Hope someone can help. I have an old BC205XLT handheld that is rarely used since our area went to 800 digital. I did however listen to other counties etc occasionally. I have 2 battery packs for same. Yesterday I went to turn it on after a long period of not being used and couldn't get it to power up. Both batteries are about 6 years old so I can expect them to have crashed. My question is, if the battery pack is bad, will the scanner not power up when the AC wall wort is plugged into the pack. I hate to spend alot of money on it but if I knew for sure that a new pack would work I would put the 30 bucks or so in it. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks alot.
BC 205XLT Question
- Thread starter ggarland
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KR4BD
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I have an old BC-200XLT which I think is basically the same scanner as the 205. I still like mine for railroad scanning and using on the weather frequencies. I also have two battery packs which went dead several years ago. Mine would work with dead batteries using the AC charger, but it took a few seconds for the radio to come on due to the "deadness" of the batteries. You might have a bad charger or a loose connection in the cord of the charger or something loose internally where the charger plugs into the batteries. Check your charger with a voltmeter to see if it is putting out the proper voltage. You might want to wiggle the cord around while doing this as you might have an intermittant connection.
By the way, I was able to re-pack both of my battery packs with NiMH batteries which last about twice as long as the original NiCads that came with the radio. I found ready to install re-packs for about $15 each at the Dayton Hamvention a couple of years ago. Firms like Mr. NiCad can probably fix you up if you want to re-pack your own battery cases.
Good luck.
By the way, I was able to re-pack both of my battery packs with NiMH batteries which last about twice as long as the original NiCads that came with the radio. I found ready to install re-packs for about $15 each at the Dayton Hamvention a couple of years ago. Firms like Mr. NiCad can probably fix you up if you want to re-pack your own battery cases.
Good luck.
MacombMonitor
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Sometimes old, dead NiCd batteries will actually short-out, internally. This would cause a problem with your AC adapter providing power to the scanner.
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys, whats strange is that the LED on the back comes on on both batts and I am trying 2 different wall worts. Even got a couple of old battery packs of my dad's and his old charger as well and still nothing. Starting to make me think there could be something internal in the radio. It worked perfectly last time I turned it off a few months ago. Thanks for all of the help and if you have any other suggestions I am open. Thanks again.
Thanks guys, whats strange is that the LED on the back comes on on both batts and I am trying 2 different wall worts. Even got a couple of old battery packs of my dad's and his old charger as well and still nothing. Starting to make me think there could be something internal in the radio. It worked perfectly last time I turned it off a few months ago. Thanks for all of the help and if you have any other suggestions I am open. Thanks again.
KR4BD
Member
Is the screen indicating anything when you turn it on? If so, you might have a bad speaker or a bad earplug receptacle. You might also clean the contacts on the batteries and on the bottom of the radio. You might not be getting a good connection. Sometimes, these contacts get dirty. A pencil eraser is a good way to clean such terminals... Just guessing.....
KR4,
Nothing on power up. Display is blank, no pop or audio squelch etc. I have actually cleaned the contacts on both battery and the little small ones that push in and out on the radio itself with both rubbing alcohol on a QTip and a pencil eraser. I have 4 batteries here (although all are old) and 3 wall worts and nothing is working. I am going to try to adjust on the little metal piece (the metal strip that is a hump) in the middle of the scanner to see if it is a contact problem. If not it has to be something internal in the radio.
Probably not worth fixing but it has sure been a good one over the years and hate to see it crash....Thanks again for the tips and am still open to try anything else. Appreciate you guys jumping in so quick.
Nothing on power up. Display is blank, no pop or audio squelch etc. I have actually cleaned the contacts on both battery and the little small ones that push in and out on the radio itself with both rubbing alcohol on a QTip and a pencil eraser. I have 4 batteries here (although all are old) and 3 wall worts and nothing is working. I am going to try to adjust on the little metal piece (the metal strip that is a hump) in the middle of the scanner to see if it is a contact problem. If not it has to be something internal in the radio.
Probably not worth fixing but it has sure been a good one over the years and hate to see it crash....Thanks again for the tips and am still open to try anything else. Appreciate you guys jumping in so quick.
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