BC2500XLT to old to use??

[foiler]

Sixteen years ago I bought a Bearcat BC2500XLT for my sons birthday. Little did I know at the time he had acquired one on his own a couple of days prior. Ended up getting his something else for his birthday and I put the scanner, birthday wrapped and all, in a box with some old photos. Yesterday, my wife decides to clean out the closet. Needless to say there is the scanner, brand new in the box. So, my question is: Is this thing any good? There's been a lot of changes since 1992. I'm not a scanner person so I know little about how to operate it and it appears to be quite complicated. My neghbor mentions something about 'trunked' radio frequencies and that I probably would pick up much. What say you. Your help is most appreciated.

[trace1]

I still have a BC2500XLT and use it, for there are still a lot of conventional frequencies around here being used and there just may still be some in use where you are.

The scanner is actually very easy to use and program, after the amount of time in storage though you may need a new battery. But plug it in, recharge the battery and program some known, if any, conventional frequencies and see what happens.

[Airdorn]

Yeah, that scanner won't properly follow trunked radio systems, but you should be able to program the trunked system's frequencies and then scan each frequency and try to follow it like that.

Of course, if the trunked system is digital, then the scanner won't be useful on that at all -- you'd just hear some weird noise.

Like trace1 said, there's still tons of conventional stuff out there to monitor, so the scanner can still be useful. If you're not really into it, then maybe sell it here or on ebay.

Airdorn

[hoser147]

Many of us got old scanners that are still in use, they might not be daily users, but some maybe. Like they mentioned before you can plug it and and play with it, or there is a for sale forum on here or ebay, but ebay has sellar fee's and there are none here. If ya decide to keep it welcome to the world of scanning.Take a look in the Database and see what you can find for your area........... Hoser

[trap5858]

I had one and it was not bad for airband monitoring both VHF and mil- air.

[WayneH]

foiler, welcome to the forums. In the future please make sure to read the other forum names and descriptions before posting in them, and applicable "stickied" posts at the top of the forum. Thanks.

Moved to the Uniden forum.

[DanTSX]

All scanners are good scanners


As long as your town is not trunked, meaning they have a set of frequencies allocated to all of their services that are shared on a rotational basis as needed by demand. There is still plenty to hear out there besides local PD and FD. Try for Local mall security, institutions like hospitals or universities, highschool security etc. Town water and highway departments are a good listen when storms hit. Any metro area has a medical helicopter airlift that is a good listen. Airband is fun to hear pilots come and go once you get used to their clipped manner of speaking. Probably make a decent NASCAR or sporting evgent type scanner if that is your thing. You can also listen to HAMs banter on and on, and organizations like skywarn when it gets stormy in the summer to keep you alert of foul weather.

Tons and tons of non-trunked, non-digital broadcast out there.

I have a new GRE scanner and set it up right next to my 16 year old Uniden that I use for monitoring either local PD/FD or switching over to the airband to hear pilots call in to BDL when the weather puts the landing approach right over my house.

[foiler]

I thank all of you for your comments. Most helpful. I think I'll give it a try. I am in a 'weather' state. Tornados galore. It does have a 'wx' button for instant weather and, I'm right next to McConnell AFB. Didnt think about military air traffic. Thanks again. 'foiler'