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Out with the old, and in with the new and improved! That's what I always say.
At least when writing this review...
Having seen the market for the auto racing fan, Uniden pioneered this new territory with their black and yellow SC150 SportCats. With the ranks of the NASCAR enthusiasts growing by leaps and bounds, it seemed that Uniden had tapped into a lucrative market and other manufacturers quickly followed in their footsteps. Racing Electronics, a company devoted to the race fan, worked out a deal with RELM to upgrade their HS200 to include alpha-tags and a squelch-controlled backlight to cater to nighttime races. This RE2000Alpha was offered in two color schemes and was wildly successful. Not to be outdone, RadioShack tweaked the firmware of their recently introduced PRO-67 to offer features targeted at the race fan along with a special "stubby" antenna. The importance of selling this radio was apparent when you view the full page ads in their own catalog, not to mention similar ads taken out in racing-oriented magazines. Another entry was fielded by RCA who was trying to get back into the scanner game with a handful of models released around the mid-1990s. Their new RP-6198 was labeled a racing scanner, colored in red, and in an effort to one-up the competition, they threw in a stubby antenna, headphones, cary case, leg strap, and audio splitter cable. These efforts signaled the end of round one in the racing arena with no real clear cut winner among the manufacturers. Uniden's brand name and distribution network obviously gave it the clout needed to reach the masses. But when it appears to be the only game in town, that's not a sign of having the best product or giving the user what they want. The other manufacturers showed their ability to respond to the market and provide more full featured offerings. Well, the bell for round two has just sounded with Uniden bringing not one, but two new radios to the table. The SC180B and SC200 bring fresh new designs and a slew of new features to entice both the racing fan and scanner addicts. And at prices which are sure to make them irresistible to most. These radios have upped the ante in this latest round and it will be interesting to see how their competition responds, it at all. So while we're waiting, let's take a closer look at these latest siblings and see just what capabilities they bring to the modern day monitoring shack. What follows are my personal impressions regarding the features and performance of this receiver. This, in no way, should be viewed as an endorsement to purchase this radio nor is it intended to discourage anyone from buying it. I have no personal nor business relations with Uniden. These are simply thoughts offered to my fellow hobbyists who may be interested in purchasing this particular radio or simply knowing more about it. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into the testing and writing of this review. I would appreciate it if every effort is made to keep this document whole with me as the original author. Of course, it doesn't hurt that this document is copyrighted and therefore protected by US law and international treaties governing intellectual property. Except for personal use, and for the sake of brief passages quoted in reviews and given appropriate credit, no part of this work may be reproduced in any forms or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author. And if you want to share your thoughts about this review with me or have further questions, feel free to send e-mail. Thank you and enjoy!
Rich Wells |
| Contents |
| Review Note |
Differences between these two scanners include the LCD cover (blue on the SC200 and yellowish on the SC180B) while the SC200 adds CTCSS/DCS, a computer interface and 100 more channels.
So keep in mind that if I talk about CTCSS/DCS or computer interface functions, I'm referring to the SC200 and not the SC180B. I've tried to group their differences into separate sections to avoid any confusion but felt I should start this review with this note up front.
| What You Get |
| Model Tested |
| SC180B | SC200 | |
|---|---|---|
| Model # | SC180B | SC200 |
| Serial # | 960050xx | 960040xx |
| FCC ID | AMWUB268A | |
| Made in | The Philippines | |
| Basic Specs |
| SC180B | SC200 | |
|---|---|---|
| Channels | 100 | 200 |
| Banks | 10 | |
| Coverage | 29-54 108-174 406-512 806-956 MHz | |
| Scan | 100 chan/sec | |
| Search | 100/300 steps/sec | |
| Steps | 5/12.5 kHz (fixed) | |
| Modes | AM & FM (fixed) | |
| Sensitivity | Not specified | |
| Conversion | Triple | |
| Priority | 10 channels | |
| Search limits | 1 | |
| Search skip | 50 frequencies | |
| Auto-store | No | |
| S-meter | No | |
| Delay | Yes | |
| Lockout | Yes | |
| Attenuator | Yes | |
| Lock | Yes | |
| Tone codes | No | Yes |
| Computer intf | No | Yes |
| Rotary control | Yes | |
| Channel count | No | |
| Data skip | No | |
| Clock | No | |
| Timers | No | |
| Weather | Yes | |
| Weather Alert | No | |
| Light | Display | |
| Power | DC: 12V, 300mA | |
| Audio | 180 mW | |
| Size | 64(W) x 44(D) x 146(H) mm 2.5(W) x 1.75(D) x 5.75(H) in | |
| Weight | 0.71 lbs, 320g | |
| Memory | non-volatile | |
| Operating Guide |
The introductory Contents section has always been well done and proves quite useful when looking up forgotten details.
The next section introduces the SportCat scanner and defines both scanning and searching to the newcomer. This is followed by a section on CTCSS and DCS which is, for the most part, about as clear as mud. They even go so far as to provide information which is very misleading. While they properly explain the use of such tones on a repeater system to gain access, they say that your scanner may have to be "coded" to even hear the repeater! Say what?
Up next are details on listening responsibly and legally, frequency reception ranges, and major feature highlights. This is followed by sections covering the controls, LCD indicators and keypad. These last sections are particularly useful to the beginners since they cover all input and output actions in a concise and singular location for easy look up.
The section on programming is the next major interest which explains how to program and delete memory channel contents. Also covered are programming of the limit search range and channel alpha-tags.
The section on scanning covers banks, priority, delay, lockout and weather channel reception. Searching covers band search, limit search, VFO search, and search skip operation.
For SC200 buyers, the next section covers tone codes. Interestingly, Uniden does not refer to digital coded squelch as DCS, but rather CDCSS (Continuous Digital Controlled Squelch System). Operational details here consist of programming memory channels with tones and searching for unknown tones. This last operation can be used on memory channels or programmed to operate automatically when searching stops on an active transmission.
Another SC200-only section is that on the computer interface. This feature is designed to function with Uniden's SmartScanner database server accessed through a your telephone line and a "pay per view" number. Once dialed in and you enter your zip code, the database locates the most important frequencies for your area and programs them into the SC200 memory automatically!
As usual, the section on specifications is only minimally detailed. The useful pieces of info here are the step sizes used in the various receive bands, audio output power, and operating temperature range. Painfully absent are details on sensitivity, selectivity, image rejection, image frequencies, etc.
Near the very end is a page listing the 38 CTCSS and 104 DCS supported tone codes.
Since these radios are intended for monitoring during sporting events, Uniden also includes a sporting frequency guide. This thick, little publication is put out by Scanner Master and lists frequencies for major sports categories (like auto racing, boat racing, etc.) as well as common frequencies throughout the US and state by state listings of public safety.
I've heard that this guide has been updated but unfortunately this latest edition did not make the first shipment of SportCats.
| Construction & Physical |
Radically different from the stale "brick" with corners shapes (talk about reuse that's worn out its welcome!) we've been seeing for the past 8 or so years (starting with the BC220XLT right up to the present day BC245XLT), these two new radios boast well sculpted exteriors.
One look is enough to capture your attention and hold it for further study. It starts at the top with the top panel's front edge which slopes down slightly revealing the Bearcat and bear footprint monikers. This edge that joins the top and front panels is also rounded, and blends quite well into the junctions with the side panels.
Like most receivers these days, the LCD is on top but that's about their only similarity with these SportCats. The LCD faceplates are uniquely colored, yellow for the SC180B, blue for the SC200, with both containing their model designations and Uniden label.
The corners and edges of the LCD faceplate are also rounded giving it a distinct, flowing look that fits nicely into the entire radio's design. It also blends around the two large SCAN and MANUAL keys located just below it. Three to four times larger than their counterparts, these often used keys deserve such prominence.
The keypad itself is broken up into four distinct regions. At the top are the already mentioned SCAN and MANUAL keys. Running down the left side of the main keypad area are four operational keys (SEARCH, HOLD/Up, LIMIT/Down and DISPLAY). To the right of these is the numeric keypad. All of the preceding keys are light gray in color.
At the bottom of the keypad are the settings keys colored in dark gray. While the light gray keys contain blue text, the dark gray keys use yellow text. Both offer exceptional contrast making them easy to read thereby making the radio easier to use.
All of the key shapes are elliptical or some organically-shaped variation. The six settings keys are grouped four in one row with two underneath. This allows the holes of the speaker grill area to flow up and in between them similar to how the LCD faceplate interacts with SCAN and MANUAL.
Moving on to the side panels, the left side contains a sole jack for DC power input from the provided adapter/charger while the right contains a trapezoidal cutout. On the SC200, this cutout is covered by a rubber plug which gains access to the PC interface jack underneath. On the SC180B, this cutout is filled with a plastic plug since it has no interface capabilities.
A look at the top panel reveals the usual BNC antenna and phone jacks. There are also Volume and Squelch controls but they are different than most Uniden models you are likely familiar with. The Volume control sits atop the Squelch and is skinnier and tapered. Both have are about 1/2 inch tall, have large ridges for easy gripping and brilliant yellow (SC180B) or silver (SC200) stripes to mark their position!
Now, the reason the Volume and Squelch occupy the same area is to make room for the rotary control! Typically used to scroll through memory channels quickly and easily, it's also used to tune the pseudo-VFO feature and select characters when setting alpha-tags. The control itself feels solid and works well.
Turning the radio over to get a look at the back panel, it's easy to note a few more of the sculpted details. A side view reveals that the top and bottom are wider than the center section giving it a concave nature that can only be appreciated from this angle. From this viewpoint it's also easier to see the thumb indentations right at the leading edge of each side panel located at the same level as the SCAN and MANUAL keys.
The back panel consists of the usual "stuff." Two brass anchors near the top are used to attach the plastic belt clip via the provided two screws. Just below is the FCC identification sticker which provides the FCC ID number, model number, serial number, power requirements, and country of manufacture.
Just below this sticker and along the right side is raised lettering which denotes the polarity of the power source to the DC power jack.
Interestingly, on my first-off-the-assembly-line SC180B, there is no warning label as now required by the FCC for all new receivers as mandated by ET Docket 98-76:
require that a label be affixed to scanning receivers to indicate that modification of the receiver to receive Cellular Service transmissions is a violation of FCC rules and Federal law
The SC200 I was provided by Frequency Fan Club does contain this warning label.
The bottom 40% of the back panel consists of the battery compartment cover which is simply slid downward to gain access to the provided NiCd battery pack. Kudos to Uniden for redesigning the location of the battery connector jack. It now sits a bit higher up and has more of a cutout around it making it much easier to plug and unplug (although it's still a challenge)!
Considering the radio as a whole package is easier to do once held. These two are very solid and well made. They fit in your palm nicely, and have a nice feel and weight to them. Overall, a quality look and feel that's nice to see and know that this manufacturer takes pride in their work.
| Antenna |
As I always say, if you want to get the most performance out of your radio, be prepared to put a little money into a better antenna. Popular models include the 15-17" whips and 2 foot telescoping whips. Use the above-mentioned review to help you pick the model that best suits your needs.
Just be sure to take the monitoring environment into account when buying an antenna for any radio. If you live in an area with lots of strong local signals, too much of a good antenna can deliver overpowering signals to your scanner which can overload it. This can cause it to produce all sorts of image and intermodulation interference.
| Features |
Contrast is quite good and viewing holds up well at all angles. The biggest drawback is the large LCD cover which reflects ambient light too well. At any one time, a portion of the LCD is bound to be obscured by such reflections and necessitate turning to effectively view these details.
The LCD itself is broken up into four lines. The top line is used to display the priority indicator, channel number and then the rest of the line is a dot-matrix display used primarily for the frequency, alpha-tag and tone codes.
The next line holds the scan bank, keypad lock and alpha-tag mode indicators. Line number 3 contains scan mode, hold, delay, lockout, CTCSS and DCS indicators. The last line is used for search mode, priority mode, weather scan, attenuator and low battery indicators.
For viewing of the LCD in dimly light or dark environments, a backlight function is available. Pressing the light key turns on the backlight which is accomplished via three green LEDs located along the bottom edge of the LCD. It does a great job of illuminating the display and quite evenly at that.
A single press of the light key turns on the backlight for 15 seconds. Pressed again before this time expires turns it back off. A new feature which has migrated over from the BC245XLT is the Auto Light feature. Once enabled, the backlight comes on automatically for 5 seconds every time the squelch opens to receive a signal.
It is a handy feature that has been available for a while on amateur radio models and I'm glad to see Uniden offering new features on lower-priced models. Uniden also appears to have solved the problem related to this feature as found on the BC245XLT in which a 2 second reset period was necessary after the light goes off before it would turn back on again. If a signal was received during this reset period the light would not come on, effectively keeping you in the dark (I'm just so funny!) as to who you just heard.
Moving on to the keypad, I'd rate it as an average effort overall. Key presses are OK but a little spongy and with little "snap" so feedback isn't all that it could be. The numeric portion is also a bit cramped which will be a consideration for those with larger fingers.
Each key press is accompanied by a beep for confirmation. The volume of this beep is tied into the Volume setting but unfortunately it can not be turned off. Luckily, the Volume can be turned down all the way to temporarily mute this noise should it offend or alert others around you.
To prevent accidental key activations from performing unwanted acts, both radios have a keypad lock function. Once engaged, the key icon appears on the display to indicate this locked state and all keys as well as the rotary control are ignored. Unfortunately this includes the backlight key so once the lock is on, you have no way to view the LCD in the dark upon demand.
Moving on down the front panel further, we come to the speaker and get a chance to talk about audio qualities. FM audio fidelity is good but definitely biased towards a higher frequency response. It makes the audio very crisp and can tend to highlight weak signal reception by placing emphasis on noise components. AM audio fidelity, like most Uniden models, is on the "mushy" side. It's only clear and crisp when signals are very strong.
Audio power is what I would call average. The higher frequency response audio makes it easier to hear while in the car but it still needs to be turned up quite a bit to be effectively hard. And this can only be done to about 70% of the maximum setting before excessive audio distortion rears its ugly head.
The biggest drawback by far in the audio department is the long squelch tail on FM signals. Not excessive like the much maligned PRO-51, but long enough to be annoyingly obvious.
Both models come programmed with 10 weather service frequencies (7 for the US and 3 for Canada). Pressing the WX button puts the radio in weather scan mode where it attempts to locate a transmission on one of these frequencies.
No power-on resume function is found. So when you turn the scanner on, it does not return to what you were doing when it was powered off, but rather simply goes into scan mode.
Like most Uniden models, holding down the 2, 9 and MANUAL keys while turning the radio on resets it ("-CLEAR-" appears on the display for a couple of seconds while doing so). Doing this effectively clears the entire contents of memory and is a good way to return the radio to a just-left-the-factory state.
| Pseudo-VFO |
While the radio is sitting on memory channel or search hold frequency, a new frequency can be entered followed by a click of the rotary control. This puts the radio in VFO mode (denoted by the 'V' next to the frequency) with the radio tuned to your specified frequency.
I call it a pseudo-VFO because while it allow any frequency to be immediately tuned, unlike most high-end radios with true VFOs, the SportCats do not allow you to modify either the step size or receive mode.
While in VFO mode, the frequency can be modified by using the rotary control or arrow keys. If an arrow key is held down, the frequency will quickly change in the appropriate direction and continue to do so until the key is released.
And just like the other search functions, a favorite frequency can be stored into the memory channel whose number is found blinking on the display.
A very useful feature, I have waited a while for Uniden to implement it and hope it finds its way into more models. Down the road, I hope we get to see true VFO functionality!
| Memory |
For my needs, the 10 channel banks don't cut it because the trunked system I spend a lot of time monitoring is composed of 14 frequencies. That forces me to split the system across two banks. Not a heart breaker but it is limiting and forces me to depart from the standard banking scheme used on almost all of my other radios.
After turning the radio on, it starts scanning which is stopped with a press of the MANUAL key. The scanner is now in manual mode allowing you to monitor a single memory channel frequency or move through memory to examine its contents which is a precursor to programming.
Moving about memory can be done in a number of ways. Pressing MANUAL repeatedly advances to successive channels. This can also be accomplished with the up arrow key. Moving downward through memory is done with the down arrow key. To go directly to a channel, its number is simply keyed in followed by MANUAL.
With the new rotary control, it can be used just like the arrow keys but with much quicker response and better feedback. It works well and I detected no signs of encoder glitches which can result in clicks being missed or the radio responding in the opposite direction compared to how the rotary was turned.
Once the desired memory channel is located, it is programmed by simply keying in the frequency followed by the E key. If you attempt to program a frequency which exists in another channel, the radio will beep and the other channel's number will flash in the display. At this point you can press E to program it or CLR to abort.
Along with the frequency value, each channel can also store delay (to wait for responses while scanning), lockout (to prevent scanning of this channel), priority (to force periodic sampling of this channel to prevent missing activity on it), attenuator (to weaken received signals to help prevent overload and the interference that can be generated as a result) and alert beep (the radio beeps when a signal is received) settings.
The alert beep feature is a handy little tool that will help you to target your listening on those frequencies which are of the utmost importance. I personally have used it to tag the civil airband emergency calling frequency as well as nationally and state assigned police mutual aid frequencies (which, when active, usually mean something serious is going down).
Each channel can also be programmed with an alpha-tag or CTCSS/DCS tone code value (discussed later). Each alpha-tag can be up to 10 characters long and can be composed from A-Z, a-z, 0-9, /, (, ), &, ', ., ,, -, #, up/down arrows, reversed A, and a space.
Alpha-tags are programmed by pressing DISPLAY, to put the scanner in alpha-tag mode, followed by pressing E. The arrow keys are then used to select the position to edit with the rotary control selecting the character to put in that position. When done, E is pressed to complete the process.
After the tags have been programmed, the DISPLAY key is used to show either the alpha-tag or the frequency value when scanning or in manual mode. If in alpha mode and no tag has been programmed for a channel, then its frequency is shown. I personally would have liked the display to alternate between the frequency and alpha-tag rather than have to use the DISPLAY button to toggle between modes to see both.
| Scanning |
The banks which are being scanned appear alongside the BANK LCD indicator. The bank currently being accessed flashes while the others are just lit. Like all models before it, banks are toggled on and off for scanning by simply pressing their respective numeric key.
When scanning stops on an active signal, the display shows that memory channel's frequency unless it has been programmed with an alpha-tag and the scanner is in display mode (accessed by using the DISPLAY key and indicated on the LCD by the Greek alpha character).
While paused on an active frequency, this channel's settings can be adjusted using the appropriate keys like DLY, ATT, etc. Annoying channels can be locked out by simply pressing L/O.
Using my everyday bank setup that I have programmed in nearly all of my radios (roughly 100 freqs in 10 banks spread across VHF and UHF with both AM and FM), I measured an approximate scan rate of 50 channels/second.
| Searching |
For this, you can use the limit search which allows you to program a lower and upper frequency value to search between. Once done, SEARCH is pressed to begin the hunt and indicated on the display via the SEARCH indicator!
Searching is done at a rate of 100 steps per second. But there is also the Turbo Search mode when searching in frequency ranges that use 5 kHz steps. In these areas, the search rate can be increased to 300 steps per second by pressing the TURBO key. This mode is indicated on the LCD by the flashing SEARCH indicator.
Active frequencies stop the search process to let you hear the activity. Once the activity disappears, the search will resume automatically. To add a 2 second delay before the search resumes to wait for a reply on that frequency, DLY is pressed to activate the delay feature. The attenuator can also be used in this mode if desired.
You can also force the search to resume immediately by pressing SEARCH. You also have the option to store the displayed frequency into the flashing memory channel number on the display by simply pressing the E key.
If the frequency is annoying or is already known, L/O can be pressed to lock out this frequency from subsequent searching. Up to 50 such frequencies can be locked out in this manner. After 50 have been stored, successive lock outs simply begin overwriting the earliest entries, thus unlocking them.
To wait indefinitely on a paused frequency, HOLD is pressed. From here, the rotary control and arrow keys can be used to adjust the displayed frequency accordingly.
By default, searching progresses from lower to higher frequencies or, in other words, always upwards. This is the way it has always been with low- to mid-end offerings from Uniden. While this isn't a problem in of itself, being unable to perform a downward progressing search is a nuisance! Thankfully Uniden has remedied this with these latest offerings!
To change the search direction, simply hold down either of the arrow keys until a beep is heard and the arrow displayed on the LCD changes accordingly. When SEARCH is pressed now, it will proceed in the direction indicated by the LCD arrow. While this functionality is appreciated, I think a more universal and easily accessible method would have been to use the rotary control to change the search direction.
| Priority |
With the priority channels selected, priority sampling mode is enabled by pressing PRI which displays the PRI indicator. Done while in manual or scan mode, the priority feature samples the priority channels of all selected banks for activity every 2 seconds. To keep a priority channel in a selected bank from being selected, simply lock it out.
| CTCSS & DCS |
Another useful feature is the ability to search for unknown tones on a memory channel frequency or when searching stops on an active frequency. However, patience is needed when using it since the decoder is quite slow and it can take many seconds to find the tone. This usually comes down to several transmissions needing to be received before the tone is discovered.
Once programmed into memory channels, scanning can be started and CTCSS/DCS decode mode entered by pressing SUB and indicated by the CTCSS/DCS indicators at the bottom of the display. Since the scan must pause on active frequencies to determine the transmission's tone to compare it to the programmed tone, the effective scan speed is lowered considerably. The more tones are programmed and the higher the frequency activity rate, the lower the scan speed gets.
When scanning does stop on a CTCSS/DCS-enabled channel in tone mode, the display alternates between showing the frequency/alpha-tag and tone code. I personally find it of no use to see the tone code displayed. I'd rather have the display alternate between the frequency and alpha-tag in all modes.
| PC Interface |
The SmartScanner feature is a carry over from this feature which was introduced with the BC245XLT. Of limited to functionality to those who now the frequency activity in their area quite well, it is best suited to beginners and for those who travel a lot.
The supplied interface cable plugs into the data port on the side panel while the other end connects to a PC with a modem or directly into an external modem. If using a PC with modem, Uniden's SmartScanner program must be downloaded off of their web site to make all the pieces work together.
Once all the pieces are assembled, the SC200 is put into SmartScanner mode via the REM key. The ZIP code for the desired area is entered and then the scanner dials into the Uniden database to download the frequency data.
For radio-to-radio cloning, the two SC200s are connected using their interface cables and a special adapter. One radio is then designated as the Master and the other one the Slave. The contents of the Master unit are then transferred into the Slave unit.
While these two interface uses were designed by Uniden, one of them has been further exploited by Pozilla Software to provide enhanced functionality. Using the SmartScanner interface, Pozilla's upcoming WinScan Sport software is able to take frequency data and alpha-tags that you specify and download them into the SC200's memory.
Unfortunately, since WinScan has to emulate the SmartScanner protocol, there is no ability to upload data from scanner to PC nor any way to control the radio remotely. Another shortcoming of the SmartScanner interface is that it will not let duplicate frequency entries be downloaded. This presents a thorn in the side of yours truly who likes to put the national and statewide mutual aid police frequencies into each of my multiple police frequency banks.
The version of WinScan Sport supplied to me was an early Beta so the features and functionality of the release version may be different. Be sure to check the Pozilla Software web pages for full details upon release.
| VHF Performance |
My testing found 9 birdies on the SC180B and 12 on the SC200. The 9 found on the SC180B were identical to 9 of those of the SC200.
As you can probably guess, from here on out, these radios performed identically in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and interference rejection. So what I write here applies to both models.
While at home, I put a 19" whip on the BNC jack and swept the entire range for signs of image and intermod interference. Zip! Nada! Nothing! Just what we like to see.
I then traveled to my usual urban testing grounds to see how these radios would hold up under the strong signal pressures of a metropolitan jungle. My testing area is surrounded by all kinds of nasty, strong signals coming from nearby FM broadcast, TV, cell and pager towers. While not as harsh as some of the largest cities you can test in, it helps to point out problem areas as well as form a basis of comparison between other radios I have tested in this same area.
Using the stock antenna, I searched from 29 to 956 MHz looking for signs of trouble. Everything was spotless until we hit 800 MHz. The entire 806-824 range was crammed with cellular/cellular and cellular/pager intermod. There were also a number of cell images in the 851s and 854s which came through crystal clear.
Moving on up the spectrum, 930s pagers were imaged in the low 900s. There were also a number of cell images from 930 - 936. A couple of TV images were heard in the upper 900s along with more cell images from 944 - 949.
Overall, the results were quite promising although I expected these radios to set new standards as far as the FCC's latest 38dB image rejection specs were concerned. These results seem to be similar to my BC245XLT findings with what I perceive to be a slight improvement with cell rejection on the SportCats.
Performing the same experiment with a 19" whip antenna showed just a bit more of the above problems. Added annoyances were 2 meter ham images showing up in the upper 160s, and 462 MHz pager images appearing in the 480s. But considering the harsh environment and antenna used, this receiver turned in pretty high scores.
It was now time put this radio up against the current BC245XLT as well as the PRO-43 benchmark to see just how far Uniden has come in their receiver designs. I tested all 3 radios on a number of frequencies between 42 and 938 MHz using the same antenna on each but using a wide variety overall to help determine which radio was the best at pulling in signals.
What follows is a table of my results. Radios are ranked from 1st place on down. Where no apparent difference could be discerned, I gave a tie result and if the signal was not detected a '-' is listed.
| Freq | SC | 245 | 43 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 124 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 132 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 147 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 151 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 155 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 159 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 162 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 443 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 450 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 452 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 453 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 460 | - | 2 | 1 |
| 851 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 855 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 859 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 862 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 865 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 936 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 938 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
As you can see, it's easy to understand why the PRO-43 still remains such a hot commodity on the hot market (besides the ability for most of them to be cell enabled). About half of the time the PRO-43 was the clear winner while having just a slight edge for the other half.
The PRO-43 was the clear winner with the SportCat just barely edging out the 245 for second place. While the SportCat was superior on VHF-lo and 800, they basically tied on VHF-hi with the 245 doing much better in the 400s.
| Ranking |
| Category | SC180B Score | SC200 Score | Out of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity | 15 | 15 | 25 |
| Selectivity | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| Interference rejection | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Coverage | 30 | 30 | 90 |
| Channels | 0 | 10 | 15 |
| Channels per bank | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Ease of use | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Scan/Search speed | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Receive modes | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Step sizes | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Conversion | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Audio | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Antenna | 5 | 5 | 20 |
| Construction | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Size | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Search | 10 | 10 | 35 |
| Attenuator | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Auto-store | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Search frequency lockout | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Backlight | 15 | 15 | 30 |
| Alpha-tagging | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| VFO | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Squelch tail | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Priority | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Delay | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Hold | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Rotary Control | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| S-meter | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Power-on resume | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Computer Interface | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| Tone Decode | 0 | 10 | 15 |
| Battery indicator | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Channel count | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Tape record control | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Clock | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Timers | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Weather programmed | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Weather alert | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Data skip | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Bank delete | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Bank sort | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 260 | 285 | 670 |
| Total | 39 | 43 | 100 |
| Things I Like |
| Things I Would Change |
| Summary |
Overall performance is about average while interference rejection is above average. Most users should be able to get more performance out of it with a better antenna with little fear of overloading. Those in and around will appreciate its interference rejection capabilities and with the SC200, CTCSS/DCS can also help to reduce such problems. And most users generally appreciate Uniden models for their fast scanning and search capabilities.
Of course no radio is anywhere near perfect and one model has to try and appeal to the masses which is not an easy task. Audio power could use a boost. VHF sensitivity could be better as well as the cell images that interfere with signals in the 850s.
I'd also like to have the designers who did the physical layout and sculpting of this radio design a 21st century battery compartment that takes AAs!
Considering their price, factoring in the advantages, and weighing the disadvantages puts these two radios way ahead in my mind. While I had purchased the SC180B, I was loaned the SC200. And now that I've had both to compare and contrast, I can see the better value of the SC200 and why its purchase will make a great addition to the Strong Signals shack.
Besides, blue is my favorite color...
| Recommendations |
The SportCats might not be packaged with the stubby antennas and headphones, but this makes them appeal to everyone, not just the racing fans. With the money saved, these fans can go buy the accessories they need to make these receivers part of their own custom race-monitoring package.
Considering the difference in price between these two is roughly $25, I think most potential buyers should opt for the SC200 since its additional features more than outweigh the slight, added cost.
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Before you leave, I would like to thank Dave Raley of Frequency Fan Club for his willingness to loan me the SC200 for evaluation! It is due to his kindness that you are reading this review free of charge!
If you are interested in purchasing one of these radios or simply want more information, please stop by their web site or write Dave at ffc@racescanners.com.
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I would also like to thank Adam Goldman of Pozilla Software for making available the pre-release version of WinScan Sport used as well taking the time to answer my questions!
| Copyright © 2010 by Richard J. Wells |
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