BC125AT Expectations

[bigcam406]

I have had mine for many years. Since I live north of your border, just east of Toronto Ontario, Canada, I have mine programmed with aviation, and numerous frequencies from Western New York state, fire and police that are still using conventional analogue comms. Distances range from 30-80 miles across Lake Ontario, and the 125 picks these comms up great. You won't be disappointed.

 

[CB62]

Thanks for all the replies. The BC125 arrived and appears to be a very capable little scanner.
Question: What sort of AC adapter can I use to plug the scanner into the wall outlet and run it on AC power?

 

[Scan125]

Any wall plug USB charger will do if not using a PC/similar. Note the scanner does not support fast charge to my knowledge so normal or fast chargers will charge the scanner at the same rate.

Also the charging circuit in the scanner uses a user adjustable timer for the charging cycle. This can result in undercharging and in some cases overcharging.

You will find that many people prefer to use dedicate AA battery chargers and optionally set the battery switch in the battery compartment to Alkaline battery.

 

[CB62]

Any wall plug USB charger will do if not using a PC/similar. Note the scanner does not support fast charge to my knowledge so normal or fast chargers will charge the scanner at the same rate.

Also the charging circuit in the scanner uses a user adjustable timer for the charging cycle. This can result in undercharging and in some cases overcharging.

You will find that many people prefer to use dedicate AA battery chargers and optionally set the battery switch in the battery compartment to Alkaline battery.

Helpful, thanks. For now I only want to power the scanner using the wall outlet. Can I do that with a USB 5v adapter without harming the unit?

 

[Scan125]

Helpful, thanks. For now I only want to power the scanner using the wall outlet. Can I do that with a USB 5v adapter without harming the unit?

Absolutely. No damage to the scanner will be done. Generally NiMh batteries are fairly tolerant of being left charging. As with all rechargeable batteries ideally they should be fully charged and then used/drained and then recharged, i.e. a full charge & use cycle. Repeated top-ups are not ideal.

The scanner can use Ni-Cd and Ni-Mh batteries. It comes with the recommend Ni-Mh batteries which are more tolerant the Ni-Cd for partial and top-up charging.

Personally I would not worry too much and just get using and enjoying your scanner.

 

[Jmit5425]

The OP, if he gets a BC125AT can use my free/charityware Scan125 program (donation to DEBRA charity but only if one is satisfied.)

With Scan125 he can profile his local area with all 'hits' being logged with with relevant transmission data together with time and number of times any particular frequency is heard. Also all hits can be automatically saved to a scanner channel.

Profiling is a good way to find out what is around you and at what times.

I have used this method of programming. Scan125 is easy to use and has many features. Definitely worth using and donating.