Uniden SDS100 Digital Police Scanner

SDS100

Owned for a week now. I must admit that I struggled with weather I should buy this radio. I read lot and lots of reviews on it. Most reviews were good but there were also a lot of bad ones too. I saw lots of complaints about the poor construction, cold solder joints, and radio overheating. That being said the SDS-100 is the only handheld radio that does digital simulcast well and in my area, everything in public service is on digital simulcast.
Well, I already own the sds200 and it has worked well so I took a chance and bought it. Since I bought it, I havent had any problems.

I do have some concerns though. The construction is not the best and I would not want to drop this radio. That being said, I have lots of radios including other scanners and some handheld ham radios and in all fairness, none of them are that well built that I would want to drop any of them. These hobby radios are not 7000 dollar Motorola APX radios. I use an APX 8000 at work and it is built like a tank compared to any hobby radio. I did buy a case for the sds-100 which helps a lot and if using this portable I strongly recommend the case.

Another common complaint is that the radio runs hot. That is true but so do some other portable radios. One of my Yaesu HT's runs just as hot and it works fine. I think that much of the heat comes from the color display. I have found that it runs cooler if you set the display to only come on when a call comes in instead of leaving it on full time.

I also read that there have been cold solder joint issues with this radio. If that is true, I would hope that Uniden has addressed that issue by now..

In any event, the radio is still new but it has worked flawlessly since I bought it. My sds-200 has had zero issues and there were far more good reviews on the sds-100 than bad ones so thats why I went and bought it.

It is by far the best handheld radio ever for eliminating simulcast distortion although side by side with the sds-200, I think the 200 is slightly better but that might be antenna related. Rubber duck antennas are only so good...

So do I recommend it? YES.

SDS100

I purchased the SDS 100 5 weeks ago. What a quality hand held scanner. I was in the Law Enforcement Community for 37 years before retiring in 2015. I swore off any activity associated with my career. A friend told me of the SDS 100 and how great it was . You never get away from the shit once in your veins. I just love this scanner , and use it most everyday. My wife says my mood has drastically , improved as well as my focus. Decided to pull the trigger on the SDS200 , which just ordered , and waiting to be delivered. Also , take advantage of the pre programming options. It really cuts down the hassle , and the guys at BCW are really helpful, and don’t treat you like idiot because you are trying to learn the Ins and out’s of the SDS 100& 200. Keep making these great products !!!!

Best scanner yet!

I was a little on the edge before buying this scanner because of all the bad reviews I had read. However, knowing about scanners and having scanners for a long time now I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. I am glad I did. I don't see any faults as of right now with the new SDS100. The speaker seems to work just fine. The screen display looks awesome. This scanner is not hard to set up or program if you are already familiar with scanners. I have had no problems whatsoever thus far. I have noticed that the battery doesn't last anywhere near 8 hrs after a full charge but not sure why. This scanner picks up way better than any others I have ever had. If you are not sure just go ahead and buy it. I think you will be happy with it.

Greatest Scanners Made!

This hand held is the greatest scanner made! I own the base model and couldn't wait until they got these back in stock so I could purchase one. Now I have the best of both worlds! There's nothing they have left out of these top of the line scanners. The receive is unbelievable. Highly recommend!

love it

Bought SDS100 and they purchased 1 county program. I turned it on and listen to it. awesome folks at Bearcat warehouse and will recommend it to everyone!! SDS100 works great, scanning stuff from 50 miles away.

Top of the line Scanner

This is my first scanner purchase, I have to say the price is pretty high so I was worried about that at first, however, the second I turned this scanner on I was immediately in the middle of a car chase, very exciting.

This far exceeds my expectations, I'm definitely a happy customer.

SDS100 Review

The SDS100 is by far the best handheld that has been released. I currently own all of the SCANNERS! This blows the others away!

• 2 out of 2 people found this review useful.

Great Scanner and Ordering Experience!

I have been out of the scanning hobby for a good while and decided to jump back in. I purchased a BCD436 from another retailer and I found that it had some issues with simulcast. So it was returned. Then I knew I had to get the SDS100. So after looking on the net and seeing that nearly everyone was out of stock I saw that Bearcat Warehouse was getting in a shipment. I gave them a call and asked a few questions that were handled with great customer service. I orderd the SDS100 and they got it to me fast! It has been running great. Thanks Bearcat Warehouse!

• 3 out of 3 people found this review useful.

LOVE IT!

My apartment is like a vault and my HomePatrol 1 has had a lot of trouble receiving signals indoors. The SDS-100 has no problem at all! Receives signals strong and loud inside. I’m very happy!

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

SDS100 Scanner

I read lots of reviews and I called each individual scanner store before purchasing to see which store had the best most responsive customer service. Bearcat Warehouse was the best and most personable. I had a few questions after purchasing they we're lightning fast to respond and got me going.

Very happy with the radio and experience, I'll be purchasing from these guys in the future.

• 7 out of 7 people found this review useful.

Poor charging port

Not impressed with the USB charging port and GPS connection. Less than 6 months and it no longer makes a tight fit and I can either have charging or GPS not both due to the poor connections.

• 3 out of 3 people found this review useful.

Best Scanner

I finally picked up the SDS100 after hearing all the reviews.

All I have to say is... It's that good 5/5.

PS. Bearcat Thanks for the amazing customer service, I'm now a lifetime customer.

• 5 out of 5 people found this review useful.

Retired Law enforcement

The SDS100 updated new technology software radio works flawlessly out of the box.

• 4 out of 4 people found this review useful.

A fine scanner for intelligibility of digital signals

A fine scanner to add to your collection. It has the vest available digital decoding and much better intelligibility of digital traffic than any previous scanner. It works best when used beside a Uniden BCT996 or BCT 996 P2 mobile scanner. This is mainly because the 996 scanners have a higher audio output. The 996 provides sufficient audio, but the SDS 100 provides the intelligibility. Another reason that they work best when paired is that the SDS 100 misses some traffic that the BCD 996 radios receive, especially the first second of a transmission. It may be that the BCD 996 units sample transmissions more efficiently and are able to receive the first second of transmissions better than the SDS100. I hope the mobile version of the SDS 100 will have louder audio (such as 5-6 db louder than the current maximum studio) and will sample for activity on its programmed frequently faster, preventing loss of the first half second or second of transmissions. The SDS 100 is a serious improvement on its predecessors. It had a problem with short battery life when first introduced, but this reportedly has been addressed with free replacement of the original battery. I have nit seen any spec on the mobile version of this scanner that would allay my concerns about the need for stronger audio output. I hope Uniden will address this issue in this amazing scanner.

• 2 out of 2 people found this review useful.

SDS100 WORKING GREAT!

I have used the SDS100 now alone and side by side with the BCD996P2, the SDS100 has much better clear audio and reception on P25 I and II and Nxdn, conventional is lower in volume but works good with an amplified speaker, more feedback on request jd buller

• 2 out of 2 people found this review useful.

SDS100 Review

Just got the SDS100, The "New" battery seems bigger than the previous version I've seen online, however I'm happy with this purchase the battery lasts 8 hours and it scans with Lightning speed.

• 3 out of 3 people found this review useful.

Great unit for vhf high band!

The SDS 100 is great receiving vhf which is still in high use in central Mississippi and Alabama along with P25, DMR and NXDN. Having this radio a few weeks has been proven to be what was needed after the bcd 436hp lacked. Now awaiting long life battery to give SDS100 five star rating! Thank you!

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

SDS100

Pretty good radio. I'm Enjoying it so far.

• 1 out of 1 people found this review useful.

SDS100 Review

This model has a high price tag, however it preforms perfectly so I believe the price to be justified. I needed DMR upgrade which other sites had advertised for $100! Bearcat only charged me $75! I enjoyed the Purchasing process and the folks their look forward to future purchases from your company.

• 2 out of 2 people found this review useful.

Very cool but....

I've owned almost EVERY scanner Uniden has made. Although I've only had the SDS100 for about an hour I can tell you this as a 436 and 536 pro. The belt clip totally sucks, They and ALL manufactures should use commercial style " MOTOROLA STYLE " clips for such expensive radios! I dropped mine trying to clip it to my belt. That really pissed me off! Then there's the battery issue. Uniden placed a yello tag in the box stating the battery sucks and doesn't last long so they're working on a better one that they will send to you for FREE when they figure it out. total BS! They should have kept it AAA batery operable or at least made a drop in charger and spare battery for serious operators. At this price I expected better planning! Not impressed!

• 3 out of 3 people found this review useful.

True I/Q Scanner Review

The SDS100 Is finally here, I scan conventional and trunked frequencies this radio covers both seamlessly. I'm very happy with the range and response time of this radio.

• 2 out of 2 people found this review useful.

SDS100

There was a lot of hype behind this radio I reserved one as soon as I got wind of pre-orders going out. I will say the SDS100 lives up to the hype this really captures everything with lightning fast efficiency, I do recommend picking up an 800Mhz antenna when purchasing. If your a big scanner buff you'll be extremely impressed with this radio.

• 5 out of 5 people found this review useful.

The SDS 100 did not disappoint!

I was so excited when I heard of this radio. The scanner I've been using since buying when my areas system went digital. When I got that new radio I was sorely disappointed. The system in use was simulcast and it seemed like only half of the broadcasts were understandable. I tied several antennas and such with out success.
I ordered the SDS100 feeling hopeful but did not let my hopes get too high. I was not disappointed when it arrived. Not only was the simulcast distortion gone but all the broadcasts were crystal clear. Even the squelch at the beginning and end of a broadcast were gone. I was so happyto have clear sound after years of mud.
The other thing I love is that I can lock on. "System", "Department", or "channel". It's the locking on a department that I love. I could lock on the other two before but now I could just hear all my cities fire, and police channels alone when needed.
I love this scanner and I will no doubt learn many more trick this radio has. It is so different than the ones I have used over 53 years of scanning. I recommend it to anyone who wants to get rid of the simulcast distortion. It works.

• 7 out of 7 people found this review useful.