Differences between bc246t & bc250d

[vdsteelman]

Besides channel capacity, what are the differences between these two. I am looking at both and would like to know what the better deal is.

Thanks

 

[fireant]

the 250 will do mil air the 246 won't, the 246 has close call 250 don't, the 246 has dynamic memory the 250 has the tradional bank set up, and the 250 will do apco 25 digital with the optional card on 3600 baud only.

these are the main differences in the two hope this help

fireant

 

[Wildcat_1]

Can someone explain close call to me and also what baud does the 246T support. I am looking at getting either the 246 or 250 for use here in Denver with EDACS trunks

 

[UPMan]

From the FAQ on the BC246T Yahoo Group (used by permission of the author ):

How does the Close Call feature work?

When the scanner is in Close Call mode, it operates like a frequency counter. A patent pending method is used to reject noise, so that the scanner only responds when there is a strong nearby signal (a close call). The scanner then alerts you to the call and (if CC Override is turned on) tunes to the transmission. It typically takes less than 1/10 of a second for the scanner to detect a "hit."

What is the Close Call feature's detection range?

This depends on several factors, the main ones being (in order of importance): 1) Transmit power (higher power, more range); 2) RF Noise floor in the signal's band (lower floor, more range); 3) Antenna gain for the signal's band (more gain, generally more range). In testing in a wide variety of environments during beta testing, the BC246T responded to a 130mW UHF signal at a maximum range of 85-174 feet. When you consider that most mobile units are operating at 5-50 Watts, and fixed stations even higher, you will see hits up to a few hundred yards away (more in a few cases).

The BC246T and BC250D both support both Wideband and Narrowband EDACS systems (Denver uses a wideband system). The data rate of the control channels is different on these two types of systems (I don't offhand recall which is which), but in any case both scanners support both speeds. Usually, when the baud question is asked, it is being asked for Motorola Digital systems...which would be moot for the BC246T, as it only supports analog Motorola trunking (which uses a 3600 bps control channel).