can sell more. They have to keep the costs down and make them work mostly ok for a lot of different uses.

I have a dozen or more Unidens and a couple of Whistlers and 4 Unication G4/5s. I now appreciate the quality of a focused product, even if it means less versatility than what a scanner offers. I keep seeing great reports of improved simulcast reception with the SDS-100, but then I'll see reports of other problems or poor reception on non-700/800Mhz P25 trunking. For my area, 700/800 P25 is mostly what I listen to, but there are still some VHF and UHF channels I'd like to monitor, and having DMR would be nice.

I'm not sure what I'll buy next. I'm thinking of getting more Unications and getting rid of some Unidens and Whistlers before giving the SDS-100 a try. Once the new Uniden and Whistler simulcast-capable scanners prove themselves and have production problems ironed out, I might give them another chance. It's hard to get over being burnt by them offering products that didn't work as claimed.

What are the technological differences between Unication and the SDS? After realizing scanner mfg were making radios they knew were incapable of correctly decoding simulcast I was upset. Then I read all the wonderful reviews of the Unication but it's not a scanner. Then came the SDS with lots of promises and lots of the reviews are terrible or not as expected. Why can't someone make a scanner that works as well as the Unication? Is it a different patented technology?

 

[RocketNJ]

Well I sold my Whistler TRX-2 since it could not correctly decode DMR RAS and it kept corrupting the SD card (poor design).

The SDS100 decodes the county P25 phase 1 system, state interoperability phase 2, and local DMR with RAS so very happy with performance.

The takeaway is buy what works for what you want to decode.