BCD996XT Beartracker & Mobile Install Questions

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LouCheese

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I have two questions:

1) Does the Beartracker warning feature have to be enabled? I've had a new 996XT running for a week now, and thanks to my work being next door to a sheriff's deptartment and my home being just down the street from a police station, I can say that I've been withing 50 feet of at least 10 police vehicles and the Beartracker alert has never gone off once. I think the BCT15's had to have a state selected for the feature to work, but I can't find a scrap of information about it in the BCT996XT user's guide (Uniden seriously, seriously needs new technical writers), the RR wiki, or with basic Google seraches. Everything else works well, and it's hooked up to a good Diamond antenna when mobile, and a wideband discone at home.

Also, is there any material available that details the specific steps for hooking up the 3 cable set for mobile installation? Right now I'm running the unit off the cigarette lighter adapter but I'd like get the power cords behind the dash for a cleaner look.

Thanks in advance...
 

ofd8001

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I wasn't aware that the 996XT had a "Beartracker" feature, so I can't help you there.

The Black wire is the ground wire. The Red wire is the "hot" wire. The Orange wire can be connected to one side of the headlight switch, which would dim the display when the headlights are turned on. I've never done that, though I'm sure some folks have.

I agree - I'm not overly impressed with the manual format they use (web based) for both the 396XT and the 996XT. I have trouble finding what I want to know.

What I've done, and this helps more often than not, is look at the 996T (no X) and the 396T (no X) manuals. I've down-loaded them onto my computer so I can search for key words.
 

cmallen99

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I think the "Beartracker" feature only applies to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP uses a small low power handheld transceiver (extender) on 154.905Mhz to communicate back to the more powerful 42MHz radio in their car. The car relays incoming 42MHz band traffic to the patrol officer, also using 154.905.

If you can receive the 154.905, then you are within a couple miles of a CHP.

If there is some sort of selection for different states, then that would most likely change the low power extender frequency that is being monitored.

---------------------

I just looked at the manual. The Beartracker feature isn't mentioned for this scanner. Are you sure it has it? Are you confusing it with the "close call" feature ? The manual has instructions on how to activate and setup the close call feature.
 
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LouCheese

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Yep, you're right guys. The 996XT doesn't have the bear tracker warning system, it has a weather alert system.

My only experience with the bear tracker technology was about 10 years ago, when my father bought a refurbished BCT-12. He absolutely loved it, and because it was so small he carried it with him and put it in any car he would travel in. Due to the extensive usage it received over the years (and maybe because it was refurbished), eventually it broke. Around that time he developed some health issues and quit traveling.

The bear tracker warning system seemed to be well-received. The BCT-12's ability to act similar to a radar detector, but which could activate even if the radar was turned off, was so highly prized by the import/tuner crowd that used BCT-12s were selling for $150 on eBay for a while. I always kept the idea of getting a bear tracker-enabled scanner in the back of my mind, and when the BCT-15 came out with it a few years back I read about it but couldn't afford it at the time. Fast forward a couple of years later and when I could afford a 996XT, I just assumed the high-end scanner would have it. Silly me.

It's no big deal, I absolutely love the 996XT (just not the user manual). And it's not like I need the Bear tracker to keep from getting speeding tickets, I drive as a hypermiler and I'm usually below the speed limit anyway, I simply like the idea of the bear tracker technology. It's like a specialized version of the close call feature.

I'll just throw the mobile extender frequency into the 996XT and see how that works out.
 
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KE4ZNR

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The Beartracker feature was a cool, useful feature years ago before Trunked Radio systems became the main type of communication used by public safety agencies.
Unfortunately, the feature has become pretty much outdated.
You should be able to find some interesting local communications you have not heard before using the Close Call feature of your 996XT. :)
Happy Monitoring
Marshall KE4ZNR
 

garys

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The Beartracker, at least on the BC15 and BC15X is set state by state and includes trunking systems. For example, you can set Massachusetts and it will include most of the talk groups for the Mass. State Police. I'm not a big fan of the feature, so I've never used it, but it's not like the older Beartracker that only does some mobile extender frequencies.

I have my 996XT installed with the orange wire tapped off of the dash board light circuit. It auto dims when the dash lights come on. I like that, but some others probably don't. Which is why it can be turned off in the Settings section of the MENU system.
 
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