SDS200E Setting Your Location, Range & Service Types

Summary: How the SDS200E chooses what to scan by location, how to set your location and range, and how to choose service types.

How Location and Range Work

Every system in the database carries a geotag: a latitude, longitude and range describing a circle that fully covers the area the system serves. The scanner selects channels from systems whose circle overlaps your location circle. Each location method has its own default range:

• Auto Locate: 30 miles from the tower it found.
• GPS or manual location: 0 miles. A system is only selected if its circle encloses your exact position, which is ideal when travelling: the scanner selects and deselects systems as you drive through each coverage zone.

The manual’s introduction to this topic also mentions a 10-mile zip code radius, but zip code selection is a North America-only function and isn’t in the SDS200E’s location menu. You can change the range up or down (0-50 miles) in the Range menu.

Set Your Location

Menu, Set Your Location:

• Auto Locate – listens for any Motorola or P25 system in your area that’s in the database and sets your location from it, with a default range of 30 miles. Press E/YES or .NO to accept; Menu cancels. (This is described in the manual’s location section; it’s also North America-oriented.)
• Set Manual Location – enter your latitude (.NO/PRI toggles N/S) and longitude (.NO/PRI toggles E/W). Exact position, range 0 miles.
• Set Up GPS – Location Format (DMS or DEG) and Set Serial Port (Off, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 or 115200). The manual gives two default rates: 9600 bps in the location section and 4800 bps in the menu reference, so check what your GPS uses. The GPS must be the Uniden SDS200E option GPS unit.
• Set Range – 0-50 miles.
• Edit Location and Save Location – create, name, use, delete, edit the coordinates and range of saved locations. You can only delete saved locations; the last location set is retained for scanning the database.

Selecting Service Types

By default only EMS Dispatch, Fire Dispatch, Law Dispatch, Custom 1 and Multi-Dispatch are enabled. Press Func then Zip/Services, scroll to each type, press E/YES to enable or disable, and press System to exit. If a service type isn’t in any active list the scanner shows “—” and you can’t set it. Descriptions are in SDS200E Troubleshooting & Reference Tables. If you hear nothing, check service types first.

Outside North America

Set a manual location if you want to use Location Control with your own lists, or turn Location Control off (see SDS200E Managing Favorites Lists & Location Control).