BCT15X Purchase ?

[swann3030]

I am thinking of buying a BCT15x to use as a second scanner and mostly listen to it in my office at work.
I primarily listen to conventional fire/police/ems frequencies. Very few digital channels in my Western New York area and the few trunked system the BCT15x is capable of receiving.
It seems this this a quality product that will meet my current needs? Any thoughts? Opinions, reviews?

 

[DJ88]

Great unit! It has a lot of great features. Scanner Master has it for $219.95 and I think standard shipping is free. I got mine there for that price.

 

[torontokris]

Be sure to also look into a digital version the 996XT... a few systems in western new york are P25

Rochester / Monroe are P25 for police so if your in that region I suggest a P25 scanner

 

[Rt169Radio]

I have the BCT15 which is about the same as the BCT15X and its a really good scanner for what I use it for.

 

[N8IAA]

Give a thought to the RS Pro-163 on sale for $180. It will do the same as the 15x, which I do personally like But, since you are looking to monitor conventional frequencies, why not save some money? Win97 for programming software, and the USB programming cable make it a cinch.
HTH,
Larry

 

[SCPD]

I also agree to the 15x being a great radio. I do not agree with the pro163. I had that radio (about 3 of them) The 163 has a much small screen so the font is tiny and less characters on the alpha tags. Also the 163 uses banks and channels the 15x is DMA based. My thoughts on the 163 are how i feel and im not trying to bash anyone on here who does like it. I think for $40.00 more you get a whole lot more going with the 15x

Good luck with whatever radio you do decide on.
.
Also you might want to look into a pro-160 used on ebay. Its uniden made for radio shack.

 

[WAScanMan]

I've had my 15X for just over a year now and I absolutely love it. I use it for some of everything. Milair/satcom, conventional PD and FD in the VHF/UHF range, and a few trunked systems. It's got some really great software some of which are free. I use BCtool for unattended logging and freescan for programming. Make sure you have a serial port or converter, or a USB-1 cable if you go with the BCT15X.

 

[W8RMH]

I am thinking of buying a BCT15x to use as a second scanner and mostly listen to it in my office at work.
I primarily listen to conventional fire/police/ems frequencies. Very few digital channels in my Western New York area and the few trunked system the BCT15x is capable of receiving.
It seems this this a quality product that will meet my current needs? Any thoughts? Opinions, reviews?

I think it is one of the best scanners on the market. I have a 15 that provides my feed and a 15X for general scanning. Very easy to program and operate with FreeScan.

I'm unclear about this statement though,"and the few trunked system the BCT15x is capable of receiving".

The BCT15X receives these systems :

Motorola Type I
Motorola Type II
Motorola Type IIi Hybrid
Motorola Type II Smartnet
Motorola Type II Smartzone
Motorola Type II Smartzone Omnilink
Motorola Type II VOC
EDACS Standard (Wide)
EDACS Standard Networked
EDACS Narrowband (Narrow)
EDACS Narrowband Networked
EDACS SCAT
EDACS ESK (not ProVoice)
LTR Standard

 

[zl2taw]

I also have a BCT15X & GRE PSR-410, they both are great units

 

[nyemt774]

I also live in Western NY and have a 15x. Works for just about everything around. Unless you really are interested and are able to monitor Monroe county, going with the digital 996xt is really overkill. Will add about another $100 to the cost. I don't really hear any rumors that any of the main counties in WNY will be going digital anytime in the foreseeable future. Most are analog or narrow-band and the 15x with a USB and software such as Butel, or Freescan will fill your needs!!! Happy Monitoring!!

 

[CoolCat]

Give a thought to the RS Pro-163 on sale for $180. It will do the same as the 15x, which I do personally like But, since you are looking to monitor conventional frequencies, why not save some money? Win97 for programming software, and the USB programming cable make it a cinch.
HTH,
Larry

If one programs it by hand, then it is cheaper; otherwise once you add the cost of the programming software and data cable, the total cost for the pro163 comes out about the same price as the 15X.

The 15X includes a data cable (serial only*), and programming software for DMA scanners is available for free. There are commercial software programs available that include some extra features that are desirable to some, but Freescan can easily handle most people's programming needs.
*laptop users may need to purchase a USB data cable or a USB-Serial adapter.

 

[swann3030]

wow thanks for all the great information, I appreciate everyone's opinion. Thank you!

 

[wise871]

I'd go with the BCT15X ($219) first and the GRE-410 ($149) second. Own both and love them both.
The 410 is a newer version of the Pro-163.