Bearcat 210XL programming oddity

[N6KAW]

This morning I tried to add a SPARC repeater to my 210XL. Namely frequency 446.640.

Using one of the blank memory areas and while watching the display in manual mode I entered in 446.640 and the E (enter) key.

The display then showed 446.637. I thought what the?
I tried several other combinations, 446.64, same result after depressing the E (enter) key 446.637.

I then powered off the 210xl, removed the battery, disconnected the AC and allowed it to clear memory.

Re-connected the AC installed the battery etc. and powered it on. Confirmed that all 18 memory positions now defaulted to 989.XXX.
I re-programmed in all of the other frequencies in my list:

145.320, 145.380, 147.435, 447.000, 147.450, 448.950 etc. All of those entered correctly. I then again tried to enter in 446.640 and upon depressing the E (enter) key 446.637 was displayed.

I am baffled.

Thanks

 

[hill]

446.640 isn't a valid UHF frequency.

Need to be multiples of 12.5 kHz. Old spacing was 25 kHz, so was this would work also.

 

[kc2asb]

The display then showed 446.637. I thought what the?
I tried several other combinations, 446.64, same result after depressing the E (enter) key 446.637.

I then powered off the 210xl, removed the battery, disconnected the AC and allowed it to clear memory.

Re-connected the AC installed the battery etc. and powered it on. Confirmed that all 18 memory positions now defaulted to 989.XXX.
I re-programmed in all of the other frequencies in my list:

145.320, 145.380, 147.435, 447.000, 147.450, 448.950 etc. All of those entered correctly. I then again tried to enter in 446.640 and upon depressing the E (enter) key 446.637 was displayed.

I am baffled.

Thanks

The Bearcat 210XL uses 12.5khz steps in the UHF range. Example using your frequency: 446.625, 446.6375, 446.650, etc. The display only has 3 digits after the decimal point, so the "5" is not displayed. The repeater frequency of 446.640 is only 2.5khz higher than 446.6375, so you should have no problems hearing the repeater.

 

[doctordialtone]

Bearcat 210xl programming

I have a Bearcat 210xl and don't know if I can use it as all of the frequencies I try to put in it will not take. I can only put in six numbers. I need to put in three followed by a dot and then four more. Am I out of luck?

forums.radioreference.com

That's normal and has to do with steps.

This came up yesterday on another model.

 

[kc2asb]

446.640 isn't a valid UHF frequency.

Need to be multiples of 12.5 kHz. Old spacing was 25 kHz, so was this would work also.

The 70cm/440 amateur band uses 5khz steps if I remember correctly. The issue the OP is facing is that the 210XL uses 12.5khz steps through the entire UHF portion. It will not accept 446.640 as entered and defaults to 446.6375. He will not have any issues hearing the repeater a mere 2.5khz away. 446.640 is a valid repeater output frequency.

 

[hill]

The 70cm/440 amateur band uses 5khz steps if I remember correctly

70 CM is mainly used 25 kHz and now use 12.5 kHz with many narrow band digital repeaters on air.

Looks like California has used a lot of non-standard repeater frequencies not following the usual spacing for UHF, as all ham radio repeater coordinating groups do things different.

 

[AK9R]

The 70cm/440 amateur band uses 5khz steps if I remember correctly.

Depends on the local frequency coordinating body. A large portion of the country uses 12.5 kHz or 25 kHz steps in the 440 MHz band. SCRRBA uses 20 kHz (https://www.scrrba.org/BandPlans/440-450.pdf).

 

[kc2asb]

Depends on the local frequency coordinating body. A large portion of the country uses 12.5 kHz or 25 kHz steps in the 440 MHz band. SCRRBA uses 20 kHz (https://www.scrrba.org/BandPlans/440-450.pdf).

Thanks. I stand corrected. In any case, if the OP has the correct frequency for the repeater he wants to listen to, he should not have any issues. Filtering in an early scanner like the 210XL is very wide.

 

[N6KAW]

Here is where I found the frequency data for the SPARC repeater at Santiago Peak.

Santiago Peak 446.64000 KF6PHX California Repeater

There are two contribution notes, explaining it has been heard, as recently as 02/18/2025.

Thanks All

 

[kc2asb]

Nice! The 210XL is a fun scanner to play around with. It's the successor to the original Bearcat 210. Always liked the blue fluorescent display

 

[ladn]

Looks like California has used a lot of non-standard repeater frequencies not following the usual spacing for UHF, as all ham radio repeater coordinating groups do things different.

So California UHF repeaters use 20 kHZ spacing. NorCal repeaters are (usually) 25 kHZ. It's been that way for about 15 years.

 

[hill]

So California UHF repeaters use 20 kHZ spacing. NorCal repeaters are (usually) 25 kHZ. It's been that way for about 15 years.

You can always leave it to California people to do things different than conventional standard ways.

 

[ladn]

You can always leave it to California people to do things different than conventional standard ways.

That's the California way!

In this case, the change in SoCal channel spacing was compromise to both (1) add more UHF repeater pairs and (2) not cause excessive havoc with existing sanctioned, systems having to do a major retune.

SoCal has a proliferation of private or closed UHF repeaters hogging taking up using most of the available UHF spectrum even though there's very little activity. The UHF spectrum manager seems to operate like an old boys club and allows systems to keep their underutilized channel allocations.

 

[dmfalk]

Also, many frequencies are set up in coordination with Mexican authorities, as to not cause interference.