Supported SD cards for Whistler Scanners

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AggieCon

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Howdy,

Other than the micro SD card that came with your scanner, I should appreciate it if you post micro SD cards that are confirmed to work with a Whistler scanner. Links to purchase would be awesome too.

I am trying a Kingston micro SDHC, Class 10, 32 GB. It's giving me error 3-01. I know this SD card is good -- it works fine in a dashcam that is much more demanding. I've formatted it a couple different ways, read other threads, etc. Before I start clearing and reformatting a ton of cards (all of which will be 32 GB or more), I'd like to be more informed. Likely, I'll just buy one which someone else can attest to.

Does anyone know of published specs for what types, sizes, and makes of micro SD cards are supported with these scanners?

Also, where can one find what the error codes mean? The guide says look online in the FAQ, and the FAQ has just one entry at the very bottom regarding getting an error code (which, according to that, all errors are caused by a corrupted SD card...).

From experience, code 3-00 is for no SD card and 3-01 has something to do with it not liking the SD card (but I'm not sure what it's looking for to throw the 3-01 error).

Note, there is a similar old thread that didn't pick up much steam, related to just the 1095 http://forums.radioreference.com/whistler-scanners/316612-what-sd-card-you-using-thread.html. I don't think it matters which newer Whistler scanner handheld model you have (mine is 1080). I guess the mobile models might use big SD cards instead of micro SD. To be sure, list which models the card worked with. Extra :lol: if you post the boot up time.

I'd prefer to find one of at least 4 GB since I record a lot.

Thanks,

Justin
 
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MichaelBhere

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Howdy,

Other than the micro SD card that came with your scanner, I should appreciate it if you post micro SD cards that are confirmed to work with a Whistler scanner. Links to purchase would be awesome too.

I am trying a Kingston micro SDHC, Class 10, 32 GB. It's giving me error 3-01. I know this SD card is good -- it works fine in a dashcam that is much more demanding. I've formatted it a couple different ways, read other threads, etc. Before I start clearing and reformatting a ton of cards (all of which will be 32 GB or more), I'd like to be more informed. Likely, I'll just buy one which someone else can attest to.

Does anyone know of published specs for what types, sizes, and makes of micro SD cards are supported with these scanners?

Also, where can one find what the error codes mean? The guide says look online in the FAQ, and the FAQ has just one entry at the very bottom regarding getting an error code (which, according to that, all errors are caused by a corrupted SD card...).

From experience, code 3-00 is for no SD card and 3-01 has something to do with it not liking the SD card (but I'm not sure what it's looking for to throw the 3-01 error).

Note, there is a similar old thread that didn't pick up much steam, related to just the 1095 http://forums.radioreference.com/whistler-scanners/316612-what-sd-card-you-using-thread.html. I don't think it matters which newer Whistler scanner handheld model you have (mine is 1080). I guess the mobile models might use big SD cards instead of micro SD. To be sure, list which models the card worked with. Extra :lol: if you post the boot up time.

I'd prefer to find one of at least 4 GB since I record a lot.

Thanks,

Justin

I have had no issues using SanDisk
 

SCPD

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The thing .. and something that few understand. These scanners do not need a high speed card .. and in fact are less likely to work with the newer / faster cards.

So .. go to the dollar store or wherever you can find the cheapest cards you can find.

I did post a few cards that worked well with these scanners in an old thread (I see you found it) .. but what I found in my testing was that the high end cards actually performed worse than the 'cheap *** junk cards' when it came to drop outs when doing audio recording.

I have a few microSD cards in my drawer that will not work with my scanners, but are fine in other devices. The moral .. faster is not always better. These things just do not need fast at all. Even the lowly class 4 cards are more than adequate for the job.

I have a few SD cards for my 1095 that are the same as the factory ones .. dirt cheap on Ebay and work better than the high end cards for audio recording with less drop outs.

Btw 3-01 is .. "General Error initializing the system". So SD card issue, and the fact that it works in another device means nothing. Some cards will just not work in these scanners.

Bootup time is 1 second per GB on all these scanners.
 

AggieCon

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So you haven't seen any class 4 cards fail to work? Have you personally had success with anything over 4 GB?

For all of my other uses, I need fast cards, so I'm going to be sad if I spend money on SD cards that are essentially worthless for me (if they too fail to work in the scanner).
 

W6KRU

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So you haven't seen any class 4 cards fail to work? Have you personally had success with anything over 4 GB?

For all of my other uses, I need fast cards, so I'm going to be sad if I spend money on SD cards that are essentially worthless for me (if they too fail to work in the scanner).

So save the good cards for your "other uses" and put the cheap stuff in the scanner. :confused:
 

AggieCon

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I want to identify cheap stuff that actually works in the scanner before I go off and buy it. If the cheap stuff won't work in the scanner, then it is trash. I currently don't have any lower end cards, other than the one supplied with the scanner.
 

W6KRU

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I want to identify cheap stuff that actually works in the scanner before I go off and buy it. If the cheap stuff won't work in the scanner, then it is trash. I currently don't have any lower end cards, other than the one supplied with the scanner.

It's not like it's enough to worry over. Cheap cards can had for less than a cup of coffee at SB or a burger at McDs. If you buy one that doesn't work just bin it and buy a different one.
 

AggieCon

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I don't do SBs. Or McDonnalds for that matter. And, frankly, anything is enough for me to worry about. I suppose most folks are just using the card that came with their scanner and nothing else.
 

SCPD

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FWIW .. I use 4 GB factory cards in my WS-1095 and 16 GB Kingston cards in my PSR-800. None of them are expensive and no issues with drop outs for audio recording (what the main purpose of those scanners are).
 

AC9BX

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I would not waste my time nor money with higher than class 4 for these scanners, they serve no purpose and as stated may perform poorly compared to slower cards.

I too want a larger card because I record a lot. I've only had a 1095 for a day now and the experience is not favorable. (I'll stay on topic here) I've had a great deal of trouble programming, lots of errors, and with the radio left on overnight which I always do anyway by morning it had en error. Restarting I got "nothing to scan", the card was empty.

The instructions say:
"The SD card comes formatted for the standard FAT file system with a cluster size of 32k."

Mine shipped with 4GB SDHC card by Lexar formatted with FAT32. Typically they make the very best stuff. Their USB flash drives are second to none, high speed USB3 ones are awesome. San Disk is among the worst. Just because it's popular doesn't make it best. At any rate ... Maybe that's not the factory method and the seller did something. I suspected the package was previously opened. Maybe it was a return resold with the customer's card? I grabbed an old 2G SD, programmed, and so far it's working. I plan to experiment further.

"To format additional cards (2GB or smaller), use only the EZ Scan software to format the SD card.
Format using the FAT file system with 32k clusters."


Formatting needs to be done through the software. It must have the config file on it or the scanner does nothing.

"If you use SD cards larger than 2GB, format using FAT32 with 32k clusters."

Fine.

"Formatting the SD card for other file system types may cause EZ Scan to malfunction."

I don't know if that's the problem but WOW has this been malfunctioning, error after error after crash after error...

Anyone tried an MMC card? I have a 16GB. These are most always compatible with SD and would not be the HC type. The physical size is slightly different but usually withing tolerance of each other.
 

AggieCon

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Sounds like a mess. Feel free to expand the scope of this discussion... at least to the extent the censors don't halt our progress. Perhaps it might even help attract some folks to share SD card successes.

I'm pretty sure my working card and my other attempts have all of the same files and data... I have hidden and system files visible. I tried all the various options through the EZ Scan format (which just configures the Windows tool for us, to make it "EZ", I guess) and third party tools.
 

bharvey2

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It may not be that the card is bad but rather formatted incorrectly. I've had devices that used SD cards that are finicky about how they are formatted. As mentioned above, make sure it is formatted FAT 16. Browse for and download a program called SDFormatter and try using it to format your card. I've been using it to format SD cards for some fickle IP cameras that I use. Oh, I've got a 16Gb, Class 10 card in my PRO 668 and it works fine. It just takes longer to boot up with the larger than original card.
 

AggieCon

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I've tried SDFormatter repeatedly. Could I convince you to give me the make and model of the SD card you refer to?
 

bharvey2

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AggieCon, You sure can. However, I don't have the scanner with me now. Give me a bit of time and I'll get back to you with the information. I should have it to you later in the afternoon.
 

bharvey2

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I've tried SDFormatter repeatedly. Could I convince you to give me the make and model of the SD card you refer to?

Just checked my PRO 668. It is now using a SanDisk Ultra 32GB Micro SD card. ( I had it in my head that it was 16GB) It is a Class 10 and also has HC I printed on the face. The card face is half red/half grey and the back black. The following is printed on the back in really small print: 5114DR20T2MX BM Made in China.
I think I bought it as Costco. Hope that is helpful
 

SCPD

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I have some Sony microSD cards that I can guarantee will not work in these scanners.

AggieCon .. as you saw in that thread I created, I posted the cards that I have that work pretty flawlessly in these scanners. Or as flawless as I have seen. When I tested them .. the audio recording dropouts were what I was looking for.

It is way easier to just find a card that works .. audio recording is the big test.

As I stated before the faster and thus more expensive cards did not do well. The worst of them all .. my most expensive SanDisk card.

But that is ok .. my FiiO digital audio player likes them all.
 

AggieCon

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What exactly does the recorded audio look like when it drops out? Is it a short span of no audio in the file? I notice that every one and awhile with the stock card, but I attributed it to momentary failure of the DSP to decode. This will happen during recorded calls that are otherwise loud and clear. Is even the stock card letting me down?

Everyone's reports, so far, are fairly erratic in terms of forming a hard and fast rule. If folks have specific cards that failed, go ahead and post those too.

I emailed Whistler yesterday. No response.
 

bharvey2

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I have been using 2 of these SanDisk sd cards and have had no issues yet.

Other than the capacity, that looks just like the card I mentioned above.

Unfortunately, I don't do any recording so I can't comment on that.
 
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