BCT15X: BCT15x failing to boot

[Shdy247]

Hey, fairly new when it comes to radios.

About a year ago I bought a brand new BCT15X, no issues until recently. My town lost power for about 6 hours, and when it finally came back on, I restarted my scanner to find it not booting properly.

Currently, when I turn it on, it flashes the "Uniden Bearcat BCT15X Trunking Dynamic Scanning Bear Tracker" fairly rapidly and that's it. I've attempted a few basic trouble shooting aspects, off/on, checking plugs, pressing the POL/HP buttons, etc. The only thing that seems to have any effect is when I hold the 'Hold/Resume" button, it then flashes a blank screen even faster.

Attempting to find a forum on it, I've had no luck and am hoping that I'll fine help here. Thanks in advance.

 

[FKimble]

Power surge when power came back on maybe. Have you tried to reload your programing to it?

Frank

 

[enCrypt]

How are you powering it? Via its "wall wart"?
Do you have a multimeter to check if the wart has not blown / been damaged by the power surge?

 

[Ubbe]

The most common problem with BCT15x are its power supply. Try any other that can supply at least 11V up to 15V and 800mA and more ampere.

/Ubbe

 

[N9JIG]

I agree that it is likely a power supply failure. Try taking it out to the car and plug the cigar lighter cable in to see if it works properly there, if so then get a new wall-wart (At least 800 MA, 1000 is better).

 

[Shdy247]

Thank you all for the help, I tried another wall plug and it worked flawlessly. Any tips on trustworthy sites to get a new OEM or better cord? The one I tested is a little too short for my needs.

 

[N9JIG]

Scanner Master (Uniden AD-1009 AC Adapter | Scanner Master) and others sell the OEM replacement.

Check out (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=security...a+power,aps,135&ref=nb_sb_ss_pltr-xclick_2_21) for a selection from Amazon.

Remember you need 12-15VDC adapters with at least 1000 MA (1A). These are common in security camera applications, the above link has varying cable lengths and power splitters so you can use multiple devices on one power supply. Just remember to aggregate the power draw of all devices, so if you have 2 scanners you should provide at least 2000 MA (2A) to be safe. I use one of these rated at 6A to power 3 scanners and a multicoupler with no issues.

 

[Shdy247]

Scanner Master (Uniden AD-1009 AC Adapter | Scanner Master) and others sell the OEM replacement.

Check out (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=security+camera+power+adapter&crid=23S51WRCBEI73&sprefix=security+camera+power,aps,135&ref=nb_sb_ss_pltr-xclick_2_21) for a selection from Amazon.

Remember you need 12-15VDC adapters with at least 1000 MA (1A). These are common in security camera applications, the above link has varying cable lengths and power splitters so you can use multiple devices on one power supply. Just remember to aggregate the power draw of all devices, so if you have 2 scanners you should provide at least 2000 MA (2A) to be safe. I use one of these rated at 6A to power 3 scanners and a multicoupler with no issues.

I actually seem to have more of an issue than I thought. Before I made a post I had opened the scanner and checked the ribbon cables and others to ensure nothing was loose. When I powered it up and was checking everything I found that the scroll wheel wasn't responsive, opening it back up I found that the scroll wheel wasn't fully plugged in. Booting the scanner again it went back into the cycle it was doing before. I even checked with the original cable with and without the cable plugged in, only works without it.

 

[tvengr]

Try resetting the scanner. Be aware that it will erase the programming. Press the 2, 9, and HOLD buttons while turning on the scanner.

 

[Shdy247]

Try resetting the scanner. Be aware that it will erase the programming. Press the 2, 9, and HOLD buttons while turning on the scanner.

It's now flashing "All Memory Clear Please Wait" at the same rate as before, with no background lights. Same turning off/on.

 

[tvengr]

It's now flashing "All Memory Clear Please Wait" at the same rate as before, with no background lights. Same turning off/on.

From all of the reports I have seen, the rebooting has always been caused by a bad power source. Try using a cigarette lighter adapter in your vehicle to see if that fixes the problem.