bct8 vs bc780xlt

[chevycheyenne]

i am new to the world of scanning and i was looking into getting one of these (any other suggestions). What is the main difference between the two. It sounds like they both have the same scanning features, but the 780 has much more memory and such. Also the 780 is more expensive. What am i missing here?

 

[CAT]

The BCT-8 doesn't have PL/DPL tone capability, which is something I think you'll soon realize you need in a scanner. As long as you don't need a digital scanner where you live, I would suggest going with the BC-780XLT, if you can still find one, as it's a great scanner.

Check out this webpage:
http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/bc-780xlt.html

 

[LarrySC]

780 series scanners are professional level and the other one in consumer level. Without software for programming they both are grizzly bears to PGM by hand.

 

[Dubbin]

There really is no comparison between the 2 radios. The 780 is a lot more radio then the BCT8.

 

[chevycheyenne]

what is tone cabability exactly? doesnt the bct-8 track all the channels that the 780 can and trunk track the same, its just got less capacity and maybe doesnt scan as quick? Or is it not even on the same playing field as the 780, for example its range might be much less.

 

[K5MAR]

PL is a Motorola trademarked term for CTCSS, or Continuous Tone Coded Squelch System. This is a subaudible tone (67 to 250.3 hertz) transmitted with the carrier by a properly-equipped radio, and is used to open the squelch on a properly-equipped receiver. Often used to control access to a repeater system, it was originally developed to allow more than one user on a single radio frequency. Different users would have different tones (there are 38 or more CTCSS tones) so they wouldn't have to hear each other's radio traffic. Of course this still doesn't allow two different users on the same frequency at the same time. Removing the mic from the hanger of a mobile radio, or pressing a button on the front of a base radio would "defeat" or turn off the tone squelch and allow the users to hear if the channel was already in use before they transmitted. A digital version - DCS or Digital Coded Squelch (DPL - Motorola trademark) has also been implimented using a digital signal instead of analog tones, but is currently less common.

For a scanner listener, CTCSS allows you to seperate the different agencies that use a single freqency. If Agencies A and B both use 155.000 MHz, and you only want to hear A, then you check to see if they are using a CTCSS tone, then set your scanner to reject all transmissions except ones that have that tone.

More and more scanners are implementing CTCSS/DCS in one form or another. Probably the best implementation in terms of decodeding (so far)has been the Pro-92/2067 scanners, which provided nearly instantaneous decoding and display of the tones. It's a feature that once you use it for awhile, you won't want to give it up.

Mark S.

 

[chevycheyenne]

well what do you guys recommend for a base/mobile scanner if i cant find a 780 anywhere. Ive tried ebay and the bidding is pretty intense as in you lose out at the last minute. Thats why I am looking at the bct8, pretty cheap and readily available. Im open to all suggestions.

 

[CAT]

Try here: http://universal-radio.com/catalog/scanners/0780.html

 

[waynesewell]

you lose out at the last minute.

That's just the way ebay works. Any time you see the same person bid more than twice, you are seeing a ebay novice in action. Bidding wars are for morons.

If you know what you are doing, you:

1. make a probe bid at the absolute minimum price when you first find the auction. This puts it on your myebay screen so you can track it. You will probably get the "someone has outbid you" screen, but this doesn't matter. The probe bid isn't the real bid.

2. decide the maximum price you are willing to pay

3. make this bid seconds before the auction ends (I use 15 seconds)

It's called bid sniping.

You either get the item or you don't. But you don't spend more than you intended because you got excited and kept bidding.

True, it's somewhat of a pain to be there in the final seconds of an auction, especially when it ends in the middle of the night. But there are programs that can do this for you automatically.

Whenever you see a couple of peckerheads bidding back and forth, all they are doing is driving the price up. And as you have noticed, some sniper may come in and take it away from them anyway.

 

[chevycheyenne]

i know how to bid its just that the old dial up just cant cut in faster than dsl so i cant wait until 15 seconds are left.

 

[waynesewell]

Well, as long as it's in the last minute it should be sufficient to win. The whole point is to avoid anyone reacting to your bid with a higher one. Unfortunately, some of the automated programs will do that.

If everybody bids their absolute final amount in the snipe, the actual timing doesn't matter. If the people who snipe later than you have a lower amount, you get it anyway. It's like shooting a gun blindfolded.

The problem is when people bid more than you think the item is worth. This happened to me with the BCT-12. People were paying what I considered ludicrous prices. Sure it's out of production, so ebay is about the only way you can get one, but still... It took me about six attempts to get my bct-12.

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I have both the BCT-8 and BC-780.

I use the BCT-8 with trunker. The serial port control is great if I need a basic scanner to dedicate to something.

I noticed that it does have some missing features (besides the ones mentioned) that I find handy for searching.

The search ranges are fixed and you can not change the step sizes. If you are interested in the 800 or 900 trunked radio systems there is only one big search range that covers everything except cellular. I find it annoying.

I recently found there was no selection for Motorola 900 MHz trunked systems so the BCT-8 will not trunktrack them.

73 Eric

 

[chevycheyenne]

the bct8 trunktracks everything that the 780 does though doesnt it. (As in does the 780 track 900mhz motorola)

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

The BC-780XLT has a E2-900 selection. The BCT-8 does not. I could not get the BCT-8 to trunktrack a 900 MHz system. So they are not the same.

73 Eric

 

[Forts]

I have both the 780 and the BCT8, and they both have their own uses in my mind. The 780 is my primary analog trunking scanner (Pro96 handles the digital duties) while I use the BCT8 (in conjunction with the Pro96) in my vehicle for conventional scanning. It works quite well, but the lack of PL tones and alpha tags are the 2 biggest downfalls for me. However, that being said, you get what you pay for. I had a Pro-2067 that I was using for mobile duty, but it was choking on the mixed mode vhf trunking system that's in use around here (digital talkgroups kept poking thru... running the scanner in closed mode would mess up the analog talkgroups etc etc). The BCT8 works just great in this role for me, as I didn't really want to pony up the $$ for another 780/785 for mobile use. Plus I'm waiting for the new mobile version of the Pro96 too