BCT15X: Bct15x loss of power issue

[Cwvermont]

So the radio/scanner was turned on and working then I turned off the power strip that this is on in my house and turned it back on and it wouldn't come back on on its own. I had to turn off the switch then turn it back on. If I had this in my car to go on and off with the car instead of turning the switch on and off manually every time would it do this in a car too?
It’s a uniden bct15x

 

[doctordialtone]

If I had this in my car to go on and off with the car instead of turning the switch on and off manually every time would it do this in a car too?

Read about Startup Keys:

Startup Keys

 

[Cwvermont]

I’m talking about something that has to do with power to the unit

 

[doctordialtone]

with power to the unit

OK

I guess this has nothing to do with POWER KEY.


Good luck!

 

[N9JIG]

Does the radio not power up at all when you reapply power to it or does it light up and exist in a different status than you expect?

 

[Trucker700]

From the manual:

Power Related Issues​

Important: To prevent memory from being corrupted, do not unplug the AC adapter during the time the memory is accessed for programming or auto store.

Notes:

• If when you connect the AC adapter the [VOL] /Power Switch is ON, the scanner may not power on. Should this occur, simply turn the control OFF, then ON again.
• If the scanner loses power (as when you turn off your car’s ignition with the scanner’s power switch on), it can lose some system settings such as display color and backlight. To ensure that such settings persist, either change the setting using the scanner’s menu or power the scanner off then back on using the power switch after making such setting

 

[N9JIG]

Owning over a dozen BCT15X's over the years (and still having a few now) I have only seen this happen once, and like "trucker700" pointed out just turn it off and on to clear it up. While impolitely powering down a BCT15X will not damage or corrupt it in any way you will lose some things like Permanent Lockouts, and some settings if you just pull the power without shutting it down.

If I have locked out a bunch of channels and want to retain them I will power the radio off politely by turning it off with the volume control before I shut off the car, that writes the settings and lockouts to the internal memory.

 

[buddrousa]

2nd thing is killing the scanner connected to a wall wart may kill the wall wart. Try a different power source.

 

[10-43]

I wouldn't be concerned about using switched power in a vehicle with a scanner radio. Considering the BCT15X draws so little current, I wouldn't consider connecting it to switched power in my vehicle. None of my HAM radios are connected to switched power. This is standard practice for transceivers since the transmitters draw a lot of current when transmitting, and there is no switched source of power to supply the required current. Best practice is to connect directly to the vehicle battery for a transceiver with a fused line of sufficient size for the maximum transmitter current draw and the length required to reach the transceiver. I have left my radios on unintentionally, and never had a drained battery after a few days because the receivers draw no more current than the receiver of a scanner radio. Often no more than 1/2 amp when actually playing a received signal through the speaker. The power supply for the BCT15X is rated 750 mA. I imagine it probably draws less than 1/2 amp when audio is present during a received signal, and probably 250 mA or less in standby.

Assuming a low capacity car battery of 550 Cold Cranking amps which has a constant Amp hour capacity of about 76 amps, and assuming a maximum constant current draw of 1/2 amp for a radio receiver, the battery would be completely drained in about 152 hours or six days.

 

[10-43]

If anyone is concerned about being stranded with a dead battery, the Lithium Boost batteries actually work. I keep one in my Explorer and one on the boat. I have used it to start my F150 4.2 liter gas and my garden tractor many times. It can turn over my F150 at least 8 times. I drove my F150 a full day with a dead battery having to use the jump starter several times.

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