Any tips on Uniden?

[ThunderBritches]

This is coming from a long time RS user. I bought the BCT15 and the software. I love the looks, reception, lack of intermod, and wide receive capability of this scanner.

I detest the groups, systems, hot keys, hit function and then 2 numbers for groups, etc. I took the time to build systems and groups etc. In the end I deleted everything and went to one big system with all the conventional freq's and just temp lockout what I don't want to hear every time I start my truck. The computer program and use of this thing is a nightmare. It took extensive reading of the manual just to figure out how to turn off a group.

That said, I want to learn this thing. It's an incredible radio from what I have experienced so far. Is there anything to read that is better put together than this manual?

 

[Dubbin]

This is a whole different animal then any radio shack scanner. You best bet is going to be to read read read. As far as the software goes, I'm guessing that you bought the Uniden software. If so then that was your first mistake. Butels ACR15 is the way to go.

 

[DaveIN]

This is coming from a long time RS user. I bought the BCT15 and the software. I love the looks, reception, lack of intermod, and wide receive capability of this scanner.

I detest the groups, systems, hot keys, hit function and then 2 numbers for groups, etc. I took the time to build systems and groups etc. In the end I deleted everything and went to one big system with all the conventional freq's and just temp lockout what I don't want to hear every time I start my truck. The computer program and use of this thing is a nightmare. It took extensive reading of the manual just to figure out how to turn off a group.

That said, I want to learn this thing. It's an incredible radio from what I have experienced so far. Is there anything to read that is better put together than this manual?

Download a copy of the manual in PDF. This will allow you to do easy search on a topic or feature.
http://www.uniden.com/pdf/BCT15om.pdf

Read UPMan's - Man Machine Interface: http://www.grove-ent.com/SCANNERPROGRAMMING.htm

 

[K9GTJ]

Get the Butel software. It is great and allow importing from the RR database. It also makes a little more sense than the Uniden software.

My other tip is to keep playing with it. I figure out new features all the time.

 

[ke4ppj]

.......I'm guessing that you bought the Uniden software. If so then that was your first mistake.....

It's free....I hope you didn't buy it anywhere. You can get it from Uniden's website. It's not bad either. Once you play with it for a little bit and get the hang of it you can't go wrong.

You can also join the Yahoo group. There are lots of software files that you can download and use with the software....and you might even find some in your home area or to places you travel.

And like someone said earlier......read read read. Besides the files....there are many tips and questions with answers that others have asked before that may help.

Good Luck.

 

[troymail]

This is a whole different animal then any radio shack scanner. You best bet is going to be to read read read. As far as the software goes, I'm guessing that you bought the Uniden software. If so then that was your first mistake. Butels ACR15 is the way to go.

I've had many Bearcat/Uniden scanners -- most recently a 235, then a 245, a 296 and now a 396. By far the 296 and 396 took the longest to figure out. However, I purchased a Radio Shack PRO-97 as a gift last year and to me there is no comparision - the Uniden radios are MUCH easier to program. The series of keys - PGM, FUNC, TRUNK, etc. you must push to do something with a PRO series radio drives me nuts.

In either case, the software is the way to go. I started manually adding some new systems of conventional freqs to my 396 yesterday... then I got smart and fired up the Uniden software which is much easier.

I'm not sure about the specifics of the Uniden BCT15 software - is it the same as the 396 software? If so, it's pretty good. The software that came with the 296 wasn't that great and I found that using other shareware stuff was much better. In any case, if you're entering alot of stuff and want to enter alpha tags, you've got to get at least one software package that you can be comfortable with....

On the other hand - I do agree that having to use two hands to enable and disable some functions on the uniden radios is sometimes a pain... but it's a give and take - if we want smaller radios we can't have a button for everything...

 

[Dubbin]

It's free....I hope you didn't buy it anywhere. You can get it from Uniden's website. It's not bad either. Once you play with it for a little bit and get the hang of it you can't go wrong.

No it is not free...

 

[ThunderBritches]

Thanks guys! The Butel software is very cool. I have the Win97 for my pro97 and 2055 and got used to the great feature of downloading systems from here. Right now I have a different system for each group of freqs that I want to listen to. I'm just turning them off and on individually. I will continue to play with it and eventually I'll get the hang of using groups and the other features. I can't say enough about this things reception in heavy intermod areas of town. I also like the fact that I have a system loaded with FM radio. If I'm sitting in the truck listening to my usual freq's and someone approaches, I can reach over and hit key 2 and music is playing. I just don't like folks knowing what I listen to because some just don't get it.

 

[troymail]

I also like the fact that I have a system loaded with FM radio. If I'm sitting in the truck listening to my usual freq's and someone approaches, I can reach over and hit key 2 and music is playing. I just don't like folks knowing what I listen to because some just don't get it.

At little off subject but - wouldn't it be neat if you could set you radio to listen to FM radio or TV broadcasts but have it jump out to something else like a fire or police dispatch? So, for instance, I'd set my radio to monitor my local fire dispatch freq (or tone out mode) but wat to listen to my local TV news broadcast.... when fire dispatches a call, it would be treated like a priority channel and jump to the dispatch and then jump back to TV broadcast automatically.... yeah - I need to post this in the Uniden section....

...and now back to the topic of the thread....

 

[ThunderBritches]

That would be a cool feature though.

 

[hiegtx]

At little off subject but - wouldn't it be neat if you could set you radio to listen to FM radio or TV broadcasts but have it jump out to something else like a fire or police dispatch? So, for instance, I'd set my radio to monitor my local fire dispatch freq (or tone out mode) but wat to listen to my local TV news broadcast.... when fire dispatches a call, it would be treated like a priority channel and jump to the dispatch and then jump back to TV broadcast automatically.... yeah - I need to post this in the Uniden section....

...and now back to the topic of the thread....

Actually, as long as the fire or police dispatch you're talking about is conventional, just set it as a priority channel, and you can do that now. Can't do it if it's a talkgroup on a trunk system though.

 

[troymail]

Actually, as long as the fire or police dispatch you're talking about is conventional, just set it as a priority channel, and you can do that now. Can't do it if it's a talkgroup on a trunk system though.

I think that's the problem.... these radios are designed for TRUNKING use. Unfortunately, the features of the trunking systems haven't been completely integrated with the conventional system uses yet. To really do the job, the radio almost must have two receivers. Otherwise, it needs to constantly leave one frequency/system/purpose to "check" the other - which is somewhat annoying.

OK - once again - sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[ke4ppj]

hmmm....maybe we're talking about different PC software but the one I'm referring to is still free on the site like I said. It's UASD. This is taken from the site....."There is no charge for the full version of this software."

Go to http://www.uniden.com/index/downloads.cfm?product=BCD396T and check it out.

 

[hiegtx]

hmmm....maybe we're talking about different PC software but the one I'm referring to is still free on the site like I said. It's UASD. This is taken from the site....."There is no charge for the full version of this software."

Go to http://www.uniden.com/index/downloads.cfm?product=BCD396T and check it out.

ke4ppj,
The UASD software is free for the digital scanners (BCD396T & BCT996T). For the non-digital scanners, such as the BCT-15 that ThunderBritches has, you can download the 'demo' version for free, but to get an unlock key for the "full" version, you have to purchase it. The 396 software (not the 996 software) will work on any scanner except the one they are released for. Try it on a different model & you'll get an error message.

 

[ke4ppj]

thanks hiegtx for clearing it up.....that helps!