From the sounds of your first sentence in the post, it sounds like you just got a BCT15x scanner.
Here's a little snippet from Mark's Easier to Read Manual for that model scanner and he might be talking about just the problem you're facing, if I'm understanding you correctly:
The most frustrating thing about this radio is right out of the box, all BearTracker features are on by default which makes no sense at all if you don't know how to turn them off. My advice is to disable everything and start from there.
Press POL and HP until all the icons (PL, DT, HP, and BT) disappear from the display to turn off all preprogrammed frequencies. This will give you 'Nothing to Scan' in the display. Now you can jump into programming your frequencies.
I don't think you have to worry about running out of room to store your frequencies on this scanner, if that's your concern.
And here's what the PL, DT, HP, and BT from above mean:
POL includes Police and Sheriff services.
DOT includes the states' Department of Transportation services.
HP includes the Highway Patrol, State Police, State Patrol, and State Intercity.
BT activates the BearTracker Warning system.
Here's a link to the
Easier To Read manual for the BCT15X scanner. There's a ton of good info in there..
