New scanner

[daneg]

I will be moving to Clinton County in about 3 and a half months, and a little time after that I'd like to buy a new scanner. I am looking at getting the Uniden BCT15. Would I be able to pick up Centre County's system in Lock Haven with the stock antenna that comes with it? Also If I were to use the freeware BC tool thats listed in the Wiki here, would it be easier to program their system then doing it by hand? Do I need any special cable? or will any USB cable work?

Also would it be easy to store another system in it as well so if I were to put it in my car when I go on trips I could just switch it to another system and be done?

Any info would be great!

 

[ka3jjz]

dan, from everything I've been reading, most folks find that if you are programming a fairly large system, such as Centre's, you're going to want to do that with software, although there's a school of thought that says learning to do it by hand is a valuable experience (I've done one system on my 396 by hand - whew! that's enough of that...). Whether you will be able to hear Centre's system on a small whip is questionable; if that's hilly terrain, or there's lots of distance (and obstacles) in the way, it's not very likely. But it depends if you are going to live close to the border between the two, where your chances would likely increase somewhat.

One thing about BCtool and it's cousin, FreeScan - get a premium membership, and one of the benefits will be to be able to connect directly to the database to download the data you want. I think you're going to find that doing it by hand, when there's lots of freqs and/or talkgroups, is a royal pain in the butt.

About storing another system in the car - you need do no switching at all. If you have a compatible GPS, you can define a circle around the areas you want, and the BCT15 will change the system on the fly. This is known as Location Based Scanning.

Here are a couple of links (in blue) for you....

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Uniden_Scanner_GPS_Features

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/subscription/


73 Mike

 

[daneg]

Cool thanks for the info! Lock Haven, and Centre county kind of have a lot of mountains in between so I am not too sure if it would work. Indeed if I would get the scanner I would get a premium membership, I had had enough of a time programming a trunk system before, so it would be nice to just have the software do it haha.

Thanks!
Dane

dan, from everything I've been reading, most folks find that if you are programming a fairly large system, such as Centre's, you're going to want to do that with software, although there's a school of thought that says learning to do it by hand is a valuable experience (I've done one system on my 396 by hand - whew! that's enough of that...). Whether you will be able to hear Centre's system on a small whip is questionable; if that's hilly terrain, or there's lots of distance (and obstacles) in the way, it's not very likely. But it depends if you are going to live close to the border between the two, where your chances would likely increase somewhat.

One thing about BCtool and it's cousin, FreeScan - get a premium membership, and one of the benefits will be to be able to connect directly to the database to download the data you want. I think you're going to find that doing it by hand, when there's lots of freqs and/or talkgroups, is a royal pain in the butt.

About storing another system in the car - you need do no switching at all. If you have a compatible GPS, you can define a circle around the areas you want, and the BCT15 will change the system on the fly. This is known as Location Based Scanning.

Here are a couple of links (in blue) for you....

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Uniden_Scanner_GPS_Features

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/subscription/


73 Mike

 

[HM1529]

I know I picked up the Centre Co system in the Lamar area last time I was up that way, but I do not think you can receive Centre Co in Lock Haven.

 

[ChrisRupert]

I know I picked up the Centre Co system in the Lamar area last time I was up that way, but I do not think you can receive Centre Co in Lock Haven.

Yes, that is true. Even in the Lamar area, coverage on the TRS is marginal. I know the two conventional channels have a greater range than the trunked system. I recall some of Centre County's PD units using conventional after they were involved in a chase through Centre County into Mill Hall on Rt. 150 and it worked fine. Also, you would be able to hear the Fire Dispatch (453.975) in Lock Haven.

 

[daneg]

Yes, that is true. Even in the Lamar area, coverage on the TRS is marginal. I know the two conventional channels have a greater range than the trunked system. I recall some of Centre County's PD units using conventional after they were involved in a chase through Centre County into Mill Hall on Rt. 150 and it worked fine. Also, you would be able to hear the Fire Dispatch (453.975) in Lock Haven.

Cool thanks Chris! I'll remember that for when I am up there, it's better then not getting anything at all from over there haha.