Bearcat III - Missing Antenna

[HWG]

Yes, I still use a pair of BC-III's today for our VHF Low Band state patrol's backup system and another for some of the local VHF High railroad frequencies.
I loved the audio from those old radios!

I'd found the old unopened BC-III's on an eBay auction a long time ago. They had very cheap buy it now prices as well which I don't recall anymore but they were cheap. And they were perfect as one was VHF-LO and the other had both VHF boards installed in it from the factory.

Glad to hear they are still in operation and great find on eBay. I now know why you picked them up. The search continues.

I guess I could just pickup a telescopic antenna that would plug into the back external antenna connector. That would probably be easier to source but it just wouldn't have the look of the original.

 

[HWG]

Somewhere on eBay is a guy that will make any frequency crystal you need. You just tell him if it's for a 10.8 or 10.7 MHz IF radio and he will open one of his up and cut it for you if he does not have one already cut to your frequency.
He also tests them before shipping them to make sure they are on frequency.
He puts little custom stickers showing the frequency on the ones he had to custom cut to order.

I have located most of the crystals I would need on eBay with most of them being NOS. I have them on my watchlist. They all seem to be around $6-$8 each.

 

[kruser]

Glad to hear they are still in operation and great find on eBay. I now know why you picked them up. The search continues.

I guess I could just pickup a telescopic antenna that would plug into the back external antenna connector. That would probably be easier to source but it just wouldn't have the look of the original.

Yep, that works if you are not trying to restore it to the original OEM look when it was new!

I bought some of the longer Motorola antenna jack plugs that plugged into the scanners rear jack and converted them to female BNC as I had a ton of BNC antennas sitting around.
I think the old car radio antenna jacks and plugs were called Motorola anyway but I could be wrong on that.
If you do that, make sure the adapter is for the antenna type jack and not a simple RCA plug to BNC adapter as the center pin on the RCA plugs are usually not long enough to connect with the inner contact of the Motorola antenna socket.

 

[kruser]

I have located most of the crystals I would need on eBay with most of them being NOS. I have them on my watchlist. They all seem to be around $6-$8 each.

That's a decent price for old crystals.
Especially if you have ever priced one from some of the few companies that will still actually make and sell them to you!

Let me know if you have any frequencies you can't find and I can check my stock. I bought hundreds and hundreds of both 10.7 and 10.8 MHz IF crystals over the years and catalogued them all in Excel so I can easily see if I may have what I need.
I even did the spreadsheet so it would automatically convert the actual crystal frequency to the other bands or other IF models also.

I must have been pretty bored to have done that!
Most of what I ended up with were the more common police band allocations from those days when the FCC allocated frequency ranges for certain services so I still ended up needing to buy custom frequencies for things like business or railroad or some of the 2 meter amateur repeater freqs.

 

[pro92b]

Here is data from Ken's Electronics about the BCIII antenna. He has the ST-1H which is a Russell Industries product, long discontinued. Much of the stuff on ebay actually has the wrong thread size despite what the listing may say.

AM/FM and cordless phone telescoping antennas at Ken's Electronics, (Wholesale Retail Electrical Electronic Repair Parts) Kalamazoo, Michigan

AM/FM & cordless phone telescoping replacement antennas are available from Ken's Electronics, (Wholesale & Retail Electrical Electronic Repair Parts) Kalamazoo, Michigan at reasonable prices

www.kenselectronics.com

Telescoping Antennas with Male Thread at bottom
AV-RI-ST-1H VHF Police Scanner 5-1/2 to 23" 5-sect .185" hole, 2.5MM male thread +circuit board socket $12.00
RI-ST-1H & RI-ST-3H fit hole in top of US Bearcat III & IV, BC210, BC220, BC250 police scanners

 

[kruser]

Here is data from Ken's Electronics about the BCIII antenna. He has the ST-1H which is a Russell Industries product, long discontinued. Much of the stuff on ebay actually has the wrong thread size despite what the listing may say.

Telescoping Antennas with Male Thread at bottom
AV-RI-ST-1H VHF Police Scanner 5-1/2 to 23" 5-sect .185" hole, 2.5MM male thread +circuit board socket $12.00
RI-ST-1H & RI-ST-3H fit hole in top of US Bearcat III & IV, BC210, BC220, BC250 police scanners

Ah, so it looks like it was a metric thread! 2.5 mm at that if that info is correct. On my old BC-220 that I soldered a nut onto the board, either I stripped the threads of a telescopic antenna to fit that 6-32 nut or the metric threads on the OEM antennas fit sloppy but well enough to tighten up!

 

[trentbob]

I had a Bearcat IV and there was an external jack for an antenna. You can even use an old antenna that used to be on all vehicles.

Yep all scanners then had an external antenna jack for a mot pin... in my first cars in the late 60s early 70s you could just reach behind your car radio and pull out the antenna and plug it right into your scanner. I replaced my regular car radio antenna with a very long telescopic car antenna and it worked great. Everything was VHF low-band for the most part with some VHF High repeaters.

Glad to see that this thread is taking off. HWG, glad to see you're getting somewhere here. I love nostalgia. This was my Heyday of scanning. I thought the Electra Scanners from Cumberland Indiana were terrific.

 

[kruser]

Yep all scanners then had an external antenna jack for a mot pin... in my first cars in the late 60s early 70s you could just reach behind your car radio and pull out the antenna and plug it right into your scanner. I replaced my regular car radio antenna with a very long telescopic car antenna and it worked great. Everything was VHF low-band for the most part with some VHF High repeaters.

Glad to see that this thread is taking off. HWG, glad to see you're getting somewhere here. I love nostalgia. This was my Heyday of scanning. I thought the Electra Scanners from Cumberland Indiana were terrific.

Do you remember the car radio antenna couplers (or splitters) that hooked you cars antenna to your scanner and car radio at the same time?
They actually still sell them sometimes. I have one that I must have found recently as the scanner end actually has a BNC male on it instead of another Motorola type connector like the originals had. And it came like that as mine is still sealed in a factory package. I'd imagine it was an eBay special I'd found at some time.
I never used one of these things but I own a couple!

 

[trentbob]

Do you remember the car radio antenna couplers (or splitters) that hooked you cars antenna to your scanner and car radio at the same time?
They actually still sell them sometimes. I have one that I must have found recently as the scanner end actually has a BNC male on it instead of another Motorola type connector like the originals had. And it came like that as mine is still sealed in a factory package. I'd imagine it was an eBay special I'd found at some time.
I never used one of these things but I own a couple!

Of course I remember them. It was just AM radio for the car then but I had an 8-track player LOL. I also remember the center loaded CB antennas that would mount in place of your car antenna and connect to your car radio and your CB radio but I didn't like the location as it was so close to the engine and at that time you had to do so much to suppress the engine noise.

 

[HWG]

Yep, that works if you are not trying to restore it to the original OEM look when it was new!

With the post about Ken's Electronics, I think I am back to the original look.

 

[HWG]

Let me know if you have any frequencies you can't find and I can check my stock. I bought hundreds and hundreds of both 10.7 and 10.8 MHz IF crystals over the years and catalogued them all in Excel so I can easily see if I may have what I need.
I even did the spreadsheet so it would automatically convert the actual crystal frequency to the other bands or other IF models also.

I will keep that in mind. To be sure, for the Electra Bearcat III, I am looking at 10.8 IF crystals correct?

Nothing wrong with good organization or Excel. I use Excel and Google Sheets for all kinds of things. Very powerful program.

 

[techynyc]

The person you are speaking about is (E-bay) is "Cliff" the owner of MCS in Watseka, IL.
Cliff has been in the business of selling working 10.7 and 10.8 HC-25/U scanner radio crystals & antennas for over 50 years.
I'll PM the OP his phone number.
Ah yes,,, good ole Blinky light scanners. I have several.

 

[HWG]

Here is data from Ken's Electronics about the BCIII antenna. He has the ST-1H which is a Russell Industries product, long discontinued. Much of the stuff on ebay actually has the wrong thread size despite what the listing may say.

AM/FM and cordless phone telescoping antennas at Ken's Electronics, (Wholesale Retail Electrical Electronic Repair Parts) Kalamazoo, Michigan

AM/FM & cordless phone telescoping replacement antennas are available from Ken's Electronics, (Wholesale & Retail Electrical Electronic Repair Parts) Kalamazoo, Michigan at reasonable prices

www.kenselectronics.com

Telescoping Antennas with Male Thread at bottom
AV-RI-ST-1H VHF Police Scanner 5-1/2 to 23" 5-sect .185" hole, 2.5MM male thread +circuit board socket $12.00
RI-ST-1H & RI-ST-3H fit hole in top of US Bearcat III & IV, BC210, BC220, BC250 police scanners

pro92b - Thanks for the great post and information. Looking into this for sure. Have you had any experience dealing with Ken's Electronics?

And I agree with the stuff on eBay. Much of it seems like a mismatch of information that is copied/pasted all over the place. Not worth taking a chance on that kind of stuff.

 

[kruser]

I will keep that in mind. To be sure, for the Electra Bearcat III, I am looking at 10.8 IF crystals correct?

Yes, 10.8 MHz IF for the old Bearcat's.

 

[HWG]

Glad to see that this thread is taking off. HWG, glad to see you're getting somewhere here. I love nostalgia. This was my Heyday of scanning. I thought the Electra Scanners from Cumberland Indiana were terrific.

This is turning into a great thread with a lot of good information. There was just something about this scanner that said to me "project". I came well after the crystal scanning days so this will be my experience with it. And hey, with very little analog left to scan, it will kind of be like the good ol' days - 8 channels will be plenty!

 

[kruser]

Of course I remember them. It was just AM radio for the car then but I had an 8-track player LOL. I also remember the center loaded CB antennas that would mount in place of your car antenna and connect to your car radio and your CB radio but I didn't like the location as it was so close to the engine and at that time you had to do so much to suppress the engine noise.

Yep, I recall those CB antennas that also fed your cars AM radio.
I remember my dad had one of the converters that allowed you to tune CB frequencies on your car radios AM (no transmit) dial I believe. He had his converter hooked to one of those CB antennas for better reception.
That was back when you had your CB on a slide mount otherwise it would surely be stolen!

 

[HWG]

Do you remember the car radio antenna couplers (or splitters) that hooked you cars antenna to your scanner and car radio at the same time?
They actually still sell them sometimes. I have one that I must have found recently as the scanner end actually has a BNC male on it instead of another Motorola type connector like the originals had. And it came like that as mine is still sealed in a factory package. I'd imagine it was an eBay special I'd found at some time.
I never used one of these things but I own a couple!

It seems you might have a few things from eBay that you have never used! Funny how that happens as I remember when Radio Shack was having the Going Out of Business sales and I went on a store circuit buying things I just had to have that are still in the bags from the day I bought them!

 

[kruser]

It seems you might have a few things from eBay that you have never used! Funny how that happens as I remember when Radio Shack was having the Going Out of Business sales and I went on a store circuit buying things I just had to have that are still in the bags from the day I bought them!

Yep, it's surely an illness just like an addiction to gambling
I wish I could find half the stuff I probably bought and stashed away in a box to never be seen again!

 

[DudleyG]

Here are two pictures I just took of my Bearcat by Electra scanner I bought new in 1970 and last used it in 1972. I think it still works but I can't find the power cord or adapter. The back label says it is a "BC U-2" which I think means it is the predecessor to the Bearcat III.

 

[HWG]

Here are two pictures I just took of my Bearcat by Electra scanner I bought new in 1970 and last used it in 1972. I think it still works but I can't find the power cord or adapter. The back label says it is a "BC U-2" which I think means it is the predecessor to the Bearcat III.

View attachment 99500View attachment 99501

Looks to be in great condition! Shame it hasn't been used in so long. Maybe this thread will rekindle the interest in another Electra Bearcat.