BCT8 to BCT15x upgrade worth it?

[Lowfront]

I like the idea of alpha tagging a lot


I think I would enjoy the close call capture feature


and can never go wrong with more memory banks and channels


signal strength meter etc....





Now I'm very new to this and just got the BCT8 a couple weeks ago, Just got my antenna in though and getting lots of towns now. Really would enjoy having the alpha tags.

 

[RoninJoliet]

Alpha tags are great, now on the 15X there are NO banks, there Systems and you assign them to System Quick Keys 1-100....I would read about the 15X in the Wiki or on www.markscanners.com manuals....

 

[CoolCat]

In my opinion, the ability to alpha-tag alone is worth upgrading (but almost any modern scanner can handle that); but the DMA memory system is the real upgrade (again, IMO)

 

[Forts]

I've owned both radios, and if the price is right absolutely go for the 15X (or even the older BCT-15 for that matter),

 

[Lowfront]

Excellent...thanks for the responses.


Ill start my hunt for a 15x cheap

 

[ka3jjz]

I would first check to see what your area is using - the BCT15 and it's newer cousin the 15X are analog trunking only scanners - it will not do any digital P25 stuff.

I've seen too many folks make the same mistake of thinking the 15X is the baby brother to the 996XT in that both do digital - that's not true.

best regards..Mike

 

[Lowfront]

Im in central ma.....dont believe anything is digital around here

 

[NWI_Scanner_Guy]

bct8 to bct15x upgrade worth it?

yes!!!!!

 

[KE4ZNR]

I would first check to see what your area is using - the BCT15 and it's newer cousin the 15X are analog trunking only scanners - it will not do any digital P25 stuff.

I've seen too many folks make the same mistake of thinking the 15X is the baby brother to the 996XT in that both do digital - that's not true.

best regards..Mike

As usual Mike provides wise guidance.
Make sure your local agencies are not on a track to P25 digital.
When folks ask me which scanner to buy here in NC, I ask them one question: "Do you want to monitor Public Safety?". If the answer is yes, then I tell them don't purchase an analog only scanner. Save up and get a scanner that can handle digital voice traffic because a majority of Public Safety agencies in NC are quickly migrating their form of communications to one form of digital or another.
Marshall KE4ZNR

 

[Rt169Radio]

The BCT15x scanner is a very nice scanner and I would recommend it.But it will not do digital trunktracking,it will only do analog trunktracking.

 

[BeerNutz]

I own both radios. The BCT15X is supported by the freeware "FreeSCAN", making it much easier to program.

If Bear Tracker is activated with the BCT15X, when you get a hit, it is much louder than the BCT8 and blinks like a Xmas tree. Some like this, some don't.

The BCT8 is a great scanner but the BCT15X can't be beat for conventional, trunk, scanning.