Bearcat 101
- Thread starter aleeeeaaa
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This is a wonderful scanner which I owned several of them. Made by Electra bearcat before Uniden bought them out in 1983.
Your best bet is to look for the occasional one you will find on the internet that are not in working order but you can cannibalize. You will need to search. There are some out there in good condition for sale also. They are rare.
I'm betting you have opened up the scanner to look for part numbers on the part itself.
Have you tried to contact
www.bearcatscanner.com
Factory Manuals Now Available!
Uniden Bearcat factory owner service manuals for Bearcat Scanners available while supplies last!
www.bearcatscanner.com
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I found this was some papers, might be worth giving them a call,
That Dropbox offering looks interesting. Any source of Uniden manuals probably won't be of any use since the Bearcat 101 was introduced by Electra Company in Cumberland Indiana late 1974 early 1975 almost a decade before Uniden ever made its first scanner.
As far as Parts themselves I would just reach out on every market you can, seeking Bearcat 101 radio's working or not, cannibalizing will be your best source of parts.
That Dropbox offering looks interesting. Any source of Uniden manuals probably won't be of any use since the Bearcat 101 was introduced by Electra Company in Cumberland Indiana late 1974 early 1975 almost a decade before Uniden ever made its first scanner.
As far as Parts themselves I would just reach out on every market you can, seeking Bearcat 101 radio's working or not, cannibalizing will be your best source of parts.
Shortly after this scanner went out of production even Electra couldn’t repair mine due to parts not being available and the CPU being a “sealed” unit. Sadly it was dumpster bound. A hell of a scanner in its day. Good luck with your search
Gosh they are on Fleabay for as little as $10, and shipping. Mine still works and honestly, I don't know how long I have had it.
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Biggest problem I had was the red diodes burned out. I bought one at a flea market once for $10 but it didn't work. $399.99 in late 1974 at Lafayette Electronics was my first.. It was AC only and I had an inverter on the floor behind the driver's seat where I could just reach down and toggle the switch.
Post #4 shows the schematics near the end of the manual.
Mine had a bad cap, was bulging like it was overweight; replaced it and it worked great for several years until I sold it.Biggest problem I had was the red diodes burned out. I bought one at a flea market once for $10 but it didn't work. $399.99 in late 1974 at Lafayette Electronics was my first.. It was AC only and I had an inverter on the floor behind the driver's seat where I could just reach down and toggle the switch.
I still have one page of the schematic, but as the OP lamented it doesn’t give you values of the semiconductors! Just Q2…Q4…etc!
I was in retail when these first came out. The early units had overheating problems and we sent a lot of them back to Electra. After about a year, they solved that and they were solid scanners. I had one for a few years until the 210 came out. At some point I bought the Regency Touch K100 to replace it.
Revolutionary at the time.
Revolutionary at the time.
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..so as we know, we didn't have internet, we had a variety of magazines to give us our information and a very limited networking on a local basis between all the brick and mortar stores which was usually tainted by the owner of the store, trying to sell radios.
Nonetheless, I pre-ordered one of the first models and it was delivered to Lafayette electronics and I paid $399.99. I never had the overheating problem. The radio worked like a charm.
As previously described in my post here, even installed in my car with an inverter. I'm very thankful I never had any issues but apparently there was and you didn't find out for months until a truthful article came out in a magazine and often those articles were driven by.. their advertising by that manufacturer.
A lot of word of mouth stuff, and not over the internet, which did not exist.
We knew at the shop where I worked from 1975-77. The shop was Scanner Master before there was a Scanner Master.
We sold a lot of Regency and Bearcat scanners along with some Robyn and even Tennelec. The Tennelec programmable came out before the 210 or the Regency Touch scanner. They had a high failure rate too.
Anyway, the owner bought large quantities of scanners and we had a good relationship with Electra. We had no problem getting units repaired, fortunately. My recollection was that the problem was with the circuitry around the PLL chip. It's a long time ago, so that may not be correct.
We also sold CB radios and ham gear as well as some car stereo.
We sold a lot of Regency and Bearcat scanners along with some Robyn and even Tennelec. The Tennelec programmable came out before the 210 or the Regency Touch scanner. They had a high failure rate too.
Anyway, the owner bought large quantities of scanners and we had a good relationship with Electra. We had no problem getting units repaired, fortunately. My recollection was that the problem was with the circuitry around the PLL chip. It's a long time ago, so that may not be correct.
We also sold CB radios and ham gear as well as some car stereo.
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Yes in the Philly area I dealt with shops like yours, high volume, inside information, Saturday morning group discussions in the store.. the success to a store like yours was to be.. honest and to own up to issues and not deny them...
You were on the horn to Elektra on a regular basis and made it right with your customers who, by mouth, recommended you and you had a good reputation. Those kind of business plans can work or not work now.
We had a few shops like that. You were dealing with volume and the community was "Word of Mouth".
We had a few news photogs as customers, but a lot more scanner buffs. I met a few of the hard core Boston area scanner buffs and am still in touch with a few of them.
I met a lot more news photogs when I went into EMS full time. I did some freelance installs for a few of the still guys in Boston. Kind of a nice little sideline.
A different world back then. I don't think anyone in Boston does "Spot News" any longer. Even the "live from the scene" stand up stuff is mostly the talent standing in front of a burned out building talking about the fire three hours before.
There's a lot of cell phone and amateur footage of actual events. That's what passes for B Roll these days.
I met a lot more news photogs when I went into EMS full time. I did some freelance installs for a few of the still guys in Boston. Kind of a nice little sideline.
A different world back then. I don't think anyone in Boston does "Spot News" any longer. Even the "live from the scene" stand up stuff is mostly the talent standing in front of a burned out building talking about the fire three hours before.
There's a lot of cell phone and amateur footage of actual events. That's what passes for B Roll these days.
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It was a whole different world, we had our bag phones, then our brick phones and then the Motorola flip phones with the black leather case which we called the shoe phone LOL. It was so much easier carrying a phone than it was to be carrying a UHF repeater HT.
A reporter or photographer was different then, you covered the news as it was.
Today's reporters are just political activist and campaign workers, news is dictated by political motives only, more covering up and lying than truth in reporting.
I'm long retired but scanners were a major tool in doing our job honestly and correctly. Honesty is not part of the equation anymore unfortunately LOL.
When we came upon a radio as space age as the 101, it just made your job, easier.. and helped you to shine. At that time it was a job I would have done for nothing if I didn't have to pay my bills LOL. It was fun.
I don't want to thread drift, so suffice it to say that I haven't had a newspaper subscription in 20 years and don't watch local TV news.
Back on topic, the 101 was a well built, solid scanner. I sold mine to a friend so I could buy a 210, then traded the 210 to him to get the 101 back.
Back on topic, the 101 was a well built, solid scanner. I sold mine to a friend so I could buy a 210, then traded the 210 to him to get the 101 back.
I'll second @trentbob on both the 101, scanner stores, and news photography "back in the day"! My BC 101 was a big step up from my Regency 8 Channel VHF hi/low rock-bound scanner. PITA to mount in my Toyota Cellica of that time, but, Holly WOW--16 channels that I could change at will.
The news business was a lot different then and I'm embarrassed at what passes for "news" today.
I still have a couple of (presumably) working 101's in the garage, and a couple DOA for parts. One of my favorite features of the 101 were the red LED's and switches to lock out channels. All of my subsequent scanners, while easier to program and more feature-loaded, lack the ability to easily confine the scan to just a few channels of interest.
The news business was a lot different then and I'm embarrassed at what passes for "news" today.
I still have a couple of (presumably) working 101's in the garage, and a couple DOA for parts. One of my favorite features of the 101 were the red LED's and switches to lock out channels. All of my subsequent scanners, while easier to program and more feature-loaded, lack the ability to easily confine the scan to just a few channels of interest.
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