BCT15X: frozen bct15x .....

[WalterEKurtz]

ive had my 15x for years without problem, but recently i think it might have bitten the dust. without any prior issues at all, i turned it on and it will only receive the last station i happened to have it on. NONE of the buttons on the radio react when pushed, also when i try to use the PC virtual controls which is what ive always used, (its never been installed in a vehicle) same thing, no response, it says it cant establish a link. this entire condition occurred from one use to the next, ive tried everything i can think of to no avail.
is this something that anyone has experienced before?
thanks for any info. and forgive me for slow responses, ive not been signed in for a while due to totally insane bad health issues out of nowhere.

thanks, mike.

 

[Ubbe]

Does it actually receive anything from that station? The squelch and volume controls works as they should or are they also frozen?
When you power on, does it show the normal start up screens and then show that frozen station?

To be able to display anything it has to have some processor still working but could freeze if that programmed memory data for that station are corrupt. Try a total reset, hold in button 2,9,Hold while powering on the scanner. It can be a bit tricky to be able to hold them in, it's easier if you use fingers from both hands and have someone else power it on for you.

/Ubbe

 

[fireman_dude]

I think this scanner had an issue with the ribbon cable attached to the keypad. It has to be re-seated. Correct me if I am wrong. I sometimes get the 15 and the 15X confused.

 

[WalterEKurtz]

Does it actually receive anything from that station? The squelch and volume controls works as they should or are they also frozen?
When you power on, does it show the normal start up screens and then show that frozen station?

To be able to display anything it has to have some processor still working but could freeze if that programmed memory data for that station are corrupt. Try a total reset, hold in button 2,9,Hold while powering on the scanner. It can be a bit tricky to be able to hold them in, it's easier if you use fingers from both hands and have someone else power it on for you.

/Ubbe

thanks for your response, yeah it powers up normally then displays the channel indicating it is on "hold" and the manual volume and squelch knobs work but no other buttons will respond. it wont scan/search anymore or anything else, but the reception on the channel its on is fine. i read about that reset process in the manual but im still hesitant to erase all my channels, it took me forever to find and program all of them but i guess it might get to that at some point. thanks again, mike.

 

[WalterEKurtz]

I think this scanner had an issue with the ribbon cable attached to the keypad. It has to be re-seated. Correct me if I am wrong. I sometimes get the 15 and the 15X confused.

im unaware of any ribbon connector, the controls are all on the front face of the radio, thanks,mike

 

[ka3aaa]

the face plate is connected to the main mother board via ribbon connectors, two i believe.

 

[wtp]

could the hold button be stuck ?
when you press it, does it feel like it "pops out" ?

 

[WalterEKurtz]

the face plate is connected to the main mother board via ribbon connectors, two i believe.

in all of the instruction/installation/programming/pictures of the bct15x ive never seen a removed face plate and since receiving it ive never taken any of it apart. basically i bought it, programmed it by computer and never changed anything, i just turned it on at my desk one day as usual and it was locked on hold and working for that last channel i was on.

 

[WalterEKurtz]

could the hold button be stuck ?
when you press it, does it feel like it "pops out" ?

yeah, the hold/resume button is as crisp as ever

 

[Ubbe]

So it's just stuck in Hold mode and keypad have stopped working. Both display and keypad have all its signals going thru a flat foil "cable" and in Uniden scanners that can have issues and stop working. On one BCT15 scanner I have I had to re-seat the cable after a week or two but after doing that 4 -5 times I only use that scanner remotly using ARC15. Remove 4 screws at the back and slide off the cover. Unscrew the side that has the speaker and tilt it to the back of the scanner as it has a short speaker cable. Then with a flat screwdriver you lift the brown part of the connector just a millimeter or two. Then you can lift the ribbon cable and set it back again and push down on the brown connector part to lock it in place again. You can do the same with the connector that are on the front panel.

I have BCT15 without the X so it can look slightly different in the X model.

/Ubbe

 

[WalterEKurtz]

WOW, i really appreciate the trouble you went to for the pictures. i see the ribbon that you guys are talking about. ive got experience with them doing service work for a living on home appliances. im glad to know that it has a lock down type fitting, some i worked with did and some didnt so if you just pulled on it without knowledge i saw people rip the corners off the ribbon and create more problems. i think im gonna try that before a total reset. i think the part that might worry me the most is the fact that virtual control software that doesnt require the buttons on the face to work also doesnt work. it says something like "cannot establish a link" and ive clicked the on screen link button many times.
so yeah at some point ill get the nerve to try going through the process with one hand for sure before i trash it. yall have been great help.

THANKS again for your time and trouble,
mike.

 

[Ubbe]

This is the remote scanner with the ribbon cable issue, but now it had developed another problem of no speaker audio. It turned out that the headphone jack had gone bad in its switch that break the audio to the speaker and no contact cleaner could fix. I had to put a solder blob between to pins on that circuit board top left to bridge the connector and now I have to insert a 3.5mm plug in the external speaker jack to silence the speaker when I use the headphone output jack for the remote audio.

/Ubbe

 

[WalterEKurtz]

This is the remote scanner with the ribbon cable issue, but now it had developed another problem of no speaker audio. It turned out that the headphone jack had gone bad in its switch that break the audio to the speaker and no contact cleaner could fix. I had to put a solder blob between to pins on that circuit board top left to bridge the connector and now I have to insert a 3.5mm plug in the external speaker jack to silence the speaker when I use the headphone output jack for the remote audio.

/Ubbe

BCT15X UPDATE! thanks to you and the others for the tip about the ribbon connector contact issue. i was finally able to access it and plugged it in and out several times and the face plate buttons started working again so now its not stuck on "hold" and back to scanning! the only issue now is the PC virtual control still wont link up, this is after checking device manager etc. but im not going to complain too much at this point, im just really happy that it will scan again.

thank you guys so much again,

mike.

 

[WalterEKurtz]

BCT15X UPDATE! thanks to you and the others for the tip about the ribbon connector contact issue. i was finally able to access it and plugged it in and out several times and the face plate buttons started working again so now its not stuck on "hold" and back to scanning! the only issue now is the PC virtual control still wont link up, this is after checking device manager etc. but im not going to complain too much at this point, im just really happy that it will scan again.

thank you guys so much again,

mike.

ONE THING I FORGOT TO MENTION, the factory had run a continuous bead of hot glue from the top ribbon connector fitting all the way across the surface of the ribbon down to the bottom fitting. thankfully it didnt stick well enough to stop me from getting the work done, just FYI.

 

[StoliRaz]

I think this scanner had an issue with the ribbon cable attached to the keypad. It has to be re-seated. Correct me if I am wrong. I sometimes get the 15 and the 15X confused.

I have a 15x that had this issue. I've repaired it twice so far. Both times it happened out of the blue, the radio isn't banged around at all and looks brand new

 

[Ubbe]

ONE THING I FORGOT TO MENTION, the factory had run a continuous bead of hot glue from the top ribbon connector fitting all the way across the surface of the ribbon down to the bottom fitting. thankfully it didnt stick well enough to stop me from getting the work done, just FYI.

Uniden thinks that the glue will prevent that ribbon cable issue. But it has nothing to do with that the cable comes loose. That hot glue are the wrong type, at least in the BCT15 scanners I have, where it has hardened and become too stiff like glass and doesn't stick to the cable anymore. But it doesn't matter as the connector holds the cable so secured that you can lift the whole scanner if pulling at that cable.

There was someone here at RR who replaced that cable with another one from DigiKey or perhaps Mouser. It's a standard one but the length can be a bit different but it seems to be of a better quality. Uniden choose to use the lowest quality components they can get away with in their modern scanners, it's not of the same quality as almost all vintage scanners. But if you look at the sales price of a 1980's scanner and one of today and compare to what one dollar got you 40 years ago and what you get today, you can probably use BigMac index, then scanners have become much more affordable and way more advanced but sadly also of a lower quality and a shorter life span.

/Ubbe